Mercury Dropping, Music Rising: Jump into this pile of shows

Darklands are a Providence/Boston based group just out with Find Peace In The Next Life, their latest LP/EP (do those labels even matter these days?). It’s a charged live set recorded at Distorted Forest Audio recording studio.

Find Peace opens with a bang with “The Hill I Choose To Die On,” where the two chunky, downtuned guitars create a wall of sound a la My Bloody Valentine. “Spite House” brings in a catchier, emo punk sound and “Bigger People” is a bit noisier and freer-flowing.

This album has a refreshing “warts and all” approach. The vocals are a little pitchy, but I think it seems that way in part because virtually all music we hear these days is digitally done-up with a lot of studio magic.

Purchase Find Peace In The Next Life at Bandcamp.

Here are a handful of late summer/early fall shows for your consideration:

Note that many venues locally and nationally have announced that they’re requiring the extra step of showing your proof of vaccination and/or wearing a mask. If you ask me, it’s worth the minor inconvenience to ensure everybody feels safe for the return of live music.

Superwolves (Bonnie “Prince” Billy & Matt Sweeney), Columbus Theatre, September 3

Superwolves is a supergroup duo made up of celebrated songwriter Bonnie “Prince” Billy and guitarist Matt Sweeney. The originally titled Superwolves is the long-awaited follow-up to their 2005 electric folk masterpiece, Superwolf.

KiSSiNG KONTEST/Salem Wolves/Moodrunners/Gamma Rage, Dusk, September 4

Gamma Rage is fronted by recent Motif Music Award Winner Malyssa BellaRosa, Salem Wolves are a Boston rock band of note, and Kissing Kontest is the music of Preston Neutrino. Moodrunners impressed with their stellar debut EP earlier this year.

Scurvy Dog Parking Lot Mega Show II, September 5

Standing in a parking lot? Will that be fun? Is it even a nice parking lot? Not particularly. But Scurvy Dog’s long running Mega Show series does pack a bunch of cool bands into the Labor Day Sunday. This year’s event features Triangle Forest, the Fatal Flaw, JUGGWORLD, Song Birds and way more.

Rhythm and Roots, Ninigret Park, Labor Day Weekend

A South County favorite returns after a year off. Heavy hitters here include British folkster Richard Thompson, American folkster John Hiatt and Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. For local(ish) artists who always deliver, check out Ward Hayden & The Outliers (formerly Girls Guns & Glory), Charlie Marie and Will Evans.

Ben Folds, Vets Auditorium, September 24

Ever the consummate performer, Ben Folds is coming to town for a solo show. This is not a situation where the lack of band is a bummer. I’ve seen him solo a few times and found the show thoroughly enjoyable.

The Last Dropout Night: A Celebration of Jon Tierney, The Parlour (PVD), September 25

Local songwriter “Big Jon” Tierney passed away in December 2020 and was, by all accounts, both extremely talented and very well-liked by all. This memorial performance will feature Kris Hansen, Christian Calderone, Becca Neveu, Matty O, Nate Cozzolino and more. Check Facebook for more details.

Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Fete, October 6

I caught these guys on a weekend morning news show recently and found them pretty entertaining. It’s a country rock sound that’s heartworn, gritty and that kind of thing, without feeling manufactured. Their latest LP, A Few Stars Apart, dropped in June.

Whitney, Columbus, October 30

This band kept coming up on my Spotify playlists (sorry, yes, I have surrendered to the algorithm), and I was impressed when I finally dove into their catalog of compelling, hooky chamber pop.

Ancient Offerings: Vudu Sister’s new release offers a modern twist on ancient myths

Burnt Offerings is the new release from Vudu Sister, a unique record featuring modern retellings of ancient myths in Latin and ancient Greek. With his signature gothic folk stylings, Keith J.G McCurdy eloquently spins a new take on tales as old as time. This project immediately caught my attention. Who is this hyper-educated madman? And why write lyrics in dead languages? McCurdy, reached by phone, says he’s always loved mythology and Tolkien. “While taking some mythology courses in the University of Rhode Island (URI) Classics department, I fell in love with Latin and Greek languages,” said McCurdy.

McCurdy’s mentor, Dr. Daniel Carpenter, encouraged students to create projects using Latin and Greek. McCurdy had the idea to write songs after trying his hand at poetry, and was awarded a grant from URI to help with the recording costs.

The cumbersome songwriting and translation operation required a specific plan of attack for each song. “The process was a lot more mathematical than for writing a regular song,” said McCurdy. “These all began with the melody, and in some cases it made more sense to start with the Greek or Latin words first, and sometimes the English.”

Inspired by Ovid’s Heroides poems, told from the viewpoint of women in myth, the record puts the female perspective at the forefront. The subjects feel of particular significance given our society’s reckoning with the issues of sexual assault and gender inequality.

“Scelera Malorum,” or “the crimes of wicked men,” is told from the perspective of the furies in their role as arbiters of vengeance in retribution for crimes against women: “Blood the price, from lawless fire/Having been extorted, is a harsh payment/Out of sleepless hate, from reckless rage our violence.” Angela Degaitas and Rachel Rosencrantz provide backing harmonies, representing the three furies along with McCurdy.

Four out of the five songs are in Latin, with the exception of “ἡ Κλυταιμνήστρα” in Ancient Greek. In it, Clytemnestra kills her husband out of revenge for the slaying of their daughter. “On the surface, ‘Clytemnestra’ doesn’t sound all that musical, so I did this one as kind of a challenge,” said McCurdy.

“Credite Mihi” (“Believe Me”) recounts the story of Cassandra, cursed with the gift of foresight. This was my favorite of the batch, with its Eastern European lilt and catchy melody.

It should be noted that these are all McCurdy’s original songs, not recreations of ancient music. “I thought it was important to do this in a contemporary vein, and in a way that is consistent with my own style,” said McCurdy. He cites musical influences like Sicilian folk and the Greek genre rebetiko.

Much like the subject matter, the music has a classical sounding pedigree, with a string-heavy instrumentation of guitar, double bass, violin and viola. Sonically and thematically, Burnt Offerings picks up where Vudu’s 2016 Mortis Nervosa album leaves off, as that record drew from ghost stories and folk tales.

“Flores Lecti” gives a sweet and sour effect, moving from somber 6/8 to an upbeat, almost poppy chorus. But in true downer mythological fashion, this chorus turns out to mean “I became a bride of death/Who is forever a maiden,” describing how Persephone is taken by Hades at the apex of youth and beauty.

“Amor Carmen Novercae” is a macabre waltz that is anchored by an enchanting violin. The album features excellent “hands off” production with minimal effects.

McCurdy realizes the barriers to entry with Burnt Offerings, and isn’t expecting listeners to learn Ancient Greek. “I’m well aware that it’s potentially alienating, and that a lot of people won’t go that deep into the subject matter,” he said. “There’s a hope that the songs will stand on their own melodically, and are still able to capture or evoke some of that emotion.”

Though I admit that it is more difficult to connect with music you don’t understand, I found the arranging, melodies, and all-around musicianship impressive. Even more impressive is McCurdy’s will to take on this gargantuan project and breathe new life into these age-old stories.

Burnt Offerings, along with translations, is available for download at Bandcamp.

Optimism Rising: Modern folk to usher in a post-pandemic summer

I write this as I’m about to head off to a concert, hopefully the first of many this summer, and it finally feels like the pandemic cloud is lifting. This month, I take a look at two compelling takes on modern folk.

Will Orchard — I Reached My Hand Out

It’s been over three years since my profile of Will Orchard, then performing under the moniker LittleBoyBigHeadonBike. We spoke about his releasing music on Bandcamp at a furious pace, at times putting out songs every few days.

Now based in Boston, he hasn’t slowed down much, making music under his own name. His sophomore release, I Reached My Hand Out, combines hi-fi production, experimental song structures, and Orchard’s frank, observational honesty.

Orchard’s website reads: “I Reached My Hand Out documents the process of walking away from shame, learning to criticize yourself and the world with empathy, and then walking right back again.”

Elements of dream pop and psychedelia pair well with themes of loneliness and evocative, slice-of-life lyrics. The chorus of voices behind “Alone” bolster a kind of a half spoken word song that reads like poetry:

“Driving through perfect little towns/on the edge of New Hampshire, I start to speed/The moon just sat there unmoving above me/And the headlights in the jeep trailing behind, uneasily.”

I Reached My Hand Out was released by Better Company Records and produced by San Fermin’s Allen Tate, which makes sense given that band’s penchant for lush production. The album provides many sonic textures to unpack, including clarinet, piano, banjo, and choruses of layered background vocals, which at times remind me of a mix between the Killers and Bon Iver.

While the album does feature some of the expected stripped-down fingerpicking (“Hair Salon”), it goes in plenty of bold new directions. “October Hallways” and “Smoke Alarm” feature a cool take on the neo folk electronica sound perfected by Sufjan Stevens.

After a hazy intro, “Come Into My Fog” evolves into something so upbeat and poppy to the point of being Deadlike. The song narrates profound moments of minutiae from his life:

“I walked out of my foggy head/And got a cup of coffee downstairs/There was a cornucopia/On the kitchen table ringed with flowers.”

“Rita,” with its evocative lyrics (“Throwing darts at the wall/With a blindfold around my heart”) and a memorable melody, is a highlight. The album’s opus is “Over Blue Highways,” which sounds like alt- country-era Ryan Adams interspersed with the earnest acoustics of Phosphorescent.

I commend Will on this well-thought-out record. All those Bandcamp releases were leading him to some pretty ambitious, interesting material.

Find streaming info, lyrics, and more at willorchard.net.

Andrew Victor — Here, honey

On Here, honey, Westerly-based songwriter Andrew Victor mines the rich harmony in subtlety, with a sense of spacious noise and pathos. Adding to an impressive back catalogue of DIY releases, Victor wrote, performed and recorded everything on the album, and you can sense the homespun quality.

The acoustic “Westerly” incorporates elements that are both sad and pastoral, with haunting harmonies underneath. “Meant to Be” features sparse, moody synths.

The album features more traditional songs mixed in with more sporadic instrumental interludes. “Quilcene” has an eerily familiar piano pattern, and “South Prairie” reminds me of Vangelis’s Chariots of Fire score.

“Give Me The Open Field Now” is a futuristic groove set over a hazy whir. Though it’s not super electric, he’s got a David Gilmouresque “master of effects” thing going on throughout.

Call me a normie, but I definitely could’ve used a few more verse-chorus-verse tunes among the drony instrumentals. But all in all, worth checking out.

Purchase Andrew Victor’s Here, honey at Bandcamp.

Keep on Movin: Ten Years of Magic: Pile celebrates with a livestreamed performance

Pile — Magic Isn’t Real

Pile, the celebrated indie rock band with Boston origins recently marked the pandemic-delayed 10th anniversary of their fantastic album Magic Isn’t Real, holding a livestream performance with their original lineup of Matt Becker, Matt Connery, Kris Kuss and frontman Rick Maguire. In the last decade, Pile has gained a legion of devoted fans and have become known as a “rock band’s rock band.”

Born out of the basement show scene in Allston, the band’s heavy but deeply harmonic sound defies categorization. Magic’s songs are as biting and angular as The Jesus Lizard, but way more dynamic, and jittery like Gang of Four, but with way better hooks.

“Number One Single” is a craggly jam with a stop-start feel and warp speed drumming. “Pets” is a catchy, sludge-pop number with downtuned warmth that makes it a modern classic.

Not unlike fellow Bostonians The Pixies, their sound feels experimental and edgy, but I found myself hitting the repeat button and don’t quite know why. The “But I was honest” refrain in the song “Octopus” is downright anthemic, and the soaring “Two Snakes” keeps you guessing the whole time.

Just when these songs approach conventional pop structures, they careen off into new and interesting directions. “Don’t Touch Anything” is my favorite, and remains a fan favorite as well (if Spotify data is to be believed).

I revisited the album with Mcguire by phone a few days before the livestream. Jake Bissaro (Motif): Magic was the first Pile record with the full band lineup, right?

Rick Maguire: Yeah, it’s Matt Becker, Chris and I on the album. We went on our first tour in the fall of 2009, and a few months later Matt found out he was going to be a father, so we knew we had to get everything fully recorded and tracked by the following July.

JB: Did having a band affect the sound, as opposed to the earlier solo releases?

RM: I think so. With the full band, there was definitely a lot more room to experiment with dynamics, and it was good just generally having other people to bounce ideas off of.

JB: It seems like the album represented a bit of a breakthrough for you guys, at least in terms of a New England presence. What do you remember about the reception?

RM: I do remember it being pretty well-received. Around that time, we were playing way more basements than clubs, so the album started to open up a new world to us — new people, new music and new venues I didn’t even realize existed.

JB: It feels like now, there’s a sort of mythology built up around the Boston rock scene around that time. Do you have fond memories of it?

RM: Very much so. I think I have my own mythology about that time in some ways, but it was pretty exciting. I lived in a house with a bunch of people in bands, and within a two minute walk you could get to three different houses that had shows regularly. On some nights, there would be three or four happening, and you’d try to catch as much as you could.

JB: Which tracks are most memorable to you?

RM: It’s strange; the ones that are more memorable now are the ones we haven’t played all that much because of this anniversary show. I’ve formed new memories around the ones we’ve continued to play over the past 10 years. But having to relearn a song like “Levee,” I have absolutely no idea what I was playing, and I had to think about what I might have done back then to help figure it out.

JB: What was the recording process like?

RM: Pretty smooth, from what I remember. It was recorded by Richard Marr at Galaxy Park Studios in Allston, now in Salem. I think we set aside just a week, and we recorded the album plus what ended up being the Big Web 7”. We basically did everything live, but with additional takes punched in.

JB: Lyrically, it seems like many of the subjects are cloaked in metaphor. Was this an intentional move?

RM: I was going through some personal stuff at the time and I didn’t want to be too overt. It just felt like a safer way to express myself, and maybe I thought it was a more powerful way to have different characters, or animals, tell the story.

JB: Do you now consider yourself a “Nashville Band” now that you’ve relocated? Does it even matter?

RM: I’m in Boston right now. I still very much like spending time here, and essentially split my time between the two places. But ultimately, wherever people want to say we’re from is totally fine. It’s semantics at this point. JB: Any final thoughts on the album?

RM: I have my own personal and complicated feelings about it, but at this point it just feels like a picture of that period of my life.

Pile plans to write and record a new album later this year, slated for a 2022 release.

Buy Magic Isn’t Real at Pile’s bandcamp page.

Still Spinning: Twin Foxes and Gnarnia Twin Foxes – Broken Bell

Broken Bell is the new full-length from Providence rock band Twin Foxes. The album features Andrew Fortin on bass and Mann solidly performing almost every other instrument. It has a more minimalist feel than their 2018 full length, Sleeping on the Attic Floor, which featured straight-to-the-point aggression. Here, the band shoots for a musical journey and focuses on the quiet anguish of the everyday in both musical tone and lyrical content.

The ardent, anxious vibe is summed up in the title track: ”There are no words to fix a broken bell,” as well as some great lines in “You Are:” “Here I am six years late/Still trudging through the snow, still trudging through my brain.” The shuffle feel in “Wake Up” is not in your average garage band’s repertoire, and the keyboard waltz in “It’s Always Raining In My Minds” keeps things interesting.

“6 Years Old,” about leaving the past behind, employs a super-long buildup to epic effect. Two minutes in, after some more muted chords and picking, you get slammed with the full electric treatment. Mann’s Conor Oberst-esque muffled, stylized vocals sometimes come off a bit repetitive and hollow in songs like “The Burden” and “White Rabbit.”

My favorite, “The Wall,” has the sprawling, melancholy vibe perfected by Modest Mouse and uses the title as an effective metaphor about overcoming real or perceived hurdles, which hits home the COVID era. The song builds off of a creeping groove and summons a ton of emotion with just a few simple strums.

Mann’s background as a producer comes through as well, as he recorded the album himself at his own Distorted Forest studio. I think the album’s biggest accomplishment are the sonic structures he is able to achieve, like the great, growling guitar alchemy in “Move Out West” and the wailing synths in “You Are.”

Buy Broken Bell at Bandcamp (all donations of $25 or over will receive a vinyl LP).

Gnarnia – cheap thrills

Gnarnia is a Providence band that plays a refreshing blast of fast, brash punk rock in the grand tradition of bands like Bad Brains and the Circle Jerks. The three-song cheap thrills EP can take you right back to the sweaty, germy circle pit that you’ve been missing all year.

Unlike some hardcore, these tunes don’t revel in mediocrity, but are expertly played and super tight. “Procrastinate” is a breakneck speed ode to everyone’s favorite stalling tactic. “Fade Away” is even faster and rawer, and barely cracks the one minute mark.

Buy cheap thrills at Bandcamp.

Vaccination Preoccupation

Here is Motif’s comprehensive collection of the best-ever songs vaguely related to vaccines.

“A Shot in the Arm” — Wilco

“A Shot in the Arm” was the second single off of Summerteeth, an album in which songwriter Jeff Tweedy began exploring more ambitious pop structures. The chaotic wall of noise and synths at the end is downright epic.

“Anodyne” — Uncle Tupelo

From Tweedy’s first band, this title track of their 1993 final album was written by Jay Ferrar. The band split just as they were beginning to find some commercial success, but the album remains a high-water mark in the alt-country genre.

“Rubella” — Smoking Popes Smoking Popes, an underrated ’90s band that combined expert punk pop melodies and crooning vocals, released “Rubella” on 1994’s Born to Quit, their only album to chart. “I’m inflamed with desire and it’s spreading like wildfire” is a killer line.

“Injection” — Rise Against

Off of 2006’s The Sufferer & the Witness, “Injection” is a great example of the era’s hook-laiden punk rock that brushed up against hardcore just enough to keep the kids interested.

“Inoculated City” — The Clash

This one is off of the band’s fractured final album, Combat Rock. It’s a bright, pop-heavy Mick Jones tune that sounds like a precursor to his post-Clash Big Audio Dynamite project. “Inoculated City” also contains an audio clip from a cleaning product ad, which I assume means something about the horrors of commercialism.

“Sure Shot” — Beastie Boys

1994’s Ill Communication continued to build the Beastie’s rep as an innovative force in hip-hop. Though the band did play the instruments themselves on most of the album, flautist Jeremy Steig’s “Howlin’ For Judy” served as the foundational sample.

Listening for the Depths of Winter: And a hot debate enters the House floor

Austin Bullock — Don’t Wake Me Up At the end of 2020, Providence-based multi-instrumentalist Austin Bullock dropped Don’t Wake Me Up, a satisfying collection of eight songs with wide-ranging influences. A prolific writer, Bullock put out three albums in 2020, all following the theme of “8 hours labor, 8 hours recreation, 8 hours rest” according to his Bandcamp page.

Though it was hard to decipher any kind of throughline, all the songs feature smart arranging and superb guitar playing. He mixes a lot into the stew here, and all the parts are well fleshed out. “Circus Freak” has a kind of dancy Franz Ferdinand vibe, and “How Could You” is a breezy folk tune.

Some of the songs off Don’t Wake Me Up make that warbly, Mac Demarco guitar tone the star of the show, like the heavy groover “Deflated.” The leadoff “(I Don’t Want) Another” has the sunny, laid-back tones of Ryland Baxter. The interlocked guitars in “Evaporate” are straight-up Strokes.

The best moment comes when Bullock moves away from the modern indie influences completely in the bluesy, psych-infused ”Talk the Talk.” The song’s repetitive, hypnotic riff is something my brain hasn’t been able to shake.

There is a homespun basement vibe — Bullock appears to play all the instruments — that is definitely cool, but these songs would really rip with a full band. The act performs as a duo with Lauren Boucher on drums, and hopefully will be playing live at a venue near you soon.

Purchase Don’t Wake Me Up here.

Torn Shorts — Live at Dusk

During this time of peak concert withdrawal, Torn Shorts has released their Dusk set from eight years ago. The quartet, consisting of Josh Grabert, Nick Molak, Brendan Tompkins, and Zach Zarcone, specializes in a mix of heavy blues, folk and jam.

The band always seemed like a popular live draw in the before times, and this set illustrates why. If you listen hard enough, you can almost feel yourself back in the post-industrial hinterlands listening to a live set, beer in hand, and afraid to use the dank, graffiti-covered bathroom. Live at Dusk has many jams fans would describe as “tasty,” with extended guitar solos in “Wishing Well” and “Sunday Afternoon.” They mostly keep it pretty tight without entering moe. territory, though the part about getting high down by the river in “It’s A Feeling” may be a bit on the nose.

I’ve said before that Dusk has the best sound in the game and it’s on display here, where each instrument is well-accounted for. “Life On A River” features anthemic, Springteen-era rock with everyman themes. A groovy cover of the Wilco, Guthrie-penned song “Airline to Heaven” is made infectious with some tasteful slide guitar.

On this album, I gravitated toward the heavier stuff: “Take my Soul” is kind of a classic rock blowout and “Devil” is supercharged, distorted blues for the win.

The best part: all proceeds will go toward supporting Dusk.

Purchase Torn Shorts’ Live at Dusk here.

Making it Official?

A recent ProJo article highlighted a bill in the RI House of Representatives that would make R&B the state’s official music. Warwick Democrat Rep. David Bennett filed the bill at the behest of RI R&B Preservation Society president Cleveland Kurtz.

The bill defines R&B as “music which contains elements of pop, soul, funk, hip-hop and electronic music.” My take: Perhaps folk or jazz would be a better option, given the state’s two historic music festivals. I suppose any way to draw more attention to our musical heritage is a good thing.

I can’t help but imagine what sort of spirited discourse this measure might inspire. Is House Speaker Shekarchi more of a ’90s hip-hop guy? Would a companion bill on the Senate spark debate, with Ruggerio pulling for doom metal? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Ahoy to the Humble Sea Shanty: Sharks Come Cruisin’ elevate the genre with a punk background As the new year rolls along, still chock full of anxiety and loneliness, a seafaring music genre that peaked in the 19th century has become an unlikely star on TikTok. The trend started when 26-year-old Scottish mailman Nathan Evans posted his version of the sea shanty “Wellerman,” a whaling song with origins in New Zealand. That triggered a full-blown frenzy, with hundreds uploading their own riffs.

Sea shanties are maritime songs sung to accompany various ship deck tasks like sail hoisting. They combine the rhythms of African work songs with lyrics that are Anglo-Irish, often in 4/4 time with simple melodies that make them a good fit for mass consumption.

Some say the popularity of the sea shanty, meant to be sung together in support of a common goal, speaks to the desire for connection during these dark times. On the other hand, Vox contributor Rebecca Jennings sees it as the next in a series of random crazes driven by the social media hivemind: “The quarantine-era internet just makes us cycle through obscure niches of culture faster and faster,” said Jennings.

So what is it about these sea shanties? I spoke to local expert Mark Lambert of Providence’s Sharks Come Cruisin’, who specialize in sea shanties, about his experience with the unique genre.

Lambert grew up playing in punk and hardcore bands in Providence. His band, Return Around, fizzled out at the end of a long tour at which point he took an extended break from music. He wanted to start playing again in the early 2000s, but wasn’t sure what shape it would take. “A lot of my peers from the rock scene were gravitating to country or blues, which didn’t really seem all that authentic to me.” One day, Lambert was watching the movie Jaws, which features a few shanties, and was immediately taken. “I heard Quint’s version of ‘Spanish Ladies’ — I knew there was something very New England about the sound, and it felt very close to home for me,” he said. After borrowing some sea shanty LPs from the library he dug in further, working out the songs and playing local open mics. SCC started to take shape once he got a bassist and drummer involved.

On a musical level, the appeal for Lambert makes sense. Three chords, an everyman spirit and a supremely singable nature make shanties not unlike punk rock. “The melodies are all very familiar — even if you don’t know them, you kinda do,” said Lambert.

The call and response element, which helped shiphands stay in sync when performing heavy-duty chores, was another big draw for Lambert. “It reminded me of exactly where I grew up at hardcore shows — the singer was singing and the audience screaming back at them.” SCC, to date, has two full-length albums, along with various EPs and live recordings mostly consisting of traditional shanties and the odd original mixed in. Lambert’s punk background really shines through in songs like “South Australia” and “Donkey Riding” off their album When I Got Home From Across the Sea, which are uptempo, semi-rocked out shanties. Instruments like banjo, fiddle and accordion round out the sound.

The band has also become known for the monthly Shanty Sing at the Parlour, the rare family-friendly evening gig. Lambert came up with the idea and pitched it to then part owner Aaron Jaehnig, and it ended up being a major success. SCC had been doing virtual shanty sings at home remotely until this month. “It is a little unfortunate that this popularity comes in the middle of a pandemic, when no one can actually come together and do the real thing,” said Lambert. Lambert, who says he’s had many articles around the “Wellerman” craze sent to him by friends, isn’t so sure that the craze is related to the pandemic. “I think it’s more a matter of this guy in Scotland putting his own spin on the song (which I had actually never heard), with a great hook that happened to resonate with a wide audience. And now, it’s great to see others who are continuing to make it their own.”

Listen to the music of Sharks Come Cruisin’

RI Repository: Taking the Wayback Machine to Six Finger Satellite’s improbable history

To kick off a hopefully brighter 2021, here’s another edition of RI Repository, where we revisit notable releases from RI’s past. This year, we examine 1995’s Severe Exposure from noise rock band Six Finger Satellite. 6FS formed in Providence in the late ’80s with a lineup that included singer/keyboardist J. Ryan, John MacLean and Peter Phillips on guitar, and Rick Pelletier on drums. The band was signed to Sub Pop records after, legend has it, they submitted an alt rock-styled demo and the label signed them thinking they would provide something along the same lines.

The band’s first album, The Pigeon Is the Most Popular Bird, is a scratchy, post-punk affair, and their second, Machine Cuisine, is mellower and made extensive use of synths. With Severe Exposure, the band arrived at a satisfying middle ground between the two sounds, an adventurous mix of the herky- jerky new wave of Devo and the punishing guitars of The Jesus Lizard.

“We started out as a guitar band, but were really into bands like Chrome and Public Image Ltd.,” said Pelletier. “A big reason we added the synths was because we didn’t have many choruses in our songs. To us, the synth lines were hooks that the listener could grab ahold of.”

The warbly, distorted synths in “Cock Fight” and the unsettling modulation of “Rabies (Baby’s Got The)” provide a deliberate dissonance that, if anything, heightens the level of chaos. “We were never interested in using the synths as some kind of atmospheric, background noise,” says Pelletier. “We intentionally tried to make them as hard-edged as the guitars.”

Severe Exposure’s unintelligible vocals, jagged guitars and frenetic pace creates a trance throughout. “Dark Companion” has a MC5, frenzied proto punk vibe, and “White Queen to Black Knight” sounds like demonic blues. The whole album has a compelling spirit of confrontation and experimentation.

According to Pelletier, the Severe Exposure era marked the band’s most cohesive and well-known lineup, and saw the band firing on all cylinders. “Around that time, we were always playing, pretty much all our spare time was spent either playing or recording at the studio.”

It helped that the atmosphere was so inspiring. “The Fort Thunder scene was great, and Providence had a lot of clubs with touring bands coming through at the time,” said Pelletier. “People felt that creative buzz and tapped into it.”

Their sonic mélange was concocted at The Parlour, the 6FS’s own studio in Pawtucket, (located in the building where Jamstage is now), which the band put together to gain more control over the process. “We had recorded in studios before and inevitably it always came down to time or money, so we took each advance from Sub Pop and put it into getting our own gear.”

According to Pelletier, the band also received invaluable recording and gear advice from legendary indie engineers Bob Weston, who recorded their debut, and Steve Albini.

The song “Parlour Games” got the ultimate ’90s treatment when the music video, directed by RI filmmaker Guy Benoit, was featured in an episode of “Beavis & Butthead.” 6FS went on to put out two more critically acclaimed records that failed to set the charts on fire. The follow up, Law of Ruins, was produced by James Murphy (later of LCD Soundsystem fame) who had joined the band as a live sound engineer.

After Law, John MacLean left the group, partly due to tensions arising from his relationship with Murphy, and Sub Pop dropped them shortly thereafter. They called it quits in 2001, and Pelletier and Ryan reformed the band in 2007.

6FS is now recognized for being ahead of the electro-rock curve. ”We knew we weren’t going to sell a shit ton of records, and did a lot of what we set out to do,” said Pelletier. Ultimately, Severe Exposure is now looked at as something of a cult classic, and their catalog is remembered by many as a bold exploration of new sonic territory.

6FS has two releases consisting of demo reissues coming out this year. Stream Severe Exposure on Spotify. The Weary World Trudges Through: Support local with these holiday albums that don’t suck

Many of us are cancelling Thanksgiving plans and looking ahead to an equally weird Christmas, and with the holiday season comes the inevitable buying spree. It was recently reported that Jeff Bezos saw his wealth rise by an estimated $48 billion from March to June alone. In the spirit of rejecting this gross inequity, I urge you to support local businesses.

Any of the albums featured in this column would make excellent gifts for the music lovers in your life. Even more enticing, December 4 is the last “Bandcamp Friday,” in which the revenue share is waived so that every cent goes to the artist. Whether it’s music related or not, consider kicking in a few shekels to your local creators or give a donation if you can swing it.

A few campaigns to consider:

The Narrows Center Fundraiser (also worth checking out is their series of livestreams) Rhode Island Artist Relief Fund Save The Parlour GoFundMe Newport Festivals Musician Relief Fund AS220

Dan Blakeslee and the Calabash Club — Christmasland Jubilee

Local songwriter and crooner Dan Blakeslee has built an impressive resume by pounding the pavement throughout New England and putting out a string of acclaimed albums. He’s well known for his ghoulish alter ego Doctor Gasp, but this time takes a turn round the ol’ Christmas tree with his first holiday record, Christmasland Jubilee.

It’s astounding to think that so many Christmas albums are released year after year given that the canon and themes don’t really don’t change much. Instead of a straight rehashing, Blakeslee manages to bring his own folksy flair to the catalog. Blakeslee brings a brooding, rolling tumbleweeds vibe to “We Three Kings” and puts his own spin on the melody. He tries out boogie woogie on “The Reindeer Boogie,” and “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” is set atop a gorgeous NOLA-style ragtime, replete with clarinet and muted trumpet.

Blakeslee describes the album as “a 10-year dream album come to life.” I have the pleasure of knowing Dan in real life, and there is no denying that the guy really loves Christmas music.

The musical ornamentation (no pun intended) creates a captivating soundscape throughout the record, with deft backing vocals, accordion, piano and percussion. There’s a lot going on at times, but it’s managed with minimal turbulence. A high point is “Silver Bells,” featuring a beautiful combo of Hammond organ, mandolin and vibraphone.

The Calabash Club is pianist/accordionist Mike Effenberger, bassist Nick Phaneuf and drummer Jim Rudolf, but there’s a pretty extensive cast of characters who do a great job.

In addition to the classics, Christmasland Jubilee has a solid crop of originals. “Glowin’, Blowin’, Jumpin’, Swayin’, Wishin’, Swingin’, Dancin’, Rockin’, Fishin’, Laughin’ Christmas Tree” brings a jazz flavor and proves that the holidays are no time for brevity.

“The Somerville Lights” is a straight-ahead folk tune about the light displays in Blakeslee’s former city, and a bonus song, “Let’s Start Again,” has a more off-the-cuff feel and really shows off his songwriting chops.

Maybe the fact that Dan and others can keep coming out with engaging takes on the same material is a comment on the supreme adaptability of music itself. Sure, it’s all been done, but now it’s been done by Dan Blakeslee. Purchase Christmasland Jubilee on at Bandcamp.

Holiday Albums That Don’t Suck

My relationship with holiday music mainly involves grumbling when the dentist’s office starts playing it in early November, but after Dan’s album I decided to see what else is out there. Here are a few of my most cherished holiday records, most of which I pulled from other online “best of” collections yesterday.

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings — It’s a Holiday Soul Party

The late Sharon Jones put out this soulful selection fearing the glorious horn section of the The Dap Kings in 2009. The slow burn of “Silent Night” and “Please Come Home For Christmas” really let Jones’s vocals shine, and upbeat fare like “8 Days (Of Hannukah)” and “Funky Little Drummer” boy will bring down the house at your Zoom holiday party.

Jethro Tull — The Jethro Tull Christmas Album

What says Christmas more than some woodland woodwinds or super show-offy arrangements of the classics? In what was to be their last studio album, Tull puts their own proggy spin on the holidays with tunes like “Birthday Card at Christmas” and “Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow,” as well as rerecordings of fan favorites like “Weathercock” and the instrumental “Bourée”

Aimee Mann — One More Drifter in the Snow

Christmas doesn’t have to be all good times and cheer; Aimee Mann depresses along with the best of them with “Whatever Happened to Christmas” and “Christmastime,” about things falling apart around the holiday. “Calling on Mary” is a brilliant song no matter the time of year.

David Sedaris — Holidays on Ice

While not technically music, I always enjoy hearing the audiobook being played on NPR and getting a look at Sedaris’ time as a department store elf.

Willie Nelson — Pretty Paper

By ‘79, Nelson had released 24 albums and was just beginning his well-publicized troubles with the IRS. The title track is a rerecording of Nelson’s song, which was a hit for Roy Orbison. The bright spot for me, though, is the nifty organ and keyboards on tunes like “Rudolph” and “Here Comes Santa Claus” by Booker T. Jones, who also produced the record.

The Vandals — Oi to the World!

The Vandals specialize in juvenile themes mixed with lightning fast skate punk, evidenced here with tunes like “A Gun For Christmas” and “Christmastime for My Penis.” Interestingly, the 1996 album received renewed interest after No Doubt covered the title track a few years later. Jelly Side Down — Had to Be There

The golden era of pop-punk may have come and gone, but Johnston newcomers Jelly Side Down do a good job capturing the spirit. And with stellar recent releases from bands like The Callouts and U.G.L.Y, maybe there’s something in the water.

There’s definitely some examples of Jelly Side Down nailing the format, with general themes of unease and the angst of the young along with some effective hooks and crunchy guitars. “$18,000 and a Chance at the Title” has the shredding and lead harmonies of Sum 41, and “Midnight” packs a killer hook.

“I Hope You See This” has some heavy breakdowns and dark edges that remind me of Evanescence. “Specter” features an impenetrable fortress of beefy guitars, and they also cover “Valerie,” made famous by Amy Winehouse, which they manage to rev up a bit.

Buy Had to be There on Bandcamp.

Misster Dylan’s Beautiful Blues: Dylan Harley releases his debut album, Dark Side of the Force

Misster Dylan – DARK SIDE OF THE FORCE

Just in time for perhaps the darkest time in recent memory, Misster Dylan, moniker of local songwriter Dylan Harley, is out with his debut record DARK SIDE OF THE FORCE. DSOTF is a sonically diverse, thematically ambitious record that wades straight into muck that seemingly no one can avoid these days. Harley boldly mixes together everything from rap to folk and focuses on demons both inner and outer. “Mac Milliner’s Ball” has a kind of swaggering ragtime with great horn arrangements by John Birt, and “Tragick Magick” deals with addiction via a minor-key macabre reggae groove.

“The general theme of the record came about organically,” said Harley. “The songs were written separately over the last three years, but I realized that these songs have a unifying force in that they’re all about fear, and especially my personal fears.”

My favorite track, “The Gom Jabbar,” combines the funereal doom metal of Sleep and a shuffling, Stevie Wonder-like drum groove with some spooky, demonic Halloween screams. This dark-but-funky tune deals with the release of death by way of a Dune reference.

“It refers to an ultimatum the hero is given when being tested by the high priestess to see if he’s a human. They give him the choice of putting his hand into a box with the most immense pain imaginable, or getting pricked by the poisonous Gom Jabbar needle,” said Harley. “The point being that an animal will gnaw their own arm off to escape, even if it means dying. I wanted something that would take the listener out of the day-to-day and frame it in a more universal way.”

If that all wasn’t enough, he forays into rap in “Invasive Species,” spitting rhymes about the toxicity of his own white privilege: “No need to ask, I just help myself/beneath the leaves of my family’s tree of inherited wealth.” The song, which even contains the obligatory *inhales weed* noises, ends with a fiery verse from local rapper Slitty Wrists that flatly rejects the entire premise of injustice and racism.

“I didn’t want the song to be entirely a white dude gloating about how good he’s got it, especially while appropriating the genre,” said Harley. “I connected with Slitty through Jessee Tree after I heard him on Jesse’s record, and knew immediately that he would be great to rap the ‘kill shot’ verse,” said Harley.

The song is one of two notable collaborations, the other being “Shai-Hulud” (a second Dune reference), which prominently features the djembe of local percussionist Sidy Maiga. Harley, who recorded much of the album and plays virtually every instrument on it, doesn’t shy away from collaboration.

“I’m so inspired by so many artists and musicians in this city, so I figured why not see if there are people who can help elevate it?” he said. “It helps make things way less precious and more communal. At the end of the day it’s about trying to achieve some kind of resonance, and I think that’s much easier to do when there’s other people involved.”

Harley noted that there are at least two other collaborations that didn’t make the record, but which he hopes to release in the future.

“Killing the Planet” is about every single move you make puting us closer to the undoing of the Earth, and the album ends aptly with the experimental folk balled “Let’s Try Not To Fuck Up Our Kids (TNTFUOK?)”: “A rock ‘n’ roll dose of Red, White, and Blue that’s been tellin’ us all what to think, feel, and do.”

Preorder DARK SIDE OF THE FORCE before its October 31 release at missterdylan.bandcamp.com/album/dark-side-of-the-force. Minky Starshine – Gold Plated

Rob Anastasi’s Minky Starshine has been cranking out reliable power pop since the mid-2000s, and the recent Gold Plated is the first in a planned trio of releases coming in the next few months. The slick production, creamy guitars and horns make listening to this like being ensconced in velvet.

The standout “Wrong and Right” has a fun, bouncy glam rock feel and killer fuzzed-out guitar leads. “Somebody’s Heart,” is kind of a strong but starry eyed rock ballad that reminds me of Badfinger. Along the same lines, the sappy heartache of “Radio Holster,” with its ’80s sax solo, falls a bit flatter.

Frankly, what originally attracted me to the release was seeing the cover of “1000 Umbrellas” by XTC, one of my favorite cult rock bands. Anastasi really nails the string section, shelling out the dough for a mini orchestra, and the reverb and ethereal backing vocals give this impressive take a more melancholy effect.

Gold Plated is definitely worth a spin in your rotation, so stay tuned for the others.

Purchase Gold Plated at minkystarshine.bandcamp.com/album/gold-plated.

Song Birds

Song Birds is a new group out of Providence with two turbulent EPs released in quick succession that direct the collective anger of the current day into some unhinged garage rock. Their sound is akin to being ensconced in a psychedelic fireball, like they’re in a loose jam session rather than a studio.

“Fever Dream” is a catchy mid-tempo song about being unable to connect with somebody, and “Swallow Glass” is pure punk rock. The highlight, “Time Pulls the Trigger,” is a big, brash southern rock funeral dirge for this dumpster fire of a year, with a total barnburner of a guitar solo.

The second EP, The World’s Gone to F​@​#king Hell, sounds even more cathartic and low-fi. I enjoyed the indulgent noise of “Space Camp” and the maniacal jamming on “Cashmere.”

TwentyTwenty and The World’s Gone to F​@​#king Hell are available at the Song Birds Bandcamp page: songbirdspvd.bandcamp.com