Over the course of my lengthy career here at the Weekly Volcano, I’ve recommended many shows. On plenty of occasions I’ve urged music lovers to check out a certain band or bill, and on plenty of other occasions I’ve thrown my full weight (whatever that really means) behind events I’ve deemed simply too good to miss.

While I stand behind most every recommendation I’ve made in these pages — this week I mean it more than ever. This Sunday there’s a show at the Brotherhood Lounge in Olympia that you simply cannot miss.

If you’ve never believed me before, please, please, please believe me now. I’m as serious as a heart attack, and as serious as Bobble Tiki’s drinking problem. Tel Aviv’s Monotonix — the best live band on the planet right now — is coming to town and this will be the show of the year.

I s*** you not.

Of course, there’s a decent chance you already knew this. Monotonix, who played the Brotherhood last year as well, has been building their reputation through absolutely insane live performances for years. They’ve brought down the house at Bumbershoot. They’ve lit fires (literally and figuratively) in booze-filled rock venues around the world. They’ve wowed industry types at SXSW, and they’ve garnered a buzz that’s well deserved. Known as purveyors of the most intense, amped-up, sweaty and raucous live punk rock you’ll ever come across, Monotonix is a band you’ve got no excuse for missing — you’ll be kicking yourself for years if you do.

“It was like how seeing an Iggy Pop performance in 1968 must have been,” says Brotherhood owner Pit Kwiecinski of last year’s Monotonix show at his legendary Olympia bar. “A bit out of control, a bit dangerous ... and loads of fun!”

Believe it or not, I missed Monotonix the last time they swung through Oly. It’s a mistake I’ll never make again. Months later I caught the band at SXSW, and it’s a show I’ll remember as long as I have brain cells. Though the band’s set lasted for under 30 minutes, that was all it took. The three hairy Middle Eastern men climbed on the stage — at least initially — and what proceeded to happen was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Loud, fuzzed-out and blistering rock began to pour from their souls, and the intensity began to escalate. Before long all three members of the band were in the middle of what in the ’90s would have been called the mosh pit, wailing on their guitars, pounding on their drums and interacting with the crowd in ways most people would have trouble imagining. Monotonix became part of the crowd, and the crowd became part of the band. Boundaries were eradicated and roles were reversed. We were all part of the show — which was never more evident than when, along with many other enraptured rock fans in attendance, I bloodied myself beating on the bass drum, which Monotonix’s drummer — who, at least at the time, looked something like Borat on amphetamines — had lifted above his head mid song, never missing a beat.  By the time all was said and done, everyone was coated in beer, everyone had at least a bump or bruise, and everyone had just stood witness to the greatest live band on the planet. 

“(Our first show) was pretty boring and kind of lame. It was old songs we don’t play anymore, and it was on stage. Then we thought if we moved it to the floor, drop the bass and play just guitars instead would make the show more flexible and fun,” says Monotonix guitarist Moshe Vegas of the band’s humble, less exciting beginning and their transition into a must-see live act. “The audience responded by flipping out and going berserk all over us and our musical gear. That was in Tel-Aviv three years ago. We loved it and have been doing it almost every day ever since. We wrote new songs and a lot of things improved and changed, but it’s the same idea since that second show. We found out we like to put on a show, we like to wear ladies’ clothes and play with fire.

“We played a really wacky show in Portland and the cymbal flew right to my face. I think I got a scar for life just above my right eye. Some girls say it’s sexy, but I’m kind of thinking that maybe one day when I’m old and a lawyer with short hair I’m not going to like it,” says Vegas about one of the injuries he’s sustained while rocking out with Monotonix. “Maybe I’ll just give up that law career.” 

I’m not one to offer career advice, but bailing on any future law career sounds like the right move for Vegas and his cohorts in Monotonix. 

After all, they already have successful careers — as the greatest live band on the planet. 

Check them out at the Brotherhood this Sunday. You’ll be glad you did.  

[The Brotherhood Lounge, Monotonix, Flora v Fauna, DJ James, Sunday, Sept. 28, 9 p.m., $5, 119 Capitol Way N., Olympia, 360.352.4153]