I Spy (band)

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I Spy was a Canadian hardcore punk band formed in 1991 in Regina, Saskatchewan. They later moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1994 and broke up in 1996. Their music mixed playful, humorous elements with serious, left‑wing political themes, and they released several records on Recess Records while touring internationally.

The band began as Clump (also spelled Klump) and featured Todd Kowalski (vocals/guitar), Jeromy Van Dusen (lead guitar), Juan David Guerrero (bass), and James Ash (drums). In 1994 they released a split 10" with Propagandhi titled I’d Rather Be Flag‑Burning and toured western Canada together. They also toured the Midwestern United States that year.

In 1995 they toured the western United States, western Canada, and Europe. Guerrero left the band that year and was replaced by Sean Talarico on bass, though Van Dusen left after the European tour, leaving a three‑piece lineup of Kowalski, Ash, and Talarico.

G7 Welcoming Committee Records later released the band’s complete discography on a single CD, Perversity Is Spreading... It’s About Time!, which included bonus tracks and cover versions of songs by Diana Ross and Youth of Today.

Kowalski joined Propagandhi in 1997 after John K. Samson left the band. Propagandhi’s 2001 album Today’s Empires, Tomorrow’s Ashes includes their version of an unreleased I Spy song, “Fuck the Border.” Kowalski also played in the grindcore band Swallowing Shit.

In 2002 the original four members of I Spy reunited in Propagandhi singer Chris Hannah’s basement studio to re-record Diana Ross’s “When We Grow Up” for the Somebody Needs a Timeout compilation released by Campfire Records. I Spy also contributed songs to various compilation albums.