HOW TO WRITE A PUNK SHOW REVIEW

Lucien Louvet

Thee Soreheads - I'm Not Your Fucking Sex Doll

When Scatterbrain approached me a few weeks ago asking if I wanted to cover a punk EP release show, it was a pretty immediate yes. Confession: I don’t know shit about punk rock. But I said yes, why not, who’s the band, sure, let’s go. I recruited a friend and on we went, doors at 8, La Sotterenea, 4848 Blvd. St-Laurent.

Despite having a poster advertising a show there, I’d never been to La Sotterenea. You go down some stairs and then you’ve arrived, and there is a small bar and people are talking and there is a couch (for which I made a beeline) and it all seemed so good and communal and I wondered if that’s what punk was about, community.

Around 9 the openers came on, all from Montreal, it was nice to discover the local scene. One of the members of the first band wore a Shunk t-shirt, another band from Montreal, I actually knew that one, that’s the Sotterenea show poster I have on my wall. Maybe I know something about punk rock after all, or maybe I’m a poser. Anyway, the openers come on, they’re good, you have Time Ghost and The Wesleys and Le Belladone, the latter of which I don’t think I fully understood but was still quite impressed by. By then the clock was inching towards 11 and at my ripe age of 20 I started feeling quite tired. But I was on assignment! I got a yerba mate from the bar and powered through.

And then Thee Soreheads finally came on, and turns out I didn’t need the mate, the whole room was instantly energized. Maria stepped out in a jester outfit (by @olivvsnaxx) with the EP name in large cut outs over her backside – “I’m Not Your Fucking Sex Doll.” She started the first song and I immediately recognized the riffs and the voice I’d heard at the Van Horne Underpass (rest in peace) over the summer.

Okay. I may not know much about punk rock but I know a thing or two about writing, and to write well, especially about something you don’t know, you have to do your research. Thee Soreheads’ Spotify page describes them as “four slightly angry punks.” I don’t think that’s accurate; on November 29th, Thee Soreheads were not “slightly” angry, they were angry, period. The music was loud, the vocals assertive and unapologetic. And that’s what gave the music its power–in a Riot grrrl pattern, the feminist lyrics are fueled by thousands of years of sexist oppression, domination, abuse, and mistreatment of women. Maria and Thee Soreheads call all of it out: in “No Means No,” Maria recounts the time when a man approached her at a bar without her consent, before turning to insult when she rejected him; in the unreleased “My Body My Choice,” the band expresses disgust and exhaustion at the normalized yet harmful controlling and abusive behavior men often engage in; in “Ratlike,” Thee Soreheads look back on past relationships and express anger at their white supremacist exes.

The encore was fitting: “Alive and Unfettered.” Maria sings in the chorus: “I’m awoken / The gates are open / You can’t keep me broken / I’m hungry, alive and unfettered,” switching from “I” to “she” and finally to “we” as the song goes on. Thee Soreheads are here, they’re angry, they’re right, and they’re not going anywhere. I got a shirt on my way out to carry this mentality with me (and also because it was cool).

At the end of the day I’m still not a punk rock expert. If you are, I’m sure Thee Soreheads check all the boxes. But I don’t think you need to be a diehard punk fan to listen and engage with their music. And I feel like I know enough about music in general to say this: Thee Soreheads are good. Real good. Their rage and anger is unfortunately not unfounded, and I know that’s what punk is about, calling out and resisting injustices and social issues. I can’t not support that. I’ll be at the next show, not to write about it for my magazine but to listen, and hell, I might end up writing about it for myself anyway, they’re that good.

You can find their new EP “I’m Not Your Fucking Sex Doll” now on all platforms.