Beheaded bovines and boastful felines

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

Tonight, June 28, is definitely a night of noise, starting off at the Barfly with Wax Attic, a two-piece armed with a cheap drum machine—but be warned, as noisy and angular as the guitars get, these guys manage to sneak some melody in. Over at Casa del Popolo is another installment in the Montreal Knows New Age series, with the whisper sounds of Necronomiconomics and the lulling lip-synching of the Nimalan Yoganathan Jazz Ensemble.

If Thursday was a great double header for noiseniks, then Friday night is definitely ruled by rock. Vancouver’s boogie kings Pride Tiger lay down their twin guitars, in a Thin Lizzy vein, with Die Mannequin and Dutch Oven at Foufounes. Giving that show some stiff competition, at l’Escogriffe, are the blues-punk of Ashtray Heart and the galloping, Maiden-esque metal of Metallian.

On this unusually quiet Saturday night, there is only one place to be, and that would l’Escogriffe, where one-man-band sensation Bloodshot Bill shows why he is one of the most enigmatic (and sweatiest) performers in the city, while ushering the word “hunky” back into our vocabulary. Bloodshot Bill may bring a touch of Hasil Adkins’ dementia to his bone-shaking rockabilly, but if you are looking for a mere tribute to Adkins, don’t look here.

Sunday night sees a rare double booking of legends, when Can singer Damo Suzuki jams it out with les Enfants Sauvages (with members of CPC Gangbangs, AIDS Wolf and Duchess Says), with guests Ghost Limbs and ttttttttttttt supporting at Divan Orange. Oddly enough, up the street at Sala Rossa on the same night is K Records mogul (and the baritone voice behind the legendary Beat Happening, Dub Narcotic Sound System and the Halo Benders) Calvin Johnson. To tip the scales a bit here is Julie Doiron and Brian Seeger opening up. Choose wisely, my indie rocker friends, choose wisely.

Speedhair are busy this week, throwing us a two’fer with not only a show this Friday night at Playhouse, but also at l’Escogriffe on Monday night, taking up the middle slot on the Mad Parish and Barracuda Sunrise bill. Anybody who caught Metallian on Thursday is not going to want to miss Mad Parish’s old-school metal.

In more metal news, the Summer Slaughter tour—featuring Necrophagist, Decapitated, Cephalic Carnage, Ion Dissonance, Cattle Decapitation, Beneath the Massacre, Arisis, the Faceless and As Blood Runs Black—rolls into town and has now added an all-ages show on Tuesday, July 3, in the tiny confines of l’Inconditionel. For all of you drunks out there, the slaughter reprises itself on Wednesday at Foufounes with the same line-up.

Also happening on Tuesday at Katacombes is the vernissage for the Ooky Kooky Spooky Art Show, featuring the best in lowbrow rock ’n’ roll art. Artists hanging include Texas’s Colin Bradley, Vancouver’s Bob Scott (an ex-Montrealer), Nat Jean, Rebbecca Guinard, Arno and many more. The vernissage is free and features aforementioned hunk Bloodshot Bill and Truth or Scare with DJs Flo the Action and David Don’t on the wheels of steel. If you miss the opening, the art show continues throughout July.

I can smell my nose hairs… Jonathan.cummins@gmail.com