by JOHNSON CUMMINS

Things traditionally slow down for shows in Montreal around this time of year, but don’t worry, there are still some great places to dunk yer whiskers into some suds without any fear of encountering pesky MySpace kids and a DJ trying to sneak in a Smiths tune on ya. L’Escogriffe continues to be the little rawk bar to beat, with tonight featuring DJ Jimi Kong, DJ Rock ’n’ Roll Pimp on Friday, and garage rock and punk served up on Saturday night by Demon’s Claws’Ysael and Brian. Sunday is cowboy night, with some serious tear-in-yer-beer country from the collections of Inepsy’s DJ Hearse and Whiskey Trench’s DJ Notanotherwolf (great name!). Monday starts the week off right with DJ Nul and Pat Meteor, Tuesday is DJ Ballou from Fifth Hour Hero and finally, the best of ’60s garage is served up by DJ Chinois on Wednesday.

Another club that has some great DJ nights during the week is the Katacombes, with a post-punk night on Monday with DJ Wag, and rock and psychobilly served by Degeneration Overdrive zine scribe DJ Flo the Action on Tuesday night. Wednesday sports a long-overdue metal night with DJ Trashed, and finally, Thursday night is devoted solely to the glory years of punk and hardcore, 1977 to 1984, with DJ Smartyz.

Another club that has some great DJ nights during the week is the Katacombes, with a post-punk night on Monday with DJ Wag, and rock and psychobilly served by Degeneration Overdrive zine scribe DJ Flo the Action on Tuesday night. Wednesday sports a long-overdue metal night with DJ Trashed, and finally, Thursday night is devoted solely to the glory years of punk and hardcore, 1977 to 1984, with DJ Smartyz.

Not to be outdone, the longest-running rock night, We Sold Our Souls at Casa, has been holding it down on Tuesday nights now for over five years. The rotating list of DJs features the likes of Starvin’ Hungry’s Juan, DJ of Rock ’n’ Roll, the psych and hard-rock selections of Mongrels’DJ Hippy Man and Treebeard, and psych and garage genius DJ Crawdaddy Simon. Further incentive should be to check out the excellent art show of Jessica Moss, Nadia Moss and Corri-Lynn Tetz, which will be hanging on the walls of Casa until the end of January. The detail in Jessica Moss’s light boxes is guaranteed to blow yer little mind to bits.

The two-year residency of the Besnard Lakes’ DJ Jack Lacey and DJ Jaws at Korova has indeed come to an end, but ex-AIDS Wolf guitarist DJ Uncut has taken over Tuesdays under the moniker Harpoon and will be serving up the best in freak folk, heavy psych, prog and probably some sort of Richie Blackmore thing thrown in for good measure. He promises to have a rotating series of guests each week. Hint: Don’t get suckered into buying the official Harpoon drink that he and Nick the Prick concocted— it’s fucking horrible. Oh, and watch out for flying foreskin.

Surely any red-blooded music fan can’t live off a steady diet of vinyl alone, so thankfully there are some not-to-be-missed shows happening this week. Why not start off with Bloodshot Bill and the Cockroaches at Quai des Brumes on Friday night, or one of Montreal’s best unsung punk bands, Trigger Effect, playing next door at l’Escogriffe with Fayne and Tora! Tora!

Saturday night proves to be a real winner, with the muchlauded Mongrels playing with the painfully polite and nice the Adam Brown at Petit Campus, while up-and-comers Chariot of Shame pull up the rear.

Have a DJ night that doesn't blow?
Let me know...jonathan.cummins@gmail.com

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