10 punk, metal & rock shows this week

He Man metal, death rock, punk, psych, thrash and the grand opening of a new watering hole — here’s all that’s good and heavy over the next seven days.

facebook (379x464)This week of gigs may seem a bit sluggish compared to last week’s breakneck flurry of shows but it’s not just quantity that counts. Fans of modern psych are sure to find some jewels after the weekend and towards the middle of the week.

Thursday: If you lament the heyday of early West Coast punk rock, à la early output from Dangerhouse Records, catch Kansas City’s Lazy with Melted Faces and Paul Jacobs at glorious garageland l’Esco. 4467 St-Denis, 9 p.m., $5

Also, don’t miss the grand opening of the bar/venue you will be spending a lot of time in, Bar le “Ritz” PDB, which officially opens its doors tonight with DJs Pas Cha, Noah Bick and Brant Borshart. 179 Jean-Talon W., 9 p.m.

Saturday: For a night of He Man metal, head to Metropolis to see Amon Amarth and Sabaton but make sure you get there early to check out the thrash metal riffs of Skeletonwitch. 59 Ste-Catherine E.,

If the He Man metal tag kind of threw you off there, you might prefer the death rock/post-punk sounds of Brazil’s Rakta with Cottaging, JLK and the Morning Breath and the expert minimalist sounds of local duo Effett Werther at Casa. 4873 St-Laurent, 9 p.m., $6

Sunday: What could easily prove to be one of the best gigs this week would be Sub Pop superstar King Tuff with ex-Vivian Girl Cassie Ramone and the new kids on the psych/pop page Beat Cops at the newly christened Bar le “Ritz” P.D.B. (which will forever be known as P.D.B. in this column from now on as – I am very lazy. 179 Jean-Talon W., 9 p.m., $13/$15

Monday: If you went to Amon Amarth on Saturday, you may want to keep banging at Foufs for a night of metalcore and straight-up molten metal with Unearth, Darkest Hour, Carnifex, Origin, I The Breather, Black Crown Initiate and King Parrot. Yeesh, a seven-band metal bill. Godspeed, metal warriors, and bring earplugs. 87 Ste-Catherine E., 6:30 p.m., $20/$25

Tuesday: Sideman to Kurt Vile Steve Gunn is one of the most superlative guitar pickers happening and his recent foray into songwriting should make his local stop at Casa a much-ballyhooed affair. If you can find it, check out one of his earliest records Sundowner on Digitalis Recordings. Opening is Mary Lattimore with engineering genius Jeff Zeigler and Caro Piaro. 4873 St-Laurent, 8:30 p.m., $10

Wednesday: Modern psych heads are definitely going to want to get liquefied to the meandering lo-fi sonic assault of Ty Segall collaborator Tim Presley’s White Fence with King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and Corridor opening, at PDB. 179 Jean-Talon W., 9 p.m., $12/$15

This is going to be a hard one for the psych heads to choose from as down the street from PDB is the prog/improvpsych freak-outs of the cloaked crew Secret Chiefs 3 with Cleric at la Vitrola. 4602 St-Laurent, 9 p.m., $20

For a night of bleak and brutal beat downs you can make it to Sala to catch Swedish industrial band Brighter Death Now with Deutsch Nepal, Raison d’être, Lussuria and S/V\R.  4848 St-Laurent, 7 p.m., $15

 

Current obsession: Pink Floyd, A Saucerful of Secrets

jonathan.cummins@gmail.com