by SHANE SINNOTT

It’s been a long time in the making, but Built to Spill finally play Montreal tonight, July 12, at le National. Influential in the indie world since forming in 1992, Built to Spill frontman Doug Martsch cites Dinosaur Jr.¸ Pavement and Neil Young as influences. So, basically, if you like stuff that’s good, you’ll probably enjoy the show. Here’s a link for “You Were Right” from the album Keep It Like a Secret: tinyurl.com/373ula. The newest album is called You in Reverse and you can get a track from it here: “Liar” (tinyurl.com/3xowey).

And next Thursday, July 19, what’s going to be one of the best shows this city’s had in awhile is happening at Lambi: Deerhunter. Truly one of a kind, Deerhunter describe themselves as “ambient punk,” though their show last April at Sala was more like a mesmerizing psychedelic nightmare. To get an idea, download the title track from the album Cryptograms here: tinyurl.com/36653j, and listen to the spine-shivering opening lines: “My greatest fear/I fantasized/the days were long/the weeks flew by/before I knew/I was awake/my days were through/it was too late.” Whoa. Opening are the hapless Ponys, who deserve a break after being unfortunate enough to have the Black Lips play the best show of 2007 so far, opening for them the last time they played here. The Ponys, “Double Vision”: tinyurl.com/ybs9at; the Black Lips, “MIA”: tinyurl.com/3bh4fo.

It was with great pleasure that I read in the Globe and Mail last week that Avril Lavigne is being sued by the Rubinoos, who are claiming their ’70s song “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” has been extensively pilfered by Lavigne for her current hit, “Girlfriend.” Download “Girlfriend” here: tinyurl.com/2ssxmq, and “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” here: www.rubinoos.com/new_site/audio/i_wanna_be_your_boyfriend.mp3 to judge for yourself (remember you’re gonna want to delete both tracks when finished). Nettwerk honcho Terry McBride is quoted as saying “nothing’s similar,” which is basically a bald-faced lie, as a listen to either track for 30 seconds will reveal that Avril’s chorus of “Hey hey, you you, I don’t like your girlfriend” is indeed “similar” to the Rubinoos’ “Hey hey, you you, I wanna be your boyfriend.”