It is hard to feel good about anything right now. And on Friday night, as the bitter reality of the next four to eight years started to set in, for a few hours there was respite.
That’s the result of a wonderful show from the Lemon Twigs, a four-piece band from Long Island that has quickly become a compelling draw for music festivals. The sold-out show drew hundreds to Great Scott (in a post-fact world, the show was attended by thousands).
Do Hollywood, the band’s major-label debut, was produced by Foxygen’s Jonathan Rado. He recently worked on an AP fave, Whitney’s luscious Light Upon The Lake. There’s a lot in common between these two albums; they both are innovative in sound, while simultaneously rooted in the ’70s and ’80s. (The two bands, however, plucked inspiration from distinct groups.)
The teenage brothers Michael and Brian D’Addario are the heart of the band, responsible for songwriting and splitting duties on stage: The siblings switched drums and guitars midway through the set. Both approach the stage with similar penchant for theatrics. Yes, there were high kicks, solos that overcome them and make them collapse on stage and energy. Shoes became untied (an audience member helpfully tied them, leading to some awkward stage banter). The two are flanked by keyboardist Danny Ayala (who provided lovely harmonies and backing vocals) and bassist Megan Zeankowski.
The on-stage theatrics aren’t a gimmick: The band sounds fantastic live. Album cuts “I Wanna Prove to You” and “These Words” burst with life on the stage. “These Words” in particular has a tension that runs through its choruses that were wonderful live. The band also teased songs off a forthcoming EP that sounded great in the club setting.
The Lemon Twigs put on a show that ended up being the perfect antidote to the overall climate of despair that everyone seemed to be feeling.
Cut Worms, a Brooklyn-based band, opened the show. The band played a breezy set of folky rock tunes, aided by a pedal steel guitar, which gave the set a decidedly retro feel.
Music has long been a source of political power, from folk artists like Woody Guthrie to protesting alternative rock like Green Day’s American Idiot. Cayetana’s Augusta Koch and Nona’s Mimi Gallagher have been working with various artists to put together their statement, Don’t Stop Now: A Collection of Covers — and it’s finally here!
The album features musicians who were “all shocked and troubled by the outcome of this election,” as said in a prepared statement. Laura Stevenson, Jeff Rosenstock, Radiator Hospital, Lisa Prank, and more are among the artists who contributed to Don’t Stop Now. The songs on the album are all covers, including songs originally by Neil Young, Rage Against The Machine, and John Lennon — musicians known for their politically charged music.
All proceeds from the album’s sales will go to benefit the ACLU. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) works to “defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States,” as said in their mission statement.
It says on the Bandcamp page for the album: “This compilation is an expression of love, anger, hope and protest on inauguration day. Let it serve as a reminder that the fight or justice is not over, that the celebration of diversity is essential to progress, that we must work together for what is fair and good. Can’t stop. Won’t Stop. Don’t stop now.”
Shoe-gazers rejoice because this Monday night Glass House, All Talk, Muddler, and Peace Prize are bringing the distortion pedals and lack of eye contact to Great Scott. Glass House released an EP entitled Summer’s Shot this past November, half of which was recorded at Converse Rubber Track’s studios. Before they bring 90’s influenced indie rock to our neighborhood, Nickof Glass House was kind enough to answer a few questions about their recording process and future plans.
Allston Pudding:When writing the EP, what were your musical influences?
Nick Romanow (guitar / vocals): Some of our biggest influences are the ‘classic’ indie bands: Pavement, Built to Spill, My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr. But we all listen to a lot of different stuff and our music probably reflects all of that to some degree, while also hopefully reflecting our own approach to playing and writing. When we were writing and recording the songs on the EP some reference points were Ovlov, The Beatles, Gin Blossoms, and Ride.
AP:How long have you been playing together as a band?
NR: We’ve been a band for a little over a year. Matt joined us at the end of summer ’16 though.
AP:How did you meet?
NR: Javier and I met via Craigslist. We met Jon and our original bassist Marc online shortly after that. When we needed a new bassist we went back to Craigslist and found Matt! We started as strangers and now we’re best friends.
AP:What are your future plans as a band?
NR: Our musical plans for 2017 are lots more shows, perhaps an East Coast mini tour, and definitely more recording. We’re proud of the fact that we all write so we have lots of material that we’re excited to play and share.
Don’t be fooled by Spelling’s gentle introductions and soundscapes. You’re about to get smacked by some raw shit. Spelling combines siamese like clean guitar melodies, chopped with riffs raw with distortion, and just the right amount of fuzz. Spelling produces a sound that embodies the likes of your Cobains and Corgans, but manages to keep you guessing what’s next. Be sure to check out Spelling’s new self titled record, and see them next March 31st at O’Briens Pub in Allston.
Disclaimer: if I hear one more person optimistically suggest that the sentient dumpster of diapers America just elected president might be “a good catalyst for the return of great punk music,” I’m going to advise they take a timeout in said dumpster behind the local Babies “R” Us until they stop normalizing our current state of affairs. Punk has been pretty damn vital despite what common “middle school boy that owns a Nirvana shirt” beliefs suggest… the world didn’t need a con man with a spray tan to “revive it.”
That being said, local outfit Fightsong seem like an act that both punk hopefuls and slightly more panicked realists could find some solace in. Clocking in at a tight 59 seconds, “What If God Was One of Them?” manages to pack in the widescreen, anthemic punk that poured out of singer Chris “Cmar” Martin’s former band Hostage Calm with a sharper sting of political hopelessness in the mix. With members of Burglary Years and Animal Flag also involved, “What If” feels like both a natural progression from Hostage Calm and a fresh start after the band’s abrupt end back in 2015.
Check out our premiere of the video by Dani David-Spickerman below and give the band’s demo a listen over at its Bandcamp.
At just 21 year-old, Allston resident and producer Dad Jeans has been creating quite a buzz among Boston’s hip-hop community. Having helped lay down beats for OG Swaggerdick and Kble as well as take on massive covers like Drake’s “Hotline Bling“, he’s gearing up to release his debut album, Save Yourself, which will showcase his penchant for psychedelic and electro pop textures.
Dad Jeans’ Dough Eyes
“Tendencies,” which features frequent collaborator Haasan Barclay, is the debut single and video off of Save Yourself. Directed by Liv Slaughter, the video for “Tendencies” depicts a serene afternoon amongst nature with Dad Jeans overlooking a fantastic view of the Back Bay skyscrapers. The synth-laden chorus soars as Barclay and Dad Jeans dance it off together in a clearing, letting a drenched guitar solo add a groovy edge to the outro.
Steve Gunn’s music filled the beautiful Arts at the Armory with dark rhythmic tones complimented by strong but measured vocal melodies. His set marched forward with a delicate tenacity that displayed both raw musicianship, and careful composition. Gunn is touring on his new album “Eyes on the Lines,” his 13th project in 10 years. It’s safe to say Gunn is marching forward with the same tenacity of his music.
Lee Ranaldo played before Gunn as a split headliner. Ranked number 33 on Rolling Stone’s top 100 guitarist of all time, Ranadlo played his guitar with neck bending nuance, percussive tapping, and even a violin bow to create an atmosphere of rich timbre, and resonate inflections. The back to back duo were impressive and a pleasure to watch in such a charming space.
Be sure to grab your favorite craft beer, or in my case a tall boy, sit back, and enjoy the work of a raw singer songwriter. The pair are currently making stops all around the eastern parts of the country.
Forth Wanderers make music that sounds like what growing up feels like. Not the lust and angst and heartbreak that get all the limelight, but the quietly messy business of figuring out what you want and realizing you might need to shake some old habits to get there. Built on clambering guitars and vocalist Ava Trilling’s detached alto, both debut album Tough Love and recent EP Slop are low on dramatic twists and high on the sort of internal scrutiny that whirrs into high gear in the middle of the night.
So far, the Montclair, New Jersey quintet’s path has played out like a study hall daydream: a group of childhood friends form a rock band, self-release an album, and—with a little luck—suddenly find Lorde tweeting their EP out to her 4-million-or-so followers. Now signed to Father/Daughter records, they’re cramming a tour along the East Coast into their college winter breaks, because they’re all dedicated full-time students as well. Though their records play like a soundtrack to suburban restlessness, they couldn’t be any less restless right now.
“The hardest part about the band right now is that we’re all really spread out,” says guitarist and founder Ben Guterl, who’s been putting off interview requests to focus on his third-year finals at Oberlin. His bandmates are scattered between Rutgers, Tufts, and The New School. It’s a complicated balance, but college and the band aren’t entirely at odds; Slop actually started as a way to fulfill Oberlin’s requirement for a winter term project. “I was like, let’s record 4 songs. That’s doable. We’ll just grind it out,” he says. “That didn’t happen. We got drum and guitar and bass tapes we didn’t even use, just a partially finished record, and then we had to go back to school, and nothing really happened for 3 months.”
When the whole band reunited in Montclair for the summer, they buckled down to finish recording. Guterl describes the town’s location on the outskirts of New York City as the ideal setting for a young band finding its way, giving them access to the city’s opportunities while building them up in a more supportive local community. “The Montclair scene was a whole other beast when I was in high school. Playing music, everyone was kind of feeding off each other. The bands I really started listening to when I first was getting into music were all kids that were older than me in high school. Pinegrove was one of them. We played a bunch of shows with Pinegrove in a basement for years before they exploded.”
They finished mixing and mastering halfway midway through the summer, but that’s when the EP hit its biggest snag. With the offer from Father/Daughter records on the table, Forth Wanderers added two fairly unconventional ingredients into the DIY equation: parents and lawyers. “I was pretty naive… Everyone just told me ‘You don’t want to get your music stolen!’, which is crazy, because the contracts are so low stakes,” he says. “So we hired this legit lawyer, this music industry real lawyer, and she charged us real-time prices, and we spent all of our money on it and it’s really not worth it.”
The process took so long to finalize that by the time the EP was released, they’d been working on it for almost two years. After spending so much time focused on just 4 songs, Guterl says that the whole band connects with the music differently than they did when it was first written. “We all trusted ourselves that we, at one point, thought the songs were good. But it was just so long, I had to run through so much shit… That usually happens, we get tired of stuff by the time we release it, and then come back to it later and it’s like ‘Oh, this is not bad.’ ”
The tour ahead gives them time to reconnect with the EP, but they’re already moving forward again, putting the finishing touches on a new full-length album that they hope to release later this year. “We’d never worked that fast before. I think that made it sound a lot better. We just worked on it nonstop,” he says. If this is what slacker rock looks like in 2017, an auspicious year awaits.
Catch Forth Wanderers tonight at Great Scott along with Half Waif and Brittle Brian. The 18+ show starts at 9. Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door.
Boston Calling’s 2017 lineup is here. Tool, Mumford and Sons, and Chance the Rapper headline the 3-day festival.
Mitski, who topped Allston Pudding’salbum of the year list with Puberty 2, will play Boston Calling. Other artists who were on our list include Whitney, Bon Iver and Solange.
The lineup, which the festival says has more than doubled than last year’s list, also features The xx, Sigur Rós, Run the Jewels, Sylvan Esso, Frightened Rabbit and Francis and the Lights.
Local acts include Buffalo Tom, Vundabar, Cousin Stizz, The Hotelier and the recently reunited Piebald.
The festival will take place in Lower Allston at the Harvard Athletic Complex, and will feature not only music, but also film and visual art, according to a release.
Russ Bennet, artist and sculptor responsible for the layout and design of Outside Lands and Bonnaroo, will work on the festival’s aesthetic.
With an expanded footprint comes an expanded price point. Early bird tickets are on sale now for $245 and will raise to $269 plus fees once the cheap ones run out. VIP prices are $499 for a limited time, which then run to $529 plus fees. Platinum VIP passes, which give priority admission to film, better food and the ability to actually park at the festival, cost more than a month of rent at $899. After the early bird pricing runs out, it’s $999 plus fees. Cool!
It’s the first festival under the purview of the Madison Square Garden company, which owns a controlling interest in Crash Line Productions.
The 2017 edition of Boston Calling takes place over Memorial Day weekend, May 26-28.
The full lineup and artist rendering of the layout of the fest is below:
Tool
Mumford & Sons
Chance the Rapper
Bon Iver
The XX
Major Lazer
Weezer
The 1975
Sigur Rós
Solange
Cage the Elephant
Run the Jewels
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
Tegan and Sara
Brandi Carlile
Sylvan Esso
Majid Jordan
Flatbush Zombies
Wolf Parade
Mac Demarco
Oh Wonder
Danny Brown
Piebald
Frightened Rabbit
Modern Baseball
Car Seat Headrest
Buffalo Tom
Cousin Stizz
Mitski
Russ
Francis and the Lights
Deerhoof
Pup
Whitney
Strand of Oaks
Hiss Golden Messenger
Moses Sumney
Kevin Morby
The Hotelier
Lucy Dacus
Vundabar
Xylouris White
Tkay Maidza
Alexandra Savior
Mondo Cozmo
A quick look back at one of our favorite parties of the year: Diarrhea Planet, Vundabar, and Lilith helped close out of one the craziest years we can remember. Nobody does New Year’s Eve like these bands and Allston Pudding!
