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Live at the Rat 1976

The Boston Globe had an article on May 1 remembering the Rat after 50 years of the Live At The Rat album. Hilariously it's titled "Disgusting and beloved: Remembering Boston Punk Haven The Rat."

There are photos of Willie Alexander, the Voodoo Dolls, Salem 66 and The Cars. They have the album embedded from Spotify. There are quotes from Richie Parsons, Kathy Logue, Elizabeth Brawner (who danced at the Naked I) and Henry Santoro. The Rat truly lives on. We wish Jimmy Harold RIP were around to give his story.

The article is here if you can get by the paywall. Embedding the Live at the Rat album is a good idea. We have it below.

The Rat would also be on Matt Bowker's Soundscape Tours. We’ve talked about this tour by before. Bowker takes people to Boston’s rock history sites. Soundscape Tours’ "Walkin’ Bout A Rock ‘N’ Roll Revolution" operates each weekend out of The Verb Hotel and tours the Fenway and Kenmore neighborhoods by foot.

Now there's a monthly tour on a big bus which also goes into Cambridge as well. The dates on the bus tours this summer are May 23, June 21 and July 25. The bus tour tickets are $75.00 and make great gifts or an idea for a visiting rocker friend. Tickets and more info on the Soundscape Tour website.

WMFO' s LIVE DAY is on June 6. That’s live music from 9am to 3pm. Some of the artists will be: Muck and the Mires, Cape Crush, Satch Kerans Band, Robert Ellis Orrall, Kelly Knapp and more. The Facebook page

The Globe also gave some attention to La Peste with the release of their compilation I Don’t Know Right From Wrong: Lost La Peste 1976-1979 Vol. 1. on Wharf Rat Records. The article was by James Sullivan in the 4/16 Boston Globe if you can get by the paywall.

The Consequence website has a column they call Crate Digging. The latest iteration has John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants listing his '15 New Wave Faves' he bought when he was 17. We have 12 of the same 45’s with sleeves in our collection.

Flansburgh grew up in a Boston suburb thus he lists Willie Alexander’s “Kerouac” as one of the singles. John wonders where Willie is now. What?! Guess he’s not keeping up. He also has Jonathan Richman’s “New England” included.

He has the good early stuff: Patti Smith/”Piss Factory”, Television/”Little Johnny Jewel”, Ramones/”Sheena Is A Punk Rocker” and Talking Heads/”Oh-oh, When Love Comes to Town”. The other groups: Dead Boys, Adverts, B 52s, Sex Pistols, Elvis Costello, Plastic Bertrand, Richard Hell, Devo and Jona Lewie.
Here it is on the Consequence website.

RADIO......

On his 5/5 Rising show Skybar had Tim Gillis and Bruce Caporal from The Chelsea Curve in for an interview and Tim has been in a few bands. Frigate (with Linda Pardee), Idaho Alaska and The Steamies. Bruce was in Boy Wonder, Auto Interiors, Devil on Horseback. He also worked at TT the Bears for years. Lou Mansdorf lived in Bruce’s apartment when he moved to Boston. Lou is in the middle of everything!

Skybar plays five songs of the seven from the new album The Rideout. The Rideout should be getting tons of airplay, it’s so radio friendly.

The Rising show is on WMFO 91.5 FM on Tuesday at 7 to 9pm. To listen to past shows go to the WMFO webpage and hit the show listing on Tuesday at 7pm and then hit ‘archive’.

PODCASTS......

On Al Quint’s 5/4 Sonic Overload show he marked the 56 anniversary of the Kent State shooting. He played a cover of “Ohio” by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young by Gaunt. It was a reminder that hardcore bands are often political. They take on an anti-government stance more readily than other genres of rock. Gaunt noise up the song for a minute before upping it to hardcore speed and energy. Hear it below.

Al played “Leave Me Alone” from the new La Peste compilation. It was followed by the Real Kids doing “She’s Alright” from the 1977 Red Star album.

You can hear the Sonic Overload shows on the web blog. Al has logged all the shows since 2009.

The Elastic Glam Show 5/1 started with T. Rex “Jeepster”, you can never go wrong with that. After Sethyspice played Marvel a group from Sweden. They tag themselves as playing hard rock but it sounded glam to us, and Sethy. We love the line “so I can kick your ass”. The guitar solo is primo. The group wears masks onstage and go by the monikers: The King, The Burgher and The Vicar. We have it below.

There’s not a whole lot of difference between Marvel and BZN whose song “Sweet Silver Annie” was played next and that comes from 1973.

A nice surprise was hearing “Kick Out the Jams” by Suzi Quatro and Alice Cooper. Suzi does the original call out too!

There was local music with the new “The Ride” from Chelsea Curve then Peppermint Kicks, Jennifer Tefft, The Magic City and Tell. More than any one song it’s being immersed in new and old glam for an hour that makes the Elastic Glam a must listen.

NEW MUSIC/CD's ......

After three pre-released singles Cape Crush has their album Place Memory fully available now. The main thing that struck us about this album is the massive sound the four piece band puts out. In many loud groups it’s the wall of guitars that gives the big sound. Here we notice the bass and drums that most often give the heaviness. That low end is carrying a hefty load.

The guitars have their heavy moments but more often they inject sinuous lines that pick up interest the minute the vocals drop out. The vocals are clear and transmit a lot of different emotions. All the songs have plentiful lyrics, there’s a lot the vocals have to transmit.

All the songs are on the heavy side except two. “North Side” about a college friendship that slipped away which has some country influences. “Dotted Line” seems to be about appreciating the rewards of a long relationship.

This is a very accomplished album on many levels: songwriting, performance and recording. Cape Crush have it very much together. They have done a fine job publicizing the album too. We know we have just begun to digest this album and are looking forward to listening and growing with this for a while.

The Northern Line released their first song in 2024, and their second in 2025. Their new self-titled EP is out now. It is four songs, two of them are those previous singles. The four songs now give a fuller picture of what the band is doing. This is elegant Brit-pop. The mod and pop elements are understated and tasteful.

Take “Let’s Roll On” as an example. It lets the musicians slowly draw you in. Bilvox’s vocals are enticing, and that is true on every song. Then the guitar solo, by Pete Kitchener breaks you out of your trance. We were struck by the guitar tone, it sounds like what Boston groups were playing in 1968. The arrangement develops in a natural way (again, as they do in every song).

The songs are on the longer side. “Lightning Stricks” is almost five minutes. In that song there are busy Keith Moon drums and soulful sweet organ work. The Northern Line has got some attention with those first two singles, but not enough, not nearly enough. No one is doing what this group is doing.

Screwcart has a new single “Sky Daddy Sez”. This song is a thrill ride. It’s fast out of the gate and it’s pounding with excess energy. The guitar and bass are riffing in tandem for a powerhouse move. Mark Kennedy on vocals still manages to make ‘Sky Daddy’ an ominous threat.

Locals Condition Baker have a four song EP titled Bennington Street. Last year the band released a three song EP Dethroned. They continue to get more impressive. Their last single “Bleed” which is the opening cut on this EP was a killer track for us. The chorus line “Why” Why do I have to bleed?” is an emotive moment that you remember and want to hear over and over.

“Soapbox” is right up there with “Bleed”. The bass intro sounds like classic punk, the guitars play the power chords with all down strokes giving the music bed a crisp rhythmic lock, the drums slam some tasteful fills. You can hear the singer has a wonderful sense of melody. Every line has a tuneful lilt.

It’s more of the same in “Bad Games” and hear we caught how the instruments are always dropping in and out to give dynamics. These songs are shaped from beginning to end. “Bennington Street” is a nostalgic look back at childhood. Bennington Street is in East Boston and Logan Airport is mentioned. How could it not be? The song also has a different tack then the previous three. It’s just acoustic guitar which accentuates the sense of loss.

We’ve enjoyed the Instamatics a few times at The Midway. Live they pulled out some off the wall instrumental covers. They now have Beach Closed, a five song EP. Now most surf bands extol all that is fun about the beach but here we have the Instamatics starting right off with “Beach Closed”.

They follow that up with “Needle Beach” (wear your shoes there!) and “Monkey Beach”. There’s no down feelings with the music however, they all sound like sunny surf tunes. The other two songs are “Aloha Manana” (means Good Morning?) and “Wok O’ Fame”.

We like that the band doesn’t just fill up the time with “Pipeline” and “Hawaii Five O” live or on recordings. We like these original tunes. We don’t have that many surf bands around, we need the Instamatics.

It’s been a few months but Rob Moss and the Skin Tight Skin have another split single where the groups swap songs from each other. It’s been a very interesting run. This time the Skin-Tight Skin take material from 7 Door Sedan, a group from Maryland. The extra twist is that they put two songs together from 7 Door Sedan’s album Killer Good.

They start with “Everything In The World” and then use the slightly slower “Cement Man” as a coda to finish the song. Clever idea. “Everything in the World” has interesting lyrics. They say “Everything in the world, says you have the girl” but as the lyrics go on it seems like it may all just be in the person’s mind.

Glenn Kowalski of 7 Door Sedan played guitar on the Skin-Tight Skin’s song “I’m On a Rocket Ship (Heading My Way Back Home)” off the Now With More Rockets album and now covers that on this single. Kowalski takes the spacy feeling out of the song and grounds it in glammy garage and that transforms the song. That’s what we’ve seen time and again in this series and that’s why it’s been so interesting.

The Professor and the Madman are a group with two Americans (Alfie Agnew and Sean Elliot) and three British musicians. The three British chaps happen to be Captain Sensible, Rat Scabies and David Gray from The Damned. They already have some albums on Bandcamp. They have an album Dreamworld coming out on August 7 this year.

Now they have a single preview. ”12 Strings and Tambourines” is the band giving tribute to those that preceded them in rock in the sixties. They straight up say in the lyrics, “We're pledging our allegiance/ To the ones that played/The 12 strings and tambourines”. That is the theme of the whole album and this song seems like a mission statement. Take a look at the album cover above – that is a redo of the Beatles’ Revolver album.

The tune is very psychedelic sounding. There a point where the lyrics state, “Put the tape machine in reverse/And play the lead”, and, we assume, Captain Sensible plugs in a suitable backwards guitar solo. This was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London. There’s a video that comes with the song. It has sixties imagery and groups (Byrds, Monkees, Stones, Who, Jefferson Airplane).

The Drakulas, a combo of art rock, post punk and punk, are from Austin. Their new album Midnight City is out . They have synth sounds which make them sound a little like Devo at times. We like it when it has that punk rawness to it. You can hear the whole album on Bandcamp.

Joanie Lindstrom played “Gone Gone Gone” on her Late Risers Show on 5/7 which was a good choice. We are going to embed the swift 1:34 minute “Singing With My Tongue Cut Out” which actually makes us think of Lou Miami with the singing style and the jerky music.

We’ve featured two singles from General Chaos and now the album Can’t Please Them All is out. General Chaos is three sixteen year olds from Montreal. They play punk rock with real spirit. Listening to the music shows that they have absorbed a lot and play with assurance. The songs have political, cultural (rape and drugs) and personal subjects, but even the political and cultural are born from personal experience.

They all have brisk tempo that rush forward with urgency. They may be young but they play like they have no time to waste. The trio play tight. There’s no weakness in guitar, bass or drums. There are thirteen songs. They all are up to the standard of the two songs we’ve written about, “The Idiots Have Taken Over” and “Busted”.

We don’t know what “Zipco” refers to but live the song. The chorus sticks out, “Zipco. Where’s all that money?” You can hear the band’s busy attack in between the singing. The only change up they do is in “El Bato” where they do some ska and make it work. This is one excellent punk album. General Chaos are doing Canada proud.

Sheer Terror are a NYC hardcore band that started in 1984. They have a single “Squat Diddler” from an upcoming EP. This is released because the band is going on a European tour. They famously are very blunt. We can’t catch the words but we can imagine. The years have not dulled the sound or speed of Sheer Terror.

The Question were an LA band in the mid-eighties. They were playing mod and power pop. They've released their 1985 EP Getting Through. Michael Quercio of The Three O’Clock has said, “The Question is one of my all-time favorite LA bands.” That’s all we have to hear.

This is some fine mod which we are game to hear because we are primed by The Chelsea Curve’s The Rideout album released two weeks ago. Tracks 1, 2 and 5 have the classic Rickenbacker sound. Track 3 is “Daddy Rolling Stone” from The Who.

Among Legends are from Ontario and were formed in 2016. There are so many fine punk bands in Canada. Among Legends new album Lose My Grip doesn’t come out 'til July. The teaser single “H/A/C/K” is out now

It’s got the rush of punk with a melody that is right in the pocket. The lilt of the vocals are pop punk that are very appealing. All this makes us pine to hear the album. The song is about environmental pollution. There’s a video for it but the recording quality is better on the Bandcamp page, we have that below. Love that beginning with increasing feedback, then bass pumping leading to a dramatic intro drum roll…and they’re off.

We couldn’t get enough of The Iron Roses (from the East Coast) “Screaming for a Change” a few years ago. Their new album Molotov Nights is out on August 9. “Dead Eyes” is the single they are using to preview the album. The Iron Roses are political. They are deep into what they feel is way wrong in the country today. “Dead Eyes” delves into it. The band plays punk/hardcore.

The song steams along as the distinctive twin vocals commander your attention. The group has its signature sound and when you get a grasp of that it’s even more rewarding.

Here's some good shows coming up ....

May 11, 2026 (Monday) Twisted Teens, Tyler and the Names, Puke Pistols at O'Brien's

May 11, 2026 (Monday) Not Alander, Real Love, Botch Job at The Silhouette

May 12, 2026 (Tuesday) Silkworm and Come at The Crystal Ballroom

May 13, 2026 (Wednesday) Billy Liar & The Haunted Hearts, Lesser Devils, Battery March at Faces Malden

May 14, 2026 (Thursday) TRAITRS, Pilgrims at The Middle East Up

May 14, 2026 (Thursday) Tired Radio,, Five Hundred Bucks, Little Low, Oh the Humanity! at O'Brien's

May 15, 2026 (Friday) Forever War, Hindsight, Suicide Eyes, and more - Central Square Elks Lodge Bishop Allen Dr

May 15, 2026 (Friday) Outspoken, How Much Art, Step First at Bridge 9 Records, Beverly

May 16, 2026 (Saturday) Bentanzaganza (Benefit for Ben Tan) ft. Johnnie & The Foodmasters, Delons, Noah Britton, Sound Dream Machine at The Midway for a 3PM matinee

May 16, 2026 (Saturday) SkyTigers, Farewell Drugs, Ruffian Dick at Faces Malden

May 16, 2026 (Saturday) Endation, Miracle Blood, Chainlacing, Gloomlurker at O'Brien's

May 16, 2026 (Saturday) Satch Keran Band, Aluminum Brain, Stigmatics at Underbones

May 16, 2026 (Saturday) SkyTigers, Farewell Drugs, Ruffian Dick at FACES Malden

May 16, 2026 (Saturday) The Dogmatics and The Gypsy Moths at Boston Harbor Distillery, Boston, MA, 8:30p

May 17, 2026 (Sunday) An acoustic gig hosted by local legend Jay Allen along with Huck 2 will be performing 2 three song sets. Jay and others will be on hand to play! at The Square Root 4 PM matinee

May 17, 2026 (Sunday) Blind Adam and the Federal League, Resurrectionists, Indoor Friends, Bad Idea USA at O'Brien's

May 18, 2026 (Monday) Simon, Daphne Blue Underworld, Battlemode at The Silhouette Lounge

May 21, 2026 (Thursday) Kerosene Heights, Dear Maryanne, Ogbert The Nerd, Blame it on Whitman at The Middle East Up

May 21, 2026 (Thursday) Couch Crash, Superchild, Glowbox, JB & The Weather Machine at The JUngle

May 22, 2026 (Friday) Staring At The Sea and Gretchen & The Banshees at The C Note, Hull. FB page.

May 24, 2026 (Saturday) Crow Follow, Connor Storms & His Bouquet (release show!), Coffin Salesman, Lou Mace at The Midway for a 3PM MATINEE!

May 24, 2026 (Saturday) Scurcy Dog Mega Parking Lot Show #1 for this summer!! with Gossip Collar (10:30PM) , Green Sabbath, The Paraplegics, Strawberry Coffin, SWRM, People Eating Plastic, Scamrock, Youngest Sun, Jackie and the Idiots, the McGunks, Vague Perception, Gun Gun (starting the shoew off at 2:00pm) FREEEEE!!!! FB page

May 29, 2026 (Friday) Beantown Boozehounds, Gossip Collar, SpikyTops, WORM, Give Up Hope at The C Note, Hull. FB page

May 30, 2026 (Saturday) Townies, Louzy, FFO Chillin, Subpunch at Warehouse XI Unin Sq Somerville

May 30, 2026 (Saturday) Is Malden Porchfest! Huck 2 will be on the City Hall stage at 2:45! We recommend everyone spend the day in Malden checking out all the great bands! Lots of friends will be playing that day. Gretchen & The Banshees, Crow Follow, Warthog, Hey Blondie, Captain Easychord and many others!

May 30, 2026 (Saturday) Stay at Home Dads, Quintius, Caporegime at O'Briens 18+ 2PM matinee

May 30, 2026 (Saturday) Homemade Speed, Yankee Bastard, Wanted, Zipper at O'Brien's 8PM

May 31, 2026 (Sunday) Jittery Jack with Amy Griffin on Guitar join with everyone’s faves the Hot Franks for an afternoon of fun and festivities at the Midway Cafe in JP.- 3PM matinee!! FB page.

May 31, 2026 (Sunday) Wrought Iron Hex, Spectacle, Osis (their final gig!!), Bastard Leg at The Middle East Up TIX!

June 2, 2026 (Tuesday) Killusonline, Hell Dog, Short Circuit, Faith in Silence at O'Brien's

June 5, 2026 (Friday) The Idolizers, The Stigmatics, Torch Red, Whyte Lipstick at O'Brien's

June 6, 2026 (Saturday) American Ocelot, Gene Champagne and The Kind Souls, Mass Romantic Early Show - 4-7,at The The Jungle

Black Helicopter, Thalia Zedek, Spiller, Dogmatics, and more

June 11, 2026 (Thursday) Echo & The Bunnymen at Roadrunner TIX

June 11, 2026 (Thursday) The Gruesomes with Muck and The Mires at The Burren, Somerville, MA, 6pm

June 13, 2026 (Saturday) OH THE HUMANITY!, Dead Cats Dead Rats, A Minor Revolution, The Digs, The Hideout at Faces Malden

June 13, 2026 (Saturday) Wormtown Hardcore presents an old school hardcore show! Featuring: Boston hardcore legends The FUs! and Rockin Bob's Punk Band aka Punk Band, WORM, Point Blank, Oedipus Triple Rex! At The Raven 258 Pleasant Street, Worcester, 01609 FB page

June 14, 2026 (Sunday) Wreckless Wreck Chords Presents: The Long Wait, Incendiary Device, Scumbari, WORM, Pledge Of Allegiance- this is a 3PM MATINEE at The Midway

June 15, 2026 (Monday) American Ocelot, The Haymakers, Devil Love at The Square Root

June 20, 2026 (Saturday) Stop Calling Me Frank, Girl With A Hawk (release show!), Tad Overbaugh & The Late Arrivals at The Midway 8PM

June 24, 2026 (Wednesday) Contracharge, Cartridge, The Blind, D.O.D at O'Brien's

June 27, 2026 (Saturday) Silver Screams, Still Sedated, Past Life Crisis at The Jungle - this is a 4PM MATINEE

June 27, 2026 (Saturday) American Ocelot, Emily Grogan and Bearmonster, Sean Wolf Wortis at Underbones

July 3, 2026 (Friday) Gossip Collar, The Farewell Drugs, Yes Nanny at O'Brien's

July 31, 2026 (Friday) Jonee Earthquake, In Shreds, BAABES, Typhoid Mary at Koto Salem

September 25, 2026 (Friday) Muck and the Mires, The Sharp Class (UK), The Chelsea Curve and Dj Sherman at Deep Cuts

September 28, 2026 (Monday) The "Sex Pistols" at The Royale

October 3, 2026 (Saturday) Public Image Ltd at Big Night Live.

CONTACT US AT....misslynbgn@yahoo.com

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