Boston Rock Photos And Stuff
The Daily Pravda brought a touch of glam-laden Britpop to Somerville. They closed out a night at Precinct that celebrated the release of their new Dead House EP.
Parlour Bells’ first show since their fantastic Rumble appearance did not disappoint. The band brought the same spark that impressed so many people during last month’s main event into Precinct last Friday night. A couple of quick notes before we get to the pics…
* The band posted their “Bachelor Hours” performance to YouTube so you can hear for yourself.
The dapper gentlemen of Eddie Japan put on a wonderful show last Friday. Their timeless lounge-pop numbers played well against the red-curtained backdrop of Precinct (check out this video of “You Will Find Me Dead In My Comfort Zone” for proof). Of course, their timeless lounge-pop numbers play well just about everywhere.
Crooked Streets came down from Salem to open a night at Precinct. These guys are tough to pin down. They flirted with everything from dark new wave melodies to bursts of Superchunk-style energy. I’m glad they made the trip.
2370 performed at Hi-N-Dry as part of Somerville Open Studios this past weekend. Tucked down on the basement of Arts At The Armory, the trio had the kids dancing away to their live-and-looped groove.* Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t “kid’s music”. There’s nothing in what Ian Kennedy, Mike Piehl and Ed Guild are doing that is specifically geared toward children. In fact, the adults in the audience seemed to enjoy the set immensely. They just didn’t jump, shake, spin or twirl as much. It just goes to show that a great musical performance speaks to all ages.
* Seriously, there were little kids go crazy for this. My three-year-old was busting out moves I’ve never seen before.
Muck And The Mires. The songs of ’64 meet the spirit of ’77. This band never disappoints.
The Dirty Truckers were back in action Friday night. The band was celebrating the release of their new Tiger Stripes EP and the 7″ single for the song “Human Contact.” It had been a while since the last time I saw these Boston wranglers. I was starting to get the shakes. Their set at Radio was just what I needed. The Dirty Truckers blasted out one of the best sets I’ve ever seen them play. They played the new stuff. They played the old stuff.* They rocked the in-between stuff like nobody’s business. “Sea Pines” and “3 Weeks To Go” blew the doors off the joint.** They threw in a couple of covers to keep themselves honest. In the end, the ‘Truckers reminded everyone that they’re one of the best rock ‘n’ roll bands around, not that we’d forgotten.
* Including “Backpack” from their first record.
** Both off of 2008’s fantastic Loose In The Joints
The Scars brought the punk rock to Radio.
Friday night found an art show at Moe’s Lounge in Radio’s basement. This was the third installment of the Drop Ya Mic Pickup Yer Paintbrush series that is curated by Nicole Tammaro. There was a slate of musical performances to entertain the art aficionados in attendance. I got there late, but I managed to catch some of Chestnut Growler’s set of stripped-down punk folk tunes.
It’s 6:45 on a Saturday evening. It’s still sunny out, not that you’d know it inside TT’s. It’s fitting that we’re here to see St. Helena. Sure, some of their songs have bright melodies, but there always seems to be a bit of a dark undercurrent. Art imitating life, I guess.
