boston

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Seeing a good opener can be a cathartic experience. Sometimes it’s interesting, and you check them out when you go home, but most of the time it’s forgettable. I can count on one hand when an opener has blown me away, and I don’t even need all my fingers. When I caught the last few songs of Die Spitz at an OFF! show years ago all I could think of is how loud it sounded. Then, watching them put their...

The Ergs!/Boris the Sprinkler/EggheadLive @ Crystal BallroomSomerville, MA One of the funnest tours of 2024 might be over, but it’s never too late to find out about it. Huh, I should work on my intros more. But why didn’t I write about the Egghead/Boris the Sprinkler/Ergs! East Coast tour before? Because, hindsight makes fools of us all. But, I’m no fool. This one was special, and if you were there (or WANTED to be there) you know what I’m...

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YOLO. You only live once. And for a music fan that’s important. A few years ago I realized how important it is the seize the moment, get off your ass, and see a band you like, because you only live once. They only live once. I once drove 2 hours to Western Mass to see Lee Scratch Perry and then beat myself up about it a little because I just could have seen him in Boston the next time. But...

I’ve been a fan of Jon Snodgrass for over 20 years and have only seen him live once. Embarrassing, I know. Especially considering how much I owe the man. Armchair Martian is such a no-brainer for anyone into pop punk, especially the Descendents/ALL/Fat Wreck variety, and I was hooked from the beginning (hey, when’s a new album coming out?), but I didn’t think country music could be cool until I heard his band Drag the River with ALL frontman Chad...

Happy Thanksgiving! We were still so naïve in 2002. The Hives had released their second album Veni Vidi Vicious, and it was getting some mainstream attention. Not sure why. Maybe it was riding the coattails of that garage sound a la the Strokes/White Stripes/Yeah Yeah Yeahs that was all the rage at the time. As documented in Lizzy Goodman’s excellent book Meet me in the Bathroom, and the less excellent documentary movie that followed it a decade later, there was...

There is no doubt that the Oh Sees (formerly Thee Oh Sees, then just OCs, then OSEES) are an unstoppable force. Releasing what seems like their 40th album this year and another one already announced, it’s important sometimes to step back and assess what you’re getting with this band because their catalog can easily meld together into a metropolis of music. With all this published material, what would front man John Dwyer choose to highlight in a live set? The...

Everyone should be listening to Fucked Up. That’s a fact. Unfortunately, hardly anyone does. That’s a sad fact. I mean this in the sense that this band should be much much bigger than they actually are. For one thing, they play glam punk, fuzzy and complex, and layered. They release a plethora of vinyl and take it on tour with them. They’ve proven twice now that expansive concept albums are well within their skill-range. Of course they’ll try it (Pitchfork...

Few bands are flying the hardcore flag these days as successfully as OFF! It’s a mix of things that makes this band stand out. Sure, it’s fronted by Keith Morris of Black Flag and the Circle Jerks, who is still at the top of his game both vocally and lyrically. But, the appeal OFF! has for me are the hardcore riffs provided by Dimitri Coates. They are both musically innovative and undeniably hard and catchy. This band has already released...