The Canadian punk band that released the album “Something Better Change” is D.O.A.
“Something Better Change” is D.O.A.’s debut studio album, documenting the early Vancouver punk scene and the band’s direct, politically charged style. D.O.A. formed in Vancouver in 1978 around vocalist and guitarist Joey “Shithead” Keithley, who became one of Canadian punk’s most recognizable figures.
The album was recorded over several years, from 1977 to 1980, and released in 1980 on Can. Friends. Its songs helped establish D.O.A.’s reputation for combining fast punk music with social criticism, irreverent humor, and a strong do-it-yourself identity. The band later became closely associated with the development of hardcore punk in Canada.
Listeners sometimes confuse D.O.A. with other influential Canadian punk acts, including the Viletones, Subhumans, and the Modernettes. Those bands were important to the country’s punk history, but they did not release this album. “Something Better Change” later received reissues through Joey Keithley’s Sudden Death Records and Alternative Tentacles, helping keep the early material available to new generations.