Arrrrrrrr! Here be pirates! French Canadian pirates, that is. Pillaging, boozing and decrying prissiness is the name of the game for The Sainte Catherines. Part Rancid, part Madball, but mostly purveyors of proletariat punk (throaty vocalist Hugo Mudie is a janitor), the sextet makes up in electricity what they lack in manners.
“The Shape of Drunks to Come” is a pulverizing homage to the local scene (“Tomorrow you’ll be gone but Montreal’s still singing our song,” Mudie crows) with impressive drumming from Rich Bouthillier. “Get Your Politics Out of My Hair” sizzles with adept guitar squalls as the band scoffs at dumb chicks (“Pretty girl, show me some brain … yeah, sex is fun but drinking is better”). The Sainte Catherines even let critics, whiny girlfriends and fair-weather fans have an earful in “Emo-Ti-Cons: Punk Rock Experts,” in which they address the accusations of being “a clone of Born Against.”
The lyrics are definitely the band’s strongest suit, which are all at once humorous and scathing. They don’t quite have the academic punch of Bad Religion but these are musicians who could drink you under the table, then effortlessly recite Jean Jacques Rousseau’s philosophies. The full-on axe assault of the uber-political “Us Against the Music” and other tracks on Dancing for Decadence is nothing revolutionary. But where guitarists Marc-Andre Beaudet, Fred Jacques and Louie Valiquette become a trinity of power is in their provocation of audience hysteria. It’s a call: either get in the mosh pit or walk the plank!
Melissa Bobbitt
The Sainte Catherines (Fat Wreck Chords)