Tag: Jessica Sun Lee

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The Flying Blue Squirrels – Ancient Alien Squirrels In Space (2012)


The Flying Blue Squirrels
Ancient Alien Squirrels In Space
2012

Talk about timely releases. I had to write about this one straight away.

The Flying Blue Squirrels (Eric Baird, Mary Bichner, Randy Creasi, Jessica Sun Lee and Cathy Capozzi) formed at last year’s One Night Band.* They blew me away. I couldn’t believe they came into existence a mere few hours before performing their set at the Middle East that night. Listen to “Crossed On The Wire” and tell me it isn’t crazy good. The Flying Blue Squirrels have created an aggressive indie rocker that bristles with energy. Now remember that they wrote that song and two others in one day. And learned a cover. Oh, and as of 10 o’clock that morning they had never played together before and didn’t even know they were a band.

The rest of this Ancient Alien Squirrels In Space is a fun romp of creative guitar work, grooving bass lines, twinkling keys and non-novelty flute.** Pick it up as a reminder of the inspired, spontaneous collaborations that can come out One Night Band. Then come on out to the Middle East Downstairs on Saturday night and witness it all first hand. Here’s another reason to snag this one right away: One of The Flying Blue Squirrels lost her home in the Columbia House Fire, so if you download this EP before September 10th the band is donating the proceeds to the ‘House on Fire Fund.’ Get on that.

Where to get it:

* I took their promo photo that morning! So much fun. More on this year’s One Night Band coming soon!

** Seriously, it’s hard to use flute in rock music and not have it sound like a gimmick, but The Flying Blue Squirrels pull it off.

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Parlour Bells – “Airwaves” (2012)


Parlour Bells
“Airwaves”
2012

There’s a big show at The Paradise on Saturday night. Some former WFNX DJs are putting together an event to celebrate the WFNX that was.* Parlour Bells are on the bill for good reason. They are a band that has always championed radio as being essential to the local music scene, even in a time of readily available digital downloads and internet streaming. They are tireless supporters of Boston Emissions, Boston Accents and any other radio program devoting time to playing Boston artists. They even performed on the resurrected WBCN rock bus. I believe Glenn DiBenedetto when he sings “now my radio dial is missing two front teeth.” He means it.

“Airwaves” is a sentimental reflection on the state of Boston radio in June of 2012. It strikes a chord by revealing the emotion of a specific time and place. “Airwaves” is a song about how fans of Boston radio feel right now. It’s immediate. You can’t listen to Nate Leavitt’s delay drenched guitars and not be reminded of the countless U2 radio anthems broadcast by both of our recently departed rock radio stations. It’s a consoling echo. I’d be lying if I said the song wasn’t playing in my head last night as I lay in bed. The sound of the Metropolitan Chorale** was ringing in my ears as prepared for a new day.

Where to get it:

You can also watch a mini-documentary on the making of “Airwaves” right here.

* See what I did with the link there? Garvy J And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance are part of the show, too.

** Kerri-Ann Richard, Richard Bouchard, Anngelle Wood, Michael Marotta, Chris Mulvey, Lisa Libera, Leesa Coyne, Adam Ritchie, Rishava Green, Matt King, Michael J. Epstein, Sophia Cacciola, Jessica Sun Lee, Adam Anderson, Michael Gonzales, Ken Marcou, Tom Roppelt, Joel Edinberg, Rachel Blumenthal, Sarah Rabdau, Peter Moore and Dan Nicklin all lend their voices to the song.

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The Bedss @ The Middle East Downstairs 9.24.2011

File this one under: But wait, there’s more!

Just when you thought One Night Band 3 had come to an end, Ashley Willard* came out to inform us there was one more act. Get ready for “Cum On Feel The Noize”** as performed by The Bedss, One Night Band class of 2010. Well, most of The Bedss. And some other folks. A whole stage full of One Night Banders. Some of them may have been drinking.

* VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: Ashley Willard, Richard Bouchard and the whole crew at Boston Band Crush did an amazing job putting this thing together and raising $2,700 for Zumix. If I was wearing Richard Bouchard’s hat I would tip it to them all.

** I think. This is open to interpretation.

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Flying Blue Squirrels @ The Middle East Downstairs 9.24.2011

This is One Night Band, right? Because there’s no way this band formed a mere few hours ago. Had I not been there earlier in the day I’d have thought they were ringers.

More than any other band that participated in this year’s event, Flying Blue Squirrels (Eric Baird, Mary Bichner, Randy Creasi, Jessica Sun Lee and Cathy Capozzi) all seemed to draw inspiration from the same well. The song they chose for their cover, Radiohead’s “Creep”, should give you and idea of their general sound. Powerful, angular and melodic with just a hint of noise. Outstanding.

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Meet Four of Boston’s Newest Bands!

This morning I had the pleasure of shooting the first promo shots of four of Boston’s newest bands.

One Night Band 3 is happening TONIGHT! Get yourselves down to The Middle East Downstairs to catch all the crazy action. Not sure what One Night Band is? Check out this here link for the lowdown. As part of the day’s festivities, the bands had to get a promo shot taken before they could embark on their musical journey. I handled four of the bands, Joshua Pickering took the other four (you can see all of the pictures here).

This morning was a blast. Tonight should be tons of fun. All of the proceeds go to Zumix, a very worthy cause indeed. C’mon down!

Walk Of Shame
Walk Of Shame

Golden Owl
Golden Owl

Flying Blue Squirrels
Flying Blue Squirrels

BatmanHalen
Batmanhalen