Just another band out of Boston...

statler

statler

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Ok folks let's talk local music both past and present.

Aside from the AB house band who is your all time favorite band from Boston?

Do you still rock out to your Toys in the Attic vinyl?

Still dreaming about that girl with soft and fuzzy sweater?

Waiting (and waiting) for the next Boston album?

Maybe you still think ska is Mighty, Mighty cool.

If you still gaze dreamily up at your tattered NKOTB posters that's OK this is a judgment free zone, feel free to tell us tales of worn out Bobby Brown and New Edition cassettes. We understand.

Or maybe you are clinging to the hope for a Boston-scene revival and look to the Dropkick Murphys as the second coming.

Just don't be that guy. You know, the "Me and my two friends saw a band that played a Tuesday afternoon show at The Rat in 1984 and they were best thing ever but we were the only people that saw them because it was their only show and they broke up halfway through" guy.

Myself? I'm still in mourning over Mark Sandman's death and all the wonderful music left unwritten and unplayed.

A few more avenues of possible conversation while on this topic:

What is a "Boston" band? Does getting your start busking in Park St station count? What about a group of kids from across the country who met at Brekley, formed a group, played a few local gigs and went on to bigger and better things? Or do they have to be born and bred in the city to 'count'?

For the kids in the audience, what is the scene like now? Any bands playing around town looking like they might be the next big thing? Is their any kind of cohesive 'Boston Sound' out there right now? Are shows packed? What are the crowds like, Lively? Dead?

For our resident elders (30+): What were the olden days like? Who did you see play The Rat? What were the other venues of choice. Why was the Boston Music scene of the 70's & 80's so rich? What happened? (I credit & blame the rise & fall of 'BCN) What can be done bring it back?

Dig in.
 
I think I've heard of them.

They had that one song that time. Right?
 
The Pixies are, without question, the most influential band to come out of Boston. Ever. Like The Velvet Underground, everyone who bought their records started a band.

My two other favorites -- Galaxie 500 and Buffalo Tom.
 
For the underground crowd I'll throw in Neptune. My best friend's uncle used to be their singer and they were the first underground (note: not indie) band I ever saw in high school. Ahh memories.
 
Not a band, just a man: Chick Corea

Straight outta Chelsea. I would have killed to see Return to Forever in Boston a few months back.
 
As stated above, The Pixies are undoubtedly the most influential band to come out of Boston. Kurt Cobain even admitted to ripping them off. Popular music today is what it is because of what this band did in the late 80's and early 90's. This is true internationally, with the bands greatest success and popularity probably being in the UK (I could be wrong, but this is what I've been told, and I know they recorded a special BBC Sessions record way back when). The Japanese band The Pillows is essentially a tribute to The Pixies, with pretty funny English and Japanese lyrics to some pretty solid music. I know Black Francis was (is) a local, Kim Deal I'm pretty sure was from Ohio initially, and wiki tells me Joey Santiago was from Puerta Rico, which I never knew, but they formed and started crafting their art here in Beantown.

One Boston band I'm a fan of is Piebald, who broke up last year (last I heard at least), who I'm pretty sure are based out of Somerville. They started out as a hardcore band, but developed into a "Boston-scene" indie band. "Fear and Loathing on Cape Cod" is the corny summer song me and my freinds from home all know the words too, and yearly promise to buy a van and actually live the song out.

Does anyone know if Vampire Weekend is a local band? Cape Cod Kwasaa Kwasaa, Ladies of Cambridge, and Mansard Roof all led me to believe they were a Boston band, but I thought I heard somewhere they were based out of NYC.
 
budman3 said:
Does anyone know if Vampire Weekend is a local band? Cape Cod Kwasaa Kwasaa, Ladies of Cambridge, and Mansard Roof all led me to believe they were a Boston band, but I thought I heard somewhere they were based out of NYC.
Click to expand...

Yeah they are from Columbia, not Harvard. But maybe the members are from the area? Idk.
 
RE: The Pillows - so that's where the song title 'Kim Deal' comes from. (sorry, I know nothing about the Pixies...). "With the kids sing out the future/ Maybe kids don't the masters/ Just waiting for the little busters oh yeeeah"
 
Entrain isn't really Boston (Martha's Vineyard), but they're decent for a summer day being mellow. Ska is still Mighty, Mighty cool. Dickie Barrett is the man. Dropkick's are okay, but they aren't the future of Boston music, rather, they're the remnants of the past. I think the future of Boston's music is going to be more like KZ's Gentleman Hall, sort of hip, modern alternative dance-rock. A Boston band doesn't have to have it's members born here or taught here, it just needs to get it's start here and keep coming back.

You'd hope that Boston could pull ahead in the music industry, with small bands that rock (rather than suck, or scream about how life sucks and their girlfriend left them). I mean, we've got some nice sound companies here (Bose, Cambridge Sound, Boston Acoustics (are they still around?), and so on...).
 
Marissa Nadler http://www.myspace.com/songsoftheend put out an amazing album last year, and I believe she's based out of Boston.

There's also an up-and-coming indie band called Passion Pit http://www.myspace.com/passionpitjams that scored some attention with their debut album last year, and their single 'Sleepyhead' got airplay on college radio.

However, for my all-time favorite Boston band I'd have to say The Pixies. Also a big fan of Mr. Lif.
 
You wanna check out Boston in its heyday? My era, obviously. :p

YouTube search the following bands and listen up!
(This should keep some of you busy and enlightened for a bit. ;))

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6RUNK9EoKA


The Nervous Eaters
The Neighborhoods
Human Sexual Response
Lyres
Robin Lane and the Chartbusters
La Peste
The Real Kids
Jon Butcher Axis
Willie Loco Alexander
The Stompers
Duke and the Drivers
The Fools

(I know I am forgetting one important one ... Oh, well. Perpetual jet lag and age. Gimme a break.)

And, of course, some already mentioned by other posters above.

You'll discover where some of the present-day influences you attribute to the Pixies came from.

Would Luna be considered Boston-based? Galaxie500 was good. Luna was (is) great!

Treat Her Right. Mark Sandman. Damn. *sniffles* Still hurts.

And a few more from a bit after 'my era':
Tribe
Cavedogs
Scruffy the Cat

Oh, and don't forget Aimee Mann. She counts.

All of the above, I still listen to, regularly.

Used to have some amazing bootlegs, right from the soundboards, of many of the above bands' live perfs, as well as bands who were from out of town, or from overseas and playing their first gigs in the states, starting their US tours in Boston. Alas, most of those tapes have been damaged and destroyed over the years from 4-track reels. Have a few remaining ... somewhere.

I left Boston and the scene in the late 80s for NYC, so most music that happened locally after that time, I am woefully ignorant about.

I will be checking out the new-to-me bands you all put on here.

Oh, and the long, late, lamented One-Up Club in Providence. One of my hangs for live gigs. Saw some great bands there, not really Boston-based, but part of the entire New England orbit, eh?
 
^Are you forgetting the Modern Lovers?

They're definitely the best band to ever write a song about Gov't Ctr.
 
^ I thought they were invoked already.

Del Fuegos!

and O-Positive (80s)

also, add this guilty pleasure--Private Lightning--'Physical speed, is just what I need...and I ride and I ride....'

One connection between many bands that developed, promisingly, in Boston during the 70s is that once a major label signed most of them, the bands lost what made them fun, unique, live bar bands.
 
HOW COULD I FORGET MODERN LOVERS? They helped get me through high school (which was roughly 20-30 years after their emergence). Nothing I should brag about concerning most of their musics subject matter was about awkward teens, specifically in Massachusetts, but they are Boston music in my mind.

And I found out (and was subsequently chewed out for asking) about Vampire Weekend and their roots at Columbia from an Emerson kid (me being one myself, sorry about not sharing the sidewalk on cigarette breaks everybody!) the other day. Most of their songs paint a picture of college/city kids that I thought was pretty "Boston," but I guess its just how kids are everywhere these days. Oh well!

I don't know much about the immediate Boston-area scene, but I know that most of my freinds in the southern suburbs who consider themselves active in that "scene" get a healthy dose of hardcore from an array of scummy clubs from Brockton to Providence. I've learned from these sources also that ska is still quite mighty indeed.
 
Many bands began in those 'scummy clubs' in the subs. That's one thing that Boston had (has?) that other places I've lived and visited didn't seem to have--a vibrant scene outside the perceived 'city limits' and not beholden to the student population, per se.

Even many small towns seemed to have a few clubs/bars showcasing live bands, and some of these bands were promising, whether they did only covers or attempted original music.

Actually, NY/NJ/LI was like this, too. So was much of urbanized CT and RI

I wonder if this was something that prevailed because of the landscape of the established, older, northeast structure--the string of smaller, satellite urban areas?

Chicago could also parallel this model. Detroit? Philly? Memphis? Nashville? Insight anybody?
 
Here's some nostalgia for you.

garbribre said:
The Neighborhoods
Human Sexual Response
Lyres
Jon Butcher Axis
Willie Loco Alexander
The Stompers
The Fools
Click to expand...

Nice!

Remember these guys?
New Man
Ball & Pivot

garbribre said:
Would Luna be considered Boston-based? Galaxie500 was good. Luna was (is) great!
Click to expand...

Luna was an NYC band. Dean Wareham moved back there post Harvard. The strain of rehearsal, recording, and touring with band members in two cities helped sink Galaxie 500. His book is a good read. Damon & Naomi still live in Cambridge, still make cool records.

garbribre said:
And a few more from a bit after 'my era':
Tribe
Cavedogs
Scruffy the Cat
Click to expand...

Excellent! My copy of Tribe's Abort LP is signed by all five members. Somewhere there's a tape of a radio interview I did with them. (Am I being that guy, statler? If so, sorry.)

Do you recall?
Bullet LaVolta
The Bags
Sleep Chamber (basically the house band at Man Ray)

And out west:
Dinosaur Jr.
Sebadoh

Dunno about Aimee Mann -- 'Til Tuesday is a Boston band but she's been in LA for decades.

garbribre said:
Oh, and the long, late, lamented One-Up Club in Providence. One of my hangs for live gigs. Saw some great bands there, not really Boston-based, but part of the entire New England orbit, eh?
Click to expand...

Providence may trump Boston: it's the birthplace of the Talking Heads.
 
Somehow the Dresden Dolls got left out of this discussion.

This neo-cabaret thing will probably go the same way as the neo-swing movement of the late nineties, but there is no denying that the Dolls are at the forefront. For better or worse.
 
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