Know your roots

We’re on the cusp of the lumbering behemoth that is the action-packed Pop Montreal festival, and local stages seem to cower in its looming shadow around this time, only rearing their heads once the dust has settled in mid-October, but this week throws a wrench in the works and comes out sluggin’.

Starting tonight don’t miss the bizarre merging of equal parts GG Allin and Gene Simmons when the one-man dynamo Corpusse blows some lids, with the new-wave-of-British-heavy-metal gallop of Mad Parish opening, at the Green Room. For some shearing and demented noise, look no further than the good ol’ Casa del Popolo for Black Mammoth, High Rise II, Velvet Chrome and Dirty Beaches. The more subdued among you may want to lace up your marching boots and make it down to Il Motore for the twisted Eastern European sounds of A Hawk and a Hacksaw with ex-Galaxie 500 band Damon and Naomi. Friday night is one of my picks of the week when our furry friends at Unsound present the epic goth/neo-classical/modern chamber ensemble Amber Asylum with Longing for Dawn at Katacombes. If your attention span is more of a blip, don’t miss local no-wavers Shortpants Romance poking and provoking with Skip Jensen at Casa.

Saturday night is my second pick of the week when Sleepy Sun, Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound and Black Mystic fry your little brains to bits with some serious heavy psych. For the riff hounds out there, check out the rockin’ night cooked up by local zine DG-OD when they bring in Ohio’s Luxury Pushers and let them bang heads alongside Kitchener/Waterloo’s Saigon Hookers, with 10 tons of riffage from 69 Sins and Monroe added for your pleasure, at Katacombes. For something a bit more earthy, check out original U.K. psych-folk head Simon Finn launching his third record since 1969, Rats Laugh Mice Sing, at Casa del Popolo with openers Enfant Magique adding to the vibrations.

On Sunday night, the one and only place to be is la Sala Rossa to catch the current toast of L.A., Health, laying down the noise/pop law with Pictureplane and the current toast of Montreal, Black Feelings.

On Tuesday, you can check out no-wave noiseniks Many Mental Mistakes, who get way off the beaten path and freak out the regular folk at Piranha Bar, with the dementia of Phil Console and DJ Pat Meteor of Demon’s Claws ruling the turntables. While you’re in the hood for the MMM show, you can make an evening of it and check out the rock doc Let Them Know: The Story of Youth Brigade and B.Y.O. Records at Concordia University (1515 Ste-Catherine W., room 1.615) at 8:30 p.m. If you’re suitably stoked on the flick, you can also check out the actual band, Youth Brigade, on Wednesday when they take the penultimate slot at the Bouncing Souls show, with openers Saint Alvia and Off With Their Heads, at Foufounes Électriques (natch!).

SINK WITH CALIFORNIA… JONATHAN.CUMMINS@GMAIL.COM