CALGARY - In the late 1970s and early '80s, Canadian music was largely defined by arena rock titans such as Prism, Trooper, Red Rider and Rush.

But in the dingey punk clubs of Vancouver, a band called Pointed Sticks was busy creating some of the fuzziest, buzziest and downright sharp-sounding power pop in North America.

Now considered one of the most influential punk bands to ever come out of Canada, Pointed Sticks fizzled out before they ever experienced any sort of significant mainstream success.

"It seemed to me we should have got a lot more radio support and that type of thing," says bassist Tony Bardach.

"But we had been labelled punk rock and then there was the whole new wave discussion and really, no one knew what was going on."

It wasn't for lack of trying that Pointed Sticks couldn't fulfil their immense potential. After forming in Vancouver in 1978, the band gained a dedicated local following with their high-energy shows and catchy melodies. Their songs were just as good as anything British punks The Buzzcocks or The Undertones were putting out at the time, which is probably why they were the first Canadian band to sign to legendary punk/new wave label Stiff Records (Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, The Pogues.)

Although there was initial excitement, the pairing never amounted to much as the label was suffering from financial difficulties at the time.

Pointed Sticks released a handful of singles and one album -- 1980's Perfect Youth -- before calling it quits in 1981. "It was more of a slow dissolution," Bardach says.

"We all kind of moved into different things we enjoyed doing more."

Pointed Sticks were all but a distant memory, when a promoter asked them to re-form for a short tour of Japan in 2006. "We were pretty surprised," says Bardach. "It took us a little while to really believe that we could get together to do this. But once we got into the idea, it started to sound like a lot of fun. And it turned out to be unbelievable. The places we played were all packed and the audience was fully aware of our music and even knew some of the lyrics better than we did."

The tour inspired the band to write a single called My Japanese Friend, which in turn led to a live recording, as well as the band's first studio album in 29 years, Three Lefts Make a Right. "I get a lot of reports from people that their kids are really listening to it," he says.

"I think it does have a modern flavour. We're certainly influenced by everything we hear and everything that's happened and that's probably reflected in the songs."

Pointed Sticks are playing their first Alberta shows since 1981 at Edmonton's New City Compound on Friday and Calgary's Marquee Room on Saturday. The Sticks have played less than a dozen shows since re-forming four years ago, but Bardach says he's surprised and honoured that each show has been filled with fans of all ages. "I never really recognized anything that we'd done as being particularly seminal, but listening back now, I can see it."