Here’s When Particles Collide wailing away at Great Scott, their passion on display with every fuzzed-out stomp.
When Particles Collide @ Great Scott 2.26.2016
When Particles Collide – This Town (2015)
When Particles Collide
This Town
2015
When Particles Collide released This Town back in May. There’s something you should know about this EP. It’s heavy. Yes, the guitars chug and buzz and the drums rarely relent, but that’s not what I’m talking about. These songs weigh on your chest. There are some bright pop hooks sprinkled throughout this six part endeavor, but there is nothing frivolous to be heard. The title track makes an immediate, thunderous impact. “These Stories” was forged from ancient riffs. No song leaves a bigger impression than “Storm Cloud.” It’s a 3 minute song with the soul on an 8 minute epic. The result is almost impossibly dense and frenzied. When Particles Collide have left their mark.
Where to get it:
When Particles Collide @ Rosebud Bar 1.7.2015
“Constant Disaster” is a fantastic song. I’m thankful whenever I get to hear it. I got to hear it at The Rosebud. Thank you, When Particles Collide.
Random Rumble Ramblings: 2014 (Part III)
The 2014 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble has been a doozy. The 35th installment of this storied event has seen incredible sets, meticulous preparation, substitute wildcards, misunderstood lyrics and riffs galore. Friday night will find Goddamn Draculas, Petty Morals and Await Rescue (wildcard) squaring off on the friendship stage to see who goes home with the Rumble tiara. It all happens at T.T. The Bear’s Place. The Information are in The Rumble.* Until then, chew on this…
Second Chances At First Impressions
If you want to talk about first impressions, you can’t do better than the second Rumble sets from Tigerman Woah and Goddamn Draculas. Tigerman Woah began their semifinal set singin’ and stompin’ among the TT’s crowd. Not to be outdone, Bice Nathan and Chris Duggan from Goddamn Draculas stood side by side, backs to the crowd, in total darkness to start their set. When the word “DRAX” was projected onto the stage, it revealed the rallying cry printed on the back of their shirts: WE CAME TO SUCK.
Tight and Outta Sight
“Tight and Outta Sight” may be a Petty Morals song, but it also represents a Rumble state of mind. You’ve got to have your act together to do well in this competition. Petty Morals put on a real rock ‘n’ roll show to take the first semifinal night, but they weren’t alone in the preparation game. Await Rescue** and Barricades closed out their nights with precise and energetic sets that kept the outcomes in question to the very end.
Wild Wild Card
Aw man. I hate when stuff like this happens. Feints earned a spot as the Friday night wildcard, only to be silenced by doctor’s orders.*** Such a bummer. The plus side? Rumble-goers got another chance to witness Yellabird riff it up on the TT’s stage. Well done, gentlemen.
Fun With Numbers
- Two out of three ain’t bad: Both of the Semifinal winners came from the 3rd slot of their respective nights (Petty Morals and Goddamn Draculas).
- Deuces are wild: There were 2 duos in this year’s Rumble. When Particles Collide and Yellabird both made it to the semifinal round as wildcards.
- One way tie: After a strong showing for formal neckwear in the preliminary round, only Greg Alexandropoulos of Western Education wore a tie in the semifinals.
Play Me Out
The semifinal round was chock full o’tunes. Here are some of the ones that had me wired.
* As this year’s non-competing guest band.
** Jed Gottlieb observed that “nobody prepared more for the Rumble” than Await Rescue. I’m not going to argue with him.
*** Get well soon, Amy!
When Particles Collide @ T.T. The Bear’s Place 4.17.2014
Oh, so it’s going to be one of those nights. When Particles Collide just opened up Rumble Semifinal Night #1 with their own special kind of sonic bombast. Octave guitars, well timed drum solos and catchy tunes set the pace. They may not take the night, but they’ve got their hooks in the TT’s crowd and they ain’t lettin’ go.
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble 2014 Semifinal Night #1
When Particle Collide
Western Education
Petty Morals (Winner)
Await Rescue
Oh, hey, it’s a Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble word search!
Can’t get enough of the Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble? Have I got a treat for you! Here’s a word search featuring the twenty-four participants in this year’s event. Pretty great, right? Print one out for yourself. It’s fun! Share it with a friend. Give it to your kids. Maybe they’ll ask you who Airport is and you can play them “Knot Again.”* Maybe they’ll ask you what goddamn means because they already know Dracula is awesome. Or give it to a friend’s kid. When they ask who Gondoliers are you can show them these pictures.
*They’ll love it. Trust me on this one.
Random Rumble Ramblings: 2014 (Part I)
We’re half way through Rumble prelims week. I hope you enjoyed your Day of Rest. Things get going again tonight. Here’s the schedule for the rest of the week. In the meantime, these are some thing I’ve been chewing on…
Old Favorites
Airport continues to amaze me. Based on the crowd response, I wasn’t the only one in awe. Sinnet played “Year of the Whale” like it was the last song on earth. So good. After catching the band a couple of times minus a member, I finally got the full Doom Lover experience. It was everything I hoped it would be. Arena-rockers-in-training The Life Electric played like TT’s was The Centrum. How good were Goddamn Draculas? You knew it was their night by half way through the first song.
New Faces
Lots of good stuff from new-to-me bands in the first half of the week. Z*L was a visceral experience. Their guitar reverb is still decaying. Tigerman Woah and Guillermo Sexo came highly recommended and delivered inspired sets. Rebuilder were the first band of this year’s event. They set the bar high.
Bubbles Vs. Feathers Vs. Confetti
Sidewalk Driver sent confetti flying when they played The Rumble. White Dynomite famously filled the air with feathers as part of their pillow sacrifice to the Rumble gods. This year, it was bubbles floating by. Barricades broke out the bubble gun during their Tuesday night win.
Fun With Numbers
- The Fightin’ Fifty-Four: 54 performers have taken the stage to Rumble this year. Seven were part of quintets. There were also a pair of quartets, one trio and one duo. Airport trumped ’em all as a sextet.
- Ties On The Rise: Two years ago, 5 different performers wore ties during The Rumble. Last year it was 8. We’re half way through the preliminary round and 10 performers have already donned ties (2 of the bow variety) in the 2014 Rumble.
- I Can’t Count That High: How many notes did Emma Ate The Lion play during their set? Heck, how many notes did they play during a single song? Wowza.
Play Me Out
When Particles Collide were having a pretty good set Monday night. Then they played “Constant Disaster” and the place went bonkers. Below are a few of the songs that have stuck with me so far. Now get thee to TT’s!
When Particles Collide @ T.T. The Bear’s Place 4.7.2014
With two songs, When Particles Collide just floored the Monday night Rumble crowd. “Constant Disaster” and “Ego” brought the house down. Impressive.
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble 2014 Prelim Night #2
Doom Lover
When Particles Collide
Goddamn Draculas (Winner)
Emma Ate The Lion
13 Things About 24 Bands – OR – The 2014 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble Starts Sunday Night
The 2014 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble starts Sunday night. Here are 13 things about the 24 bands playing this year’s shindig…
- Airport, Slowdim, Butterknife and Sinnet are all in The Rumble. That means you can catch four of the bands writing the best songs in the city at TT’s next week. Sinnet plays Sunday, Airport on Tuesday. Butterknife and Slowdim go head to head on Thursday. We’re a lucky bunch.
- I’ve seen Doom Lover twice, both times without Nikki Dessingue. I still haven’t had the full Doom Lover experience. I’m sure this is my loss. The Rumble will see this remedied on Monday night.
- Riffs, riffs, riffs. I gotta have riffs. Color me excited to hear what Summoner and Yellabird are laying down. Summoner is up Friday. Yellabird is the last band of the whole Rumble on Saturday.
- Harmonies, harmonies, harmonies. Goddamn Draculas (Monday) and Airport have some of the best I’ve ever heard.
- Z*L(Tuesday) and Petty Morals(Friday) are two bands I’ve been dying to see. I really dig what the folks in these band have done in the past. I’m excited to (finally) see what they’re doing now.
- The Color And Sound played one of the most energetic sets I’ve ever seen. They’re going to impress a lot of people on Saturday.
- What will Gondoliers do on Thursday night? Seriously, what are they gonna do? You never know with these guys. They’re masters. Definitely one of my most anticipated Rumble sets.
- It seems like there’s been a big surge of prog-influenced rock in this town. Emma Ate The Lion will be repping the movement on Monday night.
- Getting through the early part of Rumble prelims week can be tough. With three bands-I’ve-never-seen-much-to-the-dismay-of-friends-who-have-seen-them in the first two nights, I think I’ll make it through okay. Tigerman Woah and Guillermo Sexo are on Sunday. When Particles Collide follow on Monday.
- Rebuilder is the pop-punkiest pop punk band to play The Rumble in a while. They’ll get the whole thing started on Sunday night.
- I always enjoy seeing a band for the second time (for an explanation, see reason #18 here). In addition to the previously mentioned Sinnet and The Color And Sound, I’ll be catching second sets from Feints(Friday), Vary Lumar(Friday) and Await Rescue(Saturday).
- Between The Life Electric(Tuesday), Barricades(Tuesday) and Western Education(Thursday) there’s a pretty impressive variety of highly polished modern indie rock on tap for this year’s Rumble.
- Harris Hawk will be kicking off the final night of the Rumble prelims, thus ensuring that any Rumble hangover from nights 1-5 will be quickly smashed to bits. Pay attention Saturday night. They don’t mess around.
That’s all I’ve got. The full 2014 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble schedule can be found here. Maybe you should go to one or all of the shows.
The 2014 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble Preliminary Round lineups are set!
OK, here we go. This is where it gets real. We already knew the bands participating in the 35th edition of the Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble. Now the preliminary round schedule is set. Now we’re reminded why The Rumble is so special. Now we get to see the types of bills you just don’t see every day. Now we get to pretend to know who the favorite is to win each night, only to realize such a task is but a fun and foolish game. Ready?
2014 ROCK ‘N’ ROLL RUMBLE PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE
Sunday April 6th, 2014 (FB Event)
9:00 – Rebuilder (Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
9:45 – Tigerman Woah (Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
10:30 – Sinnet (Web | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
11:15 – Guillermo Sexo (Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
Monday April 7th, 2014 (FB Event)
9:00 – Doom Lover (Web | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
9:45 – When Particles Collide (Web | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
10:30 –
Goddamn Draculas (Web | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
11:15 – Emma Ate The Lion (Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
Tuesday April 8th, 2014 (FB Event)
9:00 – Barricades (Web | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
9:45 – Airport (Facebook | Bandcamp)
10:30 – Z*L (Facebook | Bandcamp)
11:15 – The Life Electric (Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
Thursday April 10th, 2014 (FB Event)
9:30 – Butterknife (Web | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
10:15 – Slowdim (Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
11:00 – Gondoliers (Facebook | Bandcamp)
11:45 – Western Education (Web | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
Friday April 11th, 2014 (FB Event)
9:30 – Feints (Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
10:15 – Petty Morals (Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
11:00 – Summoner (Facebook | Bandcamp)
11:45 – Vary Lumar (Web | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
Saturday April 12th, 2014 (FB Event)
9:30 – Harris Hawk (Facebook | Bandcamp)
10:15 – Await Rescue (Web | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
11:00 – The Color And Sound (Web | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
11:45 – Yellabird (Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
More info: Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble Website