This week there is plenty of great music to check out in Montreal. We’ve got indie emo rock, relatable non-bubblegum, hard rock and even a burlesque show (not technically a music show, but it still fits).

Let’s get started:

Sounds Of Melancholy: Ziggi Jadovsky To Hit The Stage

In a world spurred on by the likes of Instagram, where it’s almost a sin to not be happy shiny people 24/7, a breath of fresh air has finally appeared. Ziggi Jadovsky is her name. And she’s The Genuine Article.

She’s caught the attention of the press without any record label support or artist development team. Her voice has been described in the press as otherworldly, genuine, magical, beautiful, and a world class stand out.

For those of us who are tired of hearing the bubble gum pop lyrics of meaninglessness, you are going to love the title of her first single. Wait for it. Morning Dread. Something a lot of us can relate to:

“I noticed I felt more vulnerable to self-defeating thoughts when I first wake up and heard others mention they felt the same, so when the words to the song arrived in my head one morning, I knew I had to get them down. I get lots of conspiratorial nods and nervous giggles of recognition when I perform Morning Dread and felt it time to finally give it a visual treatment to share with a wider audience.”

Her songs address issues like grief, fighting negative self-talk with an encompassing air of nostagia. She’s backed by a jazz rock trio backline of musicians with a cohesive sound that’s reminiscent of Jefferson Airplane, Tim Buckley, Hiatus Kaiyote, and Billie Holiday.

The Ziggi Jadovksy video release party is at Théâtre Sainte Catherine, 264 Ste-Catherine Est, Friday, April 20, 5pm-7pm. Free

Indie Rock Emo Spring Tour Lands In Montreal

Southwest indie rock band Lydia graces the stage in Montreal this week. The band’s popularity has risen over the years thanks to MTV and Yahoo Music giving a lot of playtime to their single When It Gets Dark Out. The hard working band has played to massive crowds at Vans Warped Tour and Bamboozle Festival.

When asked about their songwriting process, frontman/guitarist Leighton Antelman had this to say:

“Lydia’s main goal is to evoke emotion – no matter what emotion it is. I don’t care what specific feeling that is…it just has to pull on some things inside you, change your DNA around for a bit. That’s how a song makes the cut or gets thrown to the curb these days. If what you do can make the audience feel genuine emotions, I think you’ve done your job.”

Emo Pop Punk outfit Moose Blood will be headlining the show. They’ve been compared to Brand New, The Get Up Kids, and Amercican Football. The band members starting honing their skills in metalcore bands like Burn Down Rome and Harbours, but eventually gravitated to more singing and melody.

Their first EP reached number 45 on the Billboards Heatseekers Chart. They’ve entertained big crowds at Warped Tour, Reading and Leeds. They will be promoting their freshly released album I Don’t Think I Can Do This Anymore released last month.

Moose Blood and Lydia perform at Théâtre Fairmount, 5240 Ave du Parc, Thursday, April 19, 8pm. Tickets are $26 and available through the Fairmount box office

Barfly Is For Debauchery

Come see some amped up live rock n roll at Barfly, make sure to get there early as the pub packs up fast and it’s a small space. Local rockers Dead Messenger and Half Measures will be sharing the sage with Mad Ones from Toronto to rock your socks off.

Dead Messenger, Mad Ones and Half Measures perform at Barfly, 4062A Boul St-Laurent, Saturday, April 21, 10pm. PWYC

 

Candyass Cabaret

Okay, so this one’s not a music show, but by all indications it will rock, as burlesque shows in this city generally do. Since the sister column to this one, Arts Shows This Week, is on a bit of a hiatus, we’ll talk about April’s Candyass Cabaret (there’s a new one the third Friday of every month) here instead.

The theme this time seems to be the vernal equinox (even though that was last month, but it took a while for spring to arrive) and the lineup features Candyass veterans Damiana Dolce, Roxie Hardon and Nat King Pole. The host is Jimmy Phule. If you’ve never been to one of these shows, what are you waiting for? The autumnal equinox?

Candyass Cabaret: Vernal Delights is at Café Cléopatra, 1230 Boul St-Laurent, 2nd Floor, Friday, April 20, 10pm. Tickets are $10

* Featured image: ziggijadovsky.com

* Know a band or an artist that should be featured in Shows This Week? Maybe a show FTB should cover, too? Let us know at music@forgetthebox.net. Our week goes from Thursday to Wednesday, so let us know by the preceding Sunday, though not too much in advance, or you may get lost in the shuffle. We can’t be everywhere and can’t write about everything, but we do our best!

After previewing a bunch of shows for Porchfest last week, for this installment we move back into the more conventional venues where there’s some seriously cool performances going down. Whether it’s surf, psych, punk or for a cause, be prepared for a whole lot of rock n’ roll coming your way.

La Luz and Las Rosas

On Monday, Seattle based rockers La Luz are coming to town to give us a good dose of doo wop vocals on top of some seriously mellow surf drip.

While the classic surf sound regularly relegates vocals to catchy one liners, this is not the case with La Luz. Soaring over top all that warm fuzzy reverb you can hear four part vocal harmonies that make this band something very new and different within the genre.

Joining them will be Brooklyn natives (and this week’s coolest band you’ve probably never hear of) Las Rosas. This psych rock trio will suck you in with a mix of trippy riffs and deep grooves setting the table for some very catchy vocals.

These two acts compliment each other quite nicely making this a must see for those who like to go out on Mondays!

La Luz and Las Rosas play Bar le Ritz PDB , 179 Jean-Talon O., Monday, May 16th, 9:30pm (Doors 9pm), $12. Tickets available through ticketsfly or at the door $18, 18+.

 

Benefit Show for Denis Poitras

If you’re looking for something to do tonight then head over to Katacombs where Le Collectif Stompin’ Trees, Tantquàyêtre, Tempête and Micro Armés will be playing some good music for a good cause.

In 2013 lawyer Denis Poitras had to file for bankrupcy due to the fact that he had taken on too many pro bono cases following the the 2012 student strike. Poitras is now back on his feet but he needs to raise $6700 to re-register with the Quebec bar.

This show hopes to raise as much (if not all) of the money needed. With a suggested donation of $10 to $6700 you can pay what you can and catch some good tunes in the process.

Le Collectif Stompin’ Trees, Tantquàyêtre, Tempête and Micro Armés  play Coop Katacombes, 1635 Boul. Saint-Laurent,  Thursday, May 12th, 9:oopm (Doors 8pm), pay what you can at the door, 18+.

Dead Messenger and Eddie Paul

For those looking for a night of “Rock ‘N’ Roll fury” you’ll want to head over to La Vitrola this Friday (the 13th muahahahah) to catch Dead Messenger and Eddie Paul.

Followers of the Montreal punk scene are already well aware of Dead Messenger (making them this week’s coolest band you have heard of!) and their ability to put on a killer live show. Adding to the evening is the fact that they are set to release their new album The Owl in Daylight on May 30th meaning there’s a very good chance you’ll get to hear some new material.

They’ve already put out two singles, here’s the video for the track In the Dark. 

Making it all the better is that they’ve added well known Montrealer (and good friend of FTB) Eddie Paul to the lineup. Having seen Eddie live a few times I would say he’s a personal favorite of mine since his shows always seem to have an energy that gets passed on to the crowd throughout the performance.

 

Dead Messenger and Eddie Paul play La Vitrola, 4602 St-Laurent, Friday, May 13th, 9:oopm, 18+.

* Featured image of La Luz playing at Pop Montreal by Bianca Lecompte