Tagged: portlandme

Lowell trio Big Mess put out two new songs in October to follow up their self-titled release this past January. MOLD is twelve minutes of ominous, instrumental doom metal marching through a downpour of sludge. As opposed to their first album, which mixed in bluesy rock parts, MOLD adheres to a slow and straightforward brand of hardcore. Heaviness builds up in the desolate Side A and then trudges off to the dirge's conclusion, and crunchy guitar distortion bookend Drone Bee . Side A by Big Mess [...]

While the Boston area is a well-known hub of all things sonic, the surrounding sections of Massachusetts are more prone to slow times and allowing all that is weird to gestate and thrive. Up route 9 from the capital can be found a town called Amherst, home to one part rural escapism and one part party college town of the Commonwealth. This small town that has produced its share of recognizable bands, including scremo pioneers Orchid , hardcore heroes Deep Wound , and of course alternative royalty, The Pixies . Now, coming from the weird and wild [...]

When I first listened to Peace Love & Alienation , without knowing a thing about The Prefab Messiahs , I thought I had downloaded the wrong album by mistake. This was real garage-pop from the 80's. After a brief peruse of the internet, I came to the conclusion that these guys are the longest-lived band to last only two years (1981-1983). Three ambitious Clark U. undergrads with barebones rigs, no money, and a lot to say combined punk, surf-rock, and garage-pop to create an unaccredited style of lo-fi pop-rock that is still relevant 30 years later, [...]

On her album Starry-Eyed , singer-songwriter Annalise Emerick blends folk music with pop sensibilities as she crafts melodies as pretty as her name. The album follows the story of a young woman who learns to stand her own ground and rely on herself, but without sounding jaded. Emerick opens the album with You Win , a breakup song to her dear Nashville-- the city that became the takeoff point for her career as a singer-songwriter. In the beginning, she admits she was "starry-eyed and full of hope," but when she gets her heart broken, she knows [...]

From the first chord to the last swells of feedback, Crashing Cars latest release, Coming Alive to Fall Asleep , is an invigorating ride on a rock rollercoaster. Their sound spans everything from Nirvana and Modest Mouse, to Foo Fighters, At the Drive-In and even subtle hints of Death Cab and Elliott Smith. It also became quite apparent to me that lead vocalist Jon Kohen must be an avid Kurt Cobain fan. At the end of Something to Burn , I'd swear Kohen was channeling Kurt from beyond the grave with an "All Apologies"-esque [...]

Deli readers in bands, Every year, The Deli's Year End Polls highlight hundreds of the best emerging artists in the 11 local US scenes we cover - and reward them with prizes from our sponsors. Now established artists like Local Natives, Yeasayer, Twin Shadow, Vampire Weekends, Vivian Girls, Ra Ra Riot, Girls, Kurt Vile, Baths, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Blank Dogs, Buke and Gass and many others won or did well in our polls months if not years before getting international recognition. The end of [...]

Cascading guitars and energetic riffs introduce the title track of Before the Day , the ten-song album from Old Abode , a band hailing from North Hampton, New Hampshire. The album's overall sound is smooth pop-rock, and the overall vibe is uplifting and peaceful. Singer Shea Ellis is a capable and pleasant-sounding vocalist, and his guitar work is eloquent throughout. The band cite The Beatles as well as My Morning Jacket and Band of Horses as some of their biggest influences, but while they identify themselves as an indie rock group, they prove to have an [...]

According to the band's bandcamp bio, Connecticut's Chillingsworth brings "excitement and fun energy to every show they play" and from the first chord of their EP, Sir Roger , one can easily hear why that very may well be the case. The EP is full of energetic drumbeats and catchy, upbeat melodies. Traces of jazz and ska are woven throughout each track, probably most obviously heard in the final track, Stay Fly . The vocals remind me of Matt Skiba or possibly Geoff Farina, singer of Karate. I found myself listening to the [...]

Fear Nuttin Band is a reggae outfit from Boston who are creating a genre of their own. By infusing dancehall, the consciousness of Hip Hop, with a dabble of alternative and heavy metal, Fear Nuttin Band is musically diverse and intricate from other reggae bands. You can certainly preview a taste of this musical diversity on the band's album, Move Positive . All thirteen tracks include heavy acoustic guitar, positive vibrations in which you want to sway side-to-side, or run to a live show of theirs to witness them live in action. Each track, especially [...]

Lo-fi junkies and lovers of all things acoustic rejoice; Elephants has just released their sophomore contribution, The Sea EP , onto the Boston music scene. The Boston duo released the EP earlier this month and is hoping to make their name known around the city. The four-track EP shows clear influences from Ted Leo and Elliott Smith, but with a stronger lo-fi feel. The third track, A Stone to the Rain , is probably the best example of this. The melodic lines and cadences remind me of a female Ted Leo if he were singing through [...]

Joey Mcintyre ( NKOTB ) has announced plans to release a holiday album, Come Home for Christmas . The singer will also be performing two (free) shows in Boston within the coming weeks. For the holiday standards that make up the self-released Come Home for Christmas , McIntyre set out to record versions of some of his favorites that evoke holiday memories, but still retain their traditional sound. With several duets on the album, one highlight in particular is the holiday classic Peace on Earth which finds McIntyre accompanied by longtime friend and [...]

Amidst hardcore screams, pounding double bass, and a slew of pop-punk acts, Nick LeBlanc and the Pink Beans certainly stand out from their surroundings. While many bands in their hometown of New Bedford, MA are working on catchy choruses and how to get the right "chug" out of their guitars, Nick LeBlanc and the Pink Beans take a different approach, sometimes abandoning choruses all together. Their self-titled debut album is testament to that. The six tracks are filled with intense energy, solid guitar playing and a powerful rhythm section. Perhaps the most striking feature of the [...]

Boston-based psychadelia trio Quilt celebrated their self-titled record release Wednesday night, at the aesthetically appropriate Glasslands Gallery in Brooklyn. Upward spirals of utopian-esque vocals clothed with jangly guitar riffs filled the somber brick building for an hour that has been lost in the space-time continuum. Released on Mexican Summer Records , Quilt , is the awakened love-child of Shane Butler, Anna Rochinski, John Andrews and, now former member, Taylor Mcvay, who was their drummer pre-release and wrote most of the new material. After the rolling kaleidoscope of Cowboys In The [...]

Earlier this week, we reviewed Erick Serna and The Killing Floor 's album, The Grip . Today, we're offering a free download of the track Hey Sweet Thing . The heavy blues-drenched track is all heart and soul. A song about a burning desire, Serna's vocals and foot-stomping guitar riffs nail the intensity of his passion and leave us wanting to listen to more. Erick Serna and The Killing Floor -- Hey Sweet Thing --The Deli Staff

On Saturday, Nov. 12, in conjunction with Projekt Records , the Middle East Downstairs will be host to the first darkwave/steampunk/cabaret music festival in the Boston area. PROJEKTFEST '11 will feature three national headliners from the Projekt Records label - WEEP (featuring Doc Hammer of "The Venture Brothers" fame); Black Tape for a Blue Girl (pictured above, the brainchild of Projekt Records founder Sam Rosenthal), and Voltaire (who has a massive cult following in the world of sci-fi conventions, comic book fandom, and is known for "The Grim [...]

It's tempting, upon first impression, to write off the fiery grit of Erick Serna 's blues guitar stylings as simply another page from a dog-eared book, but there is something about The Grip , the debut effort from Serna ( The Dear Hunter ) and his super-tight backing band, The Killing Floor, that makes doing so impossible. Blues rock and blues guitar are a lot like beer: the core ingredients have remained relatively static for ages. That's because someone got that shit right the first time. The Grip is, at points, [...]

deli: How did the band start? Bear In You: A jam and game of Tony Hawk in Phil's addition. Then two hot months of nonstop writing and recording. Then we played some songs. Then we didn't play for two years. Then we got together and wrote and recorded a 12-song album of new originals. deli: Where did the band name, Bear In You , come from? Bear In You: We came up with [...]

Who knew a three song-EP could be so satiated in genres? Moving from moment to moment through influence to influence, listening to Mother Brother 's EP Purdy was like watching a smooth-jazz caterpillar groove and shimmy his way into a funky cocoon, only to be hatched as a drifting psychedelic butterfly dripping with color. By the time I was listening to the third and final track, Strange Girl , I was wondering what happened to the experimental jazz fusion I heard on the first track, Hate Song . Showcasing the soft voice of [...]

Last month, Vermont's Chamberlin unveiled their five track covers EP, Chamberlin Cabin Covers EP. Their latest effort finds the band adding their recognizably laid back flair to five of today's most popular songs by Passion Pit, Cults, Vampire Weekend, Kanye West/Bon Iver, and Foster the People. Recorded this past summer in their cabin tucked away in Vermont, Chamberlin chose which songs to cover based on fan voting through their official website. Considering the recent regional damage done by Hurricane Irene, Chamberlin is donating the proceeds of their EP to [...]

Boy meets girl, Boy loses girl, Boy writes song, and makes video. Everything Evil Happened is about why relationships end and how we manage the loss from both sides and is the newest material form newcomers Baby Made Rebel . Baby made Rebel are prepping for other upcoming video and audio releases and actively working on their first full length record due out in 2012. You can find them with some other top notch locals at Precinct in Somerville's Union Sq. tonight, Oct. 28, for Halloween Hangover [...]