The BGN News Archive

August 20, 2022 - Our John Keegan made his way from the thankfully placid Atlantic in the afternoon to the scenic mills of Norwood that night. One if by land three if by sea.

On A Three Hour Cruise: Stop Calling Me Frank, Barrence Whitfield, and The Dogmatics got the crowd to dance across the water in spite of the heat and an occasional swell. SCMF and The Dogs kept it jumpin’ and familiar, leaving room for Barrence to join in with even more sweat-drenched rock and soul mini sets. Summer was made for rock and roll booze cruises.

Arriving n Norwood John missed Tiger Bomb and most of Glider but did catch their red light take on 999’s Homicide. Al Schmel lays on the psych guitar, especially during a stretched-out jam.

The Fleshtones are one of the great, arguably underrated, bands of the modern era. They genre hop (especially on recordings) but never lose their twisted, psyched-up garage thread or their sense of the absurd. Surf, sure. Beatlesque, no problem. How about some Ramones? Absolutely 53rd and 3rd..... John's got a great slide show of pics for you to check out!!

Did you love Club Bohemia and Mickey Bliss?

Well here is your chance to see Mickey again!! Mickey Bliss is performing all 6 original '80s hits with backing band Johnnie and the Foodmasters! this Saturday August 27th @ Morse Kelley Playground Courtyard - 1 PM to 5 PM, Also performing are Strega Strega, Kremlin Bats, and Estradiol. Flyer attached! Show up to show Mickey your support!! Location is: Summer St & Craigie St, Somerville, MA 02143. Just outside of Porter Square and nto far from Union Square.

The F.U.s have just released Death Squad Nostalgia, a 7 song EP, which they've been working on for a while. To hear the group together, to hear John Sox spitting out the lyrics and Bob Furapples at the drums makes us happy!!

Half the lyrics take a world view and it’s bleak. The other half take a bleak personal view. Both make for good songs.

A major theme of the EP is what the human race is doing to itself. That’s what “eyeless”, “Death Squad Nostalgia” and “Kiss Me Andromeda” are about. The opening track “Razor” has all the elements coming at you right out of the gate. They play like they have “a pocket full of razor blades.” It’s a minute forty one seconds long, they just get it done. “Mexican Cokes” is 44 seconds. It’s like”Weinerschnitzel” and “I Like Food” by The Descendents. It’s great to hear them blast that out.

The oddball that sticks out is the cover of Kris Kristofferson’s “Sunday Morning Coming Down” which is in the line of the “Ballad of the Green Berets” they've done for years. It’s F.U.s tradition.

The F.U.'s have reinforced their legacy with this release.

The F.U'.s are playing the C-Note in Hull this Friday August 26!! Facebook event page and at The Middle East on Sept 8 (Scroll down to the gig listings for more info and links) Get Death Squad Nostalgia on Bandcamp.

Some excellent photography by Clay Lomneth on Boston Hassle site of the Cumgirs8 and Death Valley Girls at O’Briens on August 10. Check out the photos here.

Bill's Bar on Lansdowne St. is looking to start a “new weekly punk/rock/Alt night ” on Tuesdays. at the club. They are looking for original bands!! Are you in a band?? Email Ben Hamilton at Ben at BillsBarBoston.com.

The Midnight Creeps are finally making it back to Boston since playing out again! Love that band go see 'em!! They are at Notch Brewery in Brighton Thursday Sept. 15 (scroll down to Gig Listings for info)

Another band which is SO WORTH heading out to see is Blood Stained Brindle!! They don’t play out much at all so you are lucky they are doing a show on Tuesday October 11th at Sonia with Lion's Law, Violent Way and Battery March at Sonia. They are also at Dusk in Providence with Brix 'N'Mortar, Cry Havoc, Triggered, Grip Bite on Friday October 9. We saw them at The Midway back in March 2017 and LOVED them!!

The Lemonheads have added a second show at the Paradise because of demand. December 17 AND 18th! More info and links in the gig listings.

VIDEOS......

The Chats are bratty Aussie punks. They are all about dumb fun. Their latest song/video is “6L GTR”. The video is a black and white cartoon partly about vehicle problems while touring. It’s some light hearted fun. Just what we're looking for these days.

Martha is a group from Durham, UK on the Dirtnap Records label. They just released a video for their new single “Baby, Does Your Heart Sink?” . The song is very poppy with enough rock and a memorable chorus that makes it click big time.

RADIO......

The latest Bay State Rock opens with Willie Alexander’s “Let’s Go To the Rat” and Carmelita and Tez go on to talk about Jimmy Harold and the Rat. They played “Ghosts of Kenmore Square” by Terry Kitchen which was a CD with his Book Next Big Thing. Other artists were Mickey Clean & the Mezz, Nervous Eaters, The Dogmatics and even Barry and the Remains who played the club before it was renamed the Rathskeller.

The show ended with “Closet” a rocker from Key of Caustic that we liked.

A Crash Course for the Ravers had Glider as the first in live band in the studio since the Covid restrictions went into effect. Covid also wreaked havoc on just about everyone, including Glider. Covid started just as they completed their album. The band played a lot of songs from that album. That album can be heard on their YouTube channel.

They are also known for their covers. They did up “It’s A Shame About Ray” by the Lemonheads and “Time Has Come Today” by The Chambers Brothers. Their cover of “Homicide” by 999 can be heard on the Glider YouTube Channel

You can hear the whole Crash Course show on the WMFO archives. Hit CCFTR on the Schedule page Hit the 8/13 day and then the archive.

Also on WMFO, On the Town with Mikey Dee had The Winter Project playing live. They debuted the new single, “Get Right Up” which is now on Bandcamp. It's part of their next album. Hear the single below or go to the WMFO schedule and hit the On the Town show on Wednesday and click the ‘archive’

Ron on his Monday WMBR Late Risers played a melodic punker that got our attention. It was the Dubtones’ “Viva La Punk”. The Dubtones are not named The Dubtones because they do Jamaican Dub but because they come from Dublin, Ireland.

Another song Ron played was “Monkey Mind” by The Bobby Lees, from Woodstock, NY. It has more than a hint of “The Model” by Kraftwerk in it, but still good.

To hear Ron’s show go to the LRC archives and hit the show for 8/15.

There aren't many good things that have come out of the Covid pandemic, but here’s one: because DJ’s have had to do remote recordings of their shows this has led to expanding who can do a show. In the case of the Late Risers Club they can now have shows from former DJ’s. There have been regular shows by two of our favorite DJ’s: Tim Kelly and David Greene.

Tim did a show last Tuesday. We love Iggy Pop singing “Punkrocker” with the Teddybears in 2006. Here’s the YouTube for the song featuring Iggy.

Tim followed with a thematically close “Punk Rock Loser” by the Viagra Boys.

Tim played “I’m Gonna Operate on Myself” by The Sleazies. We hadn’t heard that 2003 tune in a while.

Last week we spotlighted “Melt Into You” by the Australian group Dune Rats. Tim got another good song off the same album Real Rare Whale titled “Dumb TV”.

To hear Tim’s show go to the LRC archives and hit the show for 8/16.

PODCASTS.........

This week Blowing Smoke with Twisted Rico gets Chris Conway of the Gypsy Moths into the studio. Chris had a lot of interesting things to say, especially for us, because he’s a long time Boston music fanatic. He was a DJ on WERS’ Niteclub show and did the very last broadcast of the Metrowave show. He worked six years at Tang Records.

Chris’ story of his friends ‘vinyl night’ led to the forming of the Gypsy Moths.

NEW MUSIC/CDs......

With the Shods long gone and Kevin Stevenson living in Greece, an album by Kevin seemed unlikely but Reality Alley shows that talent will find a way. There are 15 songs on the album and they are all solid efforts. The songs are packed with observations both personal and social. Keven has a lot to say.

The music is horn heavy, like Memphis style. Kevin’s guitar flavors everything , not with solos (but there are some good ones) but his chord work. His voice of course is very distinctive.

“Saturday Morning Coming Down” was the pre-released single. Sometimes these strategies raise expectation that are not met. Not in this case, here the rest of the album is equal to that song.

In “Lowell Night” Kevin draws a portrait of some of the characters of the gritty city. In “Steve’s the Message” Steve reimagines parts of the Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message”. He makes it his own and that’s a big transformation. In “Torr’s Song” he describes a chance encounter with an old buddy and then we get a whole portrait of the individual. We could go on. Each song captures a life moment.

This album defies expectations on several levels. That Rum Bar is there to scoop it up and get it attentions is another plus.

You should just get to this album and hear the whole thing.

Kurt Baker has another pop rock nugget with “Electric Fire”. He makes it look easy, or as he sings, like “rolling through a red light like a funeral procession.” The guitars are cranking, Geoff Palmer supplies some sharp riffage both with chord work and a tasty solo. The song is a heightened rush that transmits that electric feeling.

Mad Mojo Jett play an unruly party time garage rock. Throughout their album Get Your Mind Straight they capture the enthusiasm and energy and the I-don’t-give-damn about a live-for-today attitude and it’s contagious.

They even have a song titled “Partyville”, we really loved “Tori”. That has 50 seconds of feedback in what would be the solo spot and closes with another minute and a half of it. We loved the hooky chorus of “Chastised on the Spot”

This is another Rum Bar Records release. Lou found this group in Minneapolis.

We’ll leave you with the one song they have on Bandcamp at the moment: “Missing Stairs”. That will give you a good taste but really the whole thing is a gas.

It’s another Rum Bar Records album, this one is local, it's Hambone Skinny's Come Getcha’ Some.

We’re used to Hambone Skinny bringing his slithering slide songs up from the Somerville Swamps. We like the idea of the first cut, the lyrics are focused on the “Trash Can”. It’s an easy down and dirty subject we can relate to.

We’re glad to get “Green Manalishi with the Two Pronged Crown” recorded having loved that live. They take the early Fleetwood Mac song and put it back in the swamp where it fits just fine.

All the songs hit their mark. Hambone Skinny has their thing down. Anytime you are in the mood, any of these tunes will satisfy.

Right now you can get “Gin Joint Jukin’ just by hitting the link.

Beyond Gravity is an alternative band from Providence. The Nature of Your Game album sounds more mainstream than most of the bands we feature but they put up formidable wall of sound we like. They can couple that with added drama, like in “Love Yourself” which makes a compelling performance. We image if they can do that live that it would be something to hear.

“Got Nowhere To Go” has all their good qualities showing.

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

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 Hardwired, 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 -Johnny & The Foodmasters backing up Mickey Bliss, Strega Strega, Kremlin Bats, and Estradiol. 1-5PM

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) Deep Vibe Show: Motel Black, Gretchen Shae& M8, Crow Follow, Thalia Zedek at The Midway Café - Facebook page

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 at The Middle East - 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 11, 2022 (Sunday) The McGunks, West Side Rats, Freezing Process, The Martians doing a 3-7PM Matinee at The Midway FB page.

September 15, 2022 (Thursday) The Hi-End, The Midnight Creeps FREE at Notch Brewery Brighton!! FB page.

September 16, 2022 (Friday) The Downhauls, Duck & Cover, Blame It On Whitman at Faces Brewery in Malden. FB page.

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) A Vulture Wake, Counterpunch, Ruin the Nite at Faces Brewery Malden- FB page

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) October FUZZ with Kind, Major Stars, Electric Street Queens, and Sundrifter at Bone Up Brewery Everett - FB page.

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 1, 2022 (Thursday) Octoberfest at Dusk with a Full day/night of live music. Indoor and outdoor stages. Bands/Food/Drinks/Vendors. Bands: Vudu Sister, Jade Tourniquet, Brown Apples, Joy Boys, DNR, Minibeast, Paranoid Android, LooksThat Kill, Parapalegic, Ski Bunny, Atlantic Thrills, Joudy Ju, Northeast Traffic - starts at 2PM and goers all day and night. FB page.

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 - FB page for info, vendors etc.

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

October 9, 2022 (Sunday) Brix 'N'Mortar, Cry Havoc, Triggered, Blood Stained Brindle, Grip Bite at Dusk in Provi.

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 11, 2022 (Friday) Hardcore Stadium Presents: Wound Man, Tinnitus, Robert Siege, Hideous, Shawnie Brando, Strictly Hip Hop, Sinister Wand, Operation Paperclip, Biproduct at The Middle East Down. Doors at 5 PM.

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 -FB page

December 17, 2022 (Saturday) The Lemonheads are playing the Paradise

December 18, 2022 (Sunday) The Lemonheads are playing a seco0nd show the Paradise - 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.