Just Mel, a rock band formed at Boston’s Berklee School of Music, recently released their second record, “Eight Seconds on the Raging Crab.” Its three hustling tracks don’t take the time to knock the dirt off their shoes before busting in; neither do they bother to close the door when they leave you suspended in their manic energy. Just Mel’s sound is wild and aggressive, but matches the poise and precision of more experienced rock acts (The Knox Student)
Guillermo Sexo – Graffiti Sky
Vocalist Noell Dorsey floats serenely over the jangling guitar chords and shimmering riffs. As the album title implies, there’s a cosmic vibe running through the track created through smoothly applied reverb cascading over cymbals that explode like tiny stars. It’d be the perfect soundtrack for surfing through distant galaxies — or at least looking at hi-res photos of Pluto on a laptop. (Consequence of Sound)
Funeral Advantage – Sisters
You may have heard Boston’s Funeral Advantage from their recent split with Former Ghosts, or if you live near their hometown, maybe you’ve seen them with Alvvays orWhirr. Their sound fits pretty well with both of those bands. It’s shoegaze drowned in a sea of reverb like the latter, but there’s sweet pop melodies under all that haze that are more in line with the former (Brooklyn Vegan)
Blew – Fearful Symmetry
Not a lot of info on this quartet other than their FB and Bandcamp pages, but this is a nice slice of spastic/spacey rawk as far as we can tell
Snatched from Braindead Media 4-way split with Gamma Pope, Big Boy Club and Elizabeth Colour Wheel – this track is also set to appear on the band’s upcoming album “Built to Keep You Out”
Also of interest is a leftfield cover of Dino Jr’s “Feel the Pain” that the band recorded for their first EP
Elizabeth Colour Wheel – Move
From our vantage here standing on the beach of Boston indie rock (shivering), we see out in the middle distance a new wave of shoegaze forming and heading toward shore. In a way it’s not a moment too soon, as the city has had to say goodbye in the past year to stalwart acts — Clicky Clicky faves all — Soccer Mom, ambient punksYoung Adults, and perhaps (perhaps) even The Hush Now. But the new wave is breaking, and its most promising sounds are presently being emitted by the upstart quintet Elizabeth Colour Wheel
Those finely attuned to Clicky Clicky’s affinities will immediately recognize that band name as the title to one of the best songs on the debut LP from our much, much beloved Lilys. So one might argue that Elizabeth Colour Wheel‘s music could sound like broken glass sliding across the bottom of a cardboard box and we’d still love it (Clicky Clicky)
Tiffany’s House – Cookies Every Day
This is supposed to be a joke, but look deeper and you’ll find out that its a good cure for gloom and doom
Nice harmonies there too – Shaggs got there only after a lot more practice even though they were already better than the Beatles
Ghost Park – Port Kaituma
Woozy and dreamy, this is the aural equivalent to lying in the field during a nice summer day
GP is one Matt Scherbatsky who claims that this is his side project yet it remains unknown what his main project is – regardless, this is great
Plums – Jen
Title track from the album of the same name – a minute of psychedelic and disorienting bliss a-la MBV
Bridging geography through sound, the album has a striking unity to it. It sighs and swings as one cohesive dreamy-eyed whole, trying to create a sonic homecoming for its scattered members. Perhaps part of this effect comes from the record’s warm production techniques, which favor layered vocals and Fender jaguars, a thick bass and dampened drums. (Rare Candy)
New Highway Hymnal – Loaded Fun
Haverhill, Massachusetts psych-rock outfit (and SPIN December Artist to Watch) the New Highway Hymnal have just released their sophomore album,Reverb Room, and it’s a record that fully lives up to its name. The nine-track disc rolls out high-energy, warm guitar-pop chords that dip into fun-loving surf-rock and frequently fuzzes into shoegaze territory.
Album opener “Loaded Fun” sounds like an homage to early ’00s Britpop, rather like a more lo-fi emulation of the Libertines’ Up the Bracket. (Spin)
The sounds you can still imagine hearing in complete silence, futuristic electronic synthop…imaginary Landscapes!!!!
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