None more black

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

The last release from Montreal’s brutal blasters the Black Ships, in 2006, had me running around waking the neighbours and kissing babies, but with only six songs on the EP, I was hardly satiated. If you weren’t nimble enough to pick up this slab of heaviness at the time, don’t bother trying to find it now, it’s long out of print. This week, these crusty hardcore hellions release the follow-up Low in less limited quantities, but further the frustration with only four songs this time around. In this case, though, size doesn’t matter. They destroy on all glorious 16 minutes here. Lovingly put out by local label New Romance for Kids, the Black Ships’ Refused/Entombed onslaught is out for blood. If you dig brutal hardcore or metal that isn’t afraid to fire from the gut, this is essential listening. If you weren’t hip enough to catch their record release a couple of weeks back, keep your peepers here for their upcoming show at new hotspot Black Dot.

A whole bunch of bands were forced to cancel shows last weekend due to the hellish snowstorm, including Toronto’s No No Zero, and unfortunately the bad news continues this week with the cancellation of Wolf Eyes side project Hair Police, with Yomul Yuk and Thames, who were all supposed to be at Zoobizarre tonight. It turns out Hair Police declared their tour vehicle useless after a fender-bender in Ohio. Plans to reschedule for a summer date are already underway.

One of the weirdest, and arguably most un-punk trends happening within punk rock right now is the proliferation of cover bands climbing up on stages. If this leaves something of a sour taste in your mouth, buck up and head down to Katacombes on Friday night to check out members of Inepsy, Decontrol and C.C.S.S. when they spike up their ’dos for an evening of Charged G.B.H. classics, under the incredibly unimaginative moniker G.H.B. Given the pedigree of the band and the timeless quality of these U.K. punk legends, this should be a good one.

Wednesday night, March 19, oddly enough, proves to be the busiest of the week with not one but two killer local bills. Mandatory Moustache sustain the success of their previous local series which called Divan Orange home, and move to Club Lambi with their second installment of their new series. CPC Gangbangs, the Cockroaches and the Black Feelings—questions? Best of all, M.M. offer no excuses for cheapskates with a pay-what-you-can policy. In keeping with CPC news, head over to Casa del Popolo this Tuesday to check out members Paul Spence and Roy V. spinning the best in garage, psych and punk rock.

Also on Wednesday night, l’Escogriffe rings in its eighth year of serving up suds and providing one of the best venues in the city. Helping them celebrate at Café Campus are Montreal’s best live band les Breastfeeders and le Kid. Knowing full well that celebrating their anniversary in another bar is just straight-up weird, things move back to Montreal’s best little club after the show for promised debauchery. Congrats, l’Esco, I raise my pint of Boreale Blonde to your great eight and to many more.

LEATHER, BRISTLES AND ACNE…JONATHAN.CUMMINS@GMAIL.COM