Suoni Per Il Popolo: The Strange Boys + White Fence + Purling Hiss

The last time The Strange Boys came to Montreal, they played a packed Casa del Popolo and thoroughly rocked the densely packed room with their particularly shambolic blend of backwards-looking garage / blues / retro psych-rock. I know that not because I was there, but because that was the main topic of discussion in the moments leading up to the Suoni Per Il Popolo four-fer taking place on a cool Wednesday night at the slightly remote Il Motore. Hype kills, though, so it seemed best not to absorb too much of the sentiment.

First up was Purling Hiss, a three-piece with a thick guitar sound and songwriting reminiscent of middle-era Pearl Jam, with a bit of a psych tinge to frontman Mike Polizze's raging solos. Unfortunately, without the odder numbers and distant production work of their LP Public Service Announcement, their set turned out more than a little monotonous, save for a few standout hooks (particularly on the anthemic "Run From the City"). That would've been fine for a 15-to-20 minute set - the sort you might expect from the first band on a quadruple bill - but Purling Hiss wound up pounding away for about 45. More than once, Polizze called back to the sound guys to find out how much longer they had, only to be told they could do a couple more. A few minutes later, it was announced that second-stringers Sic Alps had cancelled, thus explaining the extended set.

White Fence, touring behind their Is Growing Faith LP, were considerably less leaden, a more natural fit with the headliners (with whom they share a member), and considerably tighter and more boisterous than their recorded material might suggest. They quickly amassed a unique following, immediately in front of the stage where a mosh pit might have manifested under different circumstances: between eight and a dozen girls - and only girls - formed a loose-knit impromptu dance crew, some of them adopting mock-retro moves to go along with the band's appealingly jangly sound.

The headliners finally took the stage around 11:30 or so, launching into a (sadly, saxophone-free) set of tunes more or less evenly divided between their last two LPs, 2009's And Girls Club and 2010's mellower Be Brave. They didn't dare approach any of the outright ballads that make up a goodly chunk of the latter's tracklist (though an airing of "Between Us" might have been nice), generally sticking instead to two modes: mid-paced blues, and nimbler garage rock, with both making great use of the two-guitar setup. The highlights - "Be Brave," "Poem Party," and especially "This Girl Taught Me a Dance" - boasted the biggest hooks and the most infectious rhythms, easily working up the more active element of the crowd into a completely appropriate frenzy. After all the hyperbole, it must be said that the Austinites lived up to the hype, even if at least one hipster was heard to have said: "I mean, it was good..."

-Denis A hosts Dirty Work on Thursdays from 8-10pm