La Sécurité by Joel Thomas
French Canadians are a curious blend of joie de vivre and quiet resilience—a people who can turn any minor inconvenience into a full-blown philosophical debate, yet still manage to throw the best maple-syrup-soaked parties north of the 49th Parallel. This duality of character sets them apart from other subnational groups in North America and makes recent art punk sensations La Sécurité one of the most promising acts to follow.
Poster by Dick Vergez
Formed in Montreal during pandemic lockdowns, Postcards from Paradise headliner La Sécurité are a collective that doesn’t fit the molds set forth by Crass or the AK Press in the classical sense but rather, punches up the symbiotic nature of needing release and DIY punk ethos.
“We’ve had or still have different projects, and this band started in the pandemic like a side thing for fun and from there, I don’t know, we recorded some demos,” vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Éliane Viens-Synnott tells PureHoney. “Mothland decided to put them out. From there we’re like ‘ohh, we got a nice response to those first few songs,’ so then we wrote more!”
Viens-Synnott, along with bassist Félix Bélisle, guitarists Melissa Di Menna and Laurence-Anne Charest-Gagné, and drummer Kenneth Smith, cut the 2022 single “Try Again/Suspens” for Mothland and immediately followed it up with their well-received debut album in 2023, the aptly named Stay Safe. With traces of indie pop, dance punk, and krautrock, Stay Safe brought a much-needed breath of quirk to Montreal’s music scene during Covid and encapsulated the ad-hoc range of influences that make the city a mecca for Canadian musicians.
“In the early 2000’s there was a pop-punk and power pop scene that influenced me in a certain way,” Viens-Synnott says. “I think the thing with our band standing out is that it could fit into so many themes and there weren’t many francophone bands doing that post-punk, art punk, post-wave kind of sound.”
Stand out, they have, and fresh from a tour supporting The Go! Team — a gig La Sécurité owe to that U.K. band hearing them on BBC Radio and messaging through social media. “It was for the 20th anniversary of their album [Thunder, Lightning, Strike] which I grew up listening to and we were playing 1,000+ capacity rooms which was pretty cool,” Viens-Synnott says.
Dunies
Joining the fun for the third iteration of Postcards from Paradise, PureHoney’s winter-spring sibling of Bumblefest, will be rising sensations Dunies. These dynamic indie-rockers from Florida’s Space Coast are making waves with energetic live sets and a surf-punk-infused sound. Also known for an enigmatic persona and a playful spirit, Dunies embody a carefree ethos captured in their motto: “Live, Laugh, and Die.”
Often seen rocking venues in the Tampa Bay Area, Dunies have cultivated a devoted fanbase that is encouraged to bring Busch Light as offerings to their shows. Their music — a clutch of singles and notable releases including the EPs Something Good and Tank Top & Dunies — combines catchy hooks, raw energy and a distinct wit.
In that same vein are West Palm Beach’s Anthony and Zachary Dewar, aka The Dewars, whose dark-humored storytelling weaves apocalyptic plots and colorful characters into catchy, sing-along melodies. The twins’ blend of indie rock with old-timey folk – going strong since the aughts – is a mainstay of a South Florida scene that cycles through bands and genres like a casino dealer changing decks.
Also hailing from West Palm are the lo-fi, high-octane garage punkers Rude Television. With a handful of cassette-only releases that are mostly sold out, these returning Postcards from Paradise alumni demonstrate what gumption and a Tascam 488 analog 8-track recorder can accomplish. Local dream-pop shoegazers Disputer will also join the fun, hot on the heels of Override My Mind, their recent EP on Portland’s Pleasure Tapes label. Full of reverb-y guitars and ethereal vocals, this is a band with some serious potential.
The Grey Tones, the post-punk, surf-informed darkwave project by the stylish Agent Mar and the Abominable Dr. John will round out the night with their Cramps meets Clan of Xymox vibes.
Postcards from Paradise 3, presented by PureHoney, features La Sécurité, Dunies, Rude Television, The Dewars, Disputer, and The Grey Tones, 8pm Friday January 31 at Respectable Street in West Palm Beach. lasecurite.bandcamp.com ~ Abel Folgar
