Premierage/Previewage: Wheat Heralds Sixth Set With "Hey Eugenio," Gigs With Eldridge Rodriguez Saturday

[Photo: Paul Chiera / remixed by Clicky Clicky] The rituals of summer are nice, but it is bittersweet seeing them come and go after looking forward to them for so long (said the guy who just got back from an annual beach jaunt -- Ed.). And maybe this is how fans of area indie rock veterans Wheat feel: without delving into any hard analysis, drummer Brendan Harney agrees with our observation, that it seems like the band -- makers of shoulda-been hits including 1999's "No One Ever Told Me" or the even older, heart-punching ballad "Soft Polluted Blacks" -- typically plays shows in the summer and then largely uses the cooler months to hole up and write songs, or play Sudoku, or do whatever it is rock luminaries do. Summer inevitably fades, and only the promise that another one's coming makes that kinda OK. So, yeah, Wheat is playing a show this Saturday in Cambridge, Mass. (more on that below), but what can they offer as a salve once the show is but a memory?

Cheer up, Francis: it just so happens the act is closing in on the completion of Blazed, the sixth full-length of a 20-year career during which it has made records with Small Factory's Dave Auchenbach and renowned knob-twiddler and Mercury Rev guy Dave Fridmann and perhaps even another Dave, who knows? The forthcoming set has been under construction for about a year, and Mr. Harney reports the band is "getting into the final stages of getting the vocals down right, and making sure everything is nip and tuck." A final track listing won't be set until the songs are all complete, but two tunes destined for the forthcoming collection are already in the wild. What's more, we're pleased to premiere for you today a third that is said to have made the proverbial cut, namely the little pop wonder "Hey Eugenio," which you can stream via the topmost Soundcloud embed below.

To recap the recent moves, the band released the subdued bouncer "Walking Song" to fans back in February, and followed it up with "Stay Up Late" in May. Newcomer "Hey Eugenio" is a charming and detailed miniature, a simple love song, according to Harney. The deconstructed number's lyrics pour out like sweet and thick syrup among playful electric piano, tastefully understated guitar licks, canned percussion and a rising firmament of synth. Will the band play it and/or other new tunes at the aforementioned rock show? Oh yeah, about that: pay attention. It's this Saturday at the fabled Middle East Rock Club, and it is an early show, with doors at 7 and Wheat performing at 9. So don't show up at the usual time and be caught flat-footed, unrocked and likely mocked. Hitmakers Eldridge Rodriguez will open the show with a full-band set, and we strongly suggest arriving in time to see that foursome turn in what is typically a fiery performance. Perhaps Cam's fabled white suit will even make an appearance? We make no promises. Either way you should get yourself a ticket right now, arrange an Uber, weed your garden, trump your towers, whatever it takes to ensure that you will be at the rock show. Rock show.

Wheat: Facebook | Internerds | Soundcloud

It's All I Know: Cameron Keiber On Eldridge Rodriguez's New Noise-Pop Monument, The Castrati Menace

Seasoned Boston rock fans need no introduction to the work of Cameron Keiber, indie label tycoon, the principal songwriter of rock act Eldridge Rodriguez, and co-fronter of the city's legendary The Beatings. In a way his own musical history mirrors that of the modern Commonwealth: he was playing shows while studying at UMass during Western Mass.'s early '90s heyday, he toured the U.S. with the aforementioned Beatings in the aughts, and he has haunted rock clubs on both sides of the Charles River for the better part of two decades. The Beatings' extended hiatus continues unabated, making Eldridge Rodriguez Mr. Keiber's de facto primary vehicle for secular rockulidge. Since its last LP was released in 2011, that band has reformulated its lineup and its sonics, and its forthcoming long-player The Castrati Menace -- to released by Midriff Records Friday -- sees the band fully shedding its early, gritty and more menacing sound and achieving a stylistic pinnacle. This is in no small part due to an adventurous pursuit of a noisy melodicism the band began exploring in the studio a few years ago, recording a cover of a shoegaze classic for this very blog. Indeed, The Castrati Menace is characterized by a colorful cacophony that feels reverent to a classic style but also contemporary. And the blogosphere outside the Boston bubble is (finally) taking note (Exh. A; Exh. B). With the album release just days away (and a successful New York release show already under his belt), we thought it was high time to check in with Keiber about the band's new sound, his drive to create and the album title's pointed meaning. Read our full exchange below, and stick around for the details about Friday night's Boston release show at the foot of the piece.

Clicky Clicky: This will be way inside baseball for all but our hardcore Boston readers, but is The Castrati Menace a concept record about your "personal manager?" The title echoes that of what is now considered to be the first "Star Wars" movie, and one of the record's best songs is called "Social Graces Vigilante," so maybe you can see why we're wondering? Given the epicly funny shit-talking between you and said manager during your old podcast days, maybe this record is just an incredibly next-level shot at him?

Cameron Keiber: That's a total coincidence. I was reading an article about castrato and the parallels to what was happening then and how pop stars are groomed and positioned now, and it struck me how nothing changes. I wanted to name the album The Menace in reference to that, but then remembered there was an Elastica album with that name. So adding on the Castrati part was an easy fix and made my point more [precisely]. I never made the Lucas connection until a few weeks ago. I like "Star Wars," sure, but not enough to directly reference it, but I can see where you'd get that. But its not. "Social Graces..." was a song I've had kicking around through several projects, but it never really worked until this line up of the band. But its not without precedent that we've gone with a manager reference, namely [with] The Beatings' Italiano! album. But its not consciously in this case, certainly could be subconscious but what do I know? But I like where you are going with this, and if it makes Bouchard's day, then let's just say, between you and me, that [the record] is about him.

CC: Sticking with the inside baseball angle a bit, we recall that when you were recording your covers of "Vapour Trail" (this, that) a few years back for our compilation that you remarked on the social media that you were exhilarated by the fact that it was the noisiest thing you'd done to date. We feel like that vibe really carried through to the new record. Was there something about how you approached recording "Vapour Trail" that sort of unlocked how you went about the tracking of The Castrati Menace?

CK: That cover was the first thing we did with this line up and production team. It was kind of an experiment in what has become our regular recording process. Mike Quinn (Moontower Studios), who mixed both the Ride cover and the new album, killed it. He just nailed the noise ebbs and flows and so when we heard it we knew that this was the way the next album would go. The band will record the track and then tack on 10 or so noise and idea tracks and Mike and Dave (Grabowski) kind of have to sit down and figure out where its gonna all sit in the mix with my only notes being "I want to hear everything at some point." Its not easy. And they both get what we are all going for. But yeah, that Ride cover fleshed out how we'd approach this album.

CC: What was it about the noise that appealed to you at this stage of the game? The sound of the record is dense, not quite claustrophobic, but dense, and it reminds us of an extreme take on Psychedelic Furs and its efforts at a wall of sound.

CK: I'm a huge fan of noise and experimental stuff. I don't think you get anywhere creatively without experimenting. That said, I write the way I write, usually in a basic song structure that can be played on guitar, piano, whatever. But I've always tried to shoehorn a noise element into my work. But I'm not a big jam guy. I don't particularly enjoy improvising an idea and getting there in the way some noise bands do. I like writing a song beginning to end, and then pig-piling noise and experimental ideas on top, throughout and in between those parts. But this isn't a new idea. Bands like The Fall, Magnetic Fields, Pavement... they all do a similar thing, I imagine. I'm also a huge Psychedelic Furs fan. They are one of those great rock bands that got that idea of seamlessly stitching darkness and discord with pop. I love that. Also having Den(nis Grabowski, drummer for E.R. and brother of the aforementioned Dave) on this project adds a lot to it, because its a lot of similar stuff to what we were doing in The Beatings. So that's a nice security blanket to have.

CC: Is "Giving Myself Over To Boston" kind of the bizarro world version of, or maybe the inverse of your old cut "Stillborn In New Jersey?" We feel like they set up an interesting contrast, something about the home you are given or born into, versus the home that you make for yourself.

CK: "Stillborn in New Jersey" was about a very specific person and time in my life long after I had left home, and me working out my feelings about it all, albeit unfairly. "Giving Myself Over to Boston" is a much more general, playful take. I've always felt like an outsider in this city, and there was a very fleeting time when I felt like the city was opening itself up to me and then just as quickly it shut the door and I really wanted to lash out at it in a tongue-in-cheek way. But I realize none of that probably happened and it's a matter of flawed perception on my part. I also realize I have my own problems socially, mentally, not keeping my mouth shut and that I'm sure that many of the problems that may actually exist were created by me and that I do it to myself. Regardless, I wrote [the song] at a time of pettiness and spitefulness, but with a healthy sense of humor. In all fairness the snark in that song doesn't come close to what others have written about this town, so I'm not too precious about it.

CC: At the same time, those two songs represent opposite ends of a spectrum, we think, with snark on one end and sincerity on the other. Could a younger E.R. have written "Giving Myself Over To Boston?" It feels to us like not only a great songwriting achievement, but dare we say, an achievement of maturity.

CK: I don't think I could have written it when I was younger. I was so angry for so long that the playful teasing, snark and misdirection in the lyrics would have just come out as venom and piss. It's a clever song and maybe my least favorite on the album, because it reminds me that regardless of any strides made that that petty little directionless shitty punk kid is still fighting to lash out when shown a modicum of inclusion or when hurt, and no one wants to be reminded of their failures.

CC: The final lyric of "Big Dead Heart" is a real spine-tingler -- we listen to the song again and again just to feel that final crashing wave again and again. We can see you coming up with that first and then writing the whole song around it. Did you?

CK: Yeah, thanks. That last verse certainly wraps up everything that happens before it. How the mistakes and embarrassments made in youth mean nothing because we eventually all die, and how quickly life moves the older you get. I think I had the title first. I liked it because it reminded me of a Raymond Chandler title. That last verse kind of came out of something a friend who is much older than me said. It was late and we were tired and he said something like "Life just moves like a stream down a continuously narrowing chute and the more it narrows the faster the stream moves until it leaves the chute and death," or something like that. The idea of dignity in aging always felt fake to me. There is no dignity in getting old. There may be knowledge and experience and know-how but there is no inherent dignity in it. You can have dignity in dealing with your death, sure. There is dignity in the bravery of facing the unknown. You can hold yourself in a dignified fashion, but then it's just a prop. Old people are the same people they were when they were 16, and should behave as such. Some do, and I think it's great. There are many dumb, stupid, boring, misguided old people and they don't get a pass because they are old. Getting old is scary and should be handled according to whatever policy you used that got you to that point, with compassion for others and with grace. But there is no inherent dignity is getting old.

CC: We think this record is the first you've made since your brother Clayton signed on. So the question: is that experience a necessary evil, or terrific filial bonding that you relish every second?

CK: Clayton is great and a much better guitarist than I'll ever be. He and I work on label stuff daily, so him coming on board was natural. We get along well and bicker and fight sometimes, but its a very good, stable relationship. We've always gotten along, and he's always supported me, so there really wasn't any big emotional transition when he came on. In many ways, I couldn't do any of this without him.

CC: Music is so aggravating now. Not the music itself, but everything that surrounds music. We know you've got other shit to do -- why do you still put so much of your heart into this after close to two decades of this nonsense?

CK: I don't even want to dignify this question with a response, but I'm compelled to say this. Its really a compulsion that I can't trace to anything. What else would I do? It's all I know how to do well. I still enjoy the process. I consider recording and playing and writing an art form, and not solely as a process that produces a product for commercial consumption. And we've always done things DIY and on our own terms, so all that nonsense doesn't really effect me creatively. I enjoy the art of it, from the beginning idea to end. I've been doing this since I was 15 or 16. Its not something that I'm ever without. What else would I do? Get into sports? Distract myself from these ideas and feelings and thoughts that consume and influence my emotions and thought every second of every day with a fantasy football league. Give me a fucking break.

CC: So, ultimately, what is the titular Castrati Menace? Can it be eradicated in our time?

CK: Its an unhealthy and unseemly cultural obsession with the awful aspects of youth culture and pop, and time eradicates everything.

CC: Thanks Cam.

Eldridge Rodriguez fête the release of The Castrati Menace Friday night in Boston at Allston Rock City's Wonderbar. The bill includes support from notable experimentalist/s Skyjelly and an act called Party Bois, and more fullsome details can be scrutinized at this Facebook event page. Midriff releases The Castrati Menace Friday, but it is already available for pre-order via ITunes right here. Eldridge Rodriguez's previous full-length, You Are Released, was issued by Midriff Records in early 2011.





Prior Eldridge Rodriguez Coverage:
Today's Hotness: Eldridge Rodriguez
Clicky Clicky Music Presents... N O F U C K I N G W H E R E : 11 Boston Bands Perform Ride's Classic 1990 Album
Midriff Records Night with Eldridge Rodriguez
Out Now: Eldridge Rodriguez | Christmas On The Allston-Brighton Line EP
That Was The Show That Was: Get Help with E.R. and Soccer Mom
Eldridge Rodriguez Record Release Show | O'Brien's Pub | 1 April
Be Prepared: Eldridge Rodriguez | You Are Released | 22 March
Behold! The Eldridge Rodriguez Residency!
That Was The Show That Was: E.R., The Mitchells | PA's Lounge
Review: E.R. | This Conspiracy Against Us

Review: Greg Lyon | Landlocked To The East

Boston scene veteran Greg Lyon has been getting it done since the late '90s, fronting acts including Pending Disappointment and playing sideman to local legend Eldridge Rodriguez and, more recently, the mighty The Beatings. As a solo artist in recent years, Mr. Lyon has (somewhat ironically) revealed more and more of himself the further he recedes into the shadows of the scene. Metropolis-straddling label Midriff Records whisked out Lyon's stirring solo debut Nowhere Near Poughkeepsie in late 2010, and the set brightly illuminated the depth and breadth of Lyon's songwriting via skeletal balladry, folksy musings and post-punky strummers. But live shows were few and far between, and after contributing a sparkling, blissed-out cover of "Paralyzed" (and smashing cover art) to Clicky Clicky's 2012 Ride tribute comp NOFUCKINGWHERE, Mr. Lyon vanished from the public eye... err... ear.

Now comes a vibrant and long-awaited sophomore set, some two years in the making, wherein Lyon directed his attention to a backlog of what turns out to be very impressive material. The new collection Landlocked To The East presents a huge step forward for Lyon in terms of arrangement and production. You'll note we are not saying he proves himself here to be an even better songwriter. This, of course, is almost certainly empirically true, but the fact is that Nowhere Near Poughkeepsie was filled with great songs, and wrongfully slept-on by many. If anything, Landlocked To The East evidences Lyon's greater confidence in his own songwriting chops, or -- at the very least -- that taking two years to make a record very much agrees with him. Whatever the truth may be, on the new set Lyon presents lusher sounds and increasingly nuanced arrangements, which together conspire to make Landlocked To The East a very rewarding listen. The highlight of the set is the opener "Western Ave Drug Mule," an almost-seven-minute number whose final, slowly spinning five minutes sound like one long chorus. A kick and snare drum finally arrive at the close of the fourth minute, ushering in a firm cadence over which layers of vocals pile up, merging with cycling harmonics and faux strings to form a dizzying mesh that falls away abruptly to reveal the acoustic strums underpinning the composition at the close of the song.

The excellent, uptempo rocker "Vast Departures" is also notable for its rich layers: maracas put a finer point on the driving rhythm after the first chorus; the second chorus swells with subtle synths; and a final verse briefly permits spectral voices to cross the stereo field unfettered. All these little layers, all the nuance, echoes the shifting and detailed beauty of the early Mercury Rev catalog, although Mr. Lyon's songwriting remains rooted in a folksy realism (exemplified here, perhaps, by the three-quarter-timed, harmonica- and piano-appointed strummer "If I Could Sing") that leaves no room for that act's unbridled psychedelia. But even Lyon's more folk-leaning material -- such as "Sorry Virginia" -- touts an aural fullness that is the hallmark of this impressively varied collection. Close seconds for best tune on Landlocked To The East are the smoothed-out, poignant ballad "Shiny New Caps" (a perfect candidate for the b-side to "Western Ave Drug Mule," were a single from the collection ever be pressed) and the yet-more-subdued, piano-led and impressionistic number "I Have Bottomed Out."

We're very pleased to be able to premiere two of the aforementioned tracks, namely "Western Ave Drug Mule" and "I Have Bottomed Out," both of which you can stream via the Soundcloud embed below. The entirety of Landlocked To The East will be available to stream via the Midriff Records blog here from tomorrow, and we recommend you click that link and spend some time with the record once the Brothers Keiber, the proprietors of Midriff, get their act together and get the stream active tomorrow. Midriff is not fond of doing pre-orders, so sit patiently on your hands and wait until next Tuesday, when you will be able to purchase Landlocked To The East from Midriff as a digital download via the label's digital storefront right here.

Greg Lyon: Bandcamp | Faceblah



Prior Coverage:
Clicky Clicky Music Presents... N O F U C K I N G W H E R E : 11 Boston Bands Perform Ride's Classic 1990 Album
Greg Lyon with Soccer Mom | PA's Lounge, Somerville | 4 December
Be Prepared: Greg Lyon | Nowhere Near Poughkeepsie | 4 Dec.

Summer Fades Featuring The New Highway Hymnal, Eldridge Rodriguez, Slowdim | New World Tavern, Plymouth | 1 Sept.

Sure, the last thing we need now is a reminder that summer will leave us, as she always leaves us, packing her stuff into the station wagon, pointing her pony tail north and her car south, and heading out of town. But leave it to our bloggers-in-arms over at The Ash Gray Proclamation to turn the annual indignity into a cause for celebration, an excuse to bring -- for what may be the very first time -- an indie rock show to a place called the New World Tavern in Plymouth, Mass., a tavern which, based on a glance at Google Maps, is pretty much a stone's throw from where this blog's executive editor's umpteen-times-over grandfather bumbled his way into establishing a colony. But that's all ancient history -- the important thing is rock 'n' roll music, and the AGP is bringing that in spades Sunday. We are given to understand the event kicks off with a world premiere of Dark Spring, the terrific, forthcoming full-length from Boston psych-rock veterans Guillermo Sexo. We've heard the record, it slays, you'll want to make sure you get thee to Plymouth to hear it (especially the epic one-two punch of the songs "Carried A Golden Heart" and "Meow Metal"). Thereafter, there will be sets of rock music from a trio of leading Boston rock acts: power-pop champs Slowdim; noise-pop goliaths Eldridge Rodriguez and acid-groove lords The New Highway Hymnal. All of this kicks off early, AGP helmer Bryan Hamill told us last week, with the album premiere beginning around 7PM, so you'll need to find a shirt and your car keys late that afternoon in order to make the scene at a useful hour. All the details are at this Facebook event page.

What of these bands, you may be wondering? Well, topliners The New Highway Hymnal are very close to dropping a new single if these two Facebook updates (1, 2) are to be believed, and the trio has been steadily gigging around town all summer. We touched base with Eldridge Rodriguez for an update, and he told us -- among other things -- that he and his present band (Midriff New York honcho Clayton Keiber, and brothers Dennis and Dave Grabowski) are at work on a new record that will feature "tons of noise, tons of pop." The band will help kick off the week-long TT The Bear's 40th anniversary celebration next month, to boot. We also checked in with Paul Sentz from Slowdim for the latest and greatest. His band delivered a long-awaited, self-titled debut long-player at the front-end of the year [review], a record packed with big ideas and bigger hooks. These days, according to Mr. Sentz, Slowdim is developing new material for a potential EP, and is chewing over an idea for a new slower, washed out take on the album cut "Wishing Well" that will hopefully be realized soon. All of the above suggests to us Sunday night in Plymouth is going to be a winner. So come on, come help AGP chase the season out of town... until next year.

Midriff Residency Night X: Home for Little Wanders Benefit With Soccer Mom, Eldridge Rodriguez, Ex-Planets, Relations

We're grateful. You're grateful. It's Thanksgiving. Let's keep that feeling (sans the awful stomach pain we have right now) alive for a few days, long enough for you to drag your weary, overstuffed frame to Radio Saturday night for the latest installment of Midriff Records' year-long residency. This particular event is the 10th of its kind, but it is a special kind of special in that it serves both as a memorial of sorts for a friend dear to the Midriff camp who recently died, as well as a benefit for a cause close to that friend's heart, Boston's Home For Little Wanderers. Allow us to crib from The Home's web site for a moment: "The Home for Little Wanderers provides a seamless continuum of vital programs and services for every stage of child and family development. For more than 200 years, we’ve earned a reputation for doing whatever it takes to strengthen vulnerable families and keep children safe in their own communities, even when they don’t have family support. Serving children and youth from birth to 21, The Home makes a positive impact on over 7,000 lives each year through a network of services including behavioral health, therapeutic residential and special education, adoption and foster care. In addition, a number of innovative programs provide specialized assistance to youth transitioning to adulthood from state systems of care."

That's real shit. Important shit. Those things alone should be enough of an inducement to guarantee your patronage Saturday, but on top of it being a benefit for a good cause in honor of a righteous dude, you will also be rocked by Clicky Clicky faves Soccer Mom and Eldridge Rodriguez along with Ex-Planets and The 'Mom's 100m Records labelmates Relations. E.R. will be performing hits from his repertoire of The Beatings, Eldridge Rodriguez and No Love songs accompanied on the piano by Mel Lederman, also of the No Love cohort and formerly of Victory At Sea.

These Midriff residency nights have been, as our friend BRD has been known to say, something other than else. If you missed the Halloween show last month (as admittedly we did), you missed E.R. and friends including The Beatings' Erin Dalbec and Soccer Mom's William Scales doing a cracking set of Pavement covers. Fortunately, some enterprising individual recorded the set, and you can hear the entire thing via the Soundcloud embed below. We're also posting streams of Soccer Mom's recent cataclysmic single "A Canoe Shy" b/w "Brides," which is 31 flavors of awesome and which can be purchased via 100m Records right here. So chew on that along with your leftover turkey for the next 44 hours or so. Then get yourself to Radio Saturday night. Here's the Facebook event page, too, wherein you can pledge your allegiance.

Radio Ensuring You Will Be Rocked Almost Beyond Reason This Weekend: Acts Include Future Carnivores, Travels, Varsity Drag, Age Rings, Eldridge Rodriguez

You know who owns you for the front half of Memorial Day weekend -- and will be largely responsible for your inability to do anything the second half -- assuming you are unable to escape the gravitational pull of the greater Boston/Cambridge/Somerville triangle? No, not this guy. Radio in Somerville, that's who. Starting on Thursday (and we're assuming you are still banned for life from River Gods, because, you know, this), the new-ish little club that could is just killing it with non-stop rock 'n roll. It all kicks off with an evening of rock headlined by pop adventurists Future Carnivores and featuring support from slow-core stalwarts Travels. We've weighed in on recent releases by both acts, calling Future Carnivores' self-titled debut "the first refreshing surprise of 2012" here, and we reviewed Travels' most recent maxi-single here last October. Also performing Thursday are Dirty Virgins and The Wrong Shapes. The latter act features Future Carnivores' Bo Barringer along with Rachel Arnold on cello and vocals; the pair parleys sensuous pop that will please fans of same. More deets at the Facebook event page yonder.

Clicky Clicky faves Varsity Drag occupy the center square Friday night in their first performance in who knows how long. Too long. According to legend, if the trio doesn't play its hit "Summertime," we're all doomed to another six weeks of this treacherous spring we've been having (oh, it's actually been kinda nice...?), so let's keep our fingers crossed. As an added treat, 'Drag drummer Josh Pickering is also banging the cans strapping on a guitar and crushing out chords as part of power-pop purveyors Peter Buzzelle & the Soul Clinic Bible School's set, making a characteristically sweaty evening for Mr. Pickering doubly so. Unless it is, like, weirdly cold that night? Not gonna happen, right? The evening is rounded out by a set from BirdsMakeBirds, whose name proposition seems air-tight, and another from Black Fortress of Opium. Here's the Facebook event page; join the army.

You will hopefully have something remaining in your proverbial gas tank for a huge Saturday night at Radio, as that is the latest entry in Midriff Records' reliably awesome monthly residency. This month's event features a set from recent Midriff signatories Age Rings, who will be feting the release of their upbeat new Midriff EP AM/PM (which we wrote about here earlier). Also on the bill is one of the label's flagship acts, Eldridge Rodriguez, who are fresh from a much-discussed appearance on Clicky Clicky's own NOFUCKINGWHERE compilation (download here), as well as guitar pop act Cooling Towers and a tandem performance from Midriff-friendly Sarah Borges and Midriff's own Greg Lyon. Mr. Lyon, of course, among other things is also a notable solo artist on Midriff as well as the latest addition to the label's legendary founders, The Beatings. And those other things: Lyon's ethereal re-imagining of RIDE's "Paralyzed" graced the aforementioned NOFUCKINGWHERE, which compilation's art and layout were also executed by Mr. Lyon. Let's just go ahead and say it: renaissance man. And how about one more Facebook event page?

All that stuff above? All that is happening over the course of three consecutive nights this weekend at Radio. It's mind-blowing. Get into it. We're dropping some song embeds below so you can limber up your ears. Dig.

And Then This Happened: The Beatings Perform Italiano! | 10th Anniversary Show | Radio, Somerville | 23 March

Fucking legendary.

Midriff Records Night with Eldridge Rodriguez, Lucky Dragon, M.G. Lederman and Greg Lyon | Radio | 2 Feb.

If there is an LVMH of Boston indie rock, then surely it is Midriff Records. The venerable label, home to indie rock luminaries including The Beatings, Age Rings and Greg Lyon, celebrates this year its 10th anniversary with a number of events, including a monthly residency at Somerville's Radio that begins tomorrow. The inaugural evening features Eldridge Rodriguez, the aforementioned Mr. Lyon and new signees Lucky Dragon and M.G. Lederman onstage upstairs, while magician and escape artist Eric Robitaille will do his thing downstairs at Moe's Lounge, presumably between sets, assuming he can get himself escaped from whatever predicament he has put himself into in the span of 10 or 15 minutes or so. Otherwise it could be a long night for Mr. Robitaille. Feel the Facebook Event page vibrations right here.

The next event is already on the books and transpires March 23, when The Beatings will perform its acclaimed 2002 full-length debut Italiano! in its entirety, front to back. Midriff, of course, will continue to release hot rock and roll musics this year, and already on deck is an EP from Age Rings and full-length albums from Eldridge Rodriguez, Greg Lyon, M.G. Lederman and Lucky Dragon. As far as the back catalogue goes, well get ready: March will also see a sale on older titles, discounted to move. We told you and told you to buy The Beatings' Holding On To Hand Grenades in 2006; apparently the planned sale prices will leave you with no credible excuse.

Excited? You should be. Get out tomorrow night and get in on the ground floor with the thing that will be that thing that is the thing. With magic. Now listen to Greg.

Out Now: Eldridge Rodriguez | Christmas On The Allston-Brighton Line EP

We made the coctails strong, we got the fire on... So let us be the latest to add our voice to the chorus of approval for Eldridge Rodriguez's jaunty holiday EP, Christmas On The Allston-Brighton Line. The three-song set -- the first in an annual series envisioned by the Boston-based feel-bad-pop luminary -- is as singular and as exciting as The Waitresses' "Christmas Wrapping," and as beautifully somber and evocative as Ted Pauly's "Christmas Eve, Molly Pitcher." Christmas On The Allston-Brighton Line caps a big year for Boston- and New York-based Midriff Records, which among other things also issued Eldridge Rodriguez' You Are Released in March. Mr. Rodriguez' live performance of You Are Released's "Run MF Run" was a highlight of the many shows we took in this year.

This new EP is led by the ridiculously catchy incantation "Baby, I'm Alone Tonight," which would be a certifiable hit in the overground were it dropped in the lap of a Top 40 "artist." As it is, the mid-fi production suggests the song was kind of dashed off. This isn't meant as a criticism; on the contrary, it suggests ER can bash out great songs with embarrassing ease. We picture him sunken in a worn, upholstered Bunker chair in his living room, fuzzy bunny slippers up, lazily surfing channels with the remote in one hand while he jots lyrics on the subscription card torn from a magazine and itches at his NicoDerm patch with the other hand. As clever a set of lyrics as ever turned out by Mr. Rodriguez, paired with cascading piano and guitar lines, makes the song a joy to play over and over again, and as we quipped to ER earlier today, the song cries out for a video treatment.

Christmas On The Allston-Brighton Line touts two additional numbers, the bouncing, roller-disco anthem "Christmas Eve (At The Old Country Buffet)" and the mellow gold of the snowy title ballad. The three songs come packaged with downloadable caroling sheets and alternate digital covers for all your desktop wall-papering needs. Buy the whole tomato at the Midriff store for three American clams right here; if you want to screw ER out of a little scratch you can instead buy the thing from any of the major digital music storefronts, which of course will take their cut and plow their record profits into price-checking jerkphone apps that will drive your friends' stores out of business. So, you know, whatever. When you coming back? When you coming back? When you coming back? When you coming back?

Stream "Baby, I'm Alone Tonight" via the embed below.



Eldridge Rodriguez: Hahahahaha | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

Age Rings and Eldridge Rodriguez | Piano's and Public Assembly | 19-20 Nov.

New York! The monsters of Boston indie rock are coming for you: two bands, two boroughs, two nights. That would be Eldridge Rodriguez and Age Rings, neither of which include any members of Van Hagar, Saturday the 19th at Piano's in Manhattan, and Sunday the 20th at Public Assembly in Brooklyn. It's E.R.'s first New York show with a new line-up. That's tantamount to juggling flaming chainsaws! Maybe! And Age Rings just released one of the best records of the year. Full show details at the Facepalm invitilation page right here on the Interzuzzzzes. Listen to songs. Be the ball.

Age Rings by "Caught Up in the Sound"

Eldridge Rodriguez - Miss Me When I'm Gone [Live on WMBR Pipeline April 2011] by scubaix

And Then This Happened: The Beatings | RSL Summer Par-Tay | 3 June

The Beatings, live at Foundry 24, Charlestown, Massachusetts.

That Was The Show That Was: Get Help with E.R. and Soccermom

Thursday night at PA's in Somerville, Mass., three of Boston's best -- we're fudging New York/New Jersey-based Get Help's geographical bona fides here on purpose because of history, man -- brought their A game for an evening packed cheek to jowl with rock that howled. Beatings co-fronter Eldridge Rodriguez stuck the landing on a gripping and occasionally curious set that drew heavily from his superlative 2011 solo long-player You Are Released. The collection grafts onto Rodriquez's characteristically intense guitar shouters electronic beats and samples, and it was interesting to see drummer Dennis Grabowski, who also detonates the cans for The Beatings, play to electronics triggered live by a guy that we assume was Ray Jeffery, co-producer and recording engineer for You Are Released (among other E.R. recordings) brother Dave Grabowski (formerly of Scuba, now of Midriff Records' own Louder My Dear, which features Dennis Grabowski on guitar). Those electronics also writhed in the breaks between songs like a dimly lit pit of snakes, limning the already dark tunes with an ethereal, unsettling dimension. The set was highlighted by Mr. Rodriguez, resplendent in a white suit, delivering a scalding iteration of "Run MF Run;" the live rendition was augmented with a new bell sample and the explosive choruses were gratifying.

Gracious hosts for the evening Get Help obliged listeners with a set almost solely drawn from the quartet's wonderful sophomore record The Good Green Earth, although said set closed memorably with the undeniable, pogoing title track to its 2008 debut The End Of The New Country. Unsurprisingly, the highlights of the set otherwise were our favorite tracks from The Good Green Earth: closer "Crooked Streets" -- rendered here without the sadly beautiful organ backing -- and the strident strummer "You Should Be Home By Now." We'd like to see these guys play more often.

You Should Be Home By Now by Get Help

Jamaica Plain-based Soccermom brought the evening to a kaleidoscopic close with a dazzling set forged from dense guitars and desperate vocals. The quartet, fronted by longtime scenemaker Dan Parlin, was simply brilliant, regularly bending over-driven chords and slide guitar around a decisive rhythmic attack. New drummer Justin Kehoe, he formerly of The Migration Trap, was remarkably fluid and understated behind the drum kit, and seems to be a perfect complement to the extant Soccermom alchemy. We heard new material in the set and it gives us high hopes that the band will garner the recognition it deserves very soon -- if only from the legions of music fans out there waiting for a contemporary take on early Lilys or early Polvo. Soccermom intends to issue later this year a 10" EP titled You Are Not Going To Heaven, and we've heard some of the recordings and they are terrific. If you haven't heard the band's debut single, here's one of the tunes.

Soccermom's "High On Dad"

E.R. and Get Help fans can catch Mssrs. Rodriguez and Skalicky in their natural habitat fronting The Beatings this Friday -- while R.S.V.P.s last -- in Charlestown at an event being helmed by the RSL Blog. So get with that. Soccermom returns to the stage Saturday night at The Beachcomber in Quincy, and again July 16 at Precinct in Somerville, Massachusetts for the Guillermo Sexo record release party.

Be Prepared: Get Help | The Good Green Earth | 10 May

Midriff Records will release next month the sophomore set from this, the other Beatings side project, Get Help. Fast on the heels of Beatings ying Eldridge Rodriguez' recent solo effort You Are Released, Beatings yang Tony Skalicky (along with compadres including Mike Ingenthron) readies The Good Green Earth for delivery to the masses May 10. The 11-song set is a wholly satisfying amalgamation of all your favorite fruit. "A Brittle World" piggybacks on a melody from Pixies' timeless and delightful "La La Love You;" affecting closer "Crooked Streets" charts a soulful march into a two-dimensional wooden sunset with the same wry resignation as They Might Be Giants' "Road Movie To Berlin" (organ and all). The final lyric of "Crooked Streets" -- a dense, barroom holler, "There's too much background noise as the saints come driving through" -- is just icing on top of icing.

Perhaps the highlight of an album filled with highlights is curiously sequenced at track 8, the desperate strummer "You Should Be Home By Now." Dig the stream below. Get Help has just announced a Boston record release show, which will transpire at PA's Lounge May 26 [details]. Additional acts on the bill include the aforementioned Eldridge Rodriguez and Clicky Clicky faves Soccermom. That's a hot show. We reviewed Get Help's full-length debut The End Of The New Country here in 2008.

You Should Be Home By Now by Get Help

Eldridge Rodriguez Record Release Show | O'Brien's Pub | 1 April

With the inimitable Soccermom, who are planning a release of their own sure to knock socks. Midriff Records issues Eldridge Rodriguez' You Are Released tomorrow. Buy it here.

Be Prepared: Eldridge Rodriguez | You Are Released | 22 March

Boston noise-rock stalwart Eldridge Rodriguez' fourth solo effort, separate and apart from his work with local titans The Beatings. This full-length was written during and around the sessions for The Beatings' superlative 2009 effort Late Season Kids, and as such You Are Released evidences what seems to have been an incredibly fertile songwriting period for Mr. Rodriguez. But while his songs on Late Season Kids sound contemporary, there is something in the production on You Are Released's more aggressive numbers that imbues the guitar squall with a throw-back flannel dysphoria. Highlights include the annunciatory thriller "The Big Windup" and the melodic, mid-tempo, slide guitar-slung "Fragile Things," during which Rodriguez deploys an uncharacteristic murmur over a pulsing mirage of guitars, confessing "Dear Lord I shot my mouth off again." Midriff Records will issue You Are Released March 22.

Selected Previous E.R. Coverage:
Review: E.R. | This Conspiracy Against Us
That Was The Show That Was: E.R. | PA's Lounge
That Was The Show That Was: E.R. | TT The Bear's