Selective Listening — Osheaga 2024 Special | Mannequin Pussy, Lola Young, Amyl and The Sniffers

Three women. Three continents. Three must-sees for your weekend at Osheaga. Added to this is a playlist of artists performing at this popular summer event for music lovers.

Listen to our Osheaga Festival Playlist

Mannequin Pussy, I Got Heaven

Warning to all devout Christians who were offended by the Olympic opening ceremony: you might want to refrain from listening to the title track of Mannequin Pussy’s fourth album, I Got Heavenin which frontwoman Marisa Dabice imagines Jesus performing oral sex on her. Any other lost sheep will be happy to know that the Philadelphia punk band is some of the most enjoyable rock music of 2024: memorable melodies, hair-raising guitar solos, and a generous helping of cathartic ferocity. If this were 1994, they’d most definitely be a Lollapalooza headliner.

Friday, 3:10 p.m., on the Montagne stage

Dominic Tardif, The Press

Lola Young, Conceited

Lola Young is not the type to let people walk all over her. But she is also the type, gifted for a form of introspection bordering on self-flagellation, to list her worst faults in her lyrics. With her irresistible little pest’s cheekiness and her accent of a girl who is better off not messing with, the 23-year-old Londoner describes her second album, This Wasn’t Meant For You Anywaylike a middle finger addressed to all his exes. These unfortunates take it on the chin to the sound of a music which, in its best moments, including Conceitedsounds like the Arctic Monkeys period AM had been able to collaborate with Amy Winehouse.

Saturday, 2:45 p.m., on the Montagne stage

Dominic Tardif, The Press

Amyl and The Sniffers, U Should Not Be Doing That

Don’t be fooled by the photo that tops this capsule, because this Australian quartet is far from doing airy and good-natured pop. We swim – or rather surf – in hardcore, punk and heavy rock territory with Amy Taylor and her band of guys. The angry and energetic woman is afraid of nothing and no one – you only have to watch the group’s videos to be convinced – and offers in concert a moment of collective letting off steam, the time to take out the bad guy. It will therefore be the occasion for a great go in without spilling out – a more friendly term than mush pitadmit it – this Sunday. A worthy heir to the Riot grrrl feminist movement, Amyl will certainly respond with a spiteful and uncompromising nonchalance to her most recent single, U Should Not Be Doing That.

Sunday, 5 p.m., on the Vallée stage

Philippe Beauchemin, The Press