By Sharon Weissburg
Friends, fans, curious passerby, and (to the musicians’ chagrin) coworkers crowded the long, narrow hall of Charlie’s Kitchen’s upstairs music space on Monday evening. Under the many closed-caption television monitors of the bar (one showed Hillary Clinton’s interview with Diane Sawyer; another showed Proactiv skincare infomercials), bodies huddled into the mouth of the room, cold beers in hand, awaiting a showcase of the diverse talents of both local fresh faces and perennial favorites, with Jeff Meff’s Bad History Month headlining the bill.
The opening sets of the evening presented a diverse but encouraging front — the adorable boys of Ladybones played a tight, well-rounded set of charismatic rock music with a firm hold on their own rhythm. Teacher Mother Secret Lover, a local hardcore band with an irresistible Simpsons theme, followed with a short, fun, very loud series of songs complete with all the tumbling drumbeats and urgent shredding I could have hoped for. Bloomington, Indiana duo Dust From 1000 Yrs, the other half of Exploding In Sound Record’s recent split tape Famous Cigarettes with Bad History Month, provided affecting cyclical guitar riffs and surprising versatility.
What was once Fat History Month, a duo of Jeff Meff and drummer Bobby Hobby, has slimmed down in the past year to become a solo project by Meff, complete with a change in name and in sound. Famous Cigarettes, Meff’s latest release with Exploding In Sound Records, represents a culmination of the changes that the band has undergone in its more-than-five-year run in the Boston music scene. The strength of Meff’s songwriting and the intuitive grace of Fat History Month’s music, happily, has not changed or gone away.
Indeed, watching Jeff Meff carry the beautiful and layered set he did completely on his own was not only technically impressive, but a testament to his independent power as an artist and lyricist. Meff sat unassumingly among a pile of instruments — a drum kit before him, a guitar in his hands, amps scattered about him on the floor — but as he began to play, it began to seem as if these objects were living extensions of his body. All four limbs were engaged, operating independently, perfectly in tune with one another as they created deep bass lines on one string and complex melodic patterns on the others, all the while delicately punctuating the songs with the drum kit he controlled effortlessly with one bare foot.
“We’re not banging as hard as I’d hoped,” Meff said sheepishly, running a hand over his close-cropped hair and verging into a new song. Yes, the set was indeed a little somber, but I found myself captivated by what I was seeing. Meff’s words rang clear and sad as church bells, discussing death and loneliness with more sensitivity and nuance than most could accomplish. “Staring at My Hands,” the single off Famous Cigarettes, is a gorgeous song with its foundation firmly grounded in a deep void. “Feeling my existence as a ripple in an endless ocean/Not even a drop/I will take no substance with me when I’m gone/Because my body’s the same as the sea,” Meff croons. “It’s only when you realize that you’re going nowhere that you finally arrive.” The changes in Bad History Month are certainly noticeable, but Meff’s songs remain astute and beautiful. Meff remained modest and self-deprecating between songs, as though it couldn’t be over fast enough, but the music thankfully took its time.
What could come next for Bad History Month is a mystery — the band has never been a stranger to experimentation and evolution, but what was once a duo is now a solo act. The game is changed, but Jeff Meff absolutely holds his own as a solo performer, and his intelligence, talent, and sensitivity have not dampened. I, for one, am very excited for the History Months ahead.