Pop Montreal

Last weekend I decided to go to Montreal to visit friends, which luckily enough, was the very same weekend as Pop Montreal, one of the best music festivals that the city hosts every year. Joel Plaskett, Young Galaxy, Sufjan Stevens and Kid Koala are just a few of the bigger indie names that played at Pop this year, but the amount of up-and-coming bands that are also playing is impressive. Pop is known as a festival that gives lesser-known local and national bands the opportunity to showcase their talent to a festival audience who might otherwise not know them.

On Friday night, myself and a few friends went down to the Montreal red light district in hopes of seeing Joel Plaskett, only to decide to spend the same amount of money to see three lesser-known bands, who had great reviews. We saw Slim Twig, Micachu & The Shapes and Clues, the highlight of which was seeing Clues.

Clues was founded by Alden Penner, former half of Unicorns and Brendan Reed, once a short-lived drummer for Arcade Fire, in 2007, playing small local Montreal shows until 2008, when friends Ben Borden, Lisa Gamble, and Nick Scribner became members. With the new members, they began to work on their debut self-titled album, which was released in May of 2009.



"On their startling, intricate debut, Montreal’s Clues enter the alternate universe of the Flaming Lips for a blast of contemporary underground pop driven by angular arrangements and gritty noise. Sudden and unexpected, Clues lead listeners on in a glorious way."
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