by JOHNSON CUMMINS

Apparently, Pony Up! didn’t really take well to my mentioning that they are on the D.L. a couple of columns ago, and will underline my inadequate reporting by playing on Saturday night at the Main Hall. Music-store employees and computer-game designers may want to take special note of this upcoming special performance, as the ladies plan on unleashing a performance of Joe “don’t call me Satchmo” Satriani’s classic shred-fest record Surfing With the Idiot in its entirety. Also playing will be the Hyposmics, who will be adding their renditions of only the finest jewels tucked away in the Headpins’ discography, as well as the Good Ideas and Vidya Lutchman, who unfortunately didn’t get the “tribute night” memo in time and will just perform their own songs, much to the dismay of what promises to be an audience of guitar nerds and fans of ’80s Can-con rock.

L’Escogriffe continues to thrive as Montreal’s best rock ’n’ roll bar and host a great double-header this weekend. Toronto’s Boyfriend Material team up with Jet Five on Saturday, with DJ Choyce (of CPC Gangbangs, les Sexareenos etc.) on the decks. Sunday night, you can check out Ugly Stick, one-man band sensation Skip Jensen (the dude from Scat Rag Boosters) and the Suppressors.

The big ticket this week would be supreme noisemonger James Plotkin, who’ll liquefy all the fillings in your teeth with what will prove to be a punishing performance at Casa on Sunday night. Plotkin’s pedigree leaves little to prove—he’s been the guitarist in doom band Old, the man behind the digital hardcore and psych-noise of Atomsmasher, and co-conspirator in the brutal sounds of Khanate and the extreme noise of the Lotus Eaters, both with Sunn O)))’s Stephen O’ Malley. Prepare for a complete face-melting.

Now that reuniting hardcore bands is all the rage (news flash: Toronto’s Sudden Impact are now back together, as are Toronto’s thrash-metallists Sacrifice), Gorilla Biscuits are back, taking another whack at the straightedge piñata with fellow NYHC heavies Murphy’s Law. When these bands were still in their heyday, they sounded the death knell for hardcore, with G.B.’s limp sound akin to a poor man’s Minor Threat, while Murphy’s Law just helped create the tidal wave of “hell, yeah!” hardcore. But then again, what the hell do I know. I just used the Headpins as horrible joke fodder in this column. I will just give you this to mull over: totally shit band Fall Out Boy cover G.B.’s “Start Today,” and cite them as an influence. Questions? Also playing are Comeback Kid and Jaws of Life, with the “throwdown” happening at Foufounes on Tuesday night.

A better bet would be to go to Call Me Poupée at la Sala Rossa on Tuesday, or better yet, squeeze into the Missy Bar the same night for the post-hardcore of Whitby’s Enter Ghost, with the Dwarves/Zeke-styled rage of Trigger Effect and chugga-chugga metal of Special Ops.

TRIUMPH AND POSI-CORE: DIFFERENCE? jonathan.cummins@gmail.com

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