It’s a little hard to gauge what Duchess Says, says. They’ll tell you they operate in the name of the "Church of Budgerigars," a "don’t laugh, it’s serious" religion whose highest priest called upon the Montreal band (via their myspace.com site) to make music out of the Church’s doctrines. They’ll also tell you (or at least the religion’s more readily available "Ontario representative," Serge, will) that the religion is primarily about "drinking beer," but not only that.

"Mostly we get together in bars to pray," explains Serge. "We have a preacher that is working as a bartender. Also sometimes we do some door-to-door distribution," he says, adding that maybe the band agreed to be the musical spokespeople for the Church because it helps pay for the beer.

"It’s all about getting together, but really, you need to come to the show. Sometimes when you hear the lyrics alone, they are meaningless, but it’s when you come to the show that you can understand the deep thinking of the Church of Budgerigars."

Come see Duchess Says live and you’ll also get a taste of this band’s twisted, sliced-up prog-punk (they call it "Moog rock"), a fierce but tasteful cross-pollination expertly executed by four broad-minded musicians: Annie-Claude, Ismael, Phil and Simon Says (who Serge reports are listening to The Birthday Party, Guitar Wolf, Hank Williams, Beck’s first album, John Lee Hooker and Front 242 in the tour van).

"What Duchess Says plays is the Church’s favourite style of music," he says. "They are really open, but this is their favourite."

Duchess Says
At the MEG stage, Sept. 2