Fuck Montreal

From the beautiful f**king mess of Benoit Poirier:
Mess Folk: It’s the summer, it’s hot and you’re still in that bar. You know it’s gonna hurt tomorrow and you’re gonna cure it with cold beans and leftovers. The band’s sludgy garage rock sounds like having cans of beer poured into your ears. You wake up hungover, drink your Gatorade way too fast and flip the tape. Fuck Montreal make the bells toll and paraphrase a headache in which tribal chants and creepy nursery rhymes intertwine in a confused mass over spooky grunge riffs. They might try to scare you, but you’re there to show them that you’re kinda tuff and that you fight fire with fire – and that the more it hurts, the less it hurts. - Weird Canada

Hometown: Halifax, NS

Background/Composition:
Fuck Montreal are a four-piece garage/lo-fi group with hands down the best name in the festival. They have a penchant for switching instruments and singers, and a sound that is dangerously close to irritating.

Grade: 80

Comment:
I spent most of the set trying to figure out if lead singer Jenna Empey's voice was annoying or perfect (I still don't know). Either way, she gives it her all, wailing through each distortion-heavy song. While disorientation may have been the goal, the performance certainly felt a bit scatterbrained.

Achievement of Rock 'n' Roll Expectations
80-100: Exceeds skill and knowledge expectations, i.e. rocked us so hard we peed our pants.
70-79: Achieves required skills and knowledge. Meets rock 'n' roll standard.
60-69: Demonstrates some skills. Approaches rock 'n' roll standard.
50-59: Demonstrates some required skills and knowledge in a limited way.
00-50: Has not demonstrated required skills or knowledge.

Learning Skills: E=Excellent, G=Good, S=Satisfactory, N=Sad Really

Oral And Visual Communication
Eye Contact: E
Pronunciation: G
Stage Presence: E
Stage Banter: G
Image: E
Appearance: E
Use Of Stage: G

Strengths/Weaknesses/Next Step:
Something about the introduction "We're Fuck Montreal, we're from Halifax," is damn near poetic. And while they weren't quite unruly, they were clearly passionate and enjoying themselves onstage.

Musical Analysis
Level Of Participation: E
Problem Solving: E
Teamwork: E
Work Habits: E
Organization: G
Audience Participation: G
Sound: E
Composition: E
Songs: E

Strengths/Weaknesses/Next Step:
Vocals aside, the most noticeable piece of the sizzle was the squeaky-clean bass that carried several of the songs, overpowering the distorted often high-pitched guitar. The keyboard also played a secondary role, at one point prompting an audience member to yell for them to turn it up.

Other Skills And Areas Of Interest
Charisma: G
Problem Solving: E
Teamwork: G
Sexiness: G
Haircut: G
Indie Rock Footwear: E
Nods To Disposible Fashion: E
Cool Equipment: G
Level Of Inebriation: G
Actual Ability: E

Strengths/Weaknesses/Next Step:
It might be too soon to tell, but with a bit of work, it looks like there could be a bright future for Fuck Montreal. - chart attack

"...so I'll instead tip my cap to a few of my faves: "Knife Fuck" by Fuck Montreal (who are just a terrific little band, btw) might be what it would sound like if Satan worshipers infiltrated the Brill Building for a few minutes then filtered it with mid-'90s crud guitar scuzz (I mean all of that in a good way and, in fact, this is probably my favourite song on the tape)" - Living Wrong

"Prolific local experimentalists Fuck Montreal are officially releasing their first 7” this Thursday (TONIGHT) at Gus’ along with the Scoop Outs, ECT and The Bad Motels. The record, titled Winter Mange, is being released by Stumparumper Records out of New York City and is unique in that it’s a long-player with 7 songs and nearly 15 minutes of music. Bang for your buck or what? The band also boasts a new lineup, with founding duo Alex Currie and Jenna Empey joined by Jonathan Carroll on bass and Blair Smith on drums. And, naturally, there’s many other projects on the horizon, including an upcoming split cassette with Mess Folk and a 12” vinyl called Lost at Sea." - The Coast

"...Fuck Montreal are a band with many faces, many sounds, none more startlingly satanic than daad is dead, Jenna Empey sounds downright possessed. Screaming vocals and meatgrinder organ carries the song into a dissassembled like piano concerto and the horror circus continues. The duo channel the ghost of daniel johnston for a while until the noise takes control followed by psychosemantic plastered grunge goth with plenty of brickwall tracks low in the mix. The side continues with a scribbler style noise interlude (think scannopapia). Empey sounds more like a witch than a demon near the end, shrieking instead of screaming. A really unique vocal approach which makes for an intense performnce. A folky stomp rounds out the side with guest appearances by Chief Thundercloud and Appleman there is plenty of vocal talent to go around. Band guitarist, Alex Currie, known for electrifying lead guitar plays hardly any lead and lends to air to occultist mysticism and backyard parables."
- The Radiator Collective

The unfortunately-named Stumparumper Records has made it their mission to release a wide variety of unknown and maligned bands through its short existence, the most recent being that of Nova Scotian band Fuck Montreal. My political views are staunchly pro-Montreal, yet something about Fuck Montreal’s spazzy attack makes me want to keep this one rather than flip (out my window into Ralph’s Italian Restaurant’s dumpster). An LP would drive me nuts, but the seven songs they squeezed here run the gamut from squirrelly punk rock to introspective, half-baked drone, all with a female singer who sounds like she’s been dying to get a microphone in front of her face since she first learned to talk. Reminds me of all those weirder mid-90s Recess Records bands, like Les Turds or Annie & Candy Clutz or Chickenhead, bands who used punk rock as an excuse to bother their friends and neighbors (a reasoning I applaud). And by the time I noticed that the last track is titled “I Pour Bees On Myself”, Fuck Montreal have won me over. - Yellow Green Red

From what I assume is a less rural area of Canada comes this brashly monikered group. This 7" has 7 songs (one for each inch!) that each average about a minute long. The band sounds cranky and craggy from the getgo; during opener "Alarm Clock", singer Jenna Empey sounds like her alarm clock just woke her up from a nightmare. "France 1954" takes the energy of the first track and channels it into a hotrodding beach-punk cruiser, maybe like a more antsy version of Best Coast. The title track has a bit of a trashy lo-fi version of a bouncy "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da" vibe, until the singer gets a bit pissed off and starts shrieking. A song with a bit of an Eastern drone flavor called "Pluto" drags the side to an end.

Flip the record over and you get a lovely, scared, sparse ballad called "The Rabbits" which ends after like 40 seconds. Criminal. This is followed by "Beachglass", a longer, drumless song with vocals by a male singer who reminds me of the guy from Geggy Tah (yes, the '90s alt-rock one hit wonder whose singer sounded like Kermit The Frog). The record ends with a curious number called "I Pour Bees On Myself", in which Jenna sings about a bizarre dream over a distorted organ.

At least half a dozen listens in and I'm still not sure what to make of this record. It's very messy, a bit creepy, a little charming, kind of annoying, but definitely curious and unique. The biggest question of all, though: what exactly do they have against Montreal, anyway? 6/10 -- Paul Simpson (16 June, 2010)
- Foxy Digitalis

Massive EP from these Canadian Halifaxers up today from Stumparumper.
You know, googling Fuck Montreal isn't easy, there's a lot of anger towards the place I thought was doing pretty well, music-wise...I'm assuming it has something to do with some sports bullshit, but maybe for this band it's a purely sexual thing towards the city. Or there is a huge feud with Halifax and Montreal...maybe Montreal is Canada's Seattle...Yea, fuck Seattle. Nice.

'Alarm Clock' the first track on the A-Side: I remember going to their myspace a year back when Pat announced he might be pressing a single from these guys and liking them immediately. It had a little bit of the synth-punk sound I've been missing since '06, but then there was a kind of Blood on the Wall, indie 90's filter of anything goes. This EP only takes their influences even crazier places, and baffles expectation.

France 1954: I'm getting it now, these guys are like the Swirlies...taking weirdo chances on crazy sounds. Fuck Montreal has more of an edge though, not so twee, but that could just be history looking unfavorably on the Swirlies, I still love them. The drum machine rhythm track is great, her echo vocals here are calling up a little YYY's feel, but with their old experimental wacko sounds they used to embrace more. My favorite, but nothing like anything else on the single.
'Winter mange' then goes, believe it or not... 90's grunge. Heavy Harvey Milk-style sustained guitars, but they never had vocals like this bratty punk. It's even Mudhoney...that superfuzz bigmuff era. Trying to be heavier than anything else. Fuck Montreal have no fear, and no definitive sound. I love a band like this taking huge chances, alienating an audience. Like this video for 'Bucket of Blood'...they certainly aren't vegetarian...but it's always in a way that makes sense. Chickens are delicious...just raise them responsibly, and kill them humanely. It's really not so crazy....but as a video...well, they have view and it might not end up being so popular...but maybe that's the set up with a band name like 'Fuck Montreal'... They're good.
This could be a B-Side on an old Sonic Youth single, with Kim Gordon loosing her shit, FM's lady is a mix of an angry KG and Karen O on this one, they're freaking chameleons.

Pluto changes gears yet again to a sludgy psyche experiment...even though they are everywhere stylistically on this EP, and it's all intelligently done. Huge gong and tambourine...the whole thing is just hanging from a plodding beat, and again, Jenn or Blair (not sure, I think it's the same vocalist throughout) took this tiny bit of a groove and worked it into a creepy melancholy melody. This one my favorite, forget what I said before.

The B-Side then says 'Oh you thought that first side was interesting?... Well that was our pop side.'
'The Rabbits' actually gets all sad, the acoustic tone, and bare minimal percussion, thin organ...I think she's actually singing about a garden? Jesus...it's like the second coming of the Unicorns! I've made far too many comparisons to other bands, but you can't pick just one...there's so many great things going on here.
Then 'Beachglass' is one of the guy members goes a capella with a slow solo piano, and a few triangle hits are all it takes to bring everyone down.
'I pour Bees on myself', has crazy acoustics, there's a wind instrument played a couple notes back and forth while Jenna or Blair sings in a bathroom. The tracks get layered from the oboe someone had in the closet. It dies in the end.

I had no choice but to mention every track, otherwise you wouldn't believe me.

This is that band I always wanted to be in, where everyone brings a bunch of weird shit to the table, no judgements, no predetermined direction...but everyone has a great kind of songwriting sensibility to combine into something, not groundbreaking in little pieces, but as a whole band it would never have happened any other way.

I got one of the swirly red ones...not sure if any of these are left, but head over to Stumparumper and pick this up (for just 3.50$!), or better yet go pledge on his kickstarter page, it's going to be the same with shipping so support this label putting out gems like this. It's an insanely mature and varied release for essentially a band playing with rock archetypes, but honestly one of these will get you. I can't imagine a full length. Deerhoof is consistent compared to these guys.

"Winter Mange" is Fuck Montreal's debut vinyl release after countless previous releases on just about every other kind of media available (tape, cdr, vhs, who knows what else?), and it's a stunner. Over 14 minutes of music is crammed onto this small platter, taking full advantage of a format that is too often relegated to carrying 4 minutes of music...TOTAL. This is rare music - it comes from a space that you or I can't know...it has always been here, and will still be around for download after everyone's gone. There is nothing in the way except the sound. - 7 Inches blogspot

"while Halifax-based Fuck Montreal come across like a fascinatingly gothy lo-fi girl group on the perversely catchy "Knife Fuck"...Fuck Winter: A Scotch Summer Mixtape, the first-ever Scotch Tapes comp, is the only one of these three releases available exclusively on cassette. Fittingly, then, it's also the most in tune with the experimental and noise inclinations that kept the format alive in the underground prior to its recent mini-resurgence. Run by Al Bjornaa out of Batchawana Bay, Ontario, Scotch Tapes has put out a tape by Oneida and a 7" by Mike Watt project Al Qaeda, among other releases. Limited to 250 copies, Fuck Winter covers a lot of range in 23 tracks." - Pitchfork