Some five years and 8,000 miles later Courtney Barnett is back with her newest (and arguably strongest) album Creature of Habit. After relocating from Melbourne, Australia to Los Angeles, Barnett and her band are on a long US tour right now, and they brought Truman Sinclair and Momma in tow with them last Wednesday at Roadrunner.
Drummer Stella Mozgawa knocked right into the thundering and complex intro to the album (and lead single), “Stay In Your Lane.” It almost sounded like three people playing drums, but Mozgawa tactfully lead the band in, showing off with a little cross-handed playing. “Leading the band in” is a bit of a misnomer, as it makes it sounds like there are quite a few members, when there’s only Barnett and bassist Bones Sloane. If there was any doubt in your mind that three people can’t produce a full sound, you would be wildly incorrect, as Barnett plays through three Fender tweed amps and Sloane plays through a double stack bass setup. Translation: earplugs are a necessity.
After playing a single new song, Barnett immediately threw it back to the early days with “City Looks Pretty” and “Avant Gardener,” two tracks that were welcomed greatly by the audience. Somewhere between the two songs, a massive banner with the new album art has quietly unfurled behind the band, overshadowing them with a 40’ preying mantis. The backdrop seemed to shift in and out of presence, shifting attention across the stage, but never away from the wall of sound that the trio was capable of producing. Barnett and crew played eight tracks from the new album, featuring favorites like “Mantis,” “Sight Unseen,” and a solo rendition of “Mostly Patient” to usher in the encore.
Courtney Barnett and co continue their tour through Canada and the Midwest, before heading back home and wrapping up at the Hollywood Palladium. The new album, Creature of Habit, is available now on Mom + Pop Music, and I highly recommend you give it a spin.
Like something straight out of a 1980s fantasy, the doom metal band Castle Rat came to the MGM Music Hall to expand and defend “The Realm” on April 29th. They set the stage as the opening act for Amon Amarth and Dethklok on “The Amonklok Conquest” co-headlining tour. The tour also celebrated 20 years of Dethklok, which was created in 2006.
Castle Rat’s opening set was only a 5-song affair, but they managed to cram a truly theatrical performance inside a half an hour. Facing their “Rat Reaper” nemesis, Castle Rat were led by their sword-wielding “Rat Queen” Riley Pinkerton. Costumed like an adventuring party out of a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, the band shredded in style. They performed songs from their sophomore album The Bestiary to provide the heavy metal soundtrack to the spectacle, and the crowd went along for the ride with enthusiasm. Castle Rat enlisted new fans in their quest to expand their ever-growing dominion, and it seems that Boston has been added to their conquest.
Amon Amarth continued the dramatic display with their co-headlining set amidst a massive Viking-themed stage setup. They leaned hard into the theme, and the number of helmets and drinking horns visible in the crowd indicated that the audience understood the assignment. That fact was drawn sharply into focus when most of the room sat down and collectively mimed the action of rowing a longboat at the band’s command during the performance of “Put Your Back Into The Oar.”
After Amon Amarth’s full 14-song set, Dethklok closed out the evening. Dethklok, technically a fictional cartoon band featured on the satirical Adult Swim TV show Metalocalypse, has nevertheless garnered a very tangible fanbase. Brendon Small, the creator of both the animated and real version of the band was at the center of the stage, but like the other members of the live band, he was mostly cloaked in shadow on the backlit stage. Instead, much of the visual focus fell on the video backdrop displaying some of the fictional Dethklok’s most iconically brutal, over-the-top music videos. Their co-headlining set ran about 90 minutes, and despite a slow start marred by technical difficulties with the video, the crowd was fully ready to mosh and crowd surf to songs celebrating bloody vengeance and death.
The eclectic three-band lineup on the Amonklok tour was a welcome injection of unabashed camp and growling, full-throated, berserker energy on a Wednesday night. There’s little room for half-measures on the path to Valhalla, after all.
Allston Pudding sponsored a 10-year anniversary party for beloved local band Alright Thanks on Friday May 8th at Deep Cuts, and it was all that and a kettle of fish. The blog’s own Cam Cavagnaro plays guitar and drums in addition to supporting vocals and had this to say about what it means to be doing this victory lap: “Ten years ago, we wrote an album that was neither mixed nor mastered. We released the album on a whim, and ten years later, we’re still playing those songs every chance we get”
Dowsing Rod and Megan from Work got it started with high kicks and a small glamour fan, but the juice really started pumping when the headlining band took the stage.
When I show up to the Model at 10PM, there’s a drag show going on. It’s that beautiful combination that happens every few years, when Marathon Monday falls on the same day as 4/20. I have been up since 6AM, having gone to take photos of the runners earlier in the day. Dimitri Christo is waiting for me at the end of the bar, armed with a smile and ready to talk about his newest solo release, Big Head & Other Bangers, a four track EP.
“Originally, I wasn’t going to promote it at all,” he tells me, a bit surprised that I had reached out to schedule the interview when he told me he was putting it out. We talk a bit about those first few rounds of solo albums as the Beatles were splitting up and the band members were trying to find their identities as individual artists, a special interest of mine. George Harrison sought songwriting freedom with the monumental triple album All Things Must Pass; Paul McCartney essentially invented indie rock with Ram; the other two had some decent stuff as well.
Christo plays in about five bands already, notably drums in Bus Crush and guitar in Gym Shorts. He’s more than handy with a few incidents, which makes him a popular asset to a lot of local bands. As suchan in demand instrumentalist, it must be hard for Christo to find time to write, record, and release his own music. But the EP finds the multi-instrumentalist crafting his own sound that still feels within the realm of his other bands while putting his own voice and perspective in the spotlight. “I feel like I’ve been playing music in bands and stuff for so long and being a part of scenes and projects with other people,” he explains. “It started to feel, um, a little draining, a little more draining than you’d want it to be.”
He’s still part of those other bands, mind you; this isn’t a quest for some personal liberation, but rather a need for another outlet where Christo gets to hold his own reins. If you saw him behind the kit with Bus Crush or cutting chops with Gym Shorts, then you wouldn’t get the full scope of his personality, and for that matter, his skill across a variety of instruments. “I don’t even consider myself a drummer, really,” he explains. “It’s not my first instrument.” He plays every single instrument on Big Head, for the record.
The other side effect of playing instruments in other bands is that audiences rarely get a chance to hear your voice. Christo talks about the self-consciousness behind not really being a vocalist but stepping in front of the mic regardless. “I’ve been making this music the whole time anyway,” he explains, “as a byproduct of being in bands and just writing songs and honing the craft and kind of studying and getting influenced by whatever I’m listening to at any particular time. Then you end up with this backlog of– at this point it’s like going on, going on hundreds of like songs in my like Google Drive that are either half-finished or like fully-finished.”
For Christo, the writing and recording process is more akin to keeping a diary than it is to a big career move, a method of self-documentation and reflection “That mentality,” he says, “paired with the understanding of – apart from any commercial success or, or lack thereof – music is going to continue to be a huge cornerstone of my life forever. So why not just start documenting it by putting it out as I go and kind of having this musical diary. And as long as that’s just like for fun without an agenda, then it just becomes kind of like this time capsule where I get to look back in 50 years or something and see what music I was making at whatever point in time.” The Big Head EP is also a playground for some of Christo’s loose ideas, creative quirks, and musical fascinations. “I really like when something happens in a song, when the best part of a song happens one time,” he says. To me that’s kind of like a weird North Star.”
While peer feedback is vitally important when putting together any kind of art, sometimes it is just as vital to do something more personal. You stop playing to other people’s taste. “You’re not looking to anyone else for any sort of decision making or guidance,” Christo says.”I’m playing every instrument and like doing all the mixing and engineering and stuff for better or for worse.” Operating in this silo allows Christo to play around with less inhibition and more acceptance of ideas that might seem silly to bring to a band. “What if I lean into that instead of running from it? The song ‘Big Head’ is a song about a guy who’s got too big a head.”
Compared to that title track’s very on-the-nose imagery, there are songs on the EP that plumb Christo’s personal life. “‘Running Out’ is a song about a best or like what used to be like a best friend of mine turned kind of like nemesis, unfortunately,” he says, a relatable predicament. Without getting specific, he gets personal. “This is somebody y who I’ve have known since first grade,” he explains, citing a strained relationship with a childhood friend that eventually Christo had to bring to a close. Breaking it off with a partner is one type of pain, but it is arguably harder to do the same with these types of friends. You want to keep believing in the goodness that you see in them. Writing the song helped Christo process this struggle. “That was kind of a cathartic experience for me,” he says, “to be like, I am gonna actually put all this kind of like frustration and disappointment and feelings of the love is running out – quite literally – into something that can be expelled into the world, a sign sealed fucking kiss.”
After two rounds of Modelo at the bar, the drag queens have packed up in the Model’s other room. With the room to ourselves, I get Dimitri to dance.
Stream Big Head & Other Bangers by Dimitri Christonow on all services, and be sure to see Dimitri Christo & Friends play at State Park on May 31st at an Allston Pudding show.
Maya Hawke Brought the Maitreya Corso Tour to the Crystal Ballroom on Album Release Day
On May 1st, singer-songwriter and actress Maya Hawke graced the stage at Crystal Ballroom in Somerville for the Maitreya Corso Tour. The album of the same title debuted on streaming the same day, yet the audience already seemed to have memorized it in its entirety. The crowd spanned all ages, from preteens to 20-somethings to middle-aged parents. Hawke’s acting career could be the cause of this range in the fanbase, but the crowd was certainly not present for this reason alone. Indeed, for many younger audience members, this was their first concert, and some even burst into happy tears as Hawke walked on stage, just a few feet before their adoring and disbelieving eyes.
One fan printed out and cut hundreds of crown hats for other audience members, and Hawke noticed immediately when she came onstage, thanking the fan and accepting the crown made for her, which read “Maitreya” in glitter-sticker letters. She wore the crown for the rest of the show.
Hawke performed nearly every track on Maitreya Corso, her fourth studio album, with accompaniment from fellow musician Christian Lee Hutson. The two artists got married this past Valentine’s Day. As the intimate set came to a close, Hawke performed two fan-favorites from her 2022 record Moss, “Luna Moth” and “Thérèse.”
April 30, 2026: Oklou performs at the Royale. Photo by Emily Gardner
There was a French invasion on April 30th at the Royale. Poitiers-native Oklou brought her newest album, choke enough, to Boston along with opener Vickie Cherie. Both acts had stunning visuals. Vickie Cherie performed behind a sheer screen that had images projected onto it, completely obscuring the singer. Figures and ocean waves danced on the screen while Cherie’s mesmerizing vocals echoed throughout the venue.
Oklou’s set also featured projections on a screen, but there were some extra features. She performed “thank you for recording”, the second track off of the new record, with an illuminated flute. There was also a lit-up swing-set and a guitar that shone light through the middle. During the last song of the set, “choke enough”, Oklou donned a hat adorned with tiny mirror pieces that reflected a spotlight like a disco ball. These little touches felt enchanting, much like the songs off of choke enough.
Check out the photos from the show, taken by Emily Gardner, below.
Beno performing at Brighton Music Hall on April 24, 2026. Photo by Greg Wong
On Friday April 24th, the rising stars of the Berklee Popular Music Institute (BPMI) took command of Brighton Music Hall. The 2026 BPMI cohort applied 3 semesters’ worth of music industry knowledge to organize the 24th annual showcase. The talent pool was a hand-selected group of Berklee College of Music student artists, scouted, vetted, and booked by fellow participants of the BPMI Live program.
The showcase featured a densely-packed slate of performers spanning a broad range of genres. The 8 time slots allowed only brief 3-song sets, but each artist made the most of their time in the spotlight. The evening began with the rock stylings of Pat Kennedy, followed by the bubble-grunge of the 4-piece band Sophie’s Body, the alt-country of Nico Welsh, and the genre-blending electronic R&B talents of singer-songwriter Jazz Cuti. The latter half of the exhibition saw the rowdy crowd-pleasing reggaeton of JimmyBoy and the energetic indie pop of Beno, which was met with the contrast of the raw and untethered style of Leila Lamb’s brand of pop. The local boys of Good Sleepy rounded out the evening, and they concluded the concert with a last-minute injection of emo punk.
The frenetic night of rapid fire, quick-changeover sets was the culmination of the year’s experiential work for students of the BPMI. In the bigger picture, it was a promising early step for a new generation of industry professionals.
Robin Pecknold at the Shalin Liu Performace Center, April 25, 2026. Photo by Wendy Schiller.
If you haven’t heard of Robin Pecknold’s small run of four solo shows this spring, that’s exactly what he was hoping for. The Fleet Foxes’ frontman and songwriter booked up a limited series of five events across New England and New York, mostly at teeny tiny performing arts centers nestled in small and sleepy towns, clearly with the intention of flying under the radar. One fan called out that they’d come all the way from Nashville, and you could have knocked him over with a feather. On the Rockport stop, it felt like summer camp ahead of the show, with concertgoers making fast friends at the select few restaurants that happened to be open off-season.
The Shalin Liu Performance Center was a stunning backdrop for Pecknold’s blend of angelic indie music, and it sucked the crowd in a total hush; you could hear a pin drop in between songs. The room was lightning-focused on Robin through his self-effacing banter, and the audience offered him lots of encouragement, including urging him to play piano on stage for the first time (he obliged, anxiously). He played a number of Fleet Foxes songs and popular covers, including cleverly blending Jackson C Frank’s “Blues Run the Game” into the beginning of “Helplessness Blues”. Standouts included “Montezuma” and “Oliver James,” the latter of which ended with an acapella harmony so haunting it threatened to buckle and seize the room into the ocean below it. He closed with Elliot Smith’s “Pitsola.”
This is Boston, not LA. With the sudden national reemergence of hardcore as a major music genre, one has to look at the Boston scene, which has produced a plethora of heavy hardcore hitters over the years. Unsurprisingly, the scene never really dissipated here, but there are plenty of hungry young bands out there ready for the pit. Today marks the streaming debut of a new split from two of those bands, Fracture Type and Oak, Fallen. The five songs show the best of traditional Boston hardcore wrapped around an intriguing number of outside influences, collectively sounding both old and new.
The first three tracks on the split come from Boston’s own Oak, Fallen, a trio consisting of Anthony Piraino on bass and vocals, Mike Lipari on guitar and Manny Roman on drums. The opening song, “I Feel The Weight,” is the closest to traditional hardcore across the split. The song sounds ready made for the pit, with repetitive guitars and vocals that mix screaming with spoken word. It’s classic Boston screamo, and a song that sounds like it’ll pummel in a VFW or church basement. The follow-up, “Behold This Compost!” immediately resets the tone with an intro that sounds closer to black metal than anything. The song does eventually fall into more traditional screamo confines, but it proves that Oak, Fallen is not beholden to one style. “Cypress” picks up right where “Compost” leaves off, a punishingly slow emo tune with pained vocals and big riffs. It’s the heaviest song across the split and possibly the least definable. Across three songs, Oak, Fallen shows themselves as worthy torchbearers to traditional Boston hardcore.
Fracture Type, Photo by Cam Cavagnaro
The opening moments of the first of two Fracture Type songs, “Trove,” show how the band is going to complement Oak, Fallen perfectly. Fracture Type is a fellow Boston quartet consisting of Kevin Grady on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, Talon Reckert on bass, Jeff Pezzone on drums, and Oscar Zelayandia on lead guitar, replacing Geoff Fischer who played on this split. Fracture Type is more eager to toss genre conventions out the window. While the Oak, Fallen songs stuck to traditional song structures and a tight sound, Fracture Type’s “Trove” dips into chaos immediately. The listener is greeted by a thrash-y guitar riff and absolutely manic snare drum. The vocals are more rousing and less traditionally hardcore, mixing in more of a punk influence. The song eventually settles into a groove, staying rhythmically chaotic. It’s still in the screamo realm but more bombastic and showy than Oak, Fallen, showing the opposite end of the genre spectrum. The touch of metalcore influence is present here. The band’s other offering, “Unlearning,” starts off with a complex and math-y rhythm coupled with gang vocals that seem to place the song more firmly in late-’90s emo/post-hardcore territory. All of these genres exist in one big stew, but compared to Oak, Fallen, there is a lot less of a standard sound here. A whiplash breakdown at the end of the song serves to further explore the metalcore influence, as well.
Hardcore is alive and well, and these five songs represent a delectable mix of traditional screamo and multiple other influences that are permeating the new wave of young hardcore bands over the course of just fifteen minutes. One never has to look further than Boston to find the cutting edge of hardcore music. The split is available for purchase here and available on streaming below:
“What even is this freaky venue?” asks Lindsey Jordan, speaking of Big Night Live, the souped-up nightclub that also hosts the occasional rock show. Jordan is the sole proprietor of Snail Mail, an indie rock band from Baltimore that has amassed a cult following since their inception in 2015. Her recent third LP Ricochet explored a more mature sound with a focus on layering and song structure. Snail Mail are touring the new album with a myriad of different acts; Boston got the special privilege of hosting both Chicago’s Sharp Pins and hometown heroes, Swirlies.
Kicking off with the first two tracks from Ricochet, Jordan and crew fired right into “Tractor Beam” and “My Maker,” two of the more unassuming tracks from the new record to help warm up the crowd before dipping into the archives. “It’s such a niche tuning,” laughed Jordan as the crowd reacted loudly when she tunes her guitar for “Heat Wave,” the second single from her 2018 debut record and inarguably one of the project’s biggest songs. The crowd got even louder when Jordan ripped into the lead guitar lines, giving a beloved part even more hype.
The setlist wonderfully mixed old and new. Some of the deeper cuts from the new album got their time to shine like “Agony Freak” and “Nowhere” (two of my favorites). Fans that stuck around were treated to an encore of golden oldies: “Pristine,” (Snail Mail’s very first single) and “Thinning,” the stand-out track from the 2016 Habit EP that originally got Jordan signed to Matador Records in tandem. With more and more “industry” focus on progression and evolution, it’s wonderful to see bands still revisit their early work and the material that their fans clung to from the start.
Snail Mail is on tour through mid May to celebrate the new album, Ricochet, available everywhere via Matador Records.
