Suuns: Show Preview

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Suuns perform with Besnard Lakes and Land of Talk on Thursday, Oct. 7, at the Independent. 8 p.m., $13 advance, $15 doors; www.theindependentsf.com.

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More About

• Montreal
• Ben Shemie
• Punk Rock
• Metal and Hardcore

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Take special note of the extra "U" in Suuns' name. That letter inverts the vibrancy and heat you might initially associate with a band named after giant globes of burning gases. Instead, this Montreal four-piece crafts subterranean electronica-based post-punk that's heavy on the desolation and iciness. The freshly released Zeroes QC (Secretly Canadian) fuses Ben Shemie's wispy groans and moans with a spectrum of artificial throbs (one is watery, another buzzes, a third is alarmlike) and pointedly sparse instrumentation. Suuns' predilection for dour minimalism cannot be understated; to better understand its approach, imagine a dance-punk band locking itself in a light-free room, swallowing a bunch of downers, and forcing itself to whittle every composition down to its skeleton. The rare moments on Zeroes in which Suuns do ratchet up the verve ("Marauder," for one, features an anxious guitar squeal and drums prepared for a fight) deserve to occur more frequently in the band's repertoire from here on out.