Capricious militia

Three cheers for Pom Pom War’s
dangerous dance-punk

FUN WITH A ROUGHER EDGE: Pom Pom War

by ERIK LEIJON

Exploding vigorously from the collective ashes of local electro projects Dusti and Hightops comes Pom Pom War, a brother-sister entry into the moog-licious set of danceable post-punk acts currently waging battle against the city’s uptight, arms-crossed masses.

“I got sick of doing it all on my own,” says frontman/beatmaker Nicholas Dostie—who along with sister Caroline forms Pom Pom War’s vocal section—in reference to his previous incarnation as one-man band Dusti. “I was basically doing karaoke on my own tracks. Pom Pom War is not a complete change since it’s still electro, but the guitar and drums add more of a trashy side to it.”

This isn’t the first time Nicholas and Caroline Dostie have collaborated together musically. They were roommates during the heydays of Dusti and Hightops, with Nicholas occasionally crossing over to his sister’s recording area to help out with the making of the Hightops record.

Now a quartet boasting guitarist Jonathan Bouchard and drummer Roberto Parada, Pom Pom War have been dropping sonic booms on Montreal concert-goers since 2007, including a raucous, rain-drenched set at last year’s Divers Cité, crowd pile-ups at Barfly and many a night at the late Zoobizarre. Dostie takes pride in the band’s live energy, as he does the band’s entire aesthetic, which really only started to come together after coming up with the Pom Pom War name. They’d adopted a tribal look for their early shows, complete with battle-ready facepaint, and in their upcoming shows will be sporting turbans in an attempt to capture a more “Middle Eastern warrior” vibe.

“We do get sick of different looks,” he says, “but we’ll always go with the war aspect. Pom Pom War describes us perfectly, it’s about mixing fun with a rougher edge. We like the idea of ridiculing war.”

This April, they’ll finally be releasing their debut nine-track EP, the self-produced Allez! Prenez leurs armes. Lyrically, the group was inspired by b-movies and all things nonsensical, which perhaps explains why they have a song called “Automatic Bomb Woman.”

“It’s a kamikaze robot,” Dostie explains. “With all our songs, we really just love telling stories that are crazy and don’t make any sense.”

WITH KILL THE LIGHTS AT CLUB LAMBI
TONIGHT, THURSDAY, FEB. 25, 9 P.M., $6