First show of 2012 was a doozy! We forecasted the upcoming year in Boston rock, from anticipated releases by Passion Pit, Bad Rabbits, Autochrome, Girlfriends, Mellow Bravo, Soccer Mom, and others; dipped into this week’s Winter Preview in the Phoenix with tracks by Stephie Coplan, Darling Pet Munkee, Butterknife and company; and teased the upcoming Class of 2012 with new music from Ghost Box Orchestra and Black Light Dinner Party. To close it out, we looked back on 2011 with the Top 10 Boston Accents of the past 12 months or so, listed countdown-style below with a link to a full download page.
Next week we’re back in the saddle Sunday night at 8pm with a full-blown Class of 2012 blowout, and who knows, maybe I’ll drag a band or two up to Lynn to shoot the shit. Happy new year, Boston. 2012 is gonna be a good one.
MOONS “Alien Life Form” – New track from this space-aged post-rock quartet, getting some well-deserved Hum comparisons and airplay midweek on the WFNX Nightly News.
GHOST BOX ORCHESTRA “Vanished” – Debut of brand new mind-melting joint from leaders of the Boston psych rock renaissance, part of a growing scene with bands like the New Highway Hymnal, Endless Wave, December Sound, Autochrome, and everyone else that plays the bi-annual Deep Heaven Now festivals in Somerville. Also grab Thursday’s Boston Phoenix, as GBO are a part of this year’s Class of 2012, along with 11 others including…
BLACK LIGHT DINNER PARTY “Gold Chain” -- … the mysterious producer crew of Boston/NYC's Black Light Dinner Party. Grab this track, the GBO song, and 10 others for the exclusive Class of 2012 Bandcamp compilation coming Thursday.
PERSONAL FINANCE “Reality’s Newest Surprise” – Got sent this track recently, and it makes me think of Patrick Bateman of American Psycho hanging out at Dorsia with Paul Allen talking mergers and acquisitions. Off August’s Chump Change record.
AUTOCHROME “Senses” – Shout of to ‘ZBC’s Flyweight, which named this post-punk number their 2011 Song of the Year. Highly-anticipated record-release party March 30 at T.T. The Bear’s with Soccer Mom, Young Adults, and Night Fruit. Hot damn.
DOST “Someday Girl” – Another new entry, just opened this package send via mail a few hours ago. A bluesy rock trio from Woburn, and as former editor of the Woburn Advocate I always gotta rep the Wu. Playing at the Middle East Tuesday, January 3 with Hitchhiking to Hawaii, I Was Awake, and others.
JAPANESE MONSTER “The Shore” – Kicking off our Winter Preview look at the first slate of 2012 releases, the Monster re-releases Bleeps Sweeps Creeps on Sunday, January 8 at Church with BA-faves Fat Creeps and a few others. Tune in from the Church parking lot.
DARLING PET MUNKEE “X Ray Specs” – More Winter Preview goodness, DPM fling new records Glows in the Dark on January 14 at Radio. Catch up on the deets here.
BUTTERKNIFE “Restless” – Third track off upcoming record Do The Needul is as catchy as Wes Welker. The power-pop foursome deliver the goods January 28 a the Middle East with Guillermo Sexo and friends.
STEPHIE COPLAN & THE PEDESTRIANS “Jerk” – Darling Miss Coplan, her story is well-known by now, but the Tufts dame drops her new EP February 18 at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge. Make-out sessions optional.
VIVIAN DARKBLOOM “Cold War” – A record three years in the making, the Vivs lighten up Church on February 25 with Modern Day Idols and a few others for the release of Know Your Exit. The moody, silver-tongued indie rock band opened for Airborne Toxic Event not too long away and likely earned a fuckton of new fans.
THE SUICIDE DOLLS “Drive” – Connecticut's devilish rock and roll veterans back with a new, driving concept record last month, and this was the track that jumped out at me.
NICHOLAS BURGESS “She’s A Werewolf” – Got this one today, and this track was described as “a glowing pop-rock spectre giving a bear hug to Marc Bolan on Halloween.” Well shit, how can I not play that? Gonna dig into Wizard Planet on the ride home, and I’m excited; Burgess, of Hex Map, Clawjob, and other projects heralded by Honeypumpers and Lemmingtrailers far and wide, never disappoints.
BAD RABBITS “1979” – On the cusp of a massive 2012, Dua from Bad Rabbits sang with Gym Class Heroes on last night’s Dick Clark’s Rocking NYE on ABC. Phoenix reporter Chris Faraone was at a party with him when it aired (the show was taped in LA a few weeks ago) and got the scoop on not only his performance but also his arrest earlier in the day?!?! Read and watch all about it here. The Rabbits' American Dream is coming -- hard -- in the new year.
HOUR 2 :: From the new Girlfriends EP in its entirety to the Top 10 Boston Accents songs of 2011.
GIRLFRIENDS “Big Machines” – Lead track off new demo collection Nothing Nice To Say, which the band posted to Bandcamp a little more than a week ago. It also features…
GIRLFRIENDS “Brat Poison” -- …some fierce vitriol from the fiery lips of Ben Potrykus…
GIRLFRIENDS “Boys To Men” -- … but Ben, the scene still loves you. Anyway, these tracks will soon conspire to comprise Gielfriends’ debut full-length, which will be out sometime in 2012, but…
GIRLFRIENDS “Leave It Til You Need It” -- … you can catch up with the quartet – welcoming former Codetta guitarist Eric Szszsicadadwdzszs to the band – when they hit Starlab in Somerville on February 26.
DAILY PRAVDA “Dead House” – David Bowie is celebrating 65 years of eternal youth and glam rackets this month, and on January 14 the Pravda take to the Middle East for a Thin White Duke birthday bash. Pravda are no strangers to Bowie – they destroyed as Ziggy at the Pill Halloween show a few years ago and frequently drop some Bowie into their sets. Peep a riveting "Moonage Daydream" from a few years ago.
BON SAVANTS “Tidal Waves” – Another band from the stylish British depths of mid-‘00s Boston resurfacing for a spell, as the Bon Savs are back in action Sunday January 15 at Great Scott alongside Marconi, of which there’s some band DNA swapping going on.
Counting down the Top 10 Boston Accents Tracks of 2011 /// Check the On The Download link for free DLs of all the tracks, many of which were former Mp3s of the Week in the Phoenix.
10. RIBS “Please Don’t Go”
9. GREY VALLEY GHOST “The Way We Kill”
8. SOCCER MOM “A Natural History”
7. OLDJACK “Chorus Line”
6. GENTLEMEN HALL “Take Me Under”
5. HAVE NOTS “Louisville Slugger”
4. MEAN CREEK “Sunlight”
3. VIVA VIVA “Hailing A Cab In Hell”
2. BUFFALO TOM “Guilty Girls”
1. CASEY DESMOND “Talking To God”
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