Amenra – AMENRA!

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

Okay, I usually list these upcoming show thingies chronologically, but this week, the first show announcement is also the raddest. For the love of Mickey Mouse, Allah and all the children in the orphanage, you are not to miss the Amenra show at Katacombes tonight, Thursday, Feb. 19. These Belgian heavy hitters perfectly meld the psychedelic overtones and intensity of a young and crusty Neurosis with the epic panorama of Oceanic-era Isis, while also leading the pack in modern psych, albeit heavy-as-fuck psych. This could very well be the heaviest show of the year, or at least, give the upcoming Acid Mothers Temple show a run for its money, for those who like their fucked-up jams slow and low, loud and long. Putting their thumbs on the heaviosity scale tonight are Amenra’s tourmates, Atlanta’s Zoroaster, whose pummelling, brutal doom dirge is guaranteed to cave in you cranium. Sealing the night hermetically are local openers Expectorated Sequence and Dopethrone. Go to myspace.com/amenra right now and worship!

Over at Lambi on Friday night, you can check out Zeroes, who launch their debut EP. Made up of members of Kill the Lights, Young Galaxy and Land of Talk, it would be easy to just simply write Zeroes off as another Pitchfork-friendly band, given their shoegazing pedigree and penchant for quirky hairpin turns, but if that were indeed the case, I would hardly be spilling some ink on them here (sorry, not a big fan of Pitchfork-approved bands). More like a condensed and popified version of Oneida or a trippier version of their day-job bands. Hell, what do I know? I only listen to bands that wear corpse paint, so just go see them yourselves and come up with your own snazzy and hip comparisons. Opening up the night will be Little Scream and Special Noise.

Saturday afternoon, you finally get your chance to unload those Body Count and S.O.D. records that have been taking up valuable space in your collection in exchange for some grade-A stacks of wax at the second installment of the Punk Record Swap at Casa del Popolo, from 1–7 p.m. Alongside the records, there will also be a mountain of zines, CDs, DVDs, shirts and more, and who knows, maybe you’ll stumble on some dusty copies of Negative Approach’s first single or the ever-elusive the Fix seven-inch.

Saturday night proves to be quite a coin toss for the heavy psych head as Montreal’s hardest working collective, Red Mass, kick out the family jams at Divan Orange with Toronto’s Creeping Nobodies and Slim Twig, while Witch (featuring Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis on drums) smoke some bad banana peels at les Saints. Giving the Witch gig a bit more of an advantage are the epic guitar solos of Earthless. Their 2007 two-song long-player, Rhythms From a Cosmic Sky, is still a regular spin at my house, and the drumming of ex-Rocket From the Crypt/Hot Snakes trap man Mario Rubalcaba should make this a no-brainer. If you suffer from jam-o-phobia, better skip this night, but those of you whose primary source of nourishment is unbaked cookie dough better load up the bong for this one.

VALHALLA, I AM COMING…
JONATHAN.CUMMINS@GMAIL.COM