Montreal’s three finest bands of the 21st century

Image source: grammy.com

For Peter Triassi of Montreal, touring the city is never complete without experiencing its music. This article will show you some of Montreal’s most exciting bands ever to come out in the 21st century.

Arcade Fire

Countless genres have been attached to this group - indie rock, art rock, dance-rock, and baroque pop - says Peter Triassi. They won the Grammys for Album of the Year in 2011 with their third album The Suburbs, which was released in 2010. They also took two other major awards in 2011 - the Juno Award for Album of the Year and the Brit Award for Best International Album.

The band’s current line-up consists of Win and his wife Régine Chassagne, alongside William Butler (Win’s younger brother), Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, and Jeremy Gara. This line-up expands as they tour, when they are joined by Sarah Neufeld (ex-core member), Tiwill Duprate (percussions), and Stuart Bogie (saxophone).

Image source: purplesneakers.com

Men I Trust

This Canadian trio from Montreal, Quebec was formed in 2014. The initial line-up, though, included former high school friends Jessy Caron (bass & guitar) and Dragos Chirac (keyboard & producer). This duo have already release a self-titled EP in 2014 and album, Headroom, in 2015 when singer-guitarist Emmanuelle Proulx joined later, in 2016.

Peter Triassi recommends the dreamy and catchy singles “I Hope To Be Around” (2017) and “Show Me How” (2018) popularized by the trio. In 2019, Men I Trust toured the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April, and at Lollapalooza, later in August, before releasing an album titled “Oncle Jazz,” in September. The band’s musical style has been described as electro-pop by NPR, indie by Our Culture Mag, and dream pop by The Fader.

The Stills

Often compared with Interpol and Echo & the Bunnymen, The Stills received critical acclaim with their 2003 debut album “Logic Will Break Your Heart,” which was even cited by AllMusic as “brooding post-punk soundscapes and art rock swagger.”

The Stills original lineup was composed of childhood friends Tim Fletcher (guitars, vocals), Gregory Paquet (guitars), Olivier Corbeil (bass), and Dave Hamelin (drums). They have released an EP “Rememberese” in 2003, prior to the release of their debut album, in that same year. They released two more albums - Without Feathers in 2006, and Oceans Will Rise in 2008. The Stills has, though, disbanded in 2011. Yet, it is somehow worth revisiting their prime in the early 2000s when much of the music of that era recalledthe 80s, Peter Triassi muses.