One of the west coast's hottest alternative rock groups in the 1980s was Odds. They formed in '87 by guitarists/vocalists Steven Drake and Craig Northey when they were both entered in a Battle of the Bands competition in their respective groups, but frustrated with where they were each going - Drake with 20th Century, and Northey with Hoil Polloi. Both of their bands had also appeared on a Vancouver radio station's compilation album, SPOTLIGHT '86 a year earlier.

Along with Doug Elliot on bass, they recruited Northey's friend Paul Brennan on drums and began rehearsing and writing their own material, originally calling themselves Dawn Patrol - a classic rock cover band. They landed the job as houseband at The Roxy, one of Vancouver's hottest night clubs during the week. As Odds, they moonlighted on the weekends, playing anywhere they could land a gig, allowing them to try out their own material on live audiences and hone their chops.

They funded their own demo recordings at Crosstown Studios, hoping for a break. After over a year of shopping their demos around to no avail, they grew disenchanted at not getting their big break, so they moved south to Los Angeles in late '89, where the opportunities were more plentiful. While playing at a local nightclub, they caught the attention of Warren Zevon ("Werewolves of London"), who promptly hired them for his own purposes. After doing one tour and one album with him, (MR BAD EXAMPLE), Zevon was instrumental in helping them land a recording deal with Zoo Records.

They moved back to Vancouver and returned to Crosstown Studios, polishing up the old demos and releasing their debut album, NEAPOLITAN in 1991. The first two singles, "Love Is The Subject" and "King of the Heap" both started getting airplay, and both hovered near the Canadian top 40. Next up was "Wendy Under The Stars," which instantly got the band some attention, but not necessarily for the right reasons. When radio stations refused to play the song due to its profanity, they quickly edited it and changed the lyrics, though it still failed to chart. All three singles had accompanying videos, and the band toured western Canada, making stops back in California, as well.

Their sophomore release, 1993's BEDBUGS, featured a cameo from Zevon. Co-produced by Jim Rondinelli, the album was more refined than their self-produced debut, and featured the singles "Heterosexual Man," and "It Falls Apart." Again, both hovered near or in the top 40, but the breakout single still eluded them, despite the release of videos for all of them. Critics raved over the video for "Heterosexual Man," which featured the band in drag and cameos from part of the cast of "Kids In The Hall." "Yes Means It's Hard To Say No" was released as a European only single, shortly after they landed the opening slot on Matthew Sweet's North American tour that helped keep the band on the road for nearly a year, and kept the momentum going. Another connection to Sweet was the track "Jackhammer," which featured cameos from both Warren Zevon, and Sweet's guitarist Robert Quine, who'd also spent time with Lou Reed. For their efforts, the album went gold and they were nominated for a Juno in '94 for Best New Group.

They left Zoo Records after signing a major deal with Warner Music, for who their first effort GOOD WEIRD FEELING in '95 was met with critical praise. When Brennan left the group in the middle of recording and eventually joined Big Sugar, he was replaced behind the drumkit by Pat Steward, ex of Bryan Adams' touring entourage, and who'd also played with Elliot in his former group, Rubber Biscuit. Over the next year and a half, that critical thumbs up for the record was matched with a pair of singles that placed in the top 20, "Truth Untold" (#15) and "Satisfied" (#19). Two more, "Eat My Brain" and "Mercy To Go" followed them into the top 30, and with a fifth single and video for "I Would Be Your Man," the band had themselves their bonafide breakout album, and their first platinum selling record.

The band got some additional exposure when "Brain Candy," the movie based on "Kids In The Hall" hit the theatres. Drake produced the soundtrack, which "Eat My Brain" wound up on. As well, the band served as backup for the two Bruce McCulloch tracks in the movie, "Some Days It's Dark" and "Happiness Pie." A cross-Canada tour backing up 54-40 ensued, and was followed by one as the opener for The Killjoys, keeping them on the road until the end of the '95. Although they were nominated for a pair of Junos, for Best Rock Album and Group of the Year, they failed to capture either of the paperweights.

Released in the spring of 1996, NEST followed in its predecessors' footsteps, full of alternative and indie rock. Four singles were on the airwaves within a year. First up was "Someone Who's Cool," which was initially intended for the soundtrack to the "Friends" movie but wasn't used. It ultimately wound up being the band's first #1 hit in Canada and cracked the US top 40 and the video was nominated for but didn't win a Juno, but was later used for the short-lived comedy series "Love Monkey." Next was "Nothing Beautiful" and "Make You Mad," but neither got the results the band was hoping for.

Still in '96, they contributed the song "Pipefitter's Clubhouse" on BMG's compilation album, TRIBUTE TO HARDCORE. But although things were looking up, the band still hadn't managed to headline their own major tours, despite being on the underbill of the some of the hottest tickets on the circuit, including The Tragically Hip's and Barenaked Ladies' North American tours. Instead, the band toured less for the rest of the decade, and instead concentrated on outside projects, including working on Murray McLaughlin's GULLIVER'S TAXI album and Kim Stockwood's BONA VISTA record, among other ventures. Drake was also keeping himself busy on the side, including The Tragically Hip's TROUBLE AT THE HENHOUSE album.

After recording "Out Come Stars" for the 30 Hour Famine relief album on Nettwerk Records, they finished off the '90s as the backing band for George Martin's North American tour, and then quietly disbanded after Northey's announcement he was leaving, but not before headlining the 1999 Arts County Fair year-end concert at the University of British Columbia. Before the decade was up, everyone except Drake reformed as Sharkskin, an instrumental group that also included Simon Kendall on keyboards, ex of Doug & The Slugs.

Their first greatest hits package, SINGLES: INDIVIDUALLY WRAPPED was in the stores less than a year after the band's final performance, which nicely summed up their tenure on the Canadian rock scene, and also included "Kings Of Orient (We Three Kings)," previously only available on A LUMP OF COAL, a 1991 compilation album put out by BMG Music meant to showcase up and coming unsigned talent. A second compilation was released in '05, part of Warner Music's 'The Essentials' series.

Drake meanwhile continued throughout the '00s working as a producer and recording engineer in Vancouver. Northey released a solo album, GIDDY UP in 2002, and also served as a songwriter and producer throughout the decade, working with the likes of Wide Mouth Mason, Roseanne Cash, Stripper's Union (reuniting him with Steward and Elliott), Jimmy Rankin, Blair Packham, and Colin James, among many others. Along with forming his own Craig Northey Power Trio with Steward and Elliott, in 2004 he collaborated with Gin Blossoms guitarist Jesse Valenzuela on the NORTHEY VALENZUELA album. That teaming also led to the pair recording "Not a Lot Going On," the theme song to the sitcom "Corner Gas."

In '07, Northey, Elliott, and Steward took a job on the Barenaked Ladies' "Ships and Dip" event, a journey through the Caribbean Sea. For the nautical gig, they hired new guitarist Murray Atkinson, and quite by accident, began writing some new material, which was mixed in to the shows along with Odds standards.

In May, 2008, with Northey now handling all the lead vocals, they released the new album CHEERLEADER. But because of legal issues, it had to be done under the name The New Odds. It was the first release under Kim Cooke's new label Pheromone Recordings, and along with other tracks like the lead-off "Cloud Full of Rocks," "Jumper," "Out of Mind," and the only single, "My Happy Place," the record was met with favourable response from critics and fans alike.

After resecuring the rights to the name 'Odds,' the band landed a US distribution deal through the indie label Second Motion Records. A new EP, the nine-track NOISE TRADE soon followed in the spring of '09, featuring "I Can't Get You Off" from CHEERLEADER, as well as eight covers.

That same year, they also appeared as themselves in an episode of the final season of "Corner Gas." During the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, they were also the house band at Canada Hockey House, and were dubbed the house band during the Canucks' playoff runs in both 2010 and 2011.