Pitchfork

[Posted Monday, September 22nd, 2003 04:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

Nirvana was a relatively unknown British psychedelic-pop band, first appearing in the late 1960's with the science-fiction concept album The Story of Simon Simopath. For the most part, they remained slept-on until 1996 when DJ Shadow included a sample of the non-album cut "Love Suite" in the amazing "Stem/Long Stem" off Endtroducing... That, and the fact that they share their name with one of rock 'n' roll's most popular and important bands. No one could blame Kurt Cobain for the coincidence, and he graciously resolved all potential legal disputes by allowing the re-formed UK Nirvana to include a cover of "Lithium" on their comeback album, Chemistry, royalty-free. Moreover, the original Nirvana happily welcomed renewed interest in their catalog over the past decade as a collateral benefit of the Seattle Nirvana's tremendous fame.

However, it's hard to believe the situation would have been so amicably settled were a fledgling band of today to try and capitalize on the now-ubiquitous moniker. Yes, you may name your child Mr. Mister and may even release an album entitled Chinese Democracy just to piss off Axl (as The Offspring plan to do). However, your band should sincerely reconsider calling itself Mothers of Invention, Pet Shop Boys, The Wailers, or Tina Turner if you ever expect to be taken seriously. Trik Turner, maybe. Otherwise, leave the greats alone.

This is the advice we at Pitchfork have for the Quebecois band Galaxie 500, who will be playing on the second day of the Pop Montreal Festival later this week. Upon receiving the four-day music fest and conference press release, an initial tremor of excitement shot through the whole Newswire staff (strangely enough, the inclusion of a band named Launnie Andersohn didn't have any effect at all). Like most blue-blooded American boys who used his record collection and the doob to score chicks in college, I could barely contain myself at the prospect of a Galaxie 500 reunion, if only to prevent future sonic crimes at the hands of Damon & Naomi. A brief e-mail relay with the coordinators of the event dashed my hopes, though, with the explanation that the Montreal band calling themselves Galaxie 500 had never even heard of the original band when they chose their name. Fucking Loonies.

"Galaxie 500" aside, the Pop Montreal Festival (which runs from September 25th to 28th) boasts a pretty impressive lineup. Broken Social Scene, Shalibi Effect, Buck 65, Stars, Queens of the Stone Age, Tiga, Black Dice, Wolf Eyes, Sloan and Distillers will all perform while Arts and Crafts Records, 2WARS vs. The Grill and Stomp Records will host loft parties. Conference topics include "Artists in a Time of War," "Fame and Responsibility" and "Art as Commerce vs. Art and Commerce." Festival passes which grant access to concerts and events at over twenty locations are available. Here's the complete lineup:

Thursday, September 25th:
Buck 65
Frederic Gary Comeau
Sloan
Ambulance
Superfriendz
Stars
Metric
Washington Social Club
Edward Kas-Pel
Montag
High Dials
Eve Cournoyer
Graph Nobel
Bell Orchestre
Peter Elkas
Steve Shiffman
Les Ogres des Barback
Rude Mechanicals

Friday, September 26th:
Broken Social Scene
Besnard Lakes
The Sharp Things
Sans Pression
Eternia
Warsawpaet
Shades of Culture
Shalabi Effect
Soft Canyon
The Unicorns
The Sailors
The Bamboo Kids
Lisa Gamble
"Galaxie 500"
Les Breastfeeders
L'Attack
Controller. Controller
Pony Da Look
The Spins
Starvin Hungry
Poxy
Perf erf erf

Saturday, September 27th:
Hawksley Workman
The Arcade Fire
Phaser
Bionic<
Le Nombre
Tanglers
Hawaii
Fembots
Mathew Barber
Lady Lustre
No Use For a Name
None More Black
Irish Car Bombs
The Dears
Junior Pantherz
The Sadies
Cuff The Duke
Tiga
Chrome
Evening
Hrd Vsion
Cha Cha Chernobly
Echoe Kitty
Le Karloff Orchestra
Spitfires
Mayflowers
Les Mods
greatlakeswimmers

Sunday, September 28th:
Morning Star
Julie Doiron
Swearing at Motorists
Black Dice
Wolf Eyes
Et Sans
Raised Fist
21st Impact
Queens of the Stone Age
Distillers
Millionaires
The Faunts
Maginot
Milk
Launnie Andersohn
Montrealshowcase