Whoa. This isn’t rock music; this is beat poetry set to manic outbursts of distorted disobedience. Shoney Lamar & The Equal Rights just floored me.
Brendan Boogie & The Broken Gates @ Radio 3.7.2013
You know what I always say: “When it snows, I need to boogie!”* Well, it’s snowing, so I’m off to Radio for Brendan Boogie’s first-Thursday-of-every-month-until-the-end-of-time residency. The band is good great. The puns are bad terrible. It’s exactly what I had hoped for.
* I never have and never will say this. Never ever ever ever ever ever ever. Ever. Never.
The 2013 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble Prelims Schedule
It’s always exciting when the Rumble participants are announced. However, the fun really begins when the nightly lineups are drawn. That’s when you realize how crazy-diverse The Rumble is. Just take a look at the schedule below. You certainly won’t leave any of these shows complaining that all of the bands sounded the same. I’m tempted to point out a couple of nights that I think are going to be really special, but experience tells me they all end up being memorable. You might as well pick up a full-boat pass.
Only one of these acts will don the Rumble tiara, but they all get to play on a motley bill of genre crossbreeding. That’s what makes The Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble special. That’s why I can’t wait for April 7th.
PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE
Sunday April 7th, 2013 (Tickets)
9:00 –
The Okay Win (Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
9:45 – Cancer Killing Gemini (Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
10:30 – The New Highway Hymnal (Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
11:15 – Velah
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
Monday April 8th, 2013 (Tickets)
9:00 – Endation
(Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
9:45 – The Deep North (Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
10:30 –
Herra Terra
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
11:15 – Camden (Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
Tuesday April 9th, 2013 (Tickets)
9:00 – Eddie Japan
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
9:45 – Supermachine
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
10:30 – Glenn Yoder & The Western States (Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
11:15 – Blackbutton
(Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
Thursday April 11th, 2013 (Tickets)
9:30 – Mount Peru
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
10:15 – Whitcomb
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
11:00 – Lifestyle
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
11:45 – Twin Berlin
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
Friday April 12th, 2013 (Tickets)
9:30 – Coyote Kolb
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
10:15 – The Field Effect (Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
11:00 – The Suicide Dolls (Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
11:45 – White Dynomite (Web|Facebook|Bandcamp)
Saturday April 13th, 2013 (Tickets)
9:30 – Parks (Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
10:15 – Jack Burton vs. David Lo Pan
(Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
11:00 – Ruby Rose Fox (Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
11:45 – The Daily Pravda (Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
You can also get a 9 Night Pass or a 6 Night Preliminary Round pass.
More Info: www.rockandrollrumble.com

You People – You People (2012)
You People’s noisy indie rock packs a wallop. They pull no punches on their scrappy debut EP. Listen enough times and you’ll see shades of Dinosaur Jr, Hüsker Dü and The Afghan Whigs in the bruise they leave behind. These songs will be ringing in your head for days.
Where to get it:
The Field Effect @ Great Scott 3.1.2013
The Field Effect! The Pill! Richard Bouchard’s birthday! Bowie cover! Tad! Doug Orey without a hoodie!Boucharding masks! Pictures! Cake! Done.
The Daily Pravda @ T.T. The Bear’s Place 2.26.2013
The Daily Pravda’s set at TT’s last Tuesday was the best I’ve seen from the band. They’re ready to Rumble.
Lifestyle @ T.T. The Bear’s Place 2.26.2013
Lifestyle is in The Rumble. That means they’ll be back on the TT’s stage in early April to do what they did there last Tuesday night: smash people in the face with sweet synth sounds and lavish pop hooks.
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble Class of 2013 Initiation
The 2013 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble participants have been announced! Looking down the list, it seems like we’re in for another good one this year. It happens time and time again. Every year 24 different bands remind us what a vibrant music community we have here in Boston. The depth of talent around these parts is astonishing. I saw 273 sets from area bands last year, yet I only managed to catch 11 of the 24 acts that will take the TT’s stage this April to vie for the coveted Rumble Tiara. That’s fantastic.
The nine night pass is available now. The individual show lineups will be announced Sunday night on Boston Emissions. In the meantime, here are some links to help get you familiar with your new favorite bands…
Blackbutton
(Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
Camden
(Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
Cancer Killing Gemini
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
Coyote Kolb
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
The Daily Pravda
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
The Deep North
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
Eddie Japan
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
Endation
(Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
The Field Effect
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
Herra Terra
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
Jack Burton vs. David Lo Pan
(Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
Lifestyle
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
Mount Peru
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
The New Highway Hymnal
(Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
The Okay Win
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
Parks
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
Ruby Rose Fox
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
The Suicide Dolls
(Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
Supermachine
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
Twin Berlin
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
Velah
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
Whitcomb
(Web|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)
White Dynomite
(Web|Facebook|Bandcamp)
Glenn Yoder & The Western States
(Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp)

Parks – “Modern Fiction” (2013)
I have a history of thinking that there’s no way songwriter Brian E. King can top himself.* You’d think Parks’ debut single, “Sweater Weather”, would have taught me a lesson. I still had doubts. “Modern Fiction” should dispel that notion for good. I was pleasantly nodding along to the song’s vintage groove, particularly the “going crazy” part, when 2:35 happened. From that point on, “Modern Fiction” turns into a systematic dressing down of anyone who thinks that they know how to write a song. It’s masterful. The bridge perfectly contrasts with the parts that precede it before morphing into Super-Mega-Awesome-Reprise-O-Tron. Mind blown. I will doubt no more.
Where to get it:
* Which, not coincidentally, means I also have a history of being wrong.
Aloud @ T.T. The Bear’s Place 2.26.2013
Aloud is one of those bands that kills it every time they take the stage.* Even when they play first on a Tuesday night.** What more could you ask for? A set full of gutsy pop hooks? Done.
* You know, a good band.
**Especially when they play first on a Tuesday night? Possibly. This is a band that does not take for granted that people came out to see them.



