The BGN News Archive

Steve Morse RIP

Steve Morse  died last week. This is a huge loss for the Boston Music community! He was the music critic for the Globe for decades starting as a freelance in 1975. He supported the local music scene and was always at a show! At the height of it he went to 200 to 250 shows a year. Steve was a sweet guy who cared about the scene ... and its people. You can tell that by the stories a lot of locals had on social media.

The Music Museum does a nice job reviewing his career You can read that here.

There was so much going on in the early eighties, one was the Propeller Records phenomenon. Now, the famous cassette Propeller Product 4-1 will be reissued on vinyl! You can get the story and an interview with Justine Burrill (who was in Wild Stares), who was the de facto leader at the communal label, at the NoEcho.net webpage and at Maximum RocknRoll web site. You can preorder the two LP vinyl release from Record Grouch. Hear some of the Propeller groups on the Spotify playlist below.

Evil Felipe have an interview in the student run Simmons Voice web site. They always seem to have a good handle on what they are doing and where they are going. Their musical influences are also illuminating because they are not groups we know. We can hear how Sweet Pill from Philadelphia has a similar sound.. They mention Mannequin Pussy also from Philadelphia. That group is very adventurous.
Evil Felipe say they finds new groups going to house shows.

Askew in Providence is closing on December 1st. They were going for seven years. They were a sister club to Alchemy in Providence and the Askew crew will be working Alchemy which is nice to hear. They say they have big plans for the future. You can find their full statement on their Facebook page  

Moving Targets have a Kickstarter page for their next album. The current line-up has had three other albums that we think are superior: Wires, Humbucker and In the Dust. Kenny Chambers is writing great material. Like the Nervous Eaters their current material is as good as their earlier run. On the Kickstarter page, one of the extras you can get is some lessons from Chambers. You can learn the Moving Target songs right from the source!

We used to be able to see Robby Roadsteamer (Rob Pitylo) on stage as part of the group Sweatpant Boners. Now, you see him on the national stage pranking politicians. This week he had a viral moment at the Bannon out-of-prison press conference.

Mike Viola played Boston clubs in the later eighties when he was very young. His first album was titled Kenmore Sq. His talent brought him fame. He's done soundtracks for movies like That Thing You Do and has written songs for many prominent musicians. He's played The City Winery a while ago and will play the Somerville Armory on Dec 6.

All this is leading up to his part in a sketch by John Oliver on his Tonight with John Oliver show. The segment was about using the God Bless The U.S.A. song by Lee Greenwood. The punchline is a song written by Mike Viola that displays America in a bit less starry eyed vision. It's done in a video starring Will Ferrell. It comes at the fourteen minute mark on this video clip

VIDEOS......

The I Want You are a group with clever ideas. Their video for "Darkside" is about the evil thoughts of bandmates that lead to….murder. The band says: "Sure, creating music with people is usually a good time. But what happens when the drummer won't stop playing loudly... when the guitarist is tuning endlessly... when the bassist presents a bass - with too many strings?!?!?" The video clicks like a fine low budget horror show.

RADIO......

WMBR/Late Risers Club are having their yearly fund raising starting on Thursday November 7 to November 13. We have always been thrilled that such a prestigious place like MIT houses WMBR with the Late Risers, Lost and Found and Breakfast of Champions etc.

This year all donations are done online at WMBR.org. You can direct your donation to specific shows and DJ's. They'll have some very good 'premiums' for donations. The trick is to get in there early and scoop up the good stuff. It's hard to believe how long the Late Risers Club have been doing punk. We don't take it for granted.

Stephen Fredette plays a lot these days at the Midway Residency of Martin, Morell and Fredette . On A Crash Course for the Ravers show of 10/19 he was a guest along with Dave Thomas of the group Pony that Fredette was also in. Thomas was also part of The Irresponsibles. Fredette reviews his band history and then plays along with Thomas for some in-studio songs. Thomas and Fredette are starting up a new band relationship.

In the show they played one of Fredette's groups, the amazing Scruffy the Cat, with "Oldest Fire in the World". We have the interview and studio songs embedded below.

A Crash Course for the Ravers show is on WMFO 91.5 FM on Saturdays at 1pm. After that got to the WMFO schedule page Hit the A Crash Course for the Ravers show on 1pm on Saturday, then hit the 'archive' button.

Skybar had Abbie Barrett in for an interview. Abbie outlines her early career and her backing musicians. Skybar was generous with playing her recorded material. She also played a song live in the studio. That naturally leads up to her current single "Freedumb" that takes a stand on the political situation now. The song has Dana Colley of Morphine on baritone and bass saxophone.

We were listening to David Greene on the Late Risers Club when he played a song by the Welch group The Bug Club. We heard them last June when David played a fun song titled "Quality Pints" that we mentioned back then. Since then they've put out the album On the Intricate Workings of the System which includes "Quality Pints." It's a very humorous take on everyday life.
"We Don't Care About That" lists the things they just care about and suggests you shut up about it. "A Bit Like James Bond" hits the fantasy that all males think they have some traits with 007. In "Actual Pain" they get serious because they are in actual pain, don't you know? With "Pop Single" they perform their version of a very commercial pop tune.
We're going to embed the song David played "Best Looking Strangers in the Cemetery".

Another song that sounded different was "Washetebahn" by Cell/Borg from Brooklyn. The sound is a combo of electronic/synth/surf/krautrock. We like the synth and guitar balance. The rest of the album, on Bandcamp, is much more electronic/synth oriented. Kraftwerk fans - lend it your ears.

PODCASTS.........

Elastic Glam Show (11/25) started with one of our fave T.Rex tunes "You Scare Me to Death". Then Sethyspice played a row of local tunes: Count Zero's "Overthinking", The Northern Line and "Lightning Strikes", Tell playing "Owned", Jennifer Tefft and the Strange with "Shoulda Known Better" and Little Billy Lost's "Dance Angelina Dance". There was a fine glam throwback with Blackfoot Sue and "Glitter Obituary". Another case of glam we have missed.

Then there were the Halloween tunes: Muse - "You Make Me Feel Like It's Halloween", Tim Curry - "Sweet Transvestite", Lou Reed - "Halloween Parade".

The 11/1 Electric Glam show started with a T Rex song we didn't know, "Electric Slim and the Factory Hen" has some orchestration. There was some boss new glam from Creem Circus, The Struts and Bobbie Dazzle. The older classics came from Jinx, Sweet, Mungo Jerry and Hello. There was room for the great "Rock and Roll" by The Velvet Underground.

We know of new glammers Gyasi from Nashville from the Electric Glam show. We see they have a new song "Sweet Thing" about not being afraid to flaunt your individuality.

A lot of rock fans tend toward country music as they grow older. But us, we like hardcore more and more. That makes Al Quint's Sonic Overload a weekly destination. We've always had great hardcore in Boston. On his 10/22 show Al starts his show with a Western Mass band Yellow and their song "Red Yellow" from 2003.
We have that and three other songs embedded below. We liked the punk feeling of "Desperate Housepunks" by The Ejaculators. The Mad do the negative thing with "I Hate Music". Band Gang vent fast and furious with "Dickhead".

On the 10/29 Sonic Overload show Al had loads of Halloween sets. One began with a Boston band Broken Toys doing "Smash Some Pumpkins". That was followed with Showcase Showdown, who always can be depended on to buzz kill the holidays, with "The Only Scary Thing About Halloween Is Your Fucking Face". We have those embedded below along with a crazy hysterical garage rocker "Satan's Highway" by Hookers.

Later Quint played locals Native Tongue and Moving Targets. Then there was a punk set with Iggy Pop "I Gotta Right", Dead Boys "I Won't Look Back", Patti Smith "Pumping" and Mink Deville "Let Me Dream If I Want To".
You can hear the whole show on the Sonic Overload web page

NEW MUSIC/CDs......

We thought "Stop Pushing Me" by Fatal Flaw was a superior pop song. They've followed that up with "Enough," a pop song that seems so light but actually is very substantive and ends up giving you a life lesson and leaves your feelings uplifted.
The lyrics asks what does every billionaire lack that you have? The answer is 'enough'. You can be satisfied with enough. The song makes its point succinctly and glides along as the band uses all the rock pop tricks they know.
The vocals catch the perfect tone and the harmonies fill the sonic space. They get some power chord crunching going on that is alternately relieved with some healthy bass pumping at some points. "Enough" has left us with an optimistic glow, that is much needed these days.
We have the song on our Top Ten Songs

Just looking at the cover of The Northern Line's digital single "Lightning Strikes" you can see what this new Boston band is aiming for - some Brit pop, Manchester Mod action.
The group is formed from members of Strangeways, The Daily Pravda, The Luxury and Looking Glass War (they get around).

They are confident enough to make this single almost five minutes long. By the time it's finished you've become accustomed to their sound and that chorus starting with "band the drum" is a signature moment you remember.
They also have time in the middle for a neat organ solo, the type you don't hear much these days. At the end they let the guitar and drums go loose. It's very satisfying and fantastic for a first effort.
We know they have more of this coming and we are all ears.

Shiverlane won us over big time with the three singles that preceded their new album Sketches from the Departure Lounge. "I Get Nervous", "Aeroplane Driver" and "Little English Pleasures" revealed a rock pop group that had some off beat takes on subjects and the musicial setting was quirky too. We ate it up!

In a lot of ways they seem like a regular group but not really. They do things the Shiverlane way and that makes everything different and new. One thing is the voice. That lead singers' voice becomes very identifiable and you come to love its character by the time you've taken in the album. Check out songs "Hippie Bottom Girl", "Little English Pleasures" and "Aeroplane Driver" for the voice. Where else can you get that?

They also like the bass a little higher in the mix than usual and that works for us. They let themselves stretch at the end of some songs like "Beat Skipper Wings" where the guitars pile up and then one piano note repeats and "Bella Bereaver" where the drums stamp out an emphatic rhythm not played during the song. The last song "The Kings List" takes a different tack than the other songs here. The band sound is downplayed and the vocals are the focus.

This is an album to love. We hope that this is just the beginning of a long run with Shiverlane.

Diablogato takes you places on their new Snake Oil Salvation six cut album. They take you to Heaven's Gate, a Jet Black Night, a Lost Highway, a bend in the river, into the unknown and then "anywhere and nowhere at all".

They always have spun a web of exotic influences and Snake Oil Salvation does this better than ever. It takes five seconds of the first song to get sucked in by the guitar sound. They mine rockabilly and use it as a structure to add the mystery of primal elements. They talk about 'sulfer, death and decay" and "between the flames." It feels like a fire and brimstone sermon from a preacher in the Deep South. Here, though, it seems very secular and real life driven.

Diablogato have defined the image of their group. It now has a power that transcends the individual songs. On their "Lost Highway" video they displayed their homage to David Lynch and that's the sort of complicated mystery they strive for.

The Gypsy Moths have a new single "Heart to Heart". It's about a rough break up. We've all been there and they capture that feeling here. It has some good lines, like "if I had a heart to break you could have really done some damage to me." It's a wonderful mix of instruments, including horns. It was recorded at Ed's Barn in Canton. We hear so many primo recordings come out of there.

We caught the new Stupidity single when it was the first song on Skybar's Rising show. Sweden's Stupidity was touring the states that week too. "Cold Cold Shoes" is actually a Fleshtones song and Stupidity has the Fleshtones singing background on their version. The song has a stomping beat a la Fleshtones and it has a big sonic hit with full vocals and horns kicking it all the way through. It even has a healthy howl at the two minute mark. It's a super garage rave up.

We heard the new Oh The Humanity song on Skybar's show this week 10/29. Oh The Humanity are one of the most hard hitting groups out there. We've seen them live a few times, like in 2016 and 2017 and 2018 . They not only put out a righteous blast but also can lay bare some emotional angst.
"Gutted" is the first single of the band's forthcoming album, Ground To Dust, which will be released in early 2025 via Sell The Heart Records.

The song is a mere two and half minutes but there's lot of words (we want lyrics) and music jammed in there. The song is the usual raucous and energetic roar at the beginning. At the one minute forty second mark they have some twin guitar work which is one of their staples then when the vocals come back they are in the screamo mode and the drums are slamming hard. Most bands never get to a level like that. Super!

Weegee are a noise band from Brooklyn who have their album Primitive Thrill coming out on Oct 31. They do have a primitive garage sound mixed with noise. They make a grinding guitar scrunch that they make more listenable than you expect. There's a little Velvet Underground stuff going on with the more modern noise. This is based on the song "Spellbound" that they've released from the album. Along with the noise the song lurches along like a wounded animal.

We like their name. Weegee is Phil'n Phlash's favorite photographer

The Discarded are from Ontario and have an unusual line up - a father and two sons. They've played with The Sonics, Teenage Head, and The Forgotten Rebels. Their a new album The Green Door coming out on November 25. Their pre-released single is "Testify". They remind us of the MC5 when they do their testifying in the song. They plead, "Ok, brothers and sisters, I want one minute of your time".
The guitars are very much MC5 too. There are no punk power chords going on here. The savage drum beats at the beginning of the song tell you everything. This is old school pre-punk hard rock. A real nice find.

The Eradicats from Kansas City, Missouri play a loose lo-fi rock, skunk rock they call it. The Best in Show EP has some laughs.

The song "Serious Medical Condition" sounds like us half the time. "I think it's killing me" the singer complains. "No it isn't" the background singers sensibly answer. "Frank and the Lighthouse" is basically about getting up those steps.

In the $3.00 EP's last song titled "Our Last Song" they warn, "You're not even gonna believe how short it is", as the song abruptly halts at 23 seconds.

Wow, this first album is way beyond what you would expect from a new group! The Joy Buzzer formed in 2021 are from NYC and they are on Wicked Cool Records. The album Please to Meet You is a stream of no fail pop gems. They have the knack. It just reeks of the Yellow Pills collections .

The singing, playing and recording are so pitch perfect. The songs seem to flow one after the other without a let down. They even get a pop nugget with a title like "Try Not to Be an Asshole (for a Little While)".

The album cover that redirects The Replacements Please to Meet Me is a brave move too.

Here's something way out there. This is a cover of "Institutionalized" by Suicidal Tendencies by UK group Sonic Boom Six.

The music starts with dub, then to a ska beat, then it speeds up into hardcore. The talk up is a polite female English voice. Instead of a Pepsi the singer requests a "cup of tea, just a cup of tea". It's hilarious. Hear it to believe it.

This is off an album called Masters of Trumpets that has 11 hard rock/metal covers by ska, jazz and other unexpected genre groups. Fun to search through for your favorite groups. Here's the Bandcamp page for the album.

The Distained are a skate/hardcore group from Australia. They are very good and they're high schoolers too!! They have serious songs and they have silly songs. We are going to embed "Slamdanceathon". It's a hardcore epic tale of John the "best slamdancer of the human race," they claim. Check out the lyrics on the Bandcamp page and then try some other songs.

If this is what high schoolers are doing nowadays, we have hope for the future! Here's a video of the group live doing "Lynched" .

Cavern's of Gold is a digital album whose profits all go to help the flood victims in the Ashville area. The album is all various artists and there are 278 songs…all for $10. Some artists we know are REM, The Woggles and the Bo Deans. There's a real nice one by Kevin Kenney, streaming now. Get the album on Bandcamp

Spun Out are from Detroit. They play synth pop on their album Dream Noise. On the first song "Paranoia" they get noisier than they do in the rest of it. There are some big sweeps of distorted sound coupled with long cries of "paranoia". It makes for a catchy song.

Oh man, this is funny. Last time we talked up Last Quokka from Australia they were ranting on the cost of living. This time they are "OTC", meaning On The Couch. It seems like they've been working like dogs, and through breaks, and not getting any respect. So now it's on the couch for them. And what is a CEO anyway and what do they do except go to functions and give each other 'wristies' under the table? It's half taking/ranting and half singing with the punk rock background. The Aussies have it down.

The long lasting Fleshtones have a new album titled It's Getting Late (and more songs about Werewolves) and it has 13 cuts. Time has not slowed this band down. It's loaded with cheesy organ fills and some sharp guitar solos by Keith Streng.

Some song titles: "Morphine Drip", "Big As My Balls", and "Come on Everybody Getting High with You Baby Tonight". Iggy Pop has his Raw Power the Fleshtones have their "Wah Wah Power". Our pick to click is "The Consequences". Peter Zaremba has his moment digging into the word "ramification" at the end.

We talked about the song "I Know the Future" by Montreal group The Lookout. Now they have a whole album; I Know the Future.

The group straddles the divide between punk and hard rock. All the songs have attitude and the lead singer (Martha Rockhard) knows how to deliver it. The songs are power chord driven. Guitar solos are shorter and more restrained than usual for this type of music and that's a good thing. What The Lookout does is make the songs more interesting.

"I Know the Future" is still a standout. We also like "Walk Away", "Silvertrack" and "Hot Date".

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

November 8, 2024 (Friday) Boston Punk Rewound/Unbound. The Arthur Freedman Collection - "2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Rat, a location that looms large in both the Freedman Collection and in Boston lore. To mark the occasion, the Harvard Film Archive and the Loeb Music Library—who collectively steward the Freedman tapes in the collection—have partnered to bring you an evening celebrating the bands, venues and wider scene documented in the Freedman collection."

Read more here!! and see you there!! 7PM (WE'VE BEEN TOOLD THE DOORS CLOSE AT 7PM. THUS YOU SHOULD BE SURE TO GET EARLY TO GET IN) at The Harvard Film Archive 24 Quincy Street Cambridge, MA 02138

November 8, 2024 (Friday) Hilken Mancini Band, The Cujo, Mary Lou Lord at Sonia , Cambridge,

November 8, 2024 (Friday) Rebuilder, Fatal Flaw, and Man v Ghost  at O'Brien's

November 8, 2024 (Friday) Steve Conte Trio, Tiger Bomb, The Shang Hi Los at Koto Lowell - FB page.

November 8, 2024 (Friday) Wormtown show with Swamp Roots, Thee Sonomatics and The Wray-Ons (playing the music of the Link Wray & The Wraymen) at Husky's Pub (413 Park Ave, WorcesterMA) Bands start at 8 PM.

November 9, 2024 (Saturday) The Pist, Grip Bite, Neighborhood Shit, Trollmilk, 1PM doors - Matinee All Ages - Middle East FB page

November 9, 2024 (Saturday) Hixxgiving at The Midway...with Black Clouds, HIXX, Freeloader, Strangemen - 3PM Matinee

November 9, 2024 (Saturday) A charity show for Marblehead SEPAC! with DEER TICK and Other Brother Darryl at Abbot Hall in Marblehead - 7-11PM FB page for tickets.

November 14, 2024 (Thursday) Linnea's Garden celebrate the release of their new EP, "Looking forward to the moment." also on the bill The Ghouls, CATWOLF, and goodkarma - at Deep Cuts Medford

November 15, 2024 (Friday) RumBar Records presents Rumsgiving with Vibeke Saugestad (Genuine Powerpop FROM NORWAY!Featuring Ken Fox -Fleshtones) on bass. ONLY AREA APPEARANCE! also on the bill The Shang Hi Los and Muck & The Mires - at Sally O'Brien's

November 15, 2024 (Friday) The Rumours, The Downhauls, Yes Nanny (debut show, woo!) at Koto Salem.

November 16, 2024 (Saturday) Bootleg Dan presents The Dowhauls, Midnight Creeps, The McGunks at Buttonwoods Brewery. Cranston, RI. FB page

November 16, 2024 (Saturday) Kal Marks (Release Show!) Paper Lady, Black Beach at Deep Cuts, Medford

November 20, 2024 (Wednesday) Joy Buzzer (Album Release Celebration!) 7:30-9:30pm at Carroll Place , 157 Bleeker St, NYC. FREE. We review the Joy Buzzer album below in the New Music section. This has it all - pure pop for now people, Bleeker St, NYC and FREE.

November 23, 2024 (Saturday) Diablogato, The Long Wait, Speed Teeth at Faces in Malden tickets

November 23, 2024 (Saturday) Hi-End, Duck and Cover, Color Killers at The Square Root

November 30, 2024 (Saturday) Midway Matinee of Punk! with WORM, Presidential Disgrace, Screw Cart, Neponset Monestary - at The Midway for a 3PM Matinee!!

December 6, 2024 (Friday) Warrior Soul, All Sinners and Speed Teeth at Koto Salem

December 21, 2024 (Saturday) The Del Fuegos at The City Winery - TWO Shows 3PM and 7:30 PM TIX

April 20, 2025 (Friday) Gang of Four at The Crystal Ballroom, Somerville. Tickets.

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