Minnesota Hardcore leaves that bogus Disney Sex Pistols biopic in the dust

My love of the Sex Pistols knows no bounds, and can only be met in equal parts of my total hatred of biopics, which means I have successfully avoided the Disney sponsored (?) Pistol pic. I assume I will eventually chance upon it, but until I admit defeat, I’ve been plugging into something a little different on YouTube, which I’m sure is light years better. The Minneapolis affiliate of PBS has been weekly dropping a series entitled Minnesota Hardcore that has me all gaga. True, anything to do with early ’80s hardcore gets me doing the electric boogaloo all over town but this series is so well done, I’m sure there will be plenty here for all, even those who don’t like their rock played at blistering light speeds. Although the series concentrates (four episodes so far) mainly on the Minnesota scene of the early Reagan years, anybody who has burrowed deep into any type of community amongst an underground scene is guaranteed to walk away with something here. Peep the first episode and thank me later. 

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While you’re getting your YouTube on, peep the new major rager Perestroika video for “Distraction” that was just released (directed by boss hoss and Priors duder Alan Hildebrant). It’s fucking great!

As far as the gigs this week, my big pick is unsurprisingly pointing to the Suoni per il Popolo festival, which will be hanging up their Chuck Taylors for another year. Hopefully you got some Suoni in this year but they are definitely going out with a bang, so check the listing on Monday. Also, fans of atmospheric black metal and other darkened tremolo-picked evilness will want to check out the announcements for tonight as well as some seriously epic black/death metal from Denmark later in the week.

Thursday: If you’re getting hot under the collar with the mere mention of black metal, you’ll want to trod down to clothing brand and venue Ye Olde Turbo Haüsen to catch the melee of No Fun City’s Svneatr with the Montreal beatdown of the band that shares a name with an Ikea hat rack, Maeskyyrn. Those wacky rascals in Ignominy will be taking up the sweat act. 2040 St-Denis, 7 p.m., $15

Friday: Turbo Haüs is once again the place where it all happens when kooky Montreal band Gutser celebrate their 800th Turbo show. If you were Norbert whose prom night consisted of taking your cousin as a last minute date — here’s your second chance. The fine furry folks from Gutser are asking all patrons to dress up in formal prom attire and encourage the ancient prom practice of holding heads of their dates who will dutifully puke before the clock even strikes nine ‘o clock. Now, it wouldn’t be a proper prom with out teeth rattling power violence so the masters at Maxxpower have cooked up a 200-song set list that will overstay its welcome at the 10-minute mark. Opening up for these fun slugs will be Boring Girls, who will be serving up the good ol’ hardcore punk just like Momma used to bake.

Once again, if you bring watermelon Powerade for the staff of “Da Turb” then resident curmudgeon Sergio will promise to water your plants while you’re away on vacation. Whattaguy!!! 2040 St-Denis, 8 p.m., $15/$10 if dressed in prom attire

Saturday: So you made it out to Turbo Haüs on Thursday night to catch the black/death metal rage of Svneatr, but demand more sinister blast beats? Well ol’ man Johnson has got ya covered, Poindexter. If you thought Ste-Catherine is just about Nick Cave exhibitions and horrendous fashion sense, ya better think again cause Piranha Bar is playing host to the the blackened death doom of Denmark’s Hexis, who will utterly destroy with the metallic hardcore of Montreal’s Deathnap, opening alongside the Listener and Trauma Model. If Montreal’s love of all dark, epic, violent and brooding sounds is any indication, then this gig should be packed to the tits. 680 Ste-Catherine W., 7 p.m., $16.93

Monday: Hexis’s bludgeoning beatdown is a serious contender for my big pick of the week, but Suoni is going out in a blaze of glory with possibly the best band that could musically encapsulate the fest’s sonic lineage. Headed up by Suoni fave and serious brass blaster Mats Gustafsson, the trio Fire! (rounded off by bassist Johan Berthling and drummer Andreas Werling) will devastate the Sala. Comfortable in improv settings as well as composition, the band lets the cars crash head-on with noise, psych, free jazz and rock and what crawls from the wreckage is anybody’s guess. This gig should possess everything Suoni has always been about. 4848 St-Laurent, 8 p.m., $20/$27

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