New Boston/Massachusetts demos! Boston is currently the strongest that has been in a long time. There’s been a good amount of turnover in the scene resulting in an influx of new blood, new bands, and of course new demos. Things were getting a bit stale, so it was nice to have it all refreshed and shaken out. Many of the bands listed here feature members of DIY hardcore bands that were quite popular in Boston in recent years including Brainkiller, Scapegoat, Blank Stare, and Social Circkle among others. A lot of these bands have been experimenting with new sounds, infusing a different set of influences that you don’t hear as often, and pushing themselves in new directions. All of this has come together to create a breath of fresh air and a feeling of anticipation and excitement. Already Boston Strangler’s debut 12″ has made quite an impact on the hardcore scene, having already sold out almost immediately. Bloodkrow Butcher and Waste Management have recently released records with critical acclaim as well. With other new vinyl releases scheduled for release this year, it will be interesting and exciting to hear what could come out next. For now though, here are some Boston and Massachusetts demos released in 2011 and 2012 by bands that represent the new crop in Boston DIY punk.

Aspects of War – 4 song demo
Most people are beyond burnt out on hearing new d-beat, Discharge/Disclose, and raw punk sounding bands. The style has become beyond a parody and is the butt of many jokes (see the No Sir I Won’t demo for several). It’s a style that has just been done so many times, so generically, and so pathetically that it’s like all life has been sucked out of it. With that said, and with the odds stacked against them, Aspects of War have set out to carve their own path in the genre. Naming yourself after a Disclose record isn’t the best way to start off when attempting to separate yourself from the thousands of bands in the style or send a message that you’re attempting something original. But perhaps AOW are so in love with D-beat that they weren’t trying to attempt to forge new ground anyway. And I think that’s what this demo represents. This tape features songs for fans of Disclose, Framtid, Gasmask Terrör, and any other number of 2000s era dis beat style bands. There’s no new tricks on display here, but it’s good for what it is. It’s good, albeit in a generic way. The guitar sound is thick and heavily distorted like Disclose, the drums have a pounding d-beat, and the vocals are shouted in a style reminiscent of unanswered cries of help, panic and desperation. I can’t picture anyone turning off Discharge to play this tape instead, but for super fans of the genre who just can’t get enough of bands that sound like this, this Aspects of War tape is a good pick up.
Contact: warnonmusica@gmail.com

-Erik SN

It might get lonely on the Astral Plane. You could find yourself stumbling in the prismatic sheen of infinity without a guide, your soul barbituated by silent pandemonium without end. Fret not, for it may come to pass that a Guardian Alien should visit you in your dilated time of psychic need: not a being with one body and many faces like Ezekiel’s visitors but a patchwork of bodies bearing one common soul. The music seems to emanate from this particular (Brooklyn-based) Alien in a way that mirrors a collective inner storm. Pleasant rain-splatters of percussion land gently on the surging harmonious drone-scape provided by the Japan Banjo, synths, voices, and whatever other instruments or being-fragments have been drawn into the nebulous grasp of the Guardian. This wild group becomes animated with a hallucinogenic abandon reminiscent of the holy Amon Duul II or the super ones: The Boredoms. Returning safely to the now&here, you might distrust such shared visionary experience as false, hypnagogic blog-prophecy. You need only call upon the 12″ vinyl disk that acts as a talismanic connection to Guardian Alien’s no-place in the everywhere-void to understand: that was really un-real.
- WM
Find your reality-exit-point’s temporal/spatial coordinates HERE.

THE NEW LINES are simply one of the best pop bands that I have heard in a good long while. And pop as pertains to these guys is of the expansive variety, of the richest type of tapestry. Lush is a word that I am sure the band themselves must have been shooting for, and hit the target they did. If THE NEW LINES made their music more boring: say by taking away all the synths that lurk near the front of many of their songs, or by not delving into psych/prog passages or travelling down the experimental corridors which they do most surely travel down, then maybe they would be famous. I hope that doesn’t happen though. This Princeton, NJ band’s most recent release is a cassette called WITCH’S MILK and it is just as good as the amazing full length that preceded it ALL THAT WE SEE AND SEEM with its synth buzz, and getting proggy classic pop moments. “La Réciprocité” off of WITCH’s MILK lays a sweet croon across a reverb slathered shifting organ rhythm and an ever present bubbling bass. This song glides along majestically, pulling you further and further in as it wears on. Some chiming guitars round things out, the whole thing absolutely inviting you to press repeat. Beautiful, pretty much essential modern pop music if you do that kind of thing. We here do.

-DS

NYC psychedelic noise duo BLUES CONTROL are one of our favorite bands out there right now. They use a simple arsenal of samplers, keyboards, various electronic and guitar to create massive and totally unique droning psych rock soundscapes. Here’s a new track called “Iron Pigs” from their upcoming DRAG CITY LP. “Valley Tangents” will be out June 19 and you bet your as we will be making mention of it again. This is just your early warning. In the meantime, get your hands on any of their other records and see what you’ve been missing.

Baltimore’s Multicult are steadily earning their place atop noise-rock’s Mount Olympus. Many have come before with guitars a-squealing but few have really earned the right to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with bands whose names are spoken with as much reverence as Big Black, Unsane, and The Birthday Party. This grimy trio transcends mere revivalism with their unabashedly groovy rhythm section and strong sense of tunefulness that should place them right alongside your favorite 80′s weirdos. Plenty of “research bands” resort to stylistic genre exercises instead of writing good tunes. Multicult are miles away from such nonsense: their songs are slathered in motor oil but they’re still bound to get stuck in your head. Hypnotic, manic, and catchy without being cloying or anthemic: this is the soundtrack to a truly wild summer. One that you pay for in jail time and/or doctor’s visits.
Check out their self-titled LP on Sleeping Giant Glossolalia and their 7″ on Amplified Noise. You can also stream/download all their music on their bandcamp.
Catch em on saturday night at Starlab in Somerville!

Self-Titled by Multicult