Three vibrant Boston bands emerged Thursday night at Church during the release party for the HELICOPRIA, a developing prog-rock band formed at Berklee that last week dropped their self-titled debut album. The audience, the bands, the sound, and the spirit, were all young -- most of the crowd looked college-aged.

The following 6,000-plus words are the unedited transcript of my interview conducted with BEN DEILY of VARSITY DRAG and his wife and bassist, LISA. While originally intended to preview Varsity Drag’s upcoming show at Church on Saturday for Cellars By Starlight, the two-hour conversation not only covers the history and current state of Varsity Drag, but also the creation and early days of the Lemonheads, Deily’s relationship with Evan Dando and his departure from the band just as they were about to make it big.

People at parties — we love ’em, we hate ’em, our Facebook walls are littered with annoying photos of ’em. But from the shores of San Francisco and New York City comes a finally useful PEOPLE AT PARTIES, performing at Church tonight in the form of a bass-mad dub-fi electro project from the ladies of Von Iva and Boyskout.

There’s a hypnotic, almost dream-like quality to the sounds coming out of VARY LUMAR’s collective dome: equal bits alt-rock and electronics, all intertwined in creating an emotive whirlwind of vibes that feel like edgy, psychedelic improvisations. Here on “Hysteriatype,” the standout track from new album The Jig Is Up, the Lumar four slow their moody roll just a touch, soundtracking the delicate descent of a Percocet-fed melody tripping down a progressive-rock rabbit hole.

True story: Several years ago, I lived in a tiny shithole studio apartment on Brighton Avenue in Allston Rock City, sort-of above where old Herrel's Cafe used to be, and Heavyset Joe of LARKIN BRIGADE lived down the hall. Over the course of two years, the only interaction we ever had was him complimenting my Merc Harrington jacket, but I always appreciated him and his punk and skinhead friends not beating the shit out of my indie rock hipster crew (who probably deserved an ass-whuppin' or two).

When HERRA TERRA were nominated for a Boston Music Award last year, they were cast in the Metal/Hardcore category. But the Worcester quartet carry more of a mind for the dance floor than the mosh pit. Quiet Geist — their 2010 release on Athens, Georgia, label the Mylene Sheath, home to Boston acts Caspian, Eksi Ekso, and Junius — was a blitzkrieg of modern beats and glossy, ultra-produced electronic rock wizardry.

From our Editor's Picks: "Winter Rock Formal" with Gene Dante & Future Starlets + Parlour Bells + Highly Personal Trash + DJ Dave Duncan
Feb 18 @ Church of Boston, 69 Kilmarnock St.

Time to break out the taffeta or dust off your favorite powder-blue tux: the WINTER ROCK FORMAL is going to be a tacky nostalgia fest straight out of teen comedies and after-school specials.

Weymouth-based indie label Aurora 7 Records follows up last year’s Girlfriends “Gov’t Seizure” seven-inch with three new tracks on wax from THICK SHAKES. Although hard copies of Why Buy the Cow won’t hit the spinning wheels of dingy nightclubs and bedroom dance parties till spring, this collection of blurry garage-rock racket has already invaded Bandcamp.

Well shit, we really waited until the last minute to post this item, eh? Sorry about that. Since there's no more time to waste, we'll just rip the deets off the Facebook invite and post them below. Headliner Acaro, by the way, is the band of singer Chris Harrell, who last showed up in this here blog back in October fronting that Misfits cover band at Great Scott's Born of Fire party

Since crashing the grunge party in the early ‘90s as one-half of the enduring rawk duo Local H, Scott Lucas has been shredding his vocals and cranking out the guitar riffs for people that like a healthy dose of distortion and self-deprecating bravado. Local H's just released Awesome Mix Tape #1 provides eight examples of what happens when that band puts their spin on eight songs by others, like Concrete Blonde’s ode to an alcoholic lover, “Joey,” and a cover of “Wolf Like Me” that snarls more than the TV on the Radio original.

Before Henry Beguiristain jumped up on a pool table at Church and shouted his lyrics back at the stage through a megaphone, before the band broke out onto the floor and closed their set with an unplugged Beatles medley jamboree-like sing-a-long, and before the Exile Orchestra provided a few already well-crafted rock songs with an extra layer of slick ambience, Boston's Aloud delivered their powerful brand of harmonious psych-pop in grand fashion last night in the Fens.

For every Taylor Swift, Avril Lavigne, and Britney Spears -- that is, for every 15 year old who submitted to the studio system, allowed herself to be made-up and songwritten into superstardom -- there's 10,000 who did all of that and still didn't make it. Before she was old enough to drive, Waltham's NOELLE LEBLANC was hanging out in basements with a local producer and singing other people's songs.

Back in 1998 -- back before the world had heard a peep from DEVENDRA BANHART, and ANAL CUNT was still the most vicious grindcore band on the planet -- A.C.'s Seth Putnam perpetrated one of the great metal jokes of all time. Rather than follow up with more music to disembowel puppies by, he wrote PICNIC OF LOVE, a note-perfect satire of love songs, soft balladry, folk music -- hell, a satire of the possibility of happiness itself.

Ascendant Philadelphian Kurt Vile brought his band, the Violators, to town this past weekend as part of Dan Shea's massive Homegrown Psych Fest at Church. Our own K. Bonami shot some footage, and, as you can see, it was pretty awesome. After watching, you can head over to the Matablog, read about Vile's new album, and download a new track.

As promised, the all-star ANAL CUNT lineup kicked off a tour last weekend with a set that included a sneak peak at their forthcoming album, Wearing Out Our Welcome. The surprise? The new shit -- or "hot new traxxxx" as Seth Putnam is calling them -- is indeed a different look. "Accessible" would still be a stretch, but shout-along choruses, sub-250bpm drums, and lyrics about fucking? And (wait for it) .