The BGN News Archive

Wednesday at the Midway there was a night of groups from Slovenly done in conjunction with WMBR’s Late Risers Club. The groups were our own Monsieurs, Tommie and the Commies from Canada and Les Lullies from France.

Andy - The Monsieurs Photo: John Keegan

The club was full (on a Wedneday!) as The Monsieurs got up to do their set of music and audience engagements. They are lose and raw and as you watch Andy with mucho concentration (because, ya know, what the hell is he gonna do??) you're drawn away from the guitar and drums but there’s no show without them. They are the perfect accompaniment to the random act generator that is Andy.

The grungy fuzzed out guitar of Hilken and primitive drum bashing of Erin is a wonder all its own. And that musical rampage is done with two drums?

The Monsieurs Photo: John Keegan

But we must come back to Andy. He was wearing a military hat and a Fender satin jacket. The jacket was shed eventually for the wonderful hairy chest of Andy. He was most active during "Kari Ann" one of their best songs. He headed into the audience crawling on his knees. This is when he usually sings into people’s crotches. It was so crowded you could only see people darting away from that action. Eventually he was back on stage where he leaned over and kissed a guy on the forehead and then on the lips. This is why some people head for the back of the room during a Monsieurs set, but when it’s not happening to you it's lots of fun to watch!!

The Monsieurs set always has that sense of danger to it. If you haven’t seen them....you are missing one of the groups that will be talked about in the future.

Tommie and the Commies Photo: John Keegan

Tommie and the Commies from Ontario were a scrappy punk outfit. They looked and sounded like early English punks in fact their sound had some Clash in there. It was so refreshing to us to hear that sound!! That’s the music we love and here were some young punks from Canada giving it to us! They were very loose and that was part of the whole thing. There’s a reason they (and the other two groups) are on a label called Slovenly.

It was a measure of how much they were putting into the set when the guitar player broke a string and switched guitars, just to break another. Listen to the vids and hear that guitar tone – it’s so close to early punk. They covered what we thought was “Solitary Confinement” by the Members but Joanie Lindstrom corrects us. It was a reworked version by the Newton Neurotics that they call "Living with Unemployment" not the original Solitary Confinement. The singer sometimes had a small quaver in his voice like Jello Biafra and some other early punks had.

Les Lullies Photo: John Keegan

Decades ago the French played rock awkwardly. Judging by Les Lullies that is all over. They were rock a la New York Dolls and Ramones. They had a tighter rhythm section that the preceding groups but it was still more about a rush of excitement than anything. The recorded material is good but it didn’t prepare us for this great set.

The guitarist was doing Johnny Thunders/Chuck Berry like riffs and he made them all new again. You could hear very early rock influences. One time they sang “Bop, Bop, Shu Bop” like a fifties group would. The songs were in the Ramones idiom of fast and short and those fast tempos were part of the kick.

Then they did the thing that would not fail to get to us – they covered “Do the Boob” by the Real Kids!! That’s just throwing chum to the sharks. It was a charged up version, as you can hear in the (not great) video above. We were buried in the crowd so the videos are not so great to look at but just listening a short while you can catch the excitement in the set.

This night was a big success for the club, the bands, the fans and the Late Risers Club. Immediately we thought – redo!

Hong Kong Restaurant Photo: Blowfish

Thursday night was a twofold mission. To see some groups and to check out the Harvard Square's Hong Kong Restaurant's set up for bands. When you go in the door to the Hong Kong you go left and up two steep flights of stairs. There’s a problem for some people right there. It seems like there is no elevator. On the first floor landing you go by another club, they had karaoke going on when we passed. The room was full and noisy.

Sound booth at the Hong Kong Photo: Blowfish

The rock room on floor two is about the size of O’Brien’s but the décor is way different. It is very ornate with lots of gold. The walls are red and yellow. Two dragons mark the elevated sound booth, the soundman must feel like an emperor up there. There’s a small stage that fits the drums only. To the band's right is a circular moongate door that leads to the bar and bathrooms.

In the Meantime Photo: Blowfish

In the Meantime was scheduled to play but their drummer was out of the country so Steve and Dan just did a duo acoustic set. We’ve seen them a few times (here’s the last time) so we know what they can do. This was a chance to hear the singing better...and it was excellent. They played some songs from an album that they have already recorded but they are looking around for a label. They also did several covers; one was “Time of Your Life” by Green Day.

Handsome Scoundrels Photo: Blowfish

The Handsome Scoundrels are a trio from Alabama. They turned out some cool pop punk right off. Like the Prozacs they seem to have the capacity to come up with endless variations. Sometimes they slowed it down a bit and highlight the melodic side, then back to the upbeat tunes. The drummer was fast and snappy. He fit in a variety of rolls over several drums in record speed. This was all very much what we love and we ate up the set.

They site these influences; The Ramones, The Hives, The Riverdales, Chixdiggit, Screeching Weasel, Descendents. They take all those bands and get the best from them. You should go to their Bandcamp page. It doesn’t have their latest album Ooh, La La but everything we listen to is primo. We love “Gnarly Beach” a punk surf song and a cover of “All My Loving”. And then there’s “Joe Cool” about people we used to call ‘trendies’.

The Hideout Photo: Blowfish

We know about The Hideouts because of the spit EP they did with Oh, the Humanity. We’ve missed them on some bills but wanted to hear them. It turns out that live they are very much like Oh, the Humanity. They play a hard hitting emo. Both the songs and the instruments have plenty of details in the arrangements.

The two guitars play in sync or against each other alternately. The songs don’t hit you as verse/chorus/verse although that is happening, rather is more a linear form where they let the lyrics unfold over the course of the song. They aim for the heart and they hit especially when the three voices join in the pleading harmonies. For the last song the lead singer sang off the microphone. We saw Actor/Observer do this at O’Brien’s.

Another thing about this style of music is the drums. The drummer was super busy all the time. There’s hardly a time when he was doing a two-four beat, it was mostly rapid rolls and accents that followed the guitars as punctuation. That probably comes from the hardcore end of things and it gives a whole different feeling to these groups.

There weren’t many people there, 15 tops. It looks like the Hong Kong is serious about the music. This week they had music there from Thursday to Sunday. Another unusual thing was that the bouncers, who were big, were a presence all during the night. They want you to know they are there. We talked to one on the way out and he was super friendly. Since they're in the middle of Harvard Sq so they must run into some crazy situations.

It seemed like everyone we talked to for a month was going to the Mott the Hoople show. We have John Keegan's review and photos on that below, just click the photo.

And in other news.....

There’s a new digital single by Death Pesos called Deceivers backed with Sarcophagus. Their stoner rock with intelligent lyrics.

Grand Opening of the new music venue The Jungle in Union Square (right behind Bronwyn) is on May 10 with Exit 18, Major Moment and Tzivia & theband VU (that’s the spelling!?) FB event page There actually is a ‘soft’ pre opening on May 3 with Carissa Johnson & Cure-Alls, Salem Wolves, Stubborn Hearts

May 3 is the opening of the new home for New Alliance studios. “New Alliance Gallery, featuring the new homes of New Alliance East and New Alliance Audio, proudly hosts a celebration of sights and sounds at the newly constructed studios in Union Sq. during Somerville Open Studios on May 3, 2019.” The address is 438R Somerville Ave. 02143, right by Market Basket in Union Sq. FB page

As of now the winners in the Rumble are Powerslut, Brix'n Mortar, Blindspot, Lonely Leesa & The Lost Cowboys and wildcard winner Corner Soul. Semi-finals start next week.

The documentary WBCN and The American Revolution will be playing in the Independent Film Festival Boston at the Somerville Theater on April 27 at 7:30.

Here's some good shows coming up this week.....

April 17 (Wednesday) Weak Days, I Wish I Could Skateboard, Giant In The Lighthouse, Elephants at The Hong Kong Harvard Sq

April 19 (Friday) Disaster Strikes, Gizzaards, Rooftops, Hairspray Queen, Myocaster Coypus at O'Brien's

April 19 (Friday) Zombii, Rays Occult, Losers Circle at Thirsty First in Lowell.

April 20 (Saturday) A Crash Course For The Ravers show streams to everyone LIVE Saturdays 1pm to 4pm at and transmits on WMFO 91.5FM Medford. This week we have The Hi-End in to chat, spin tunes, we'll see what else.

April 20 (Saturday) Brave Hands, Notches, Tied to a Bear, The Furniture at O'Brien's

April 20 (Saturday) Junkyard, Derailer, The Hi-End, Demons Alley at Koto in Salem.

And further out we have.....

April 23 (Tuesday) Battery March, Feedbag, The Laces, Secret Spirit at O'Brien's FB page

April 25 (Thursday) The Big Sway, Oh The Humanity & Coffin Salesman at Sally O's Union Sq FREEEEE as in NO cover.

April 25 (Thursday) The Proletariat, Moving Targets, The Northern Skulls at Alchemy Provi RI

April 26 (Friday) Michael Kane And The Morning Afters, Cuidado, and Lenny Lashley at the Thirsty First Tavern Lowell.

April 27 (Saturday) A Crash Course For The Ravers has POP GUN in to play their new stuff! 1pm to 4pm at http://www.wmfo.org/popout_player.php?bitrate=256 and transmits on 91.5FM Medford.

April 27 (Saturday) The Proletariat and Moving Targets at Once

April 27 (Saturday) The Stigmatics, Mongorellis, Thee Sonomatics, Groundlift at Club Bohemia

April 27 (Saturday) Nervous Eaters CD Release, Mr Airplane Man, Corolla DeVille at 9 Wallis Beverly.

May 2 (Thursday) Rawstrum, Gideon Grey, Pinaple Jam at Thunder Road (Rawstrum on first!)

May 3 (Friday) New Alliance Studios Opening Party!! PLease check out the FB page for all the stuff going on 6-10PM.

May 3 (Friday) Barrence Whitfield & The Savages w/ Muck and the Mires at The Middle East

May 3 (Friday) Corolla Deville, Stigmatics and Pop Gun at Jeannie Johnston's Pub JP

May 3 (Friday) Choke Up, Keep Score, Depressor, Matt Murphy at The Hong Kong Harvard Sq

May 3 (Friday) Mad Painter (with Kenne Highland on bass) along with The Fringe, Roll Over White and Shipwrecked at The C Note in Hull.

May 4 (Saturday) It's "LIVE DAY" on WMFO (91.5FM) featuring local acts doing 40 minute live sets all day. Same DJs at their regular times but live music all day. The Cast Irons - 9AM...Anthony Kaczyinski (acoustic) 10AM... Peter Parcek 10:50....Danielle Miraglia w/ Lisa Bastoni 11:45...Lily Black (full band) 12:40PM...61 Ghosts 1:35PM...Will Dailey 2:30...Flight of Fire 3:25....Celebutant (acoustic) 4:25.

May 4 (Saturday) The McGunks, Silver Screams, Revilers, Damnation, Live Nude Girls at The Midway 3-7PM

May 4 (Saturday) Carissa+Cure-Alls, Justine & The Unclean, Tiger Bomb, RunHideFight at Sally OBrien's

May 4 (Saturday) Dial Drive (FL), Loser's Circle, The Runouts at The Hong Kong, Harvard Square FB page

May 6 (Monday) Sneeze, Cult Fiction, Toothbrush, Non- at Charlie's Kitchen

May 7 (Tuesday) Dougie Flesh, Coffin Salesman, Ciderdown, Hannah Jay at The Tavern at the End of the World.

May 10 (Friday) The Grand Opening of Somerville's latest music club, The Jungle! with 10:50pm: Major Moment, 9:55pm: Exit 18, 9pm: Tzivia & theband Vú

May 10 (Friday) Oh The Humaity, SkyTigers, Tied to a Bear, Shrug Dealer, Weaklings at Uncharted in Lowell

May 11 (Saturday) Art Thieves, Donaher, The Last Noelle at The Jungle- 5 Sanborn St Union Sq Somerville.

May 11 (Saturday) The Knock Ups, Ila Minori, Erel, Chad Gosselin of The Big Lonesome at The Midway night show

May 11 (Saturday) Back Central, Kind, Distressor, DNZL at Thirsty First in Lowell

May 11 (Saturday) FUs, GLiDER, Classic Ruins, Screw.Cart at KOTO Salem

May 11 (Saturday) Cactus Attack, Diablogato, Jittery Jack & Amy Griffin at the Dover Brickhouse Dover NH

May 13 (Monday) Happy Accidents (UK), Greed Island, Birdwatching, Traders at Charlie's Kitchen

May 15 (Wednesday) Jon Snodgrass, Lenny Lashley, Micah Schnabel at O'Brien's Pub

May 15 (Wednesday) The Blasters with Diablogato and Dead Trains at ONCE Ballroom

May 17 (Friday) Lily Black, Highway Chapel, Thee Fightin' Fish, The Negans at Club Bohemia.

May 17 (Friday) Parlour Bells, Gene Dante and The Future Starlets, and Smitt E. Smitty & The Feztones @ OPUS Underground in Salem,

May 18 (Saturday) Marko And The Bruisers, Color Killer, Shore City, Punk Band - 3-7 matinee at The Midway

May 19 (Sunday) The Last Ones, Billy Copnnors Project and Fireking at O'Briens.

May 20 (Monday) Coffin Salesman, Molly Rhythm, Talk Me Off, Double Star at Charlie's Kitchen

May 24 (Friday) Lo Wreck's birthday with The Downhauls, The Dents, Duck & Cover and Skytigers at Sally O'Brien's

May 25 (Saturday) Lara Hope, Jittery Jack & Amy Griffin, The Demon Seeds at Opus! Salem

May 27 (Wednesday) Natterers, Yooth Decay, SAP at O'Brien's Pub

June 1 (Saturday) Vicky and the Vengents, Muck and the Mires, The Electric Mess at The Midway

June 2 (Sunday) the second Out of the Blue Benefit with a TON of bands….starting at 2PM -this is in order of appearance: Club Linehan A Go Go, Mimsey Mack & the Skinned Knees, Bob Cenci, Richard Mirsky Band, Randy Black & the Heathcroppers, Thee Fighting Fish, Climate Change Band, The Stigmatics, The Laces , The Thigh Scrapers, Gary Shane & the Detour, Sara Billingsley & Friends, GLiDER, Baabes, Butterscott. FB page for more info

June 7 (Friday) 61 Ghosts, Cal Cali Band at Tavern at the End of the World.

June 7 (Friday) Jittery Jack & Amy Griffin at The Book & Bar, Portsmouth

June 12 (Wednesday) Glider will be on the Heavy Leather Topless Dance Party. Check out the FB page for access.

June 15 (Saturday) Thee Fightin' Fish, The Billy Connors Project, A Bunch Of Jerks, Club Linehan A Go Go - 3-7 matinee at The Midway

June 15 (Saturday) The Daylilies, Justine and The Unclean, The Chelsea Curve at Sally O'Brien's

June 22 (Saturday) The Gala, The Dazies, Haunted Horses NYC, Lockette at The Midway

June 22 (Saturday) It's Quincy Porchfest!!! At 62 Prospect Ave Quincy you can find - Order of appearance starting at 1pm and every hour on the hour- The Fringe, Thee Fightin' Fish, The Stigmatics, Baabes, Glider, The Thigh Scrapers, Charlie Don't Surf a tribute to The Clash FB page for directions etc.

June 23 (Sunday) Teenage Bottlerocket with Ramona, The Young Rochelles at Once

June 29 (Saturday) The Old Edison, Coffin Salesman, Time & Place, Loser's Circle at The Midway

July 9 (Tuesday) Some Kind Of Nightmare, Losers Circle, Nick Barbarian, And Live Nude Girls at Thirsty First Tavern Lowell.

July 11 (Thursday) The Thigh Scrapers, Baabes, State of the Union and The Laces at The Jungle 5 Sanborn St Union Square Somerville.

July 11 (Thursday) 61 Ghosts, Thee Fightin' Fish, Pop Gun at Opus in Salem

August 14 (Wednesday) Deke Dickerson, Bloodshot Bill, Jittery Jack, DJ Easy Ed at Once FB Page

August 14 (Wednesday) 1.4.5., Crunchtime and Glider at The Jungle Union Sq Somerville.

CONTACT US AT....misslynbgn@yahoo.com Send us your gig listings, your news and anything else ya got!! You want your CD reviewed?? Contact us for that too.

Tommie and the Commies Photo: Blowfish

Les Lullies Photo: John Keegan

Tommie and the Commies Photo: John Keegan

The Monsieurs Photo: Blowfish

Handsome Scoundrels Photo: Blowfish

Joanie Lindstrom and Les Lullies

Les Lullies