Fans sold out House of Blues last week to see Virginia natives Turnover celebrate ten years of their beloved album Peripheral Vision. The dreamy riffs on “I Would Hate You if I Could” and “Dizzy on the Comedown” were even larger and more hypnotic in a sea of crowdsurfers illuminated by the House of Blues’ disco ball. As an album, Peripheral Vision’s release in 2015 shifted the band past emo roots into a sound that incorporated elements of shoegaze and dreampop, catapulting them to even broader mass appeal amidst the chaos of the late 2010s. It was surreal to hear music about feeling solitary or vulnerable in a room overflowing with people who all shared a deep connection to it. The crowd singing along track for track often drowned out vocals from Austin Emanuel Getz.
Turnover were supported by Citizen, as well as fellow Virginian indie rockers Keep.
Pop-rock sibling duo The Driver Era kicked off Leader Bank Pavilion’s concert season with a bang. The band, comprised of Ross and Rocky Lynch, stopped in Boston about midway through the second leg of their Obsession Tour. Fans decked out in sparkly pink cowboy hats spilled into the venue, excited to hear their favorite songs from the band’s newest album, Obsession (Deluxe), which wasjust released in May. Columbian pop artist VALÉ set the electric tone for the night with a burst of uptempo and catchy tracks. The crowd excitedly engaged in call-and-response moments, learned Spanish phrases with her, and kept shouting out their love., Hopefully this will be the first of her many performances in Boston. Original songs like “coco water,” “fit mami,” and a cover of Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” inspired fans to get up and dance.
Soon after, the stage crew hung a white curtain from the lighting truss. Ross, Rocky, and their brother Riker, who joins them to play bass on tour, emerged silhouetted during the opening song, “Trust.” The curtain dropped, adding drama and eliciting shrill cheers from the entire venue as the band dove into their synth-pop anthem “Better.” They had an effortless command of the crowd, bouncing along to the bassline and pointing at fans in the audience to hype them up. The stage featured whimsical elements they would interact with, such as a payphone they would use to make mock phone calls and an old camcorder plugged into the big screen to film themselves and the audience smiling and posing. They held the energy high for the rest of the night, scaling the stage and coming together to bounce energy off one another.
Before his turn in The Driver Era, Ross first made a splash as a teen idol. Fans may have initially fallen in love with his charisma when he starred as Austin in the Disney Channel series Austin & Ally, and he even got to highlight his vocal chops as Brady in the Disney Channel Original musical Teen Beach Movie. To the excitement of the venue, he performed the movie’s hit song “Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’,” transporting everyone back to their childhood. They returned for the final encore, closing the night with the viral hit “Kiss” before escaping backstage for the final time. Make sure to catch this dynamic duo live before the Obsession Tour ends in July. Buy tickets here.
Check out all of Samantha’s photos from the show below.
June 6th, 2025. Jack’s Mannequin performs at a sold-out Roadrunner. Photo by Wendy Schiller.
Fans packed a sold-out Roadrunner on the night of Friday, June 6th, to see their favorite singer-songwriter return home to Massachusetts. An emotional Andrew McMahon dazzled with his usual showmanship, leaping from his baby grand piano between songs, crowdsurfing on a giant rubber duck, and encouraging the audience to join in song as much as possible. McMahon reminisced about the early days of Jack’s Mannequin: a solo project he started while on a break from touring with Something Corporate. The screens on stage featured montages from the band’s early time working on Everything in Transit, as well as emotional footage from hospitals and doctor’s appointments (the first album finished recording the same day McMahon was diagnosed with leukemia in 2005).
Anniversary tours are always homecomings in their own way, but it’s worth remarking on the poignance of this victory lap: 20 years of a beloved album, on top of 20 years of survival and healing. Followers of Jack’s Mannequin are intimately connected to McMahon’s journey and find catharsis in his music; their dedication speaks volumes. Some folks had followed the tour up and down the coast a la the Grateful Dead, and shared stories about how his music helped them through the hardest times: addiction, family illness, loss and loneliness. He played all the hits including “Dark Blue”, “Spinning”, and “La La Lie”, but also mixed in some true deep cuts including “Hammers and Strings (A Lullabye)”. The band was supported by Yoke Lore.
Check out all of Wendy’s photos from the show below.
June 7th, 2025. Justice performs at The Stage at Suffolk Downs. Photo by Wendy Schiller.
Electronic french duo Justice returned to Boston during the first full weekend of Pride to play to an eager crowd at Suffolk Downs. One of the rainiest days yet this summer, it seemed likely the show might get canceled. But rather than let a drizzle ruin their parade, an eclectic group of fans raved, danced, and swayed to the beat, under a rainbow that faded into a nearly-full moon as the sun set. Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay explored a range of sounds, including selections from their albums † and Hyperdrama (gotta play “D.A.N.C.E.” and “Afterimage”), but spun in plenty of other tracks, repeatedly punctuating the night with a remix of Simian’s “We Are Your Friends”. Lasers, smoke, and lights strobed out into the sky, catching planes taking off from Logan Airport. By the end of the night, the field was turned to mud as fans clamored for the pair’s traditional post-encore meet and greet. They were supported by Canadian DJ Tiga.
Check out all of Wendy’s photos from the show below.
Massachusetts’ beloved home to creatives and music lovers is back in less than one month. Levitate Music and Arts Festival returns to Marshfield on July 12 and 13 with a jam-packed psychedelic lineup.
Levitate 2024. Photo by Greg Wong.
Indie-roots band Dispatch headlines day 1 and American Reggae band Stick Figure headlines day 2. The hidden gem of the weekend is the Levitate Foundation Songwriter Stage, which features an array of talented musicians, including Berklee College of Music’s Samantha McKaige, who is up for their Songwriter of the Year award. There is a stacked Sunday lineup of genre-blending artists: alternative psychedelic musician Still Woozy, jazz funk fusion artist Thundercat, and booming theatrical powerhouse sibling duo Lawrence top the bill. Levitate avoids the pitfalls of typical festivals by thinking outside the box. Why book American progressive roots band The Elovaters for one day when you can have them perform on both? Look forward to the swinging melodies and an easy listening atmosphere to kick off the warmest months of New England summer.
There’s clearly a lot to hear at Levitate, but there’s a ton to see, too. Check out over 15 live and experiential artists from across the globe who came together to create murals and large scale art across the festival while enjoying music from your favorite bands. Levitate is also open to the whole family. Younger fans can enjoy kid’s zone run by Levitate Camp Counselors running the entire weekend. The more tickets you buy, the cheaper each one is, so hit up the group chat and make plans to visit Marshfield, MA on July 12 and 13. Single day GA tickets start at $129. Buy tickets here.
The most common bit of advice any creative who has found some level of success can offer is simply just keep going. If you aren’t yet where you want to be, then keep trying, keep working, and keep dreaming. As Ethel Cain once said, if it’s meant to be, then it’ll be, and so it has become for Somerville based hyper-diy outfit sidebody. Formed amid the uncertain opportunities of Covid, the group began making music simply because they could and because they suddenly had the time to try. After many trials, tribulations, and email campaigns, the quartet can now boast they have shared a bill with Avril Lavigne and Vampire Weekend. So how did it happen? We sat down with the genre-bending visual artists to discuss their trajectory, their inspirations and their plans to retreat into the woods of Maine.
Allston Pudding: How are you all feeling after performing at Boston Calling?
Cara Giaimo: It’s a bit surreal, we’ve been thinking about this set for months, maybe even a year. It feels great, but it’s like a dream that’s now come true.
Martha Schnee: We’ve been preparing for over eight months. I feel really energized and excited that 30 minutes just happened, that we’ve been crafting it for so long and I’m so proud of us and I’m so happy with how many people were there to experience it with us. It was really cool.
Lena Warnke: I feel like I’m on cloud 9, I just feel incredible. I feel really calm and happy and euphoric and everyone we love is here. It’s just really special to be together after having done that and I feel grateful.
Hava Horowitz: I just wanna do more, like when are we gonna do it again? I just wanna optimize and make it better and do it again and again. For me, I have a hard time knowing how it went when you’re on stage, so it was really helpful to watch videos that people posted and be like oh we just did that, like that was really cool. It didn’t feel like we did it while we were doing it.
AP: You must blackout part of the performance at least. You get really into it, you kind of forget while it’s happening and then it’s over.
MS: I was saying that to my parents, they were like, “did you see us?” and I said “I blacked out.” You go into this performance mindset and you’re so present and then it’s like eight months of preparation for just 30 minutes. There’s nothing else like it in life. Anything can happen in those 30 minutes.
HH: And it’s a strict 30 minutes. We planned every minute to the T, and they will cut you off if you go over, so there’s also a rhythm. We can’t add too much in the moment, we can be present, but we have to keep the beats.
CG: I saw the clock turn to 4:40 during “sponge time” and I was like we gotta get that hug in and I think we did it.
LW: I did not look at the clock a single time. I did not perceive time whatsoever. I was fully in “sponge time”. I don’t know what happened.
HH: The most challenging part for the rehearsal process was refining the setlist. What songs we’re gonna play, what songs are we not. We tried so hard to play nine songs, but I think the best choice was to only do eight so we could feel more present and spacious.
LW: It was down to the wire with the setlist. We’ve been crafting for a long time, playing it live, seeing what happens. There was another song we were so close to including, but we just cut it three days ago-
MS: Because we’re saving it for Bonnaroo.
AP: Fair enough. When did you know that you were performing at Boston Calling?
HH: A long time ago. We’ve known since April 16th of 2024.
LW: We didn’t have it signed in paperwork, but we had verbal confirmation.
HH: We opened for Maggie Rogers at the Paradise Rock Club and after the set we got an Instagram message from Peter Boyd, talent booker for Boston Calling. He messaged saying “I’m here and I’d love to chat with you guys. what are you doing Labor Day weekend 2025”.
All: Memorial Day!
HH: Oh, what the fuck. Yeah, wherever we are.
CG: He just wanted to know what we were doing on Labor Day weekend [laughs] oh, let me check my calendar… no plans!
AP: Was that the first time you were in contact with someone from Boston Calling?
LW: So we formed in 2020 during lockdown. We did not know how to play our instruments and learned how to play together. About a year into informal band practices, Hava found Peter Boyd on LinkedIn…
HH: I’m just like, this would be funny if we reached out to him.
LW: We barely knew how to play, we sounded like total garage-
CG: You guys sounded great! I wasn’t in the band yet.
LW: So we messaged Peter and he responded!
HH: He was like “oh yeah, we’re full this year but if someone drops out, I’ll let you know.” So we created a Google calendar event annually that was to annoy Peter Boyd.
LW: Not annoy, to remind!
AP: A gentle nudge.
MS: A circle back.
HH: So year after year after year we did.
MS: I think he picked the right year.
HH: Absolutely agree.
LW: I think we showed up [to perform at Boston Calling] at the right time. We’ve been building at this pace for the right moment. We have enough songs.
AP: Which is your favorite song to perform?
LW: It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I think my favorite is “he’s dead” because it’s so fun to play on the base. I just jump around and feel really locked in.
MS: And we do die differently every time we play that song, which I would say is also extremely fun, it’s really good to die on stage ya know?
CG: I like playing “sponge time” because the guitar part becomes kind of stratospheric and I just play it as fast as I can. There was an incarnation of the set list where it was second to last instead of last and I was not able to play the last song cause I had just left it all on the field.
HH: I like “he’s dead”. I think it’s the moment where we show our silliness in the set, which is really important to our ethos but I also like “fingerprints”. I think it’s really tight. I think we’ve gotten into a place with the song where we’re just listening to each other and locked in and it feels like an explosion of sunshine, and the sun came out during it today so that felt good.
AP: You had a nice moment where you got to sort of take in the sunlight.
HH: Ooh, I didn’t realize that happened. That’s great!
AP: If you could bring anything to the festival, or if you had your own sidebody fest, what would that look like? Latrell James said he would bring a basketball court or a hacky sack contest.
LW: We would bring Latrell for sure.
MS: A soccer field for sure. We play pickup soccer every Sunday in Somerville.
LW: I would have a stand-up comedy stage, like if you need a break from music, it can be overwhelming for three days.
HH: I think I would have workshops. I love when I go to festivals and they have an opportunity for learning something. You can see a band perform, but maybe they also teach you a craft. I wonder what sidebody would teach?
AP: How to make your costumes? Not that you made them yourselves, but more so how to fit into your vibe.
MS: We really do want to shout out our costume designer, her name is Emma Fritschel.
LW: She really helped us bring this entire vision together.
MS: We’ve been working with her for a really long time. She made this [choker] for me last night. I texted her saying “I have a vision, please help”. She’s just incredible.
AP: They’re definitely eye-catching and they stick with you.
CG: There’s something about playing a festival, this is only our second one, but people aren’t coming here because they know who you are. They need to find out who you are and the moment people see us together, they know who we are.
LW: Someone just said they came to see us because they saw us in line and they saw Cara’s hat.
HH: Wait, I’ve heard three people say that, they saw us on stage and they were like oh that looks curious and they leaned in. Just because of the visual image and the story. What’s really impressive about what Emma did is she was able to tailor the concept to each of our styles.
LW: She got it immediately. We had one call with her and she wrote a short story about us to help her imagine the story behind the costumes and I was like this story is on point. I didn’t know her that well but she totally gets it.
MS: I wanna say, I agree with Hava about the workshops. I think that Boston Calling is really special to have a local stage, not a lot of festivals have that and we feel really grateful to have this opportunity. Something about that that you could expand on is that anybody can do this, anybody can make music and make art and we have all these crowds of people that are into music and we could welcome them into it.
LW: A youth stage!
MS: That would be so sick!
AP: A lot of people go to a show and can’t even fathom how to get on stage, but to hear you all say that four or five years ago you were just sitting in your apartment and wanted to make music and now four or five years later you’re sharing a bill with one of your childhood idols, it’s amazing how it happens and it would be cool to share how.
LW: Time and a dream, that’s all you need [laughs].
HH: I think the lesson is just showing up overtime. Like there’s no other nut to crack. Just show up.
MS: Just taking the silly dream like, oh yeah we’ll meet up. We’ll play on these instruments. We don’t know how to play but yeah, we’ll play Boston Calling. We just showed up.
AP: Since silliness and whimsy has come up, who would you say is your inspiration when it comes to weirdness?
CG: We love The B-52’s.
AP: A lot of “Rock Lobster” going on here.
HH: Each other!
MS: We’re long friends, we’ve been friends for almost 20 years. I would say a lot of our friends who make music inspire us. We’ve been in a community of music makers since childhood. Three producers on our latest tracks are all childhood friends. Zachary Levine Caleb, Patrick Colin Walsh and Dylan Grossman. I went to elementary school with Pat. Zach is an amazing musician. Dylan is an amazing sound designer.
CG: Past & present, like when I first moved to Boston, I would go see Krill, Speedy Ortiz, Kal Marx…
MS: Fun-fact, our cowbell is gifted from Luke Pyenson, former drummer for Krill.
CG: But like when I was 22 I would go see these bands, and now it’s cool to realize that you can just do it yourself.
LW: I would say Tom Tom Club is another big influence for us, and for me personally, Talking Heads.
HH: I was just gonna say that our videographer Jonah David has been taking videos of us since we started. I was in an a cappella group with him in high school. He was the beat boxer, that’s how I met him and now he’s followed us on this journey. It’s just really cool.
MS: When I was in college, I took a performance art class that changed my life with professor Gretchen Berg. We were assigned a book about performance art and I picked it up and read a chapter about Laurie Anderson. I looked up her early performance work and it changed my life. Seeing how somebody could hit their body percussively and seeing performance as an all encompassing experience.
LW: One more, it’s gonna be really obscure. But my mom just came up to Martha and told her that she was like Nina Hagen. A deep cut from my childhood, she’s a German punk rocker from the 80s.
MS: *imitating Lena’s mother* “You have so much aura, you remind me of this artist, Nina!” She pulls out her phone and shows me these pictures of this German witch who is incredible. I can’t wait to dig into that later.
AP: So what’s next for you guys? What’s coming up for the rest of the summer?
LW: We usually take a break over the summer for various reasons. But we have a one week artist residency in Maine in September so that will be our reunion. Spending a week in the woods, making music & see what happens.
HH: One thing we talked about spending some time doing there is clowning.
MS: I wanted to say one thing about the hotline. We shared the hotline during the show, it’s 617-564-1180, this is the sidebody hotline. It’s a continuation of the set, people can leave a message with their most strange or funny Boston story or whatever they wanna share and we’re gonna turn them into a song. We’re already getting some fun messages.
CG: We do have one show in the fall, we’re playing with She Boom, they are a post-menopausal, Brazilian-inspired feminist drumming group and we are super excited. It’s in November at The Burren.
On June 3rd, Canadian pop virtuoso Lights returned to Boston for the first time in 3 years in support of her 6th studio album, A6. Eager fans crammed into an at-capacity Brighton Music Hall for an up-close-and-personal experience that was more than a little sweaty.
Alt-pop artist King Mala was Lights’ sole opener for the night, and she was welcomed to her first Boston performance by a packed audience. She delivered a captivating performance of songs from her debut LP, And You Who Drowned in the Grief of a Golden Thing, a brooding concept album released early last month.
The crowd response to Lights’ arrival was immediate when she appeared from backstage wearing a fan-made jersey. Fans jammed in close and she began with songs from her latest album A6 before moving back through her catalog. Naturally there was limited time to thoroughly explore the full range of her 6 albums, so the setlist was curated to feature just over half of the new album, a fair sampling from her previous album PEP, and a scattershot of perennial favorites. Notably there was an absence of music from Skin and Earth, particularly because the last time that Lights played Brighton Music Hall was in 2019 for the intimate Skin and Earth acoustic tour. Some of the most anticipated classic selections came from Little Machines and The Listening, a throwback to some of Lights’ earliest work and testament to the longevity of her career.
To nobody’s surprise, Lights put on a great performance and her fans were happy to let her know it. She commented with astonishment at the nearly 20 years that she has been putting out music as Lights, and made it clear that she does not take it for granted that she still has such dedicated fans. Considering that the last time she headlined in Boston was at the significantly larger Big Night Live, fans fortunate enough to snag tickets before the more exclusive Brighton Music Hall show quickly sold out were the ride-or-die variety. The crowd’s outpouring of support as they sang along had a noticeable impact on Lights as she performed. When she gave thanks to the audience for enabling her to make music for as long as she has, she paused to wipe away tears and rein in her emotions before joking, “It’s because I broke my foot last time! The body carries trauma!” As the conclusion of her set drew near, Lights once again jumped onto the barricade to connect with fans, unstoppable as ever.
Check out all of Greg’s photos from the show below.
New England’s own dance-punk heroes Perennial have been favorites at Allston Pudding, well, perennially, making our best-of lists multiple times over the past few years. The band’s mix of bouncy rhythms and high-energy guitar blasts make for a pleasant and whirlwind listen, which is not to mention their chaotic live shows. They’re loud, they’re fast, and they couldn’t be happier. The band’s most recent album, 2024’s Art History, saw their star level rise, bringing them new listeners and live performances across the world.
Now, in 2025, the band is turning ten, and they wanted to dig into their local DIY roots and celebrate with Allston Pudding. The band is issuing “A” is For Abstract: The Complete Art History, out today, with unreleased songs from the Art History sessions, the full Lemon On Plastic EP, remixes, and a great new single “Baby, Are You Abstract?” We chatted with the band over email (because it’s spring and everyone’s busy!) about the expanded album and about ten years of Perennial.
Allston Pudding: We’ve got a deluxe edition of Art History looming, walk us through the process of making the album and compiling this new edition. Perennial: For Art History we did a lot of pre-production, more or less recording full demos complete with overdubs for every song on the album, so that when it came time to record the album proper with Chris Teti we’d already know exactly how to get the bones of each song committed to tape as efficiently as possible. The idea was to free up as much time as possible for experimenting in the studio; lots of impressionistic layers and playing with what sounds/instruments/ideas could work. So it was this neat collage project of adding and subtracting, seeing (for instance) where a mellotron might sound cool [or] where a guitar would usually go, or what would happen if we replaced live drums with a drum machine, etc… Art History was all about using the whole box of crayons sonically.
AP: Perennial uses lyrical references to other forms of media like horror movies and architecture, can you explain how other types of art influence the band, especially in regards to the boldly-named album Art History? Perennial: We approach Perennial as a full-time pursuit. When we’re watching an interesting film or going for a walk or reading a book, we’re still on the clock as a member of Perennial, and anything that might get glued into our imagination or memory might become an ingredient somewhere as we’re making a Perennial record. There are all sorts of references to books and movies and art movements in our lyrics for instance — it’s just material that jumped out to us, and we’re always very eager to see how we can add in the stuff that really captivates us across any given medium.
AP: Art History was a breakthrough for the band, what has it been like to see your platform grow in the last two or so years? Perennial: It has been a dream come true! To have folks in Washington DC or Seattle, Washington or London, England singing along to your songs. Just unbelievable. I also hope our example — just keep doing it, keep working on it, keep honing your craft and believing in yourself — has been a positive and helpful one for folks.
AP: Going off that, you’ve been touring all over – California, SXSW, UK – what’s it been like to be taken to new places? Perennial: I’ve loved every minute of it. We were in Liverpool this past December and I was standing by the River Mersey thinking about how 65 years ago, Paul McCartney and John Lennon and George Harrison were standing along this same river, looking out and dreaming, and I sincerely got choked up at the thought of it. The idea that our very specific type of noise has brought us to all these places and allowed us to meet all the new friends we’ve made these past couple years, friends we love with all our hearts; it’s magic.
AP: Incredible story about Liverpool! Perennial has always had a love for mod/garage rock like early Beatles, including your recent Kinks cover (“All Day And All Of The Night”). Since I last interviewed Perennial, we’ve gotten reunions from The Hives and Be Your Own Pet. What do you think it is about the general garage rock/punk/dance-punk scene that keeps it so popular?
Perennial: That’s a really interesting question. I think there’s just something infectious about loud guitars that you can dance to! I also think the last few years of indie rock have seen a trend of pulling from either grunge or shoegaze, both of which are decidedly hard to dance to and can be a bit dour, so garage rock/dance punk/etc… is a nice bit of counterprogramming.
AP: Going off that idea of counterprogramming, what are some other differing bands or genres that were an influence on Art History that might not be as readily apparent?
Perennial: 60s soul, trip-hop, late 80s/early 90s electronic music (Madchester for instance), two-tone ska, dub, left-field headphone pop stuff like Broadcast and Stereolab. Honestly, anything we really enjoy will find its way into the recipe in one way or another.
AP: We obviously love the local scene here at AP. As a band that’s eclipsing a decade, what are your thoughts on the current Boston scene? And how can people stay supportive of it amidst multifaceted efforts to quell artistry?
Perennial: There are definitely challenges that I think a lot of cities face: it’s hard to keep venues open, DIY spaces are so difficult to keep afloat in towns like Boston with such steep rent. It seems like often-times it’s either bars or giant Live Nation-style venues. That said, Greater Boston is also obviously an enormously creative, thoughtful, and resourceful community and there are always folks finding a way to make it work and finding a way to give artists a place to make noise. In terms of supporting the art you love: buy records, buy shirts, tell your friends, be as loud as you can as often as you can about the artists that you love.
AP: What are 5-10 songs you’d pick to introduce Perennial to a new listener? Perennial: In no particular order: “Art History” “Action Painting” “Up-tight” “Perennial ’65″ “Perennial In A Haunted House” “C Is For Cubism”
AP: What’s been the best gig or most fun moment as a band so far?
Perennial: Two come to mind: London, at Dash The Henge Records: a small record store in South London where we played an afternoon in-store on the last day of tour. The room was absolutely packed for our set and a whole bunch of the folks there had seen us the previous week at our first London show and made a point of checking us out again. I’m not sure there’s anything more affirming and inspiring than that.
Washington, DC at Black Cat: we’re cheating a bit here but both shows we played at Black Cat were unbelievable. The first was with Ekko Astral and Bad Moves; the second was with Dim Wizard and Miri Tyler. So obviously in both cases we’re sharing the bill with absolutely incredible bands. But the audiences at both shows were so kind and so enthusiastic and energetic. We encourage folks to dance during each and every set. At our DC shows they dance. It’s a joy. And as smitten as we are with so many DC bands (Nation of Ulysses, The Make-Up, Fugazi, Q and Not U, Black Eyes, etc) it’s a dream to be playing these shows and having folks dig the Perennial Sound the way they do.
AP: And finally, what’s the absolute dream gig for Perennial? (venue, bands, etc).
Perennial: I always joke about how I want to get famous enough to play the House of Blues in Disney World so we can ride Space Mountain and Haunted Mansion all day before the show, but my honest answer would be us and Stereolab at Roadrunner.
“A” is For Abstract: The Complete Art History is available for streaming and purchasing below. Keep your eyes open for any upcoming Perennial shows in your area and remember, Perennial means always.
Over the past few years, Esh & The Isolations has become a favorite over here at Allston Pudding. Just over a year ago, we premiered his album Nowhere, To Be Found, and we covered his debut Idiot Fingerz way back in 2020. The indie/rap hybrid artist is keeping busy, forming a new duo Grief Club, with the artist Andrew (not me), a UK-by-way-of-Philly rapper. Their debut collaborative album, Good Mourning, is out today, and we are proud to premiere it!
Esh’s music has always been darkly self-reflective, as he opens himself up to show his raw inner soul, in keeping with the “Isolations” tag. With Grief Club, this side of Esh is only even more realized. Good Mourning is an album built on, well, grief. The two artists have been friends for a long time, but they built this collaboration out of grief, after both men lost their respective fathers to cancer around the same time. This album is catharsis for the pair, allowing them to channel their pain and anger into something more productive and enriching. Creatively, it could be mentioned in the same realm as Mount Eerie’s A Crow Looked At Me, in that you can hear grief slowly wash into acceptance across the album’s runtime.
The record kicks off hot, with the short and aptly-titled mission statement “The Intro To A Group Called Grief Club,” but the songs get moody quickly. “I Guess I’m Alive” has a nice choir-like harmony that contrasts a droning beat in the chorus, and “All Blue” comes off like a true resilient ballad. Immediately following that is the album’s rawest song, “We Sang Blackbird,” with Andrew recalling his father’s last days. It’s touching and heartbreaking, as we are transported into the emotional release the artist is going through. Elements of grief permeate the lyrics across many of these songs, and sometimes without the tongue-in-cheek humor that usually accompanies Esh’s music.
But there is fun to be had too – especially in the album’s back half. Tracks nine through eleven all have features, and they’re all much livelier than those on the front half. “Mournings,” which features NAHreally, might have the best pure rapping on the album, and “Fabergé Egg,” with Juan Duece and Jesse the Tree, is the most fun song across the tracklist. In other tunes, even the more forlorn ones, there’s unexpected lyrical shoutouts to things like Sum 41 and Sprockets. The two men sometimes can’t help themselves but put a few little fun quirks into these otherwise despondent songs.
All of the production on the album was handled by Esh, who specializes in minimalistic but effective beats. “Egg” is bolstered by a great beat, just as “Out For Me” (with AJ Suede) is aided by funky bass and a well-placed vocal sample. “Same Old Room” is in the same boat – a livelier tune assisted by catchy rhythms. But the album is really about the duo at the heart of Grief Club and what they’re going through. Most songs see them collaborate and play off each other, never more effective than in the quick intro where they trade individual lines. “All Blue” sees Esh mostly alone, just as “We Sang Blackbird” is predominantly all Andrew. In the other songs, even the more emotional ones, the two men play off each other sounding just like the old friends they are. And we can be thankful for a friendship that can produce such collaborative growth as Mourning.
Good Mourning is out today via Fake Four records, and can be streamed and purchased below!
Behind the wheel with Captain Sunbeam / Photo by Mike Fitzgerald
“When I got sick with spinal cancer, I had to create a new version of myself who could withstand my new reality. As a lifelong songwriter and storyteller, and someone who believes that music is magic, I turned to music, and devised Captain Sunbeam.” So states Malachy Duffy on his kickstarter campaign page.
The musical superhero story continues for Boston-based prog-rock band Captain Sunbeam. The band’s singer-songwriter Malachy Duffy has been a frequent mustachioed face in the local scene as his band Captain Sunbeam have packed local venues such as Lizard Lounge and Midway Cafe. Now, with the help from a Kickstarter campaign that raised $11,438, they fly higher than ever.
The brainchild of brothers Malachy and Conor Duffy, Captain Sunbeam released their debut album, Captain Sunbeam, Act I: The Compass of Ra, in early 2020. A space-opera set in the galaxy of the Seven Jewels, their songs capture the heart-rending correspondence between enigmatic Captain Sunbeam and space lumberjack Julian Afterjoy. The follow up, Songs of Orion, continues the sci-fi rock opera, centered around the return of Orion in the midst of an intergalactic epic.
Songs of Orion begins the sci-fi journey starts off with the dramatic “Sweet Oh-Rai / Engines of the Lovestar” where in less than two minutes, a cinematic intro sets the scene for the concept album, starting with ethereal voices that lead a blast-off and then to a speak-sing that is reminiscent of “Space Oddity.” The record begins properly with the second track, “Oh-Rai” as melodramatic, belting vocals soar over seismic power chords, and shredder guitar solos, which lays the groundwork for the next several tunes. As the music carries on, a punk and pop-metal foundation forms, one that melds apparent influences in worlds old and new, between Van Halen and The Beths. Duffy is a magnetic presence at the center of the rock opera, while the polished and clever interplay between lead and back up vocals go hard.
Songs of Orion sticks the landing by closing out with acoustic strummers “Afterlove” and “Skies of Elyria.” “Afterlove” begins with the elegiac, “send me off to school with a tender goodbye, now you’re scattered like dust through the stars.” The contrast of the stripped down ballads after the chugging rock maximalism bring the songwriting on “Afterlove” into stark relief. “Brother don’t go away, don’t leave me alone,” he pleads in this chilling and tender penultimate number. The Duffy brothers have been writing Captain Sunbeam since they were children, and this song about death and brothers strikes a particularly rich chord, artistically and emotionally.
