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It’s officially the last week of summer, but just because the sun is calling it quits a little earlier every evening doesn’t mean you should too! After all, you wouldn’t want to miss all of the amazing shows Montreal has in store for us this fall.

Stay updated on all the best shows happening each week, right here! And now for this week: 

Thursday, September 19th: The Struts

Rock fans get ready to roll because English glam rock band The Struts will be traveling to Montreal this week to perform as part of the tour for their second album Young & Dangerous. Released last October, it contains two of their lead singles: Body Talks and Primadonna Like Me.

Stylistically The Struts emulate a unique and modern twist on classic rock with a flamboyant 70’s/80’s flair to it. If that sounds at all like your cup of tea, catch them in the act this Thursday, the 19th, at Mtelus Theatre. 

Primadonna Like Me – The Struts

The Struts with Des Rocks play M Telus, 59 Saint-Catherine East, Thursday, September 18, 2019 at 8pm. Tickets available through MTelus

Friday, September 20th: Marie Davidson – Save the Last Dance for Me

Montreal musician Marie Davidson’s music is absolutely brimming with personality. Her style is minimalistic tech house with plenty of synth, drums, and often her own spoken words; at times laughing, singing, chanting, yelling, all coming together to create an absolutely haunting experience of sound.

She’s been touring internationally since the release of her fourth solo album, Working Class Woman, and now she’s back in Montreal to perform as part of the Red Bull Music Festival at Studio Notre Dame this Friday! The show will also include artists such as Afrodeutsche, Solitary Dancer, and more, and tickets are only $20, so don’t miss this opportunity to see what is sure to be a captivating experience. 

The Psychologist from Davidson’s most recent album, Working Class Woman

Red Bull Music Festival presents Marie Davidson: Save the Last Dance For Me at Studio Notre-Dame, 500 Alphonse D Roy, Friday, September 20 at 10pm. Tickets available through the Red Bull Music Festival

Friday, September 20: Big Shiny Tunes Vol. 6 – CJLO Funding Drive 2019 

Come support Concordia University’s one and only radio station for part of the CJLO FUNdrive 2019, celebrating near 20 years of being on air! 17 different Montreal bands will be covering 17 songs from the album Big Shiny Tunes 6, which, if you didn’t already know, is part of a series of rock albums released through MusiquePlus in Quebec in the late 90s.

The event will be taking place at La Vitrola, and will feature a variety of local talent, such as Summerled, Barnacle, and Jon Cohen Ex. Don’t miss the chance to support your local radio, and jam to all your favourite 90s rock throwbacks played by your favourite Montreal bands. 

Big Shiny Tunes 6 is at La Vitrola, 4602 boul St-Laurent, Friday, September 20 at 7:30pm. RSVP on the Facebook event page

Jon Cohen Ex gives us Baby Life

Friday, September 20th: Frankie Cosmos

New York band Frankie Cosmos, fronted by Greta Kline, is everything you could want from indie-folk as a genre. The songs are most often wistfully personal, and emotionally stirring, as if you were listening to the music equivalent of reading Kline’s own diary.

The combination of the seemingly simplistic but conscious lyrical manner along with Kline’s unobtrusive voice achieves a touching clarity in both sound and meaning. Be sure to catch the band at L’astral this Friday, but be prepared to feel some feelings you probably haven’t felt since high school.

  Frankie Cosmos gives you a haircut

Frankie Cosmos with Lina Tullgren and Locate S,1 plays L’Astral, 305 Sainte-Catherine West, Friday, September 20 at 8pm. Tickets available through Evenko

Monday, September 23rd: Mac DeMarco 

Oh Lizard Man, the nightmares you’ve caused…

Canadian singer and songwriter, Mac DeMarco, who is known for his soft psychedelic rock music, kooky personality, the gap between his two front teeth, and the song that will always send me into the depths of my feelings (see below), will be making an appearance at Mtelus on Monday.

Be there or DeMarco will come to your house dressed as the lizard man from his Nobody music video and sing you soft, haunting lullabies while you sleep. 

Sing it with me: alone again!

Mac Demarco with Dustin Wong and Takako Minekawa plays MTelus, 59 Saint-Catherine East, Monday, September 23 at 8pm. Tickets available through MTelus

Are you or your band playing a show in Montreal? Let Lillie know at music@forgetthebox.net. We’ll do our best to include you in an upcoming Shows This Week, but, of course, no promises.

ArtsMusic

Support the local music scene! Go see these shows this week.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25

CJLO 15th/5th Anniversary Party: Wintersleep + Fucked Up + Cadence Weapon @ S.A.T.

It’s a happy 15th/5th birthday this Friday for local indie radio station CJLO 1690 AM. The Concordia University radio station was formed in 1998 and at first could only be heard within the university and online. In 2008, CJLO started broadcasting from 1690 AM which allowed it to reach audiences as far away as Burlington, VT. It has since won a bunch of CMJ awards including “Biggest Champions of the Local Scene” in 2012 and “Station of the Year” in 2010.

For its birthday party, the good people at CJLO have booked a diverse lineup of acclaimed Canadian acts. Starting off the show is Edmonton native Cadence Weapon. The three-time Polaris nominee released Hope In Dirt City a little over a year ago and is currently working on his 5th full-length album here in Montreal.

The second act on the bill is Toronto’s Fucked Up. The hardcore punk outfit won the Polaris prize in 2009 for their opus The Chemistry of Common Life. Although they are considered a punk band, their fresh approach to creating music has allowed them to maintain an originality that is rarer and rarer in the punk and hardcore genres.

Juno Award-winning Wintersleep from Halifax close off the show. In the ten years they’ve been a band, Wintersleep have released five full-length albums, toured across North America, Europe and the United Kingdom, and have performed on The Late Show with David Letterman.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27

King Khan and The Shrines + Hellshovel + Vomit Squad @ La Tulipe

The legendary King Khan and The Shrines are back after a six-year hiatus with their latest release Idle No More. Blending elements of psychedelic, soul, garage rock and R&B, King Khan and The Shrines are a bangin’ musical sensation that is even more fun when experienced live.

Opening are the equally quirky and psychedelic garage-influenced Hellshovel and dummy punk surf rockers Vomit Squad.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29

Yamantaka // Sonic Titan + Tired @ Cabaret du Mile End

The phenomenal Yamantaka // Sonic Titan are releasing their already highly-acclaimed new album UZU on October 29. Their unique blend of indigenous music, performance art, opera, and rock have made them one of the most talked-about bands in the local scene this year. Their live show is an immersive experience, entrancing the listener and making the audience feel like nothing exists outside of the performance.

Photo by L.P. Maurice for POP Montreal

ArtsMusic

CJLO recently launched a compilation album for their artist outreach program – which helps support local artists by recording and promoting their tracks. The launch party was a musical sweat fest. Highlights of the evening were The This Many Boyfriends Club and Blood, two local bands with decidedly different sounds, whose alchemic notes caught our attention. Below is a review of their latest releases along with the debut album of local artist Ari Swan.

Blood – Kasey/Organism and CJLO Compilation 2013

Blood is David Kleiser, Fraser Roodbol (formerly of Annette’s Beach Party), Ben Griffiths, and Andrew Bates. My ears first perked up to their sound during the CJLO launch party when Blood sang “It takes a lot of cum to find the right one”, a lyrically crass image that merges with the psychedelic smoothness of the band’s sound to create a clever insightful image reflecting on the visceral experiences of searching for connection. Their sound is decidedly retro but blends more modern elements towards a sound that’s been absent on the indie scene for quite some time. There’s often a danger when it comes to making music that refers to the rock days of old, but Blood isn’t offering a caricature, they are translating it. Of the four tracks available by Blood, “Teen Jesus” and “Kasey” are the standouts. Overall, this sound’s pretty dope and I look forward to seeing what a full length from these guys will sound like.

See Them:  At CFC on October 31st, they’ll be the dudes dressed up as Neutral Blood Hotel and promise to play two songs from Avery Island and two songs from Aeroplane.

Hear them: http://bloodsongs.bandcamp.com/

http://cjlo1690am.bandcamp.com/music

a0025657284_10This Many Boyfriends Club – Die or Get Rich Trying / A Pumpkin Like You

This Many Boyfriends Club has been pretty darn prolific in the last year coming out with two more EPs. Tracks for “Die or Get Rich Trying”, mixed and mastered by Marshall Vaillancourt  (Archery Guidld), were recorded as part of the CJLO Artist Outreach Program. The Boyfriends thoroughly nailed it when playing the tunes live – giving them an even more ragged edge that I actually prefer to the recorded tracks. That being said, since their Ep Anything Is Popsicle, the Boyfriends have added quite a bit of punk rock to their dandypunk twee pop cake mix. Danger-Winslow Danger’s grittier vocals are a pleasant surprise. Top tracks on Die or Get Rich Trying are “Sylvie” and “Alright/Already”. Available as a B Side on a limited cassette tape edition of Die or Get Rich Trying is a bonus EP A Pumpkin Like You, which feels like a musical step between Anything is Popsicle and Die or Get Rich Trying. A Pumpkin Like You, stronger as a coherent hole than Die or Get Rich Trying, boasts some fun frolicky tracks that are closer to the band’s twee beginnings. Our favourites are “a little fucking candor” and “polly anne marie.”

Hear Them: http://thismanyboyfriendsclub.bandcamp.com/album/die-or-get-rich-trying

See Them: Nov. 2nd at CFC with Smokes and White Like Fire.

a1221310642_2Ari Swan – Symphony Plastique

“I’ll build you a symphony, if only you’d ask” says Ari Swan’s page. Well, we’re definitely gonna be asking (politely of course) now that we’ve heard Swan’s debut album.

I first heard of Ari Swan when she played with Gabrielle Papillion, one of my favourite Canadian folk artists. Upon further research, it’s pretty clear to me that Swan has got quite a bit of experience under her belt including Folly and the Hunter, Little Scream, Heirloom, Lakes of Canada, and Chimneys. Recently, Ari Swan has released Symphony Plastique, an EP of her solo project and it’s pretty darn rad. Violin driven pop is a hard thing to pull off, I’ll admit it’s something I often find overbearing, but Ari Swan does it masterfully and with charm. Recorded by Jamie Thompson (Unicorns), Symphony Plastique seems to have been a two person album with Ari Swan on violin and vocals and Thompson on percussion and effects. A two person art pop symphony that weaves loops and experiments with all the things a violin and a voice can do. Impressive, very impressive. “I’ve Come with Nothing” and “Words that Follow” are our favourites.

Hear Her:http://ariswan.bandcamp.com/album/symphony-plastique