Earlier this summer, one of the greatest things ever to happen on national television took place. During the televised auditions for Canadian Idol, the Great White North’s version of the Simon Cowell-helmed US cheesefest, an unassuming girl from Winnipeg shocked the judges, the audience and most of the country by screaming, thrashing and gyrating her way through an awesome self-written number called “Fuck Knob.” Of course, she didn’t make it past the first round, but the minute-and-a-half long performance was the rest of Canada’s first introduction to one of Winnipeg’s best-kept secrets. The singer on TV was Erica Jacobson, flamboyant frontwoman of the Quiffs, an all-female grunge/punk powerhouse that has been knocking this city on its ass for the past few years. The fact that these girls haven’t been scooped up by a label yet is, frankly, insane, as their self-titled independent disc stayed at the top of local college radio charts for more than six months…and rightfully so. It’s absolutely phenomenal.

Most likely due to the fact that none of the band members are very skilled at their instruments, the Quiffs’ songs are primal, high-speed blasts of raw power—something that’s been missing from the pretentious, sappy rock music that’s been a la mode recently. In songs like “Fuck Knob,” “The Quiffs” and the absolutely addictive “Gluten Free,” the Quiffs bring back the original spirit of rock n’ roll: the reckless abandon, pure energy and rebellious attitude…and it’s about time.

“Gluten Free,” a hideously graphic description of Jacobson’s struggle with Celiac disease, driven by a guttural, endless howl, is not only the best song to come out of Winnipeg in years, it’s the best song to come out of anywhere. The listener may not, as Jacobson screams, know what it’s like to shit their pants all through the night, but over the course of one-and-a-half distortion-drenched, throat-shredding minutes, you feel as if you’ve been in that crap-filled bed with her. The Quiffs have done something rare: they’ve managed to be simplistic and raw without being boring or awful. A clear sense of joy in what they’re doing seeps through on every track, and you can tell the Quiffs don’t actually care if they make it big…or even sell any albums at all. Like all great artists, they saw a void and they filled it, for no reason other than it was there to fill.

Now, obviously the Quiffs aren’t the only group bringing raw energy back where it belongs. One of their obvious influences, Mudhoney, the Seattle grunge pioneers whose sales figures never really matched their talent, is back on top with a new album, Under a Billion Suns. Although, in typical Mudhoney fashion, it’s likely to be completely overlooked by pretty much everyone, Under a Billion Suns is quite possibly the best thing the band has done since 1987’s iconic Superfuzz Bigmuff.

While it’s not nearly as frenetic as the Quiffs, the new Mudhoney material has a similar effect—it’s a loose, rocking mess that somehow manages to generate catchy hooks and monster riffs, despite the fact that you can practically hear the band members falling all over themselves in the studio. Mark Arm’s throaty whine hasn’t improved at all in the last 20 years, and despite some higher production values and the inclusion of a horn section on some tracks, the album’s standouts like the bluesy romp “I Saw the Light” still manage to replicate the experience of seeing a bunch of longhaired punks thrash around in a smoky dive to 12 people. It’s a skill Mudhoney’s always had, and while their grunge contemporaries may have moved on to bigger things in the 90s with polished radio singles and festival performances and glossy music videos, I’d still rather hear Arm croak out a tune while his bandmates do their best not to break any bones…all in the course of bringing a bit of musical truth to the few people who still care to listen.

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