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Ever since the success of their single “Bridges”, from their debut album Evergreen, released in 2014, New Zealand music duo BROODS has held a special place in the indie and electropop scenes. Their music has seen itself evolve from having an airy, tranquil, and soothing ambiance, to a confident and powerful rebirth in their album Conscious, to a flip to colorful and vibrant 80s sounds in their latest album Don’t Feed the Pop Monster, which came out in February 2019. Despite the variety of sounds they have experimented with over the years, everything they have released is guaranteed to start a dance party.

The show opened with British band Bad Sounds, and they were a perfect way to warm up the crowd for the main act. They had a cool retro vibe, and they brought subtle undertones of jazz, hip hop, 80s pop, and punk to their general indie sound. As in any show where the audience doesn’t know the opening act, the crowd seemed unresponsive to them at first, but soon enough, the vibrancy and catchiness of their songs brought people to their feet, genuinely enjoying the music. The feel-good experience uplifted the audience’s mood, and their use of grungy mic feedback and distortion threw everyone right back to a 90s local garage band show, leaving the crowd wanting more after their short set. Needless to say, Bad Sounds were my unexpected - but very pleasant - music discovery of the night.

By the time BROODS came to the stage, the crowd had grown to fill out the whole venue, and everyone cheered as the lights went dark and the first few notes of “Sucker” came on. Georgia, the lead singer, arrived on stage wearing a bright red cowboy hat, an accessory very representative of the shift of the band’s music towards more dynamic tones. As opposed to their performances in previous tours, they played around with echo, reverb, and canon-sounding voices, which gave off very strong house music vibes and made for a cool enveloping experience. The continuous transitions both in sound and lighting between each song were smooth and beautiful, adding to the emotional feel of their set. On top of that, Georgia’s stage presence and energy were incredible and had the whole crowd captivated.

As a long time fan of BROODS, I couldn’t help but notice a change in the audience’s attitude as the band started playing a distorted and remixed version of their song “Superstar”, which was released in their first album. This was the fourth song of the set, but the first one where every single person was singing along and knew every lyric. Despite the liveliness of their newer content, songs from the last two albums were really what awakened the crowd and brought it to life - by the second song they played from their previous album, people were dancing energetically and screaming the lyrics. It was truly heartwarming to see and feel that everyone in the crowd was a long time fan of BROODS, which made the atmosphere ever more special.

“It’s time to party,” said Georgia with a laugh before closing the show with the last few songs. An amazing electric guitar solo, the enthusiastic shaking of a tambourine, and a lot of jumping around later, BROODS was saying goodbye to Montreal in their encore. Their last song “Couldn’t Believe”, which is about the happiness of being in the moment, taken from their previous album, left the audience with a sweet feeling of nostalgia.

Photo: Manvs

When it comes to TV, a series’ best episode is often what’s known as a “bottle episode,” where the entire plot takes place in one sole location (e.g. Seinfeld and the Chinese restaurant).  What makes these episodes so good is that they give the characters a chance to let their chemistry shine through without distractions.

Aux frontière du concret is L’Amalgame’s bottle episode.  The third album of the Montreal hip-hop quintet, consisting of rappers and producer Catboot, (also a producer), rappers Gary Légaré, John Ouain, and Vendou, as well as their DJ, Carey Size, is a product of isolation  The band secluded themselves from the outside world by recording the album across three chalets they rented off Airbnb.  As is the case with bottle episodes, the process managed to strengthen L’Amalgame’s already solid interplay between one another.

“I think we found our way to actually create, be more creative, and create a kind of world and vibe also,” Ouain says from a table at le 180g, a vinyl café significant to the members of the group in their hood of Rosemont.  “When you’re with all your band members 24/7 for three/four days, you develop a language when you’re writing.”

“It’s like you take four bouncing balls in a small box and they always bounce,” Vendou adds, “sometimes they cross and sometimes they hit [each other], and sometimes they hit the same point in the box.  That’s what we’re doing; just bouncing balls and bouncing off each other’s ideas.

“And to make it in the chalet is to close the box,” Légaré further adds, “to tighten the box so our world becomes smaller.  That’s where the magic happens.”

A healthy pressure comes with having only a few days booked to write an album, something that the members of L’Amalgame acknowledge and led to the album they’re proudest of.

“To write a song is not about putting 11 hours into the writing part,” Légaré says.  “It’s about letting it flow, and to be in a chalet situation where we have to do six beats in three days, you have to let it go; you have to get it done.

“I think that defines your writing in a way,” Légaré continues, “because it’s what comes first that is the song at the end of the day.  You can’t come back and change things for two weeks before recording it. You write it down and then you record it, and that’s your verse.”

With Aux frontières du concret, the band members trade rhymes over more trap-indebted beats than found in their previous work.  The change in style works for L’Amalgame though, and the group manages to put a personal spin on a genre that can be staid if done lazily, particularly on tracks like “Correction” and “Concret.”  “You see straight from the beat [that] you heard a generic trap beat, like a YouTube-type beat” Vendou explains.

The three rappers credit L’Amalgame’s “maestro” Catboot for blending the group’s funkier old-school background with the trap sonics embedded in modern hip-hop.  Like a lot of current members of Quebec’s hip-hop community though, the band sought to make music with a nod to the zeitgeist while keeping it rooted in la belle province’s own rap history.  “We want to make music that sounds like a ton of bricks, so I want to crack the concrete,” Ouain says, summing up the group’s ethos for the album.

For Aux frontières du concret’s launch show, L’Amalgame plans on pulling out all the stops, with special guests expected, new stage projections, and plenty of Gatorade bleu cool (the band’s beverage of choice).

“The best shows I’ve seen are release parties,” Ouain says “so I think we’re just gonna try to do the best show, and we’ve really been working on that for a long time.”

The stage has in fact always been central to L’Amalgame, whose members see themselves as much as a sports team as a hip-hop group due to the sheer physicality they put into their performances.

“It’s a really Quebecois-like mentality,” Vendou says, “there’s an expression that says ça c’est du sport,” meaning a task is particularly arduous to achieve.  “It’s an expression, but at the same time for us it’s a reality,” Ouain adds.

The sports-meets-rap metaphor comes through most on Aux frontières du concret’s penultimate track, “Hypemen,” where all four MCs play the role of each others’ hype man in service of the franchise that is L’Amalgame.

“We’ve all been really, especially at shows also, always relying on each other,” Ouain says.  “We always present ourselves kind of as a sports team because we sweat at shows, and it’s like a sport to us.  We always have [each other’s] back, and we’re real friends in real life for a long time.”

L’Amalgame perform at Le Ministère (4521 St-Laurent) on Friday, April 19, 9 p.m., $10/$15

Alex Viger-Collins is the host of Ashes to Ashes, your weekly dose of modern pop, every Tuesday at 1:00 p.m.

Hosted by Ahmad Moujtahed

Stories by Ahmad Moujtahed

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LOCAL

In Montreal, mental health issues were found to be a factor in more than half of all the cases involving the use of deadly police force as stated by CBC.

Consequently, the Montreal police service will train all its patrol officers to use tools that will help them deal with those suffering from mental health issues. Patrol officers will take a one-day training session to learn how to de-escalate tense situations and improve their conflict resolution skills.

According to documents presented at the city’s public security committee, the training will include both theoretical discussions and real-life examples. Officers will also be trained on how to use verbal skills to create a non-threatening environment for those who are suicidal or in crisis.

Several people who attended the meeting said they were skeptical that a one-day course could really change police culture.

A co-ordinator of the Ligue des droits et libertés said “One day of training is not enough, and police need more training so that their weapon is not their first option.”

NATIONAL

The Trudeau government is proposing to prevent asylum seekers from making refugee claims in Canada if they have made similar claims in certain other countries, including the US, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.

The move comes as thousands of asylum seekers have crossed the Canadian border after their claims were rejected in the US. Border Security Minister Bill Blair said the measure aims to prevent “asylum-shopping”.

Lawyers and advocates who work with refugees are sounding the alarm about the legal changes, saying they would strip human-rights protections from vulnerable asylum-seekers.

INTERNATIONAL

Demonstrations in Sudan’s capital have been gaining intensity in recent days.

According to activists involved in the demonstration, security forces killed at least 14 people on April 9. At least eight others have been killed since last week.

Sudan has been the site of protests since late December, when a protest began over the price of bread. The economic concerns have become political demands, and protesters want an end to the 30-year-rule of President Omar al-Bashir. Women in particular have played a striking role in the Khartoum protests.

The U.S., Britain and Norway released a joint statement that called on Sudan's government to respond to protesters' demands and deliver "a credible plan" for political transition.

We here at CJLO love heavy metal, despite its many flaws. It’s not just a few bad apples spoiling the genre. Some cases are evidence of cultural intolerance infiltrating the scene, getting worse as the music becomes more extreme. This two-part series will examine the problematic nature of metal. We’re only scratching the surface here, the subject matter can fill books and multiple documentaries. But only by acknowledging the problem, can we change it for the better.

Patriarchy and rape culture has infiltrated pretty much everything in society, and heavy metal is no exception. The scene is dominated by aggressive men who constantly challenge the presence of women. Part two will study how women are represented in song lyrics, and how many male musicians treat their female fans. But we will also talk about how some women are using metal as a source of power to destroy sexism.

Evolution of a problem:

The rock n’ roll lifestyle is described as doing as much drugs as possible and sleeping with as many groupies as possible. The glam metal era is notorious for how women were objectified in lyrics and in music videos. At the time, women couldn’t just be fans of the music, it was assumed their only interest was having sex with the band. Under the light of the #MeToo movement, a lot of rockstars have been revealed to have problematic legacies of sleeping with underage fans. Even some songs sexualized schoolgirls in the lyrics, such “Christine Sixteen” by KISS. Similarly, in the 2000s, many emo and metalcore musicians preyed on underage girls at all-ages festivals, like Warped Tour. The only difference is, their ex-girlfriends were the targets of their rage and hate in countless songs. Lyrics get really disturbing as we venture into death metal and grindcore, subgenres known for being overly violent and purposely offensive. Singers describe in graphic detail their sick fantasies of torturing women, oftentimes leading to necrophilia. The album artwork reflects these fantasies. It’s become such a common theme that it spawned its own subgenre: pornogrind. It’s very tongue-in-cheek, and is, in no way, supposed to be taken seriously. But, at its most innocent, it still borders on slut-shaming, and at its worst, it fuels an attitude of misogyny and male superiority.

The problem persists:

Despite some progress, it’s still difficult to be a woman metal fan. When they’re not being harassed by creepy men, they’re being quizzed on their metal knowledge by elitists to prove their place. Women in bands are still seen as a novelty and their music isn’t necessarily celebrated. Amalie Bruun of Myrkur reportedly had to go off social media after receiving too many death threats from angry metalheads. Kat Katz left Agoraphobic Nosebleed, claiming she was being bullied by her own male bandmates. In 2017, Polish death metal Decapitated were accused of gang-raping a fan on their tour bus. They were acquitted of all charges later on. Whether you believe they were innocent or not, the situation shone a light on how musicians interact with their female fans.

Who is fixing the problem?

In response to pornogrind, another subgenre was created: mincecore. Maintaining the grindcore sound, it embraces leftist politics, and is fiercely anti-sexist and anti-homophobic. During live performances, bands will take the opportunity between their short songs to condemn pornogrind and general sexism in the scene.

Women have turned the tables in death metal as well, writing songs about taking revenge on their aggressors. Some examples of this can be found in Castrator’s “No Victim” or “Perpetrator Emasculation” by Venom Prison.

If you want to do your part in fighting against sexism at concerts, it’s all a matter of keeping an eye open for creeps. If you see someone being harassed or groped, say something. Also, all you tall boys (myself included), look around you and make sure you’re not blocking the view of any short femmes behind you. You’ll still be able see the stage if you take a few steps back. Girls to the front!

Chris Aitkens, aka The Frog, is the host of SEWER SPEWER on CJLO every Wednesday at 1pm.