After releasing their explosive debut Sore (2015), Toronto’s DILLY DALLY has been non-stop touring and non-stop shredding their brand of noisy, unrelenting, f*cking brutal punk rock from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast and beyond. Now, they’re all set to play some US and Canadian festivals, headline a European tour and then join Grouplove on a North American fall tour. They’ll be rolling thru Boston’s House of Blues on November 3, 2016.
Check out AP’s most recent interview with the band’s lead vocalist, Katie Monk, here, and the rest of DILLY DALLY’s tour dates along with their video for “Snakehead” below.
DILLY DALLY Tour 2016
^^with Grouplove + MUNA
^with Grouplove
07/22 – Seattle, WA – Capitol Hill Block Party
07/24 – Oro, Canada – WayHome Music & Arts Fest
07/29 – Sackville, NB Sappyfest
07/31 – Montreal, QC – Osheaga Festival
08/13 – Sudbury, ON – Up Here Festival
08/18 – Ottawa, ON – Arboretum Festival
08/19 – Elora, ON – Riverfest
10/5 – Las Vegas, NV – Brooklyn Bowl^^
10/6 – Oakland, CA – Fox Theatre^^
10/7 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium^^
10/10 – Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom^^
10/13 – Portland, OR – Roseland Theatre^^
10/17 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex (Grand Room)^^
10/18 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre^^
10/22 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue^^
10/23 – Madison, WI – Orpheum Theatre^^
10/25 – Indianapolis, IN – Egyptian Room at Old National Centre^^
Of all the ‘90s revivalism within the last couple years, prescription the resurgence of prolific lo-fi songwriters is arguably one of the most welcome returns. Where Liz Phair and Robert Pollard made careers off of initial (or, buy in Pollard’s case, treat sustained) use of four track recorders for frequent output, Frankie Cosmos and Alex G bear the closest resemblance to torch carriers with seemingly endless back catalogs committed to Garageband in place of tape.
But then there’s the curious case of Ethan Oliva, the de facto leader of Pittsburgh three piece Barlow, who sounds less like he’s trying to revive anything and more like he’s daring to emulate Pollard’s pace.
In 2015, Barlow not only released a full length and split with Naked Ant, but Oliva additionally tacked on a 35-song solo album and, almost obligatorily, a 52-song tribute to Guided by Voices before the year’s end. Sure, there’s almost certainly bound to be a few stinkers given that frequency, but Oliva’s gauzy, tape-bound production coupled with the band’s concise song lengths and cross-pollination of shoegaze and second wave emo never seems to exhaust or repeat itself.
Rounded out by drummer Andy Yadeski and bassist Jake Nowoczynski, Barlow greet summer heatwaves by simultaneously piling on the distortion and their most pop-friendly tendencies with Every Time I Saw Him, which we are premiering today ahead of its official release later this week. For more information or to purchase a tape, check out the band’s Bandcamp.
Your Friends Fest is back for another year of music, healingthere art, and all your friends. On Saturday, July 30th, comedians, musicians, and a multitude of vendors take to the multi-room space at ONCE in Somerville for a stacked night of entertainment.
The festival was put together by Dug McCormack of Psychic Dog, and will also feature The Knock Ups, Mercury on Mars, Thurst Club. New group Rrrright? will make their debut. The night celebrates a single release for Psychic Dog and the release of EP “Human Race/Hyperspace” for Mercury on Mars. Preview some of new tracks below:
Whether you want to come and browse prints or hear some new music, don’t miss the chance to come out with Your Friends. Tickets are available in advance here for $10, or for $12 at the door. Get there right at 6:30 p.m. to peruse the vendors before comedy in the lounge 7 p.m. and music at 8 p.m.
Michael Christmas is part of a new wave of Boston rappers who are starting to receive national attention. Lately, he’s been working with veteran producers like Scott Herren, who works under the moniker Prefuse 73. Together, they make up Fudge and will be releasing an album called Lady Parts on September 9th via Lex Records.
Recently, they teased the album by releasing a single titled “Popstar Sh*t” through the label’s Soundcloud account. Staying true to his style, Christmas’s lyrics are loaded with diverse pop-culture references: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Jackie Chan and DiGiornio Pizza are all fair game for him.
Christmas first started gaining attention about two years ago with singles like the anthemic “Michael Cera,” showcasing his lyrical talent while also demonstrating a very relaxed, humorous style. ON the production end, Prefuse 73 has kept himself busy crafting alternative hip-hop beats under multiple names, including Guillermo Scott Herren, Piano Overlord, Delarosa & Asora and more. His first release came out in 1997, and he’s impressively released nearly two projects every year since then.
Although they hadn’t worked together prior to this album, Christmas received a pretty strong endorsement from Prefuse 73 in an interview with Mass Appeal, in which the producer stated the “Christmas is a genius and people just have to accept it.” Considering Prefuse has worked with big names like GZA, Aesop Rock and MF Doom in the past, he probably knows what he’s talking about.
Listen to “Popstar Sh*t” below, and pre-order the album via Lex Records’ website.
Relatively new to the Boston scene, Wire City is Caskets Filled With Flowers‘ debut LP on Little L Records. With a handful of EPs preceding Wire City, it’s easy to get a taste of their sound: haunting, wandering soprano leads the chunky bass and fuzzy guitar riffs. Wire City offers a swan dive into the emotional abyss that is dream pop.
“Honey Eyes” is brilliantly lush in wordplay, showing off vocalist Haley Moniz’s range as well as her control of her rather delicate voice. Gentle and lilting, but with thorn-sharp lyrics, “Honey Eyes” is a slower, almost lullaby-like ballad on Wire City.
But then there are tracks like “The River,” wholly electrifying and buoyant. The harmonies are celestial, the vocals strained and emotional, the instruments deliberate and aggressive. “The River” embodies every facet Caskets Filled With Flowers seeks to occupy–they can be gritty punks, and dreamy pop balladeers at the same time.
Wire City comes just in time to accompany Caskets Filled with Flowers on their summer tour, hitting several spots throughout the Atlantic Northeast.
Check out their record release show at Lions Den in Clinton, MA on the 25th. Until then, stream and enjoy their album, Wire City, below.
Boston’s own Cousin Stizz has unleashed his hotly anticipated sophomore effort MONDA. In the year and change since the release of his acclaimed debut Suffolk County, thumb Stizz has evolved from local upstart to one of the biggest names in Boston hip-hop. Stizz lives up to that reputation on MONDA, as he continues to be the champion of the local scene.
Following the template of his debut effort, Stizz utilizes effortless flows to craft a vivid image of the city that raised him. And the ties to Boston stretch into the stellar production, which features locals such as Lil Rich, Tedd Boyd and Latrell James.
Cousin Stizz has been steadily building towards this release over the last couple months. He headlined Boston’s first-ever Boiler Room show in June, released buzzworthy singles like “500 Horses” and “Gain Green,” and hosted a takeover of streetwear hotspot Bodega this past weekend to reveal new merch. And he isn’t letting that momentum go to waste. Next week Stizz will embark on an 8-city tour in support of MONDA, which kicks off in Philadelphia on July 19th.
While we are grateful for Together and the local electronic scene’s efforts, the wait between electronic festivals can be an excruciating one.
While we’re not necessarily advocating for some mid-winter, all-thermal dance party (although we’re kinda curious to see how that’d turn out), Boston’s growing and diversifying electronic scene could only be nurtured by fests that showcase our local talent. As such, the 1st Evlv Tech Festival, happening next weekend throughout venues in Cambridge, feels serendipitous in its timing.
Evlv Tech is a Boston-based community for self-identified female, transgender, genderqueer, and non-binary DJs, producers, live performers, and event curators/promoters in music technology working to raise and redefine the standards and norms of music technology. With daytime events range from music production lessons to panel discussions on creating safer spaces in nightlife and club culture, Evlv Tech have put together a weekend that truly inspire social awareness as much as it does jubilant dance.
Although we recommend checking each of the acts on the festival’s Facebook page and purchasing advance tickets here, here are some of the DJs/producers we think you should know ahead of next weekend:
Moor Mother
If you’re looking to find a singular, clearcut genre that accurately describes Philadelphia’s Moor Mother, I simply suggest one thing: don’t. The production work of Camae Ayewa masterfully evades complacency in genre as evidenced by the twenty-one(!) possible descriptors on their Soundcloud page. With soundscapes that yield visceral spoken word pieces, tributes to Sun Ra, and some of the festival’s most inventive work in lo-fi electronic, Moor Mother’s promise of “a history lesson, a future lesson, and a comment on the present all at once” is the one promise that can absolutely assured of.
Volvox
Hailing from the rising Discwoman collective, Volvox’s headlining set at Evlv comes after a landmark year for the Brooklyn-based collective, who have been major advocates for more female-identifying representation in their city’s electronic scene. If Volvox’s acid-heavy set for Boiler Room last month was any indication, this may be a set you’re gonna brag about seeing for a long time to come.
Kidaudra
The first time I saw Kidaudra, it was in a cocoon of string lights in the basement of a show house predominantly known for pop punk shows. Regardless of how you’d imagine pop punk kids responding to electronic music, the setting was perfectly fine for an ambient-rich set from the New York-based project. With producer/vocalist Audra Kizina’s sound landing somewhere between the minimalistic electro pop of Lorde and the haze of Cocteau Twins, Kidaudra finds an immediate kind of likability that could pull even the most disparate of crowds together.
Jlin
Coming off of an incredible 2015, it would be easily to call Jlin’s set at Evlv a victory lap of sorts before considering the Indiana producer will probably still bring one of the most intense sets of the entire festival. Dark Energy, her debut full-length last year, combined the tenants of footwork with some of the most ominous production the genre has seen, garnering near-unanimous praise from the likes of Resident Advisor and Pitchfork. Her follow up EP, Free Fall, in November confirmed what felt apparent from the first few listens of Energy: Jlin has found a sound so neatly between familiarity and singularity, it’s possible there will be many more victory lap sets to come.
MSG
Other than the ominous signs in restaurant windows banishing its use, I never really put much worry into the flavor enhancing MSG. Honestly, I think I would’ve preferred to remain in the dark, but of course, I had to go and WebMD it, which led to finding fun symptoms of over-MSG use like:
Burning sensations of the mouth, head and neck
Weakness of the arms or legs
Hives or other allergic-type reactions with the skin.(2)
Tingling
Facial pressure or tightness
Chest pain or difficulty breathing
Nausea
Rapid heartbeat
Drowsiness
While I’m going to frantically inspect all of the seaweed snacks I have in my kitchen, we can all rest assured that there’s at least some MSG out there that your body won’t outright reject. Local DJ Vicky Cai’s sets are a joyous mix of house, techno, and disco that promise the “addicting flavor” of the actual MSG, but (hopefully) minus any of the allergic reactions.
DJ Clickbait
I’m going to be honest: how you receive the fact that there’s someone DJing under the name Clickbait is likely a fair estimate of how you’ll react to a DJ Clickbait set. Predominantly filled with sped up, doctored bubblebum pop tracks reaching the euphoric heights PC Music aims for, a Clickbait set will either overload your senses or make you pogo until collapse. Either way, what a way to go…
Barry Kramer founded CREEM magazine in 1969, help launching two decades of an influential music publication that ran counterpoint to the mainstream media. Written in the heyday of rock and roll, CREEM was known to offer a comical, brutally honest depiction of the music scene and pulled no punches. “We didn’t put artists on pedestals, if anything, CREEM was dragging artists off of pedestals,” recounts Jaan Uhelszki, one of the magazine’s original editors.
This history and legacy is explored in upcoming documentary Boy Howdy! The Story of CREEM Magazine. There’s no official release date attached to the project at this point, but the Kickstarter page hints at an early 2018 release. The film is directed by Scott Crawford and produced by J. J. Kramer, the late Barry Kramer’s only child.
CREEM was known to feature artists outside the mainstream media coverage at the time, including artists like Blondie, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, and The Clash, among others. The magazine also launched the careers of many influential music journalists and set a new standard for depth and whimsy of reporting.
The trailer showcases vintage footage of Kramer giving a tour of the CREEM complex, an intimate view of the laid-back atmosphere and counter-cultural vibe of the staff. The documentary includes present-day interviews with the original staff as well as musicians of the time like Alice Cooper and Iggy Pop. Over thirty
writers and musicians are listed as potential or definite interviews on the Kickstarter page, so the film is sure to be a must-see for anyone who wants a taste of the old rock & roll lifestyle when it is eventually completed. Until then release, maybe just watch Almost Famous a few more times.
During a brief pause in their set last night, And The Kids lead singer and guitarist, Hannah Mohan, asked the audience if anyone wanted to share a secret. No one volunteered, but maybe it was because we were all there appreciating one of the best-kept secrets in the local music scene. And The Kids‘ energy last night at The Sinclair, along with all-star supporting acts Kal Marks and Vundabar, demonstrated that local music is full of talented artists and you don’t have to go far to find it.
In true gig fashion, the show started half an hour late, but a courteous heads up from the staff about technical issues kept the mood light in the audience. The delay allowed the room to fill up in time for Kal Mark’s opening set. I was trying to remember the last time I saw Kal Marks, and frontman Carl Shane confirmed that it’s been a while. After a whirlwind spring tour and a brief hiatus from full-band shows, Kal Marks’ return to the big stage last night quickly made up for that lost time. Shane’s glasses and hat (but not that sweet mustache) went flying off during his first serious head bang of the night. From behind the kit, drummer Adam Berkowitz helped make this comeback truly electric with his enthusiasm and talent as a newcomer to the trio. Shane’s vocals oscillated from nasally bemoaning to raw growling. Bassist Michael Geacone laid down a heavy rumble on songs like “Life Is Murder” and “Everybody Dies” before Shane put his disguise back on and the band walked off stage.
Vundabar strutted on stage next, with frontman Brandon Hagen limbering up in his rolled-up jeans and tucked-in pocket tee. The stretching came in handy, since Hagen and bassist Grayson Kirtland spent most of their set sparring and vogue-ing while the audience went wild. Things did get a little rowdy in the crowd, but they quickly adjusted and crushed skulls were avoided per Hagen’s request. Friends and fans of Vundabar drank up all the gang vocals (and PBR), basking in the summer glow of songs from Vundabar’s last album, Gawk. From “Oulala” to “Worn/Wander” the crowd was with them, as if they were across the river in Lower Allston for the evening. Vundabar have been on the road traveling with And The Kids for a string of dates in the US and Canada, and last night’s set was their last stop together and a warm homecoming. But don’t worry; you can catch Vundabar at ONCE in Somerville next month.
Each act performed as three-pieces last night, although And The Kids’ lineup reduction was unintentional. Keyboardist Megan Miller is stuck in Canada, and Mohan, along with drummer Rebecca Lasaponaro, and bassist Taliana Katz have been continuing their tour without her.
Before And The Kids took the stage, the audience did a little reshuffling, with some of the younger attendees bailing or shrinking back to make room for a slightly older crowd. And The Kids captivated everyone right out of the gate with “Picture,” a powerful track off of their album Friends Share Lovers. Released about a month ago, Friends Share Lovers has been making waves with songs like “Cheers for Babies” and “Strange To Be.” Last night was their record release show: Boston Edition, but And The Kids played some older songs as well, like “No Countries,” a synth-inspired up-tempo jingle which they dedicated to Miller. Their set got more and more playful as the night went on, including a visit with Mohan’s adorable dog and a toilet paper streamer party, effectively TP-ing The Sinclair at the end of their set and during their one-song encore. The Western Mass. band have been rising up the ranks, quickly becoming a must-see act no matter where they play.
We’re so excited to be presenting Miracle Legion with Bent Shapes at The Sinclair on July 17th that we want to give YOU the opportunity to win a free pair of tickets to the show. This pioneering college rock band is back at it, and you shouldn’t miss your opportunity to see them! Submit the form below for a chance to win a pair of tickets to the show. See you there!
“Honey Eyes” is brilliantly lush in wordplay, showing off vocalist Haley Moniz’s range as well as her control of her rather delicate voice. Gentle and lilting, but with thorn-sharp lyrics, “Honey Eyes” is a slower, almost lullaby-like ballad on Wire City.
