Poetry

I Went Tonight


I went tonight

To see young punk bands

and came through the late, slushy March snow

To see the young grafiti/hip-hop artists

creating a mural across the street at the local YMCA

& my old friend

Yeah, the same age as me

old, as I've known him awhile

old, as we're both middle-aged

he's feeling a bit bored with life and it all

& I'm thinking

The vitality of the young ones are keeping me feeling young

& I'm thinking

I'd rather hang with these

than retire with my own

into their caves

into their adult responsibilities

I never eally believed it before tonight

age was just a number

a state of mind

Now, I've learned something

Latest Commentary

Complain, Complain, Complain

I was going to complain about a couple things that happened at work today, but instead I'm going to relay a magical embarrassing incident that happened to me while I was in college. This is a true story.

On a crisp Fall afternoon, I geared up to exit Ryder Hall at Northeastern University after class and I prepared myself for the lovely experience that always ensues when one takes the Orange Line out of Ruggles station. I gazed up at the clock and smiled as my fellow students also triumplantly gathered their belongings in a rush to scoot out the door. Afternoon classes had finished and everyone was psyched. Before I made my way to Ruggles station, I decided that I better stop and use the can. I can't stand the feeling of having to pee and not being able to do anything about it. I entered the girls bathroom on the first floor of Ryder Hall and unfortunately had to wait for there were about 3 other girls ahead of me in line. Surprise surprise. After impatiently waiting for several minutes while listenting to the three clucking hens talk about he said she said bullshit, I quickly ran into the stall, did my business in one swoop, pulled my jeans up in a huff, exited the stall, washed my hands, and abruptly left the restroom. Feeling on top of the world after that...I proceeded out the doors of Ryder Hall and strolled over to Ruggles station. Now mind you...I was wearing jeans, a belly shirt, and my big black minnie mouse shoes (for those of you who know me, you know the shoes)...I LOVE those shoes. Sure they make me about 6'1...but I absolutely adore them. They're my power shoes...I feel good when I wear them. But considering that this is Northeastern University, I stuck out like a sore thumb next to all the Abercrombie jocks and American Eagle ho's. So I walked my bum over to Ruggles feeling like a sexy beast in my cool outfit. I waited for the train...got on the train...and took it all the way to Wellington where my car was parked in the garage. Wellington is QUITE the place! Well not really...but you used to have to take this mechanical tram over to the parking garage. They recently got rid of the tram because it was a big pain in the ass to upkeep and it kept breaking. Regardless...I pressed the button to call the tram to come over from the parking garage to pick me up. I stood there waiting patiently with one other guy....he was rather clean cut...maybe in his 40's...he looked like he left work early or something (by this point it was about 3 pm). The tram comes...the nightmare begins.

The two of us entered the tram and the doors closed. I stood despite there being available seats because the ride over to the parking garage is literally 1 minute long. The other man stood as well. All of the sudden...he says:"Um...I don't know how to tell you this, it's kind of embarrassing..." My cheeks turned red...was he speaking to me? "You have...something hanging out the back...there..." His stubby finger pointed gingerly toward my nether-region. To my horror...I pulled a trail of toilet paper about 2 feet long out of the butt of my jeans...out of my Hanes underwear...out of...my asscrack. My heart leapt up into my throat. Had I not just so confidently strutted my stuff from Ryder Hall to Ruggles to Wellington with a 2 foot piece of dangly toilet paper trailing from my butt??? Had I seriously done that?? I HAD!! And this poor soul told me. I don't know what would be worse...if he hadn't of told me...or the fact that he DID!At that point, the embarrassment set in so badly that tears formed in my eyeballs...and I utilized the empty seat. In a matter of 15 seconds...I had gone from Queenie to TP Trailer! I held that balled up piece of toilet paper in my little sweaty hand and prayed that the guy wouldn't look me in the eye again. The tram stopped...I stormed out...and threw that piece of ass toilet paper on the ground. Take that!I guess the moral of the story is...whenever you think you're hot shit...I've got a news flash for you...you probably aren't.

HAHA Reprinted by the kind permission of Cindy Lou Spoiler

Poetry

Fitting In

Fitting into the boxes

That society asks you to check off

Don't realize that these boxes were created

By those who desired and therefore made new ones, 'cause none existed

Now ripped off, acclaimed & museumed

While the spirit of youth boils over & causes a mess

on the neat, suburban, linen cloth, dinnerware ideals of the dull

Youth, truth, love

it will always disturb

cause problems, and you'll always co-op, corrupt it

But the truth and beauty

will shine

beyond your vacant money dreams

your empires and enterprises

your corrupt, diseased, desires will not live on

But the truth, the lust, the passion, the fun

will piss on your accomplishments

and show how vapid and meaningless

they really are

Like they really had to

Yeah, purchase your cheap, overpriced luxury

It's what you deserve, by all means

You deserve the best

Article

Getting Church
An Interview with Nick Blakey
by Eric Doberman
Photo by Chris Keene

Church, Boston’s newest rock club, sits in the shadow of Fenway Park and the Medical District on the corner of two nondescript streets called Kilmarnock and Queensbury.


It is diagonally across from the plot where Jumping Jack Flash, the first nightclub I ever attended as an “adult” (according to a fake ID), once stood.

I had been to many all ages shows of course, but club shows are a whole different animal and I would soon learn that at Flash, as it was called. For me that summer night in 1985 marked the beginning of a long and often bizarre journey through the world of nightlife.

Along the way I met Nick Blakey, back in the mid 1990s when I was doing house sound at T.T. the Bears in Cambridge and he was playing in a band called Pretty Flowers. Those were wet days for me, and he recalls a conversation we had better than I, but I still remembered him fondly the next time we got to chat a good decade later. This time around it was he who was working at a club and I who was playing and I remember the conversation clearly. We were talking about the soon to be opened club Church where he would be assuming the role of what he likes to refer to as “booker”.

As the impressive, medium capacity venue got off the ground I decided to continue the discussion in interview form. Here is Nick Blakey in his own words.

BKH: Could you describe your first experience as a patron of a nightclub?
Nick: This would be late 1986 when I was 12 and seeing Chris Isaak and Silvertone with my mother at The Design Centre in San Francisco.

The Design Centre was not a nightclub per say but hosted rock shows from time to time (American Music Club played there around the same time as well, though I sadly did not see them then). My mother was a big fan, as was I and still am (particularly his first album, Silvertone, engineered beautifully by Tom Mallon). I was a bit precocious as a child and I hung around a lot in local record stores, saving up my milk money to buy records (mostly Beatles related at that time). I got to know one clerk by the name of Roy Loney, who I just knew as a cool guy and had no idea then of his significance as a founding member of The Flamin' Groovies.

Anyhow, Kenny, Chris Isaak's drummer, had played with Roy so when we entered the Design Centre I spotted Kenny leaning against a rail and asked him if he was Chris Isaak's drummer. When he said yes, I told him I knew Roy Loney and that he said hello and the conversation went from there. Kenny was very gracious and even asked my mother for a date (which she sadly turned down). After the show, Kenny took me back stage and introduced me to the band and got me their autographs. I remember in particular Chris was very tired and sweaty but very funny and kind.

As to the performance, I thought it was pretty cool that it wasn't overtly loud. I was also quite fascinated by Jimmy Wilsey's constant swapping of guitars, and I asked the soundguy why he was doing that and he told me that one had effects and one didn't. He was cool, and didn't give me any of that "get away kid, you're botherin' me" shit.

For the encore, Chris came out with a squeezebox strapped to his chest and announcing the song as one that he and Jimmy knew from their childhood. The entire audience erupted, and people took to dancing on the stage, so much to the point where the song couldn't really be heard save for the drums. I know I thought that the whole thing was pretty cool.

BKH: How did Church come about, and how did you come to be its talent buyer?
Nick: The first part of the question is best answered by Church's owners, Kristian Deyesso and Chris Tocchio. It is 100% their concept and baby. Me I just book the music and DJ's. I have always wanted to be the booker at a club. I've been booking and brokering shows independently since 1995 in the Boston area and handled most of the bookings that The Takers, a band I was in 2000-2002, did. Kristian was a good friend of our drummer Chris Keene and used to come and see us play a lot. When Church was being set up, Chris built the new sound system and when Kristian and Chris asked about who he thought would be a good booker for Church, he graciously suggested me. "Talent Buyer" sounds so too Hollywood Boulevard to my ears, so I just go by booker.

BKH: You’re a musician yourself. Tell me about some of the bands you’ve been involved with in that capacity.
Nick: I'm currently the bass player of The In Out having rejoined the group last September after leaving the band back in the Summer of 2000 (to join The Takers as bass player). I had initially joined The In Out in Spring of 1998 as their drummer (I have played both bass and drums since I was a teen).

Prior to this I served as Peter Prescott's bass player for the last two Kustomized gigs in 1996 and the first two years of The Peer Group 1996-98. Before then I was in a number of bands that revolved around a core crew of myself, Ron Gittens, and Tim Morse (Tim is now the drummer in The In Out). Some of the groups had nasty names just for the sake of having nasty names, but the better known ones were Pretty Flowers (whose first gig was playing with The In Out at TT's with sound being done by a certain Mr. Doberman) and Black Arkatechs.

Some of my rewarding and/or educational experiences came with my serving as a substitute player in Black Helicopter (one gig as drummer), Cul de Sac (one gig as bass player), and The Nightingales (one tour as bass player).

BKH: What is your philosophy of putting together and presenting shows?
Nick: Pure eclecticism and balance, perhaps? Make things interesting but keep things right. Leave both the bands and the audience happy, though know that you can't please all of the people all of the time no matter what you do. Be upfront and honest, practice clear communication. Know that whoever goes up the ladder will eventually come down it. I think that would be it in a nutshell.

I learned a lot about how I didn't think things should go show-wise in my initial years playing around Boston 1996-98. Frankly I think things are better for bands in the Boston area now than they were then, though the audiences have changed. However, there seems to be less competition in this city and more of a sense of both the clubs and the bands working together towards a more common goal of great shows overall rather than working against each other.

I also like to be pro-active and go in pursuit of bands rather than letting them come to me. Being pro-active paid off a lot when I worked in the liquor industry so my application of that philosophy to the booking side of things has at least birthed some interesting shows.

Along these lines as well, so many times you hear a band and go "Wow, they should really play with…" I like to make those kind of things happen rather than merely think about it. John Powhida of The Rudds always told me how much he loved The Upper Crust and how he'd never played with them, so that is part of the reason The Rudds and The Upper Crust are on the same bill together at Church New Year's Eve.

BKH: I’m curious as to any demographic and economic changes have you observed in club land over the past ten years. Could you discuss this?
Nick: I take the fifth on this one as things seem to be ever-changing still.

BKH: What have you found to be the biggest challenge in your work thus far? How have you coped with it?
Nick: Filtering and predicting how some shows will do. A couple of shows I thought would be sure things turned out not so well owing to a variety of reasons. That theoretical roulette wheel that can be spun some times when it comes to live shows can be damn frustrating, but the thing to do is to learn from it and put that into practice.



BKH: I’m a big fan of your practice of ending shows by one so that people who want to stay until last call can hang out. How did you come up with it?
Nick: I've missed too many shows and bands that I wanted to see simply because there was no way I would be able to see the bands I wanted to without having to shell out an extra $20 which I didn't really have for a cab ride home. So part of this was based on wanting to make it so folks could catch the T home or at least have an option.

I also played a lot of shows where the last note would be hit and the clubs would basically say "Thank you...now get the fuck out". Most bands like to ease off the stage after their shows, meet the fans, thank their friends, sell merch, and generally mosey on out rather than feel like they are being kicked out. It tends to cut down on equipment being left behind or bad feelings being formed. Also, the hour between 1 and 2 AM after a show seems to be when some of the most interesting and/or funny stuff goes down.

BKH: Tell me about the most hilarious thing that’s happened at Church to date.
Nick: Definitely ask our bartender Matt or bar manager Adam about this. They've seen more stuff in the post-midnight hours already in just the nearly six weeks we've been open than most folks see in their entire lives.

BKH: How does Church’s proximity to Fenway Park affect your work?
Nick: We're still looking at that aspect. Don't get me started on this.

BKH: Lastly do you have any specific goals regarding Church for 2008 or any big shows on the horizon people should be aware of?
Nick: Goals would be to just keep things going at a steady and strong pace and keep the shows cool and interesting. I would really love it if folks just started showing up because they felt the music was good, regardless if it was metal, rock, punk, cabaret, or avant garde, and worth seeing. I'd love to host a Zulus or DMZ reunion, the eventual live re-appearance of Certainly, Sir, John Cale, Tuxedomoon, The Fall, Bob Welch, Harvey Sid Fisher, and many more that reside on my wish list.

We've got some cool stuff coming up, including NY multi instrumentalist and artist/inventor Brian Dewan with The Army of Broken Toys on 12/22, a Lars Vegas reunion on 12/27, The Upper Crust plus the return of The Rudds and TRiPLE THiCK on New Year's Eve. Coming up in 2008 we've got Cheap Time from Nashville on 1/6, Eugene Robinson of Oxbow doing spoken word on 1/14, the vintage psychedelic band The Maypole on 2/15, two nights of The Figgs on 2/29 and 3/1, and the A.C. 20th Anniversary Show in May. We keep the Church MySpace site as up to date as possible so tune in there for more.

CD Review

Burial - Untrue (Hyperdub)

A friend ripped me a copy of this CD recently and I had no idea who Burial was prior. After listening I'm intrigued to learn more, but as I'm finding out, not many people know who this guy is.

This album is downright eerie, but in a good way. Dark beats which come off sounding mechanical and simplistic combine with deep textured bass and keyboard patterns to form a melancholy back drop for the manipulated vocal samples that are often soaked in reverb and delays. There's also a constant record crackle throughout the album which pretty much ties it all together.

Burial uses the vocal samples more as an instrument and less as a "lyric" in standard song structure. There are no verses or choruses in these tracks, which makes the album have more of an instrumental feel. But that's not to say there is no meaning in the few words that are present. In fact, he says very little in order to say a lot. Take the album's title song "Untrue", with the lone vocal being "The pain I feel inside, and its all because you lied".

Pain and anguish is the common theme I get from this disc which is rare to find in UK club music. To read an interview with Burial from the UK's Guardian, he explains how he would wait for nightfall or summer to end in order to work on the album. He said he enjoyed working on it while knowing everyone else was asleep. The music and its mood reflect this notion throughout. If you're into darker underground UK club music, this is a great album for you. It reminds me of early Tricky, The Baby Namboos, or even The Streets. I'm not sure where in the States you can find it in CD form, but is available through i-tunes.

Poetry

Poem for the Holidays

Reject from a toy factory

My friend Andy liked to say

And as Christmas rounds the corner

Presents!

And I think of the underground rock scene

How I think of them as

The Island of Misfit Toys

Another Xmas reference

Rejects, misfits

Square pegs in round holes

Seems to be what we seem to be

Finding a common passion

A freedom from judgment and compromise bind us together

We’re rejects

Unwanted, unneeded

Rejected, passed on

But it’s from a toy factory

That’s what life is-so should we really care?

We’re privileged to have the guts

To attempt our own way

And I find myself blessed

To be amongst

The most retched, disgraced, scarred

Beautiful souls

I’ve known

Commentary

A Shot At Life

Set me up, set me up with another shot and beer. A shot to symbolize what you have to take that's bitter in life and and a beer to soothe out the aftermath, what eases you out of the pain. I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay, like Otis Redding sang about one time and he didn't know that was the last bay he'd be sitting on, he was dead in a plane crash weeks later. But I'm drinking my beer after the shot. Just watching the tide, the water comes in and sweeps what else away? Sweeps the human deluge back out to sea. And it reminds me of the people who've been swept away by the tides of life and don't exist anymore and don't get to look, to see and be, and they're swept out of life, swept out to sea.

My best friend, Jim, same name as mine, same as me and he's swept put into eternity with liver cancer at 38. There's no rhyme or reason, is there? Steve dead at 28, heart attack, and cancer taking Andy's friend, swept out to sea, also, to eternity. All our friends, all our lives, it's not destiny just random horseshoes or a game of marbles-that's what I think. All our loves, our women or men in our lives, that at one time meant so much to us, that we couldn't believe we could breathe one more second without them and they're swept out, swept out to sea. And we're left with memories and thoughts of where they might be.

Bonnie, I'm sure you're not a nymphomaniac anymore, I just wonder how many children you have and if you're happy. Marie, did you kick your habit? I'm hoping you did and you're in suburban bliss as it is. Debbie C. from San Diego, I'm sure you're okay, strange our paths met this way. Lonnie, hope you' re alive, though it wouldn't surprise me if you ain't, take care, brother.I could name all the girls, all the guys, whom I hope aren't dead and are living in peace. "Looks like nothings gonna change, everything still remains the same." But everything changes. Just our perception of life stays the same when we're still in past times that can't move on because we don't see or live there anymore.

Set me up, set me one more shot, set me one more beer. And I'll drink them to the friends and lovers who've escaped my grasp and who are flourishing or in decay and I'll wonder what could've happened and let life go.
(Slimedog)

Latest News

Tickets for The Jeanne Benefits, featuring Buffalo Tom, The Shods and Gravel Pit on Sale Now

Tickets are now on sale for the December benefits for Jeanne from TTs.

All shows are at TTs and 18+. The Outlets show is $10, all others are $15.

Thursday 12/6 featuring The Outlets

Friday 12/21 featuring The Shods and The Pills

Friday 12/28 featuring The Gravel Pit

Saturday 12/29 featuring Buffalo Tom

Latest Music Commentary

The Overbooking Problem

I recently noticed, after conferring with various club colleagues, that a number of 'established' acts, some going back nearly 30 years, idiotically persist in trying to play out as many as four times a month in the various core area venues as if Boston was some megalopolis like New York.

It is not. It is a second string city and this practice is utterly self defeating. They piss off booking agents, burn out audiences and enter into a kind of doom spiral.

It is deceitful to pull this stunt on the Booker and increasingly dumb as a booker can just glance at your myspace schedule and go..."Oh.. Numbnuts and the Rusty Trombones are playing across the river TWO DAYS before they are supposed to be at my tinsel palace.... fuckheads."

Then consider the audience. They are your friends, right? When you pull this it is like saying you're so bitchin' that they should cough up 50 bucks several times a month of their hard earned money to see you trudge through the same fawking set list they probably already know by heart. Why not just pick their pockets and be done with it?

Boston looms large in the minds of its bands. But only around a half million people live here and the vast majority are yuppies, high rollers, trust fund brats and busy students who have lives and can't be expected to give a rats ass about you.

And yet, out beyond, in the vast doughnut defined by 495 and 128 are FOUR MILLION people living dull lives in drab burbs WITH VERY LITTLE TO DO!

There are gin mills scattered throughout the doughnut and many are likely to actually be excited by bands from the 'big city'. There are cool old mill towns like Lowell that have little scenes where you can play. There is a compact 6 state region out there with fairly short drive times compared with the West Coast.

The younger 'kid' bands are a different story. You are in the early stages of your audience growth and usually get out more as opening acts piggy backed on some bigger bill and you serve a useful role. Once you get 40+ people showing up you can kick back.

Basically less is more or to reshape an old Dan Hicks lyric,'How can they miss you when you won't go away?"

News

MFD Booking to Partner
with The Cantab Lounge

Effective immediately MFD Booking, Martin Doyle's agency, will be partnering with The Cantab Lounge in Cambridge.

Martin and company will be working with Mickey Bliss, who recently moved his long-standing weekend series Club Bohemia to the Central Square venue following the closing of The Kirkland Cafe in Somerville.

Doyle says he is hopeful that, among other positive changes, all ages matinees can be added to the 110 capacity basement room on Saturday and/or Sunday afternoons.

Latest Show Review

Americana Romantic
TT The Bears
Cambridge, MA
11/21/07

Last night I had the chance to catch Americana Romantic, the latest musical outlet from Boston area vet Paul Russo.

For those of you as unfamiliar with Russo as I was, up until about 20 minutes ago, Paul was a member of the Maine-based outfit The Pinkerton Thugs, as well as a "double-agent" so to speak, doing time in The Unseen during much of his time with the Thugs as well.

Knowing that much going in to the show, I was met with something that clashed greatly with what I was anticipating.

Russo's latest foray delves deeper into the folk styles touched upon with The Pinkerton Thugs, with a tasteful touch of the indie-style rock that has seen a surge in popularity in recent years. Other songs demonstrate a more rock 'n roll driven style that fans of the Thugs work may enjoy. A highlight of Russo's style that my brother and I both noted was his impeccable harmonies with his backup singer (AR was performing for the evening as an acoustic duo).

While not readily catered for fans of The Unseen and The Pinkerton Thugs to transition into, fans with a broad range of musical tastes looking for a fresh take on a popular trick will be pleasantly surprised with this outfit. According to his Myspace page, Paul is currently back on the east coast, and gearing up to begin playing out regularly in Boston and the surrounding area.

For more info on Americana Romantic, and the chance to sample some of this music, check the band out here.

CD Review

Mando Diao - Ode to Ochrasy (EMI/Majesty)

Mando Diao's Ode to Ochrasy (2006) is the third album release from this 5-piece Swedish band. The disc has 14 tracks of up-tempo British rock almost from another era (think Beatles, Kinks etc.) and it also has a hint of today's indie rock sound heard from The Bravery or The Hives. I was drawn to this band after seeing them in a DirectTV exclusive for the 2007 SWSX festival, and was particularly drawn to the bottom-end of the bass and drum players who held a tight danceable and cool ryhthm to the songs.

I was hoping this live taste would translate on the album as well and it does very nicely. Lyrically the album is dense in pop-culture with the opening track a humorous nod to ice-hockey great Luc Robitaille (Welcom Home Luc Robitaile). Other signs of the times include the songs Killer Kaczynski, Amsterdam, and TV & Me. The songs are crafted with tongue-in-cheek wit which sneaks up on you as the pace of the tracks and musicianship hook you in before you realize whats been said in the lyrics. Bjorn Dixgard delivers the vocals cleanly and intense when applicable, and the background harmonies are masterfully done. My only criticism of the disc is the production. It appears the singer Bjorn also produced it, and I wonder if an unbiased set of ears would have helped the album sonically. It seems a bit compressed and muddied in spots that seem should be clear and layered.

Overall I love the album though and it's been stuck in my car for the last week.

News

Boston Club Sacks Soundman Over White Supremacist Comments

According to the Basstown Blog a Harpers Ferry soundman was fired for white supremacist comments he made to people associated with a hip-hop show this past Tuesday at the Allston club.

From the Basstown Blog:

"I just got off the phone with Regan and his DJ, Antimc (Matt Alsberg), to get the full story. Regan left the venue after load-in to have dinner with a Boston friend over at Grasshopper, leaving Matt to deal with the sound guy and setting up on stage.

"After answering a few questions to the sound guy about their setup, 'we need two DI-boxes, two mics, etc.' the sound guy commented 'that's why you need a white guy in your crew.'

"Matt, baffled at the absurdity of the comment, asked the sound guy to repeat himself, to which he replied by not only repeating the comment, but going on to say, 'you know, we hired 6 [mumbled racist slur] in the past few months and they're all outta here!' Matt immediately ran to Harpers' green room and talked to Regan on the phone, who after hearing the story called his booking agent who in turn called the manager of the club. "

The band wound up walking, and the soundman was first suspended and then fired.

The General Manager from Harpers Ferry then posted this apology:

We as a club are completely baffled and shocked by the events that unfolded Tuesday evening. We have a zero tolerance policy for such things.

The staff member in question was suspended indefinitely on the spot and was let go the next day after we gathered all the information.

It's a sad situation and one that we hope will ever happen again here at Harpers Ferry.

My fullest apologies to you and hope that you do not think of this as a mark on our reputation as we try to bring you the best entertainment possible. As a show of good faith and I would like to invite you any show we have on our calendar free of charge with a guest.

My apologies

Please respond so that I do know that you got this email.


Andrew Wolan
GM/General Manager
Harpers Ferry

CD Review

Death and Taxes - Tattooed Hearts & Broken Promises (I Scream)

So I just got to sit down and listen to the entire Death and Taxes record, (while doing boring stuff with data at work). The record is just so solid it's incredible. It's 42 minutes and 31 seconds of honest, heartfelt lyrics, a solid rhythm section and my favorite guitar player playing some of the best simple catchy riffs that I've ever heard. Before I had the record I thought quite a bit about how catchy some of the riffs are on the record, the guitar line from Tattooed Hearts (and Broken Promises) for example, is something that I feel like I can't even pick up a guitar without playing cause its unusually stuck in my head. Even the solos are great and capture the feeling of the song without being boring or noodley. I think its a really rare talent to be able to play the shit out of a guitar but to also have the sense and taste to know what fits the part and not overplay it. Mike and Steve are an incredibly good rhythm section and the drums and bass are perfect on every song, again tasteful bass lines and fills that fit the song perfectly. Jeff's ability to tell a story through a song is incredible. I really feel like this record raises the bar on what bands around hear can and should be doing. There's a level of sincerity to these songs that the Boston punk scene is sorely lacking, there's no going through the motions or posturing just raw bare-bones rock and roll the way it should be.

2 CD Reviews

Bryan McPherson - "Fourteen Stories" (Indecent Music)

I saw this guy play at the Abbey Lounge on a Wednesday night. It was your standard acoustic show: people getting up there and hacking through poorly constructed songs with moments of potential but nothing much more than what you'd expect for a Wednesday night. Until this kid, Bryan McPherson, got up to play. His set was like nothing I've seen in ages. There were moments when I literally got a little misty eyed over the song topics and the honest energy being dumped into them. The only thing that kept popping into my head was the line from Bill Joel's Piano Man that says "man, what are you doing here?". It appeared that every person in the capacity crowd of 15 to 20 bought a CD that night. And while the CD doesn't capture everything you need to know about McPherson's music and the identity/personality that comes across so easily and honestly in the music, it will more than satisfy whatever itch you have now for some sort of new brilliance in town. The high points of the album are "Angel in the Snow" and "Don't Terrorize Me". One listen might classify this CD as being of the singer/songwriter genre but I wouldn't quite call that summary fair. It walks the line between something that everyone might like and something that fans of early Against Me or Two Gallants would die for. McPherson is in a really good position; the world is his oyster and all he really needs to do it play his cards right and he'll have whatever following he wants. And the best news about this record is that some of the highlights of his live set aren't even on this A+ disc so its clear he hasn't blown his musical wad in his first shot like so many bands do. (M. Lind)

Angels & Airwaves - "I Empire" (Suretone/Geffen)

This is the band that the punk rock kids love to hate. And its also the band that this 30 year old man loves. It picks up where the last album left off with songs that sound like some sort of slightly scaled down version of U2's arena rock mixed with lyrics that are too far over the heads of their target audience. It still baffles me that this guy came from Blink 182 and was able to release either this record or their debut. Lyrically he is writing from the point of view of someone in the 28 - 32 age bracket and it doesn't surprise me that the teenagers would find Delonge's lyrics to be pompous and foolish. But I think its more that they don't get it than that he's the fool they'd make him out to be. Sure.... maybe at times it gets a little too bombastic and too big for its britches but no guts, no glory and I think this guy is onto something a hell of a lot bigger than what people are foreseeing. On the local level, their new bass player is former Bostonian, Matt Wachter, who used to play guitar in Strangle Me and even did a few stints sitting in with me and my brother in Sinners & Saints. (M.Lind)

News

DRAGO News from Winter Street Records


Boston's Drago are back again with their follow up to 2005's '90 Miles From Launch To Target'. 'Bowling With Stalin' is the bands first release on Winter Street Records and much like their debut the band truly wears their influences on their sleeves. Late 80's hardcore in the vein of Judge, Sick Of It All, and Gorilla Biscuits combined with lyrical comedy reminiscent of Southern California Punks The Vandals make Bowling a standout amongst hardcore records in 2007. Recorded At Fallen Angel Studios in May of 2007 "Bowling With Stalin" proves an improvement over 90 Miles while still staying true to the band's initial sound. If you're tired of metalcore and rapcore being passed off as hardcore, Drago's "Bowling With Stalin" will remind you that there is still hope. - Winter Street Records

Available online on Interpunk, iTunes. Also available at Newbury Comics in New England and Reptilian Records in Baltimore.

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