Surf’s up

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

One of Montreal’s most underappreciated punk bands, Born Dead Icons, shred the Katacombes tonight, June 7, with France’s la Fraction, Subsistance and Manic Manon & the Guest List. If you haven’t seen BDI yet, do yourself a favour and check out their sonic bludgeoning, equal parts Discharge and Motörhead with a smidgen of Tragedy thrown in for good measure.

Down at Casa del Popolo tonight, you can check out part of the Suoni festival and see Charalambides with Triceratreetops and GHQ (members of Double Leopards and Magik Markers!). Charalambides’ last release, A Vintage Burden on Kranky, is a psychedelic treat, so it’ll be interesting to see how their lulling numbers will translate live. If singer Christina Carter’s soft lilting vocals don’t get you, better check your pulse.

On Friday, things heat up when the ballsy garage sounds of Ottawa’s Sick Fits and Sonic Avenues reverberate off the stone walls of l’Escogriffe, while Akron/Family deliver the first show of their two-night Suoni stand, featuring guest drummer extraordinaire Hamid Drake (Saturday’s guests are Lexie Mountain Boys). Akron/Family is fierce on record, but their improv moments are something that have to be witnessed live, so tickets for both shows are recommended. As a special treat, Akron/Family also host the Tools of the Trade seminar on Saturday at noon at la Sala Rossa. People are encouraged to bring down some instruments and get in on the jams, for possible inclusion on a future Akron/Family release.

Across the street at Casa del Popolo on Saturday night, you can check out the pummelling sounds of Growing with Ghost Limbs and ttttttttttttt. To get your Saturday night started right, though, show up at Sound Central to check out the record release of Maggot Breeder’s Myiasis—it starts at 8 p.m. and it’s free. Maggot Breeder is the brainchild of Squalor member Reuel Ordonez and is rife with doom-laden ambient soundscaping.

All of you punkers out there will want to be down at L’Escogriffe on Saturday night for les Prostiputes, the Time Beings and, again, Sonic Avenues (who work a two-night stint this week). Saturday also proves to be a big night for the surf enthusiast as Quebec legends les Jaguars (who made their first twang in 1966) celebrate 40 years of setting the reverb on 10, at Café Campus, with Tabarnacos Surfers, Edmonton’s the Burnin’ Sands and les Sunburst.

Finally, on Sunday, don’t miss the punk-as-fuck rock of Toronto legends Bunchofuckingoofs at Foufounes with Ab Irato, Barricade Mentale and Fatal Flaw. Also playing on Sunday, at Café Campus, are the garage rock darlings of the U.K. press, the Horrors, who join Montreal poseurs Dandi Wind and the power pop/new wave sounds of Seattle’s Schoolyard Heroes. And if you missed the Burnin’ Sands on Saturday night with les Jaguars, you can catch them on Sunday at l’Escogriffe.

Punk’s not dead, it’s only sleeping…Jonathan.cummins@gmail.com