The BGN News Archive

Nervous Eaters at the Music Room in Yarmouth Photo: John Keegan

John Keegan caught The Nervous Eaters while on vacation on the Cape. They were playing in a new venue, the Music Room in Yarmouth. The Eaters are on a tear!! This could be their biggest year ever.

This last week when everyone was eulogizing Jimmy Harold, the Nervous Eaters’ kept coming up as Jimmy’s favorite band. Asked (see podcasts below) what band played the Rat the most, Jimmy named the Nervous Eaters and The Real Kids.

Click on photo link below for full review.

Captain Easychord admits that seeing shows in the extreme heat has been a challenge but he got out to the Square Root in Roslindale to see Crow Follow as they celebrated the release of their latest video. The Very and Captain Vampire were also on the bill. It was worth slogging through the sweaty night says the Captain. For the full review hit the photo link below.

When Mikey Bliss left The Cantab he cited the club's new policy that a show could get moved to earlier in the evening if they booked another, more popular show, at any time prior to the event. That happened. Lucretia X Machina of Lucretia’s Daggers posted on Facebook this week:

“…after months of promoting and many emails confirming the show, the Cantab Lounge double booked our debut gig with the new lineup on 8/27 (Dark Electro Night) and moved it too early in the day, so we will NOT be playing the gig (good luck to any other bands out there...they will likely do this to you, too!).

Lucretia’s Daggers Facebook page. Lucretia's Daggers will have a big Halloween show in October!

The Plymouth Punk Rock Market is doing it again! We visited their first a few weeks ago. It's an excellent excuse to take a trip to Plymouth, the vendors here offer quality stuff. Next one is Sunday, October 9, 12-5PM, at the same location - Mayflower Brewery. No cover either - it's FREE! And ... They are looking for new vendors. Contact them via their Facebook page if you are interested. Facebook event page for #2

Mach Bell is on a roll....two books under his belt and now he's going to be back on stage!! The Mach Bell Experience, has been added to Hallapalooza in Lexington on Sat September 10. Mach promises to rock like it’s ‘73! He says: "Mach Bell Experience is bassist Joe Black (Balloon), lead guitar Johnny Press (Gross National Productions) and Bam Bam on guess what? Drums! Plus you got me singing, playing harp & shaking maracas. The MBE plays Mach Bell music. Thundertrain and Joe Perry
Project-style Boston high-energy hard-rock." Here's the Facebook event page for Hallapalooza

Miracle Blood is playing Koto’s on Saturday August 20 with Drive Safe and Dead Wait. Two days later on Monday August 22 they are playing at the Silhouette Lounge in Allston along with Baabes and The Endorphines. The Silhouette is located at 200 Brighton Ave.

There’s another show at Silhouette Lounge with Nice Guys, G Gordon Gritty and Bradford Barker on September 12. Facebook page for that show

The Silhouette Lounge Facebook page

Teenage Head’s guitarist Gord Lewis was found dead this week. The police suspect a murder and his son was charged. The story on MSN news

Teenage Head are from Canada and in the early punk years their song “Picture My Face” was played constantly on the radio.

Add this to your calendar!! Third Annual Punktoberfest at Thirsty First in Lowell... 12 Bands, 5+ Breweries, This is an incredible bargain at $15 All Day or $25 All Day w/ Beer Tasting (21+ 2pm-4pm) .... Razors In The Night, The Fake Boys, SkyTigers, Taken By Vultures, Diablogato, Warthog, Chumhuffer, Working Poor USA, The Downhauls, Hagglers, Baabes, CE Skidmore And The Damn Fine Band. Link in gig listing below.

The Blondie/Damned tour is stalled. They say because of a Covid case but not who has it. The Boston show scheduled for 8/14has been switched to August 29. We didn’t know until recently that Captain Sensible was not on the tour. The stated reason was “travel restrictions” but we know the Captain is not vaccinated against Covid. Filling in is Troy Van Leeuwen of Queen of the Stone Age. Here's a short article in Punk News website

Article about Blondie/Damned schedule in Brooklyn Vegan

The NYC hardcore band The Casualties is doing a 17 city tour. What? No Boston date? They don’t have a new release. Their last album was a 21 cut live in the studio recording titled Until Death: Studio Sessions from 2019. You can hear it on Spotify to get a good blast of GBH style hardcore.

Do you do jigsaw puzzles? We do. Finding an image that you can relate to is a challenge sometimes. Now J. Mascis from Dinosaur Jr. has started a subscription jigsaw puzzle service called Puzzle-Heads. The puzzles will be all classic rock albums, starting with David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust. Future puzzles will include: Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures, Bad Brains’ self-titled debut, Wilco’s Star Wars, Angel Olsen and Sharon Van Etten’s “Like I Used To” single art, and, the black-and-white drawing shown on Dinosaur Jr.’s 1985 debut, Dinosaur.

You can subscribe to Puzzle-Heads here Here’s an article about it in Rolling Stone

Laurie Anderson is releasing Lou Reeds 1965 demos. Collectors Music has it in metallic silver vinyl ... Here The home recording includes “Waiting for the Man” and “Heroin” as well as “Row the Boat Ashore”. To think again of “Waiting for the Man” and “Heroin” to have been written in 1965 is stunning.

VIDEOS......

It was time to revisit the world of Gene Dante & the Future Starlets this week with the release of their video for “Diamond in a Trashcan” a song from the DL/UX album. With Gene Dante everything is all encompassing.

In this video the glammed up world is framed with children playing with ‘Starlet’ dolls. The message of the song is that “it takes a lot of hard work, clear thinking and good make up to be accepted as a freak”.

The Pixies have a video for “Vault of Heaven” from their latest album Doggerel.

They go for humor in the video with Zorro on a toy horse, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis. The one word that sticks out in the song is –titrate. Titrate means to “continuously measure and adjust the balance of a physiological function or drug dosage”. It’s a drug reference if you see it that way, or it could be that the character meant to say ‘hydrate’.

This is a memorable song. This latest Pixies album seems very good.

We spotlighted the video of “Goth Beach” by Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys in when it was released in July.

It now has over 24,000 views. It was a clever idea that was well done. Congrats to them. Check it out here

RADIO......

Skybar will have Sal Baglio as a guest on his Rising show on WMFO on Tuesday. Sal is going to talk about The Stompers, Amplifier Heads and Peppermint Kicks. There's only a few from 1978 that have been able to keep creative up to now. Sal is busier than ever and is arguably writing more songs than ever. Listen at 95.6 FM on Tuesday from 8-10pm or go to WMFO online.

On Joanie Lindstrom’s Thursday Late Risers Club we heard a few good finds. One was a new song by Australia’s Dune Rats. We saw them in November 2016 at O’Brien’s Joanie played a new song called “Melt Into Two”. The sonic quality of the song seems like a bit of a jumble, but a listen or two and that chorus will hook you.

Later in the same set Joanie played “Turns To Glass” by The Schizophonics a wild psych garage tune that seemed too good to be true The Schizophonics are a duo from San Diego who have backed up El Vez and opened for acts like Damned, Devo and Hives. Unfortunately I can’t find the tune online right now, it’s a brand new release. You can always hear it on the WMBR Archive for Thursday 8/11

PODCASTS.........

This week Blowing Smoke with Twisted Rico gives a tribute to The Rat and Jimmy Harold. Steeve reviews the history of his career as a record promoter and how it intertwined with the Rat. He did meetings at the Hoodoo during the day and heard the music downstairs at night.

Steeve got some quotes from others. Alan Kraut talked about the last two years of the Rat’s life when he was the sound man. David Minehan thinks, what would we be without the Rat?

A.J. Wachtel interviewed Jimmy Harold a while ago on his podcast named Wachtelligence. It’s titled Cat Who Owned the Rat.

He tells the great story of the Runaway’s show and getting Richie Parsons to give up his chair for Iggy. A.J. gets Jimmy to tell some outrageous stories and Jimmy’s personality really comes through..

NEW MUSIC/CDs.....

The group If We Go At All comes from Milford. On Bandcamp their first recording goes back to 2014. Their latest is called Form Follows Function.

It has an indie/garage sound that is full of atmosphere and mystery. The guitars are reverbed and effects laden with some clear tones cutting through.

The singer has wonderful control. The way he intones the lyrics to fit the melodies is captivating. Zoning in on the voice alone is one way of listening to this album, and a rewarding one.

They are not trying to rock the house down. The drummer keeps things steady and grounded in a way that fits the music. We got REM vibes at times but with that extra layer of moodiness. We listened to this a few times and enjoyed every song, every time.

A lot of what we talked about can be heard easily on the song. “Volunteer”.

“Second Time” is another hard pop rocker from Brad Marino. This time it’s with singer Natalie Sweet. The song comes blasting out at the beginning. You feel the force. The guitars are razor sharp and have a real punch, such a great recording job. Sweet has a clear but substantive voice, there’s no wimpiness in it at all.

For a power pop garage nugget, it doesn’t get better than this.

Rum Bar Records has been on another tear with lots of releases. They have a new 2 CD collection coming out of covers by Los Angeles rockers The Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs.

The leading single is “Cherry Bomb” and they have Cherie Currie doing the singing! Say what? That’s a score. Hear it below.

Andrea Gillis surprised everyone with a cover of the J. Geils Band’s song “I Don’t Need You No More”. Gillis doesn’t try to out growl Peter Wolf’s version she lets her powerful brassy voice do the work.

The group backing is vibrant and rocking. The recording was done at Wooly Mammoth. This is a nice summer treat. One can imagine the local radio shows picking up on this immediately.

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

August 15, 2022 (Monday) Time and Place, Shepards, Pink Slip at Charlie's Kitchen

August 15, 2022 (Monday) Michael Kane, Matt Demello, Ken Bousquet at The Midway

August 19, 2022 (Friday) Key of Caustic, Flightless, Minx, Space Casino at The Middle East Up.

August 19, 2022 (Friday) Zip-Tie Handcuffs, TIFFY, The Lebarons. at Faces Brewery $10

August 19, 2022 (Friday) Messer Chups, The Devils Twins, Damnation at Askew Provi, RI

August 20, 2022 (Saturday) Three Hour Tour! with SCMF, The Dogmatics, and Barrence Whitfield on a boat! 21+ $30. Boarding starts 3:30, departure at 4:00 from Rowes Wharf FB page.

August 20, 2022 (Saturday) The Fleshtones, GLiDER, & Tiger Bomb w/ Emcee DJ Brian Young - The Magic Room - FB page.

August 21, 2022 (Sunday) Voice Of Addiction, Brix'N Mortar, Blame it on Whitman, Color Killer - 3PM matinee at The Midway

August 21, 2022 (Sunday) Presidential Disgrace (Bangor), Butch Baby (MA), Septic Approval, East End Redemption, Skum City (nyc) for an afternoon show at Sun Tiki Studios, Portland, ME- Starts at 5 and is only $7!! FB page.

August 25, 2022 (Thursday) Motel Black, Little Fuss, The Daylilies at Notch Brighton - FB page.

August 26, 2022 (Friday) Heat Wave 22' w/The FU's, Worm, Kermits Finger, Rockin' Bob's Punk Band and .... More TBA, At the C Note in Hull. FB page.

August 26, 2022 (Friday) Bone Up Brewing Sixth Anniversary Bash! 3 days of music! The Guilloteenagers, Blood Built Empire, Lesser Glow, and Worshipper. FB event page is here.

August 26, 2022 (Friday) Kepi Ghoulie + Friends, Bad Idea USA, Adult Learners at Faces Brewing Co. Malden. FB page.

August 26, 2022 (Friday) Gretchen Shae & The Middle Eight, Hambone Skinny, Jonee Earthquake Band at The Shaskeen Pub, Manchester, NH. FB page.

August 27, 2022 (Saturday) Kids Like Me & You (KLYAM) Spring & Summer Program at Morse-Kelley Playground a couple blocks from the Armory. line up to be announced.

August 27, 2022 (Saturday) Phantom Ocean, Orbiter, Minusworld, Thrust Club - 3PM Matinee at the Midway Cafe FB page

August 27, 2022 (Saturday) Neighborhood Shit, Dead Low, Jerry's Got Jokes, Beyond Agitated, Blast Shield at The Midway - night show ...with FREE Pizza and sponsored by Narragansett Beer. FB page.

August 27, 2022 (Saturday) The Worst, Typhoid Rosie, Marianne Toilet and The Runs, Breaking Up at The Middle East Up.

August 27, 2022 (Saturday) Bone Up Brewing Sixth Anniversary Bash! Organ Meats, The Weisstronauts, DnA’s Evolution, Benthic Realm, Attest, Sky Tigers, and Crowfeeder. FB event page is here.

August 27, 2022 (Saturday) Tiger Bomb, Bad Larrys & Sapling at Marshall Wharf Brewing Co in Belfast, ME FB page.

August 28, 2022 (Sunday) Bone Up Brewing Sixth Anniversary Bash! Sunken City, Blue Manic, DnA’s Evolution, North Star the Wanderer, and Sexless Marriage. FB event page is here.

August 29, 2022 (Monday) Shortest Life, Bed of Razors, Beyond Agitated, Blast Shield at The Midway

September 1, 2022 (Thursday) The Shang Hi Lo's, Rockin Bob Punk Band, Hall Monitor at Notch Brighton -FREE - FB page.

September 2, 2022 (Friday) The Woggles with Muck and Mires & The Chelsea Curve at The Porch in Medford

September 3, 2022 (Saturday) Chris Brokaw, Samantha Hartsel, Target and the Facilities (Rich Mirsky's new band) and Kenne Highland's Airforce at The Midway.

September 3, 2022 (Saturday) Murphy's Law with Reason to Fight and RISK at the Shaksheen Pub, Manchester, NH -FB page.

September 4, 2022 (Sunday) Somerville Rock + Roll Yard Sale in Union Square Somerville. FB page for updates!

September 5, 2022 (Monday) Daniel & Al’s last show w/ Dutch Tulips, Tatooine Punk Scene, IWICSB at Charlie's Kitchen....see the FB page.

September 7, 2022 (Wednesday) Kids Like Me & You (KLYAM) Spring & Summer Program with Leopardo from Switzerland at O'Brien's

September 8, 2022 (Thursday) GUTTERMOUTH, The F.U.'s, Wimpy Rutherford of The Queers, Baabes - FB page. TIX!!

September 8, 2022 (Thursday) Zip Tie Handcuffs, Talk Chalk, Going222Jail at O’Briens

September 8, 2022 (Thursday) D.R.I at Alchemy in Provi, RI - FB page.

September 10, 2022 (Saturday) Key of Caustic at The Flying Embers Tap Room (152 Hampden St, Boston, MA 02119)

September 16, 2022 (Friday) Dave Herlihy, lead vocalist and principal songwriter for the legendary Boston band O Positive is at The Burren.

September 16, 2022 (Friday) The Loud Neighbors, Paper Tigers, Salem Wolves, Holy Hands at Dusk Provi RI

September 17, 2022 (Saturday) Kids Like Me & You (KLYAM) Spring & Summer Program at Lincoln Park Somerville (near Union Square) more info to come.

September 17, 2022 (Saturday) Punks For Pets with Joy Boys, Sleep Mode, Sourpunch, Musclecah, Ghost Grrrl, The Debutantes, The Something Somethin’s, The Stigmatics - at The News Cafe - early show starting at 1PM. Bring something for the doggos and kittehs check the Donation List on the FB page.

September 18, 2022 (Sunday) The Dream Syndicate at the Crystal Ballroom - TIX

September 23, 2022 (Friday) Soulside, Verbal Assault, Bedmaker, Wrong War at Once at The Armory - 6PM!! . Tix and info

September 24, 2022 (Saturday) The Superfonics have reunion gig at the Midway with Classic Ruins and Shiny Beasts

September 24, 2022 (Saturday) Supersuckers, White Dynomite at The Middle East Up.

September 25, 2022 (Sunday) Come is doing their first home town show in NINE years at the Middle East Up with Home Despot.

September 25, 2022 (Sunday) Amyl and the Sniffers at Big Night Live on September 25 TIX

September 29, 2022 (Thursday) Early Exit, Paper Tigers, Long Autumn, Robotic Hawks - Middle east Up.

October 5, 2022 (Wednesday) Dr. John Cooper Clarke at City Winery

October 7, 2022 (Friday) Joan Jett Birthday show with Anrea Gillis & Friends and Sue Minichiello & friends doing EVERYTHING Joan Jett. At Sally O'Brien's

October 9, 2022 (Sunday) Plymouth Punk Rock Market at Mayflower Brewing in Plymouth Mass. 12-5PM

October 9, 2022 (Sunday) L7: Bricks Are Heavy 30th Anniversary at Big Night Live FB page.

October 11, 2022 (Tuesday) Lion's Law, Violent Way, Blood Stained Brindle, Battery March at Sonia - TIX!!

October 11, 2022 (Tuesday) Agent Orange, Midnight Creeps and Gnarnia at Alchemy in Provi, RI FB page.

October 15, 2022 (Saturday) Third Annual Punktoberfest at Thirsty First in Lowell...Razors In The Night, The Fake Boys, SkyTigers, Taken By Vultures, Diablogato, Warthog, Chumhuffer, Working Poor USA, The Downhauls, Hagglers, Baabes, CE Skidmore And The Damn Fine Band ... FB page

October 20, 2022 (Thursday) June of 44, The Thalia Zedek Band at The Middle East Down

October 21, 2022 (Friday) Key of Caustic at The Square Root.

October 23, 2022 (Sunday) Dead Boys with The Briefs and Suzi Moon has been moved to Alchemy. FB page.

October 28, 2022 (Friday) FEAR performing The Record in its entirety at The Middle East Down - FB page.

November 5, 2022 (Saturday) The Mahones, The Pourmen, The Gobshites at Askew in Provi.

November 12, 2022 (Saturday) SO/CAL Punk Invasion 2022- Black Flag, The Dickies, TSOL, Total Chaos at The Granite State Music Hall Laconia, NH - TIX!

November 17, 2022 (Thursday) The Thigh Scrapers, Mad Painter, Doug MacDonald Band, The Stigmatics at The Middle East Up.

November 20, 2022 (Sunday) Hardcore Stadium presents - The Trouble at the Middle East Down (alas this show is sold out)

November 26, 2022 (Saturday) Dinosaur Jr., Guided by Voices and Eugene Mirman are at the House of Blues Facebook event page.

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