WOW!! Now you can listen to TREE and drink
TREE, beer that is! The Dorchester
Brewing Company has a ‘harcore lager’ named for the band - TREE.
They're having a Beer Release Party featuring (the beer) but also the bands
TREE, INGRATE, DJ Treeman, & more!! Get
your tickets here!! Move fast folks there are only 150 tix available. 7-10PM
- 21+
Stu Ginsburg has been involved in the local Music Business
since 1990 ... from record labels, to club owner, to DJ, or talent buyer in
all New England States. He's lately been booking some great shows under the
banner "Platorum." Many on the North Shore, and Salem
in particular but also at Sammy's Patio, Revere among a lot of other places.
He's responsible for some recent shows like The SuperSuckers with
the Downhauls and Speed Teeth, and Deer
Tick and many others.
John Keegan caught up with Stu and had an insightful conversation.
Check it out here.
BOOKS......
The
book Monsters,
A Fans Dilemma by Claire Dederer
is getting a lot of attention. It’s about how you treat art that
has been created by an artist who is racist, sexist or anti-Semitic.
Can you still enjoy it? Should you? That leads to artists like Hemingway,
Woody Allen, Polanski and Picasso ... and that leads to Jonathan
Richman’s song “Pablo Picasso.” Dederer quotes
two lines from the song and lets it lead her into talking about Picasso’s
abuses. She uses the word ‘asshole’ from the song a few
times. It fits so well into the point she was trying to make.
We love these situations where you can see the culture picking up on punk
and its art long after its original creation (1972). “Pablo Picasso”
seems so simple as a song but it expresses something real that has resonated
since it came out. The song has a Wikipedia
page with a footnote to our 1980 BGN interview with Richman.
VIDEOS......
They did it first! The Spackles are the first group this year
with a Halloween themed video! It's “Spy in the House of Frankenstein”.
The guys look like horrible!…and this time it’s on purpose. They
are zombiefied. The vid was filmed at the Haunted
Overload in Lee, NH.
They have guest appearances by Mr. Frankenstein and his bride. The song is
suitable to the topic. The Spackles know exactly what’s needed in a case
like this. The comic/horror culture is their play yard.
The video is as cheesy as hell. It’s just a bunch of sock puppets superimposed
on a concert clip. That just makes us love it more!! This is a video of “I’m
a Fucking Delight” by the Rip Taylors from Nashville. It’s
been stuck in our noggins since we heard it a week ago when we reviewed it.
We sing it to ourselves to increase our feeling of self-esteem and well-being.
Salem Wolves have a video for “What You Need”
from their Psychotron Speaks album. Salem
Wolves have an inherent drama in their songs and that is at the fore
in “What You Need.” The video uses that somber tone, it's
done up in black and white. The visuals look like a graphic novel of
a brooding hero. The backdrop is the Atlantic Mills in Olneyville, Providence.
The song and visuals are a perfect match.
The Prozacs are going to do a split album Better
Late Than Never, with The Downstrokes.
it will be out in December. Each group has released one song with a
video. Here’s the Prozacs video for the song “Getting Bored.”
That’s a sure fire punk song subject matter and is a no-miss for
Jay Prozac’s pop punk prowess.
PODCASTS.........
Blowing Smoke with Twisted Rico has long-time song writer
Emily Grogan in for a talk.
Emily grew up in Sharon in a music loving family. She was always surrounded
by music. She plays sax as well as guitar.
Emily has some good stories ... she had Mr. Butch setting
up a gig with Steve Albini’s Rapeman back in the day.
Then she was playing Primal Plunge (Allston) with GG Allen.
She goes through a series of bands, one where she played drums. She interacted
with a lot of punkers in the 80’s. She joins up with Jerri
Cain Rossi in NYC in 1992. In 1998 she forms the Emily Grogan
Band.
Her story gets more complicated ... she ends up in a band called Hormone Replacement
Theory and that leads to a the realty TV show called Rocker Moms
- here's in episode 1. There’s lots more turns in her unusual career. Tune
in and take it in.
The Elastic Glam show this week had a must listen song right
off with “Bargain Bin Bowie” by Spoon Speaker Man.
It seems to be about someone getting drawn into the glam lifestyle. A choice
cut. It has a video
worth watching too. Other new songs were by Bobbie Dazzle, Starbenders,
Kat Robichaud and Last Diner Party.
Throwbacks were Slade, Queen, Shocking Blue, Iron Virgin
(“Rebel Rule” from 1974), Hello (1977) and the
Cure.
In the local vein it was the new Tiger Bomb and Tell.
There’s always a lot to take in on the Elastic Glam show.
On Sonic Overload, Al Quint played two songs from Reagan
Youth in memory of the death of guitarist of Paul (Bakija)
Cripple.
The last song in that set was an intense hardcore song “Sytematic Indoctrination”
by a Mass group Solitary Neglect, who were around between 2002
to 2005. We have that song imbedded below.
Later Al had a four song set for the Gang of Four.
It was 45 years ago that the Entertainment album came out which
is why they are doing their Long Goodbye Tour (with dates in Mass! see
gig listings below)
Near the end he played two punk classics: The Dickies with
“You Drive Me Ape” and The Forgotten Rebels with
“Surfin’ on Heroin”.
We thought there was not only good hardcore songs this week but whole sets that
were solid core and satisfying. An excellent week on Sonic Overload.
We heard Skybar play this Fatal Flaw song
on his Rising show. We saw Fatal Flaw a few
times around 2015. and they've been out gigging lately.
Fatal Flaw are power pop but “Stop Pushing Me Away” doesn’t
have a jangle to it. This song has an emotional core and it sounds like
it comes from personal experience. The band plays, chunking at the power
chords, and the melody carries the song along. The guitar solo hits
home. We found ourselves hanging on the lyrics and the way the singer
phrased them.
Back in 2015 we thought this group should have a higher profile around town
and we still think that.
Parlour Bells' new EP To Be or Not to Behave includes
“Slasher Movie Weather” which we loved along with its
video .
“The Ballad of Felix Monica” is suitable story for Parlour Bells,
it's about a UFO
incident over Lake Superior in 1953. We love the guitar solo in this. It’s
a short phrase that seems like a repeated scream because of the thick tone and
the string bending.
There's variety in the songs with “Knight Owl” being heavier,
“Slasher Movie Summer” more cinematic, “Dixies” slower
and serious and “The Ballad Felix Monica” is ghostly and other worldly.
The recording is excellent. The band is top notch. They are always the perfect
accompaniment and you cannot deny Goddamn Glenn’s voice.
We get drawn in like a spell every time we play “Slasher Movie Summer”.
Rum Bar Records has unearthed another Boston treasure: Hotbox.
That band was a combo of the Dogmatics, Left Nut, Matweeds,
and Last Stand. Thepre-released single “Girl I Want”
was very good. Now we know the rest of the album is all as good as that and
more.
The album starts with “Time Goes On” which begins with a mammoth
sounding two chord arpeggio. These recordings sound big and loud in a natural
way not in just large amps turned up.
Listen to “When It’s Over” come crashing out of the gate.
It’s big chords and pounding drums that surprise you and this is after
three other songs that are not pussy footin' around.
The last cut “If Your Lucky” starts with some fast chording and
a group ‘yee haw” done with a surfeit of enthusiasm. The group sounds
like they are the embodiment of boundless energy. These eight cuts literally
never, but never, let up for a minute.
What an edge this group has, they seem all wound up. The guitar solos are
highlights as they aim to cut and slash. Some of this can be attributed to the
good recording but this album was recorded at two different studios, it’s
the group who brought the goods. Most songs are written by Jerry Lehane
and we should all tip our hat to him for the amazing songs he has given us and
continues to give us with the very much prolific Dogmatics in 2024.
You gotta ask yourself what we were doing in 1990 that we didn’t notice
this group more back then?
It’s more Rum Bar Record action with Gene Champagne.
Gene's Canadian drummer who was in the Killjoys and drummed
for Teenage Head. His Let’s Jet album
has him playing all the instruments. There’s one song out now -“Rock
‘n Roll Boy.” It's a simple Ramones style 1-4-5 progression. We
are just suckers for this, there's no resistance. We got hooked and did a non-stop
replay for an embarrassing amount of times.
We love where the guitar plays a line in the low strings that connects the chord
structure at the 56 second mark…and it only happens there. Another spot
we like is at the end, where the guitars go staccato on the “rock ‘n
roll boy” line. The melody line has a few ear worm moments too. Love it.
Stop Calling Me Frank, also on Rum Bar,
are closing in on their 40th Anniversary. They'll have an album with some old
recordings on it. One of those is “Off the Hook” which they released
on Friday. It's the old Rolling Stone song done up SCMF style. They speed it
up, liven it up and add a horn arrangement. Then there is the guitar work by
Dan Zug who lets loose in the middle. There’s gonna be
no way to stop the boppin’ when they play this live.
We are crazy for One More Billy from Australia. We spotlighted
three songs by them. Now, they have a six song EP titled Six Sick
Songs. The new songs are “Rotten New World”, the title
tells the story. “Drugs on the Floor” is a solid block of sound
that the group rides and rages. Wow, killer. “I Need a Break” sounds
like they are on the edge and ready to crack up, but every song sounds like
that.
Here's some good shows coming up .....
October 10, 2024 (Thursday)Davila
666, Las Nubes, Ladrones, Gossip Collar at Deep Cuts, Medford, MA
October 10, 2024 (Thursday)The
False Positives, The Cynz, Freeloader, at The Burren,
October 10 & 11, 2024 (Thursday & Friday)Barrence Whitfield, Liz Proteau and Mach Bell
star in Sci Fi Rock Opera “Beasties” World Premiere
live on stage w/choral cast and band. Regent Theatre, Arlington 6pm doors, 7pm
showtime.
October 11, 2024 (Friday)Linnea's
Garden, Battlemode, Frogs, Mighty Tortugal at The Jungle
October 12, 2024 (Saturday)Warthog
(Ramones tribute) and Social Destruction ( Social
Distortion tribute) at Koto Lowell
October 12, 2024 (Saturday) Thee
Associates, The New Frustrations at The Barrel House Z in Weymouth
- FB
page.
October 13, 2024 (Sunday)Zip Tie
Handcuffs, and Black Helicopter at The Scurvy Dog,
Prov - 2 PM matinee!
October 13, 2024 (Sunday)Falsely
Accused, Captain Easy Chord, Johnny Plankton, 4-7pm at The Worthen
Attic
October 18, 2024 (Friday)The Fuzzstival
at The Armory: Sweeping Promises, Babybaby Explores, Yhwh Nailgun, Bong
Wish, Balaclava, Mingko, Nurse Joy, Lupo Citta, The Spatulas, Plant Fight
October 18, 2024 (Friday)Salem
Access TV is filming this show - it will be broadcast at a later date: The
bands are Gwello, The Negans, and Aluminium.
it's at 285 Derby St Salem. Starts at 5PM!!! This is a Symphonix exclusive event
- there are only 40 tickets available for sale at $20 each & This is a BYOB
event - check out the FB
event page for HOW to get tickets.
October 19, 2024 (Saturday)The
Fuzzstival at The Armory: Doug Tuttle, Greg Freeman, Latrell
James, Francie Medosch (of Florry), Paper Lady, Prewn, Clifford, War Machine,
Corporeal, Pew Pew.
October 19, 2024 (Saturday) 5th
Annual Punktoberfest music and craft beer festival at Thirsty First
Lowell. Bands will be Nick Barbarian, Savor The Silence, Welch Boys,
First Pick, Ruffian Dick, The Ghouls, OnlyThings, SOTAH, Sonic Bomb, CE Skidmore
and the DFB and The Promised End - TICKETS!!
October 19, 2024 (Saturday)Stop
Calling Me Frank's 40th Anniversary featuring Jay Allen, Stop
Calling Me Frank (two sets!), State of the Union, The Piranha
Brothers, The Spackles at The Midway
October 21, 2024 (Monday)The Stress
Balls, Dave Strong, Joe Gallo and the Qualms - At the Jungle, Somerville,
MA. 5PM/Free
October 24, 2024 (Thursday)Stupidity,
Cocktail Slippers and the Wynotts at Alchemy, Providence
FB
page.
October 25, 2024 (Friday)Moving
Targets, The Long Wait, Spiller - Middle East Up - Facebook
page
October 25, 2024 (Friday) Bootleg Dan presents
Cocktail Slippers, Stupidity, The Chelsea Curve, DJ Sherman at
The Burren
October 25, 2024 (Friday) Cape Cod show
with Noun (from Philly, featuring Marissa Paternoster from
Screaming Females), Grasshopper Green (Falmouth), Modern
Hut (New Jersey) at The Christ Church Episcopal in Harwich Port. 6:30
doors, 7:00 bands $15, all ages, no drugs/booze.
October 26, 2024 (Saturday)Tiger
Bomb, The Cocktail Slippers, Stupidity, Muck & The Mires at The
Bayside Bowl, Portland, ME FB
page
October 30, 2024 (Wednesday)Gang
of Four are at The Cut in Glooucester!
Tickets.
October 30- Nov. 2, 2024 (Weds - Sat)
International Pop Overthrow is here, at the Square Root. 21 bands.
In there are: Hummingbird Syndicate, Corin Ashley, Speedfossil, Cold
Expectations, Fezztones, Sal Baglio, Kelly Knapp, Girl With a Hawk
and many more. Check
the FB page for bands/times/tix
November 1, 2024 (Friday)Coffin
Salesman (Record Release!), Motel Black, Saeddyr, Squallie
Greenthumb at Faces Malden.
November 2, 2024 (Saturday)Neutral
Nation and Diablogato at Askew in Providence. Doors
at 8, bands start at 9. FB
page
November 8, 2024 (Friday)Boston
Punk Rewound/Unbound. The Arthur Freedman Collection - "2024 marks
the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Rat, a location that looms large
in both the Freedman Collection and in Boston lore. To mark
the occasion, the Harvard Film Archive and the Loeb Music Library—who
collectively steward the Freedman tapes in the collection—have partnered
to bring you an evening celebrating the bands, venues and wider scene documented
in the Freedman collection."
Read
more here!! and see you there!! 7PM at The Harvard Film Archive 24 Quincy
Street Cambridge, MA 02138
November 8, 2024 (Friday)Hilken
Mancini Band, The Cujo, Mary Lou Lord at Sonia , Cambridge,
November 8, 2024 (Friday)Steve
Conte Trio, Tiger Bomb, The Shang Hi Los at Koto Lowell
- FB page.
November 8, 2024 (Friday) Wormtown show
with Swamp Roots, Thee Sonomatics and The Wray-Ons
(playing the music of the Link Wray & The Wraymen) at Husky's Pub (413 Park
Ave, WorcesterMA) Bands start at 8 PM. .
November 9, 2024 (Saturday)The
Pist, Grip Bite, Neighborhood Shit, Trollmilk, 1PM doors - Matinee
All Ages Middle East FB
page
November 9, 2024 (Saturday)Shaggahs,
The Wynotts, Carnivals, Hot Franks at Faces in Malden - FB
page
November 9, 2024 (Saturday)Silver
Screams, Black Helicopter and Jay Allen and the Archcriminals
are at The Square Root.
November 9, 2024 (Saturday)TRAITRS,
Dead Leaf Echo, Gretchen Shea and the Middle Eight at The MIddle East
Up
November 16, 2024 (Saturday)Kal
Marks (Release Show!) Paper Lady, Black Beach at Deep Cuts, Medford
November 23, 2024 (Saturday)Diablogato,
The Long Wait, Speed Teeth at Faces in Malden tickets
November 23, 2024 (Saturday)Hi-End,
Duck and Cover, Color Killers at The Square Root
November 30, 2024 (Saturday)Midway
Matinee of Punk! with WORM, Presidential Disgrace, Screw Cart,
Neponset Monestary - at The Midway for a 3PM Matinee!!
December 6, 2024 (Friday)Warrior
Soul, All Sinners and Speed Teeth at Koto Salem
April 20, 2025 (Friday)Gang of
Four at The Crystal Ballroom, Somerville. Tickets.
CONTACT US AT....misslynbgn@yahoo.comSend us your gig listings, your anything else
you've got!! You want your CD reviewed?? Contact us for that too.
We interviewed David Bash on the week where his International Pop Overthrow is
coming to town. It's some backgroud on the history of the event and of course talk about POP..........
We bring you into the Rat Room at the Hotel Commonwealth.
Jimmy Harlold invited a group of scene veterans. It was a Rat reuion
with lots of stories exchanged. Get to see the room and the people.........
Johnny Angel writes a mystery novel Looking for Lady Dee steeped in Boston punk and Thrills history.
It's no apologys given for the punk lifestyle. ....
It appeared before us like a chimera and it's
still growing...it's the Pipeline 25th Anniversary celebration.
We interview mastermind Bob Dubrow about his background and
search for what motivates him as well as Pipeline history and
the show....
The Boston punk community comes out for a good cause.
Neighborhoods, Upper Crust, Dents, Dogmatics, Roy Sludge Trio, Ed
Moose Savage, Downbeat 5 and Classic Ruins raise some money and
rock the house at......
He's legendary and his surprise birthday party was legendary in turn. Only in your Boston Rock and Roll dreams could you come up with a night like this.......
In a case of reverse outsourcing Carl Biancucci of the Classic Ruins also plays bass in the English group Shotglass Killers.
He tells us about a gig at the 100 Club with a reformed Damned....
The Konks' hypnotic bashing was a smart mindlessness that you got addicted to. They are calling it quits and we'll miss 'em and there's no free clinic out there to help us either...........
Thank god for 110 Instamatics or we wouldn't have a lot of our early Boston punk photos. Kathy Flynn used hers to get some pics of the Rat and The Club and she sent them to us to share with you..........
One of the interesting things in the early days of Boston punk was seeing the attention grow around us. One watershed moment was when we heard that a Time Magazine reporter was going to visit the Rat. We didn't like the resulting article. But you can decide. Take a look at the ....
...
Let's get real. We are all getting older and will die. Do you ever consider how you will be remembered? I'm talking about your tombstone. It's morbid, it's in poor taste, it's .....
Crotch biting...head bleeding...dick jiggling...it's all in Miss Lyn's report (with photos to prove it) from the GG Allin 10 Year Memorial Tour at the Middle East....
Punk started 25 years ago. Did any of us think we would ever make it this far? Probably not, that was punk; nihilistic, "no future!". Here is a place to remember, and give a moment of thought to, those who didn't make it
this far...
The minute she hit the scene she was every male punk's heart throb. She was beautiful. She had a winning personality. She had a ...well...a...glow. That could be my heart talking because I, Blowfish, confess: I too am Judy's love slave. We didn't just love Judy, we worshiped her. So, now all of us members of Judyism have somewhere to meet and offer our prayers of unrequited love.
1977-The Damned were ready to piss on Blowfish and started to undress Miss Lyn! And people seemed to like it!! This interview IS outrageous...for then AND now!