Left & Right were on tour from Philly, and put on an amazing show at O’Brien’s with the help of locals Kal Marks, Milk, Dinoczar and Rye Pines. It’s often hard to find a five-band bill that keeps the audience excited and present for the whole evening, and Coach & Sons Presents brought us that perfect formula. Take a look at some photos from the show, and make sure to keep your ears on Left & Right.
Trevor Powers is being followed by a security guard.
Reached by phone in Columbus, Ohio, on a recent Friday, Powers, the mind behind Youth Lagoon, had to duck and cover.
In the midst of talking about how his approach has changed between his two previous efforts and the pop experimentation on Savage Hills Ballroom, released last month, a voice suddenly interjects.
“I was just wondering if I could help you with anything,” the guard said.
“I’m just on the phone… thanks dude,” Powers replied.
Powers laughed off the interaction.
“I’m in these tiny black running shorts and this weird leather jacket, so I look like a freak,” he said.
But back to Savage Hills Ballroom. If there’s one standout difference, it’s the immediacy of Powers’ voice — previous albums obscured his vocals behind layers of fuzz.
Beyond that, “I took a while off from writing, Powers said. “I spent about three to four months just at home, clearing my mind and not working much on my music.”
“I started with just a lot of these percussive ideas and programming elements,” Powers said of ‘Again,’ the first song he worked on in the new album. “I think the biggest way that I approached things differently was me having to learn all kinds of new shit, that I had no idea how to do before — like, the programming aspect. I approached it so differently before, where I’d use really easy-to-use beat machines.”
“I had no idea what I was doing,” Powers said. “But that made things feel more fresh to me. I think there’s something to be said about the idea of doing something you’re wrestling with… you’re sort of in this weird realm and struggling with something.”
Youth Lagoon comes to Paradise Rock Club Friday, Oct. 30 with the full live band. What can we expect from a Youth Lagoon live set?
“The live show is much more intense,” Powers said. “I get so bored if I see a band play that sounds just exactly like the album, but it’s just turned up a little bit more. There’s no point in going to shows if that’s the way it is, because I’d rather just stay at home and just listen to a record.”
“It’s taking the album and some of the old songs and taking them to where, they’re much more theatrical and intense,” he continued. “It’s a little more aggressive than people are expecting.”
Powers’ music deals with themes of love, death and everything in between. On “Rotten Human” he critiques himself: “You were the habit that I couldn’t break / Lying awake for 8 hours straight / Human, I am a rotten human.”
Later, amid talk of how odd things always are while the band tours in Columbus (including how the band played the same night as Insane Clown Posse a few years ago; they caught some of the ICP set), Powers discussed what inspires him to make music.
“There’s something about the way that music can communicate that I haven’t found anything else that’s like it,” he said. “Words alone, you can only express so much. There’s an infinite amount of sounds you can make, whereas in the English language there’s only so many words you can say.”
Youth Lagoon is touring in support of Savage Hills Ballroom for the foreseeable future — a European tour and the festival circuit are in the plans. Toronto’s Moon King opens for Youth Lagoon at the Paradise. See current US tour dates below.
Oct 30, 2015 Paradise Rock Club Boston, MA
Oct 31, 2015 Union Transfer Philadelphia, PA
Nov 1, 2015 9:30 Club Washington, DC
Nov 3, 2015 Cat’s Cradle Carrboro, NC
Nov 4, 2015 Terminal West Atlanta, GA
Nov 5, 2015 Mercy Lounge Nashville, TN
Nov 6, 2015 Proud Larry’s Oxford, MS
Nov 7, 2015 One Eyed Jacks New Orleans, LA
Nov 9, 2015 Warehouse Live Houston, TX
Nov 10, 2015 Club Dada Dallas, TX
Nov 11, 2015 Mohawk Austin, TX
Nov 13, 2015 Crescent Ballroom Phoenix, AZ
Nov 14, 2015 Belly Up Tavern Solana Beach, CA
Nov 17, 2015 FONDA THEATRE Los Angeles, CA
Nov 18, 2015 The Fillmore San Francisco, CA
Nov 20, 2015 Neumos Seattle, WA
Nov 21, 2015 Doug Fir Portland, OR
After starting May with the release of her critically adored second LP, viagra Sprinter, cure touring nonstop all summer, order and closing out Fall opening for Garbage, one would assume Torres is feeling pretty damn good about how 2015 unfolded.
Lucky for us though, her 2016 is already looking just as bright. The Brooklyn-based act led by songwriter Mackenzie Scott announced an East Coast tour today with local favorites Palehound in tow. Her last visit to Great Scott was “pure magic” according to fellow AP writer Lauren Moquin and, if her recent Hooke Audio Live Sessions (below) are additional indication, this run will be just as intense.
Scroll down for full dates and a ticket link to her Boston date:
Wed. Dec. 2 — New York, NY @ Webster Hall (Ground Control Touring 15th Anniversary)
Tue. Jan. 12— Toronto, ON @ The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
Wed. Jan. 13 — Grand Rapids, MI @ The Pyramid Scheme
Fri. Jan. 15 — Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall (Tomorrow Never Knows Festival)
Sat. Jan. 16 — St. Louis, MO @ The Firebird (The Art of Live Festival)
Sun. Jan. 17 — Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop
Mon. Jan. 18 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Cafe
Tue. Jan. 19 — Washington, DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel
Wed. Jan. 20 — Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
Thu. Jan. 21 — New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
Fri. Jan. 22 — Allston, MA @ Great Scott
Sat. Jan. 23 — Burlington, VT @ Signal Kitchen
Sun. Jan. 24 – Hamden, CT @ The Space
There’s a new sheriff in town and his name is Ben Semeta. Whether it be a punk children’s party or a local convenience joint, Semeta is there to protect us against a manic drug-crazed clown in the Midriffs‘ latest music video for their song “White Washed.”
“I think the hardest thing was trying not to say ‘fuck’ around the kids,” Semeta joked about the role.
Allston Pudding is proud to premiere the video, directed by our own Andrew Gibson.
“There’s really an awesome thing going on with the punk/psych/garage scene in Boston right now, so it’s a pleasure to be able to contribute to it, and highlight some of the bands,” Gibson said on directing the video.
“I was pretty pumped for [Midriffs] to have Andrew do this,” Semeta added. “He’s fucking great at what he does.”
“White Washed” originally appeared as the Midriffs’ contribution to the local psych rock compilation House of the Rising Fuzz. The comp was put together by Semeta as well.
The collaboration between Tj Freda, the guitarist and vocalist for Midriffs, and Gibson came about when Freda first saw Gibson’s music video for “Stinker” by Nice Guys.
“Nothing local I had recently seen had been of that high quality production from a local band,” said Freda. “I think I watched it two times in a row because it was so awesome.”
“Tj hit me up after the nice guys [sic] video came out,” Gibson said. “Finally, this summer we got together and he showed me the track, it was right before the fuzz comp came out, so it seemed perfect. I really liked the song too.”
The video was filmed during a weekend in late August around various Lower Allston locations, as well as Thieves Grotto.
“We had a blast, the cast and crew were great, especially the cinematographer Tim Haber… he did an amazing job…and Nick Raygun blew my mind as the clown, I knew he would be perfect for it, but he exceeded expectations for sure,” Gibson stated.
“We dodged a lot of curveballs during the process,” Freda joked. “The police actually arrived during the last shot because they got a call [about] two people hitting a car with baseball bats.”
Watch the video below:
Check out the behind the scenes photos (By Tyler Boudreaux):
Caspian came through The Sinclair with Circle Takes the Square and locals Dirty Bangs this past Friday to put on a magnificent show. Flip through our photos!
Toronto-based rockers Greys are slated to release their Repulsion EP this Friday, but thanks to their advance Soundcloud streaming, we don’t have to wait until then to hear it in full. With just 3 songs that clock in at under 10 minutes, it makes for an intense listen, and it’s heavy in every sense of the word. Check it out here via CarPark Records’ SoundCloud, then scope out the band’s upcoming tour dates below.
11/5 Brooklyn, NY @ Aviv
11/6 Philadelphia, PA @ Pharmacy
11/7 Montreal, QC @ Turbo Haus
11/10 London, ON @ Call The Office
11/11 Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen
11/12 Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews
11/13 Minneapolis, MN @ The Nether Bar
11/14 Winnipeg, MB @ Windsor
11/16 Saskatoon, SK @ Vangelis
11/17 Edmonton, AB @ Mercury Room
11/18 Calgary, AB @ Broken City
11/20 Vancouver, BC @ Wise Hall
11/21 Seattle, WA @ Victory Lounge
11/23 Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Bar
11/25 Austin, TX @ Mohawk
12/04 Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
Halloween’s approaching like a bat out of hell and like every year, salve you’ve put off pinning down your getup. Whether work’s crazy or your cat’s sick, viagra or you’re in denial that last October’s sexy Bill Murray costume won’t fit after eating your feelings all summer—we get it. Here at Allston Pudding, salve we understand you have more important things to do than think up a costume to suit your adorable personality and weirdly thick ankles.
Before you start screaming at the thought squeezing into too-tight polyester, here are some ideas for your most rockin’ Halloween look yet. They’re spooky, they’re scary and most of all, celebrate our psycho love for the Boston music scene. Get ready to hit up your roommate’s closet or local thrift store, let’s take those cankles out on the town!
Infinity Girl
This Halloween, defend Boston from yuppies and college bros with heavy reverb and Lichtensteiny onomatopoeia. Though the real Infinity Girl may be an all-dude quartet, this shoegazey twist on superhero garb is open to all—so find a pair of ass-kicking boots, flashy mask, and lots and lots of spandex. And of course, no Infinity Girl getup would be complete without a flowing cape. All the better for a dramatic exit from the party after making with the drunk Jack Sparrow who complemented your dance moves. Maybe next year you can dress up as someone who isn’t so easily attracted guys wearing eyeliner.
I’ve seen a fair amount of writers on this very blog and elsewhere try to capture Ben Katzman’s essence, but I think I might have it pinpointed: he is a figment of our imaginations.
On a very basic level, I made a promise to myself, many moons ago, that I would never trust a human that uses “mad hard” or “chill” as common vernacular. And, for the most part, I’ve kept that promise excluding him and anyone on his BUFU Records roster. Beyond my petty slang disagreement, if you told me just a few years ago that one of Boston’s most enthralling live acts would be a Van Halen-obsessed, guitar shredding master of garage rock reared by the Ramones, I would politely shrug and leave the crustier kids in Allston to swarm it.
Except wait, no, I wouldn’t because I’d be too busy pogoing by the first chorus. Even in the wake of Katzman’s move from Boston this year, he has cultivated a respected scene through BUFU, a kitschy and absolutely shredding band out of Degreaser in the last, and a list of slang that mystifies with its likability. I still have no idea what ‘dzeam’ is, but I’m pretty sure Ben is a dzeamweaver and his persona has almost ascended to cartoonish lore, which makes me wonder if he was even real in the first place. Now that he calls New York his new backyard, we might never know the truth, but we still have Rok N Rol Community College, cheap beer, and the ability to chill mad hard in his memory.
This week, I try to convert my Dad to the mustached ways of Katzman with “Record Store Babe” off Degreaser’s upcoming full length, Virgo in Pisces. Note: he had a long day at the office, so slight exhaustion played into some of his answers.
Tim: Alright, do you want to talk about the song?
Dad: Not really.
Tim: [laughs] …uh, okay. What went wrong?
Dad: [singing off key] Record store bay-ay-ay! Record store bay-bay-babe!
T: It’s catchy!
D: I must admit, I must have narrow musical boundaries because you said this was like Van Halen and I was really looking forward to it. I was waiting for the rebirth of Van Halen and it wasn’t Van Halen-ish at all! It was more like The Ramones or this other group called The Clash.
T: Yeah, I think both of those are valid comparisons. You’re not a fan of either?
D: No, I wasn’t into… uh, what do you call it? Punk?
T: [laughs] Yeah, you would call that punk, Dad. They’re, like, the forefathers of punk.
D: I dunno! That’s why I’m asking!
T: But [Ben Katzman] is a pretty quality guitar shredder though, you have to admit.
D: Absolutely. He knows how to play the guitar, but I even listened to the other one you sent me, the Virgo in a shirt one…
T: “Virgo Babe in a Maiden Shirt”, you mean?
D: Yeah… yeah. That. To be fair, I did listen to it when I was tired and it’s not the type of music you listen to when you’re about to call it a day. It’s like what you play to get pumped up before you go out to party.
T: It’s definitely “get drunk” music.
D: Very simple song structure too. It was like over and over, “record store bay-bay-babe”, record store bay-bay-babe!” Enough! But then again, it was only, like, a minute long too! What happened? I guess he decided singing “record store babe” twenty two times was enough, huh?
T: [laughs] I dunno, I think he could’ve mustered at least one more minute of “babes.”
D: [laughs] So the story is he has the hots for the record store babe, but she completely ignored him?
T: Yeah, I think that’s his eternal quest. But personally, I’d never go after a girl working at my favorite record store. Like, even if you go on one bad date, you can never go back to there! Awkwardness would prevail thereafter. I have no idea what his game is going into this.
D: Too funny. I just feel like I have to have long hair and bob my head to [relate]. Like, uh, what’s the Ramones singer’s name? Johnny Ramone? Or Joey?
T: Come on, Dad… you’re kidding me, right? They were all named Ramone.
D: Well yeah, they were all brothers.
T: [laughs] No, they were fake brothers. Ramone was their stage name. They aren’t related at all.
D: Ohhh, brothers of different mothers! It’s just not my genre, you know? The kind of music where you’re headbobbing and cloudsurfing…
T: Oh my god, Dad. Crowd surfing?
D: I meant that, I swear. Oh man, Tim, I’m too tired for this music. We were just talking about the Cloud today, that’s why I said it. You know, the place where all your data goes?
T: Yeah, I am familiar with the Cloud. Do you trust it?
D: Do I trust the Cloud? No. Eventually, the cloud comes back to Earth and to wherever that place is. If they have shitty security and it all leaks… no, I don’t trust it.
T: Yeah, there’s a lot of distrust in the Cloud. A lot of people reverting back to old technology because of it, back to analog if you will. That’s why bands like Degreaser are coming back!
D: Yeah, it was kinda throwback, wasn’t it? I kept looking at him and thinking, ‘man, that is a cheesy mustache.’ You have to admit, that was a goofy fake mustache.
T: I saw him live a few weeks ago and can confirm the ‘stache is very real.
D: Oh. Is it? He must be awful proud.
T: Any last thoughts or bits of advice from one Van Halen fan to another?
D: I mean, he probably has a core group of fans and I don’t want to comment too much if I don’t quite get it, but I guess expand on your lyrics a bit beyond “record store babe” twenty two times. Oh, and try to make a three minute song! But yeah, if you’re at a bar, having a hard time at your job, and you got a few PBRs in you, I bet yelling ‘I want my record store bay-ay-aybe!’ wouldn’t be too bad!
T: I think my advice is that you should audition to be their backup singer.
D: [laughs] Maybe! I could be a fake brother from another mother!
Ben Katzman’s Degreaser will be playing Great Scott for their LP release show on 11/8 with Mannequin Pussy and Puppy Problems. For more information and confirmation that Ben Katzman’s mustache is very real, check the Facebook page here.
Got an itch for some new music? Well, let us and Stumpf be that proverbial bamboo backscratcher that you got from Amazon for $5. The band is premiering their brand new album Barf Radio with us and it’ll set your starving mind at ease for a while. At least until the itch rises again.
If your ears and eyes are begging for more of this, you can check Stumpf out live at their album release show at Out of the Blue Gallery on Nov. 3rd with Sun Young, Earring, and a surprise guest. You can also hit up the show for a free download card of Barf Radio and maybe even some sweet sweet button swag. AP’s got your back, yo.
In the depths of last year’s blustery winter, I found myself at the now defunct Outlook for a show. While many house shows are memorable, this one lead to the wildest experience of my life: the 2015 Dent/Skinny Pigeons China Tour.
Covering over 5,700 miles by train rides four to 22 hours long, Allston basement staples Dent and Skinny Pigeons embarked on the first tour of their careers: a month long, 14-city odyssey across China. Together, the two bands played double-headers in a new city almost every night, to crowds anywhere from 10 to 150 strong. From the gritty docks of Chonqing to Xiamen’s seaside gardens, tour fulfilled all manner of ambitions, desires, worries and insecurities.
For Lane, Dent’s lead singer, the tour was a chance to bring her music back to the country of her birth and reconnect with friends and family she had not seen in years. For Ian, Skinny Pigeons’ bass player, the trip was his first time leaving the country. For all eight of us, travel represented a wild opportunity: a chance to discover new cultures, to meet all kinds of people and genuinely embark on the trip of a lifetime.
As we stood outside between sets in the frigid winter air, Dent’s drummer, guitarist and singer laid forth their plan to bring their music to the other side of the world. When asked to join them as a tour photographer, I figured the 40s in their hands and their sheer scale of ambition made for simple wishful thinking. Several months later I found myself with the members of Dent: Harley Cullen, Lane Shi, Jack Whelan and Tristan Allen and Skinny Pigeons: Joey Luna, Ian Jones and Jeff Crenshaw, as we boarded a plane to Guangzhou.
To see more of Kit’s photos, visit www.KitCastagne.com or check out his Facebook page.