Advice Crush: Dear Boogie

Dear Boogie,

Seriously, your last post re: expectations just changed my life a little bit. You might have actually been writing this for me. I'm going to go out and look for a dog this weekend. Cheers!!

Don’t Worry About It


Dear DWAI,

I aims to please. In fact, this might be a good opportunity to invite others of you who have written to me before to give me some updates. Did you ask Boogie? How did it work out for you? Did I change your life? Are you preparing a class action lawsuit against me? Let me know!


Dear Boogie,

I'm a late 20-something who is getting angsty watching my friends self-actualize all around me with grad school plans, jobs that actually pay well, albums, and bands that are actually going somewhere, or at least having fun staying in the same place. I feel limited by funds, my own confused ambition, and a lack of clarity about my skills and talents. I'm good at a lot of things, but I'm not great at anything. What's a girl to do?

Experiencing An Existential Crisis

Dear EAEC,

Well, the first thing you should do is panic. Get good and worked up about your lack of accomplishments, your non-existent future, and your general worthlessness as a human being. I’m talking about a full-fledged panic attack here. Take your time. I’ll be here when you get back.

Done? Good. Somewhere along the line, someone fooled us into thinking that the key to happiness is the achievement of goals. I’m looking in your general direction, education system. We’ve been taught that if we haven’t accomplished certain things by certain ages that there’s something wrong with us. What a pile of bullhonkey. If I ever have kids, I’m totally not sending them to “school” to learn all that “work hard and achieve goals” nonsense. They’ll be home with me learning important skills like being ninjas or giving elaborate yet occasion-appropriate high fives.

Here’s the problem with the whole “achievement” thing: it is designed to leave you unsatisfied. If you allow yourself to want, there will always be more TO want. I had a friend who used to say that if he just worked his way up to six figures at his job, he wouldn’t need anymore. He would be completely satisfied and enjoy his life tremendously. Of course, when he accomplished that goal, he looked around at the people making more than him and determined that actually it would take 250 grand a year to make him happy. But that would be it, for sure. It’d be all he needed. This went on and on until he remained a very rich, very unhappy person. It was never about how much he was making. He was living in a potentially better future, leaving him unable to enjoy the present. That friend’s name? Cheers star John Ratzenberger. (Not true – I just thought I’d jazz up the story with a little celebrity glitter.)

By focusing on everything you’re not, you are missing out on what you are. EAEC, I’m guessing there are a ton of things in your life you enjoy. Not things that you’re “good” or “great” at or things that will get you anywhere, but things you actually LIKE doing. Maybe THAT’S the whole point here, huh? To experience the present of our lives as much as possible.

My advice - make a list of things you like about your life. It could be something as simple as “I enjoy reading Dear Boogie every Wednesday” or “I make homemade stuffed panda porn in my garage on the weekends” or “You know what’s awesome? A motherfucking burrito. That’s what’s awesome.” The point of this exercise is not to figure out what to do next. It is to put yourself completely in the center or your own life and what you love about it. If there are things you don’t like, don’t do them. If there are things you would like to do more, do them more. In other words, just be in your life as presently and fully as possible. It’s actually sort of hard to do at first (the brain likes to fuck with our inner peace for some reason), but totally worth a try.

Life is simpler than people think. There is no audience. There is no scorekeeper. There is no past. There is no future. There’s just this moment. Do you have the guts to let yourself enjoy it?

Soundtrack to your misery: Sun Lee Sunbeam "Sitting In An Open Cage"





You want to ask a simple question and get a hippie dippie philosophical pseudo-Buddhist philosophical answer? Brendan's got you covered. Just send an email dearboogie@bostonbandcrush.com or fill in the sweet badassssssssssssss anonymous submission form below:

C.D. On Songs: Zayde Buti - "Uncle Ricky"

I wonder how you pronounce “Buti.” It’s either “booty” or “beauty,” I am hoping, because either would be awesome. The vibrant Mr. B. will be appearing tomorrow night at All Asia in Cambridge. If this track and its accompanying artwork are any indication, you are in for a show of shows. And it’s free! I defy you to tell me when you last were so entertained for so little. I bet you can’t.

Zayde Buti - “Uncle Ricky”
[download it!]

The album art you see here should be a tip-off of some kind or another. Zayde Buti is a special, special person. As rich as his appearance is - the pink tie, the Burger King crown, the homemade Supersoaker weaponry - so is his sound. There is a parallel - one might take one peek at Buti and say “This is a strange person,” and one might do the very same with “Uncle Ricky.” But when you decide to sit back and drink it all in - that is when the treats begin.

There is no possible way to ignore this song. It’s like it has its own psychic volume knob that refuses to be turned down or ignored. It is a very good musical translation of the supplied image. If Uncle Ricky is a man with no pants, a camouflage shirt and a Pringles can for an arm, we are not surprised in the least. As a song, he is colorful and catchy. The pace is snappy, and Buti’s lyrical flow not only keeps up with the manic feel of the track, it adds to the feel as well.

“Uncle Ricky” is delivered in a semi-spoken sing-song, that occasionally breaks down into more rhythmic sections imploring Uncle Ricky to “Go! Go! Go! Go!” Go he does, breaking down the walls of musical normalcy - but only to travel in its own direction. “Uncle Ricky” is not straight up weirdness for weirdness’s sake - it has a certain bent appeal in its straightforward oddity. There’s barely a tune, but it’s catchy. The beat stops and starts on its own whims, yet sticks around somehow. Strange? Yes. But strange in a fun way. Always a fun way.



Want to submit your band's song to C.D. On Songs?
To be reviewed in a C.D. On Songs column, please:

*Be a Boston-based band/artist.
*Email a single mp3/m4a/etc. (or a download link to one) to cdonsongs (at) gmail (dot) com, with the subject line "C.D. on Songs" (DO NOT send us a bunch of songs and make us pick, we will ignore you). We require a file – not a streaming link.
*Include album cover art if you have any. If you don't, a band photo or logo is acceptable.
*Tell us when you want to see it! Give us the date of your show and we'll make sure it runs as close as possible to that day. No kidding.

We will assume that we have your permission to make the song downloadable on Boston Band Crush (readers will want to hear it, after all). If that's not ok with you, say so and provide us with a link to the song on an embeddable player like ReverbNation – something we can include in the post (and not just link to).

Show Crush: Action Verbs, Elsinore, The Acre

Nicholas Murphy of the Acre on why your attendance is encouraged this Wednesday, September 8 at T.T. the Bear's: "We'll be playing songs that we haven't played before and haven't played for a while. Back catalog shit! Future catalog shit! Shit!" If that's not reason enough to see one of our biggest crushes as of recent, they're sharing the stage with two other amazing acts: Boston's Action Verbs and Champaign, Illinois' Elsinore.

  The Acre - Lambs

Wednesday, September 8 at T.T. the Bears - 8:00, 18+, $8

Band Crush: Marconi

Download and take a listen to this:

"Grady Calloway’s Heart Of Gold"

Sound familiar? Comforting even? That might be because the group of musicians who make up the band Marconi are almost all Boston music veterans (l-r: Chris Hislop of Piles, Andrew Dole of The Bon Savants and Mystery Roar, Luke Kirkland of Night Rally, James Towlson of These Thieves and Campaign For Real Time,  and Robert Peckham).

Marconi may be your favorite band you've never heard of. They sprung up quickly in the local music scene, but frontman Luke Kirkland has been crafting the songs featured on their soon to drop debut release Minutes To Manifest Destiny for well over five years. Musically, there is a lot of space held together by a lone synthesizer or delayed guitar. The lyrical content reflects this notion of space and time as Kirkland makes going from his normal singing voice to a falsetto seem far too easy. Overall, Minutes To Manifest Destiny is a solid indie-pop effort from a band you will surely be hearing more about in the coming weeks, months and years.

BBC: Anyone who follows the Boston music scene knows at least one of the members of Marconi. How did this particular group of talented musicians come together on this project?

Luke: Chris and I kept in good touch while I lived to New Mexico and he had been one of the first people with whom I had shared the Marconi songs. Piles was my favorite band in Boston by the time I left and they actually influenced some of the music on this first album. Chris was game for a change so he committed before I had even moved back. Andy started playing drums with Bon Savants when they were big brothering Night Rally into the local scene. Though Andy had a lot on his plate with Mystery Roar, Bon Savants were going on hiatus when I arrived and I was able to convince him to give it a go. James was an acquaintance from his days as These Thieves, but he was recommended by Andy as a solution to our singing bassist vacuum, for which he's obviously perfect. Robert, on the other hand, is a rookie I brought from New Mexico. We started working together when I went back to school and he's been supportive enough to move across the country to work on the project. We're glad we can offer at least one fresh face to the lineup!

BBC: Luke - You've been crafting these songs for over five years. What themes and styles were important to maintain over the course of writing these songs?

Luke: From the beginning, I knew I wanted to define Marconi as a poppy-ish indie rock band with a foundation in somewhat traditional rock instrumentation. Most of the songs take familiar chord structures and kind of fractalize them into involved, somewhat meandering progressions. Lyrically, themes of geography and distance repeat throughout and find representation in larger historical periods and episodes. When writing and arranging the songs, I tried to create characters for the instruments that would give some kind of cohesion to the arrangements in lieu of and in anticipation of a real band. And the sound of a lot of bands I love provided some guidance: David Bowie, Roy Orbison, Neko Case, The Walkmen.

BBC: Though these songs have been in the works for so long, Marconi as a band is relatively new to the music scene. With the release of your debut record edging closer, what are your hopes and expectations for the band following the record release?

Luke: I moved back to Boston primarily to pursue music professionally. In my pitch to the bandmembers, I wanted to make clear the goal of becoming a nationally successful act. That's something we've all dreamed of individually; having worked as hard as we all have in our other projects, we hope to turn that effort towards something that will go further than what we've been able to achieve previously. We're not getting any younger and music is what we love to do, so that's what we intend. In the short term, I have a lot more songs for us to work on and I'm really excited to develop a band sound tailored to the talents of everyone involved.

BBC: How do you feel it will pan out? Are you nervous? Excited? Confident?

Luke: This is the first band I've been a real frontman for and that's a big transition for me; at times that makes me nervous. But I've spent a lot of time on this music and I think it's going to go great. We all know a good deal about what doesn't work for for Boston bands and we have a good understanding of the kind of effort what we're doing involves. There's no such thing as a magical "break". It starts with good music and sustains itself through a lot of hard work and we're capable of it all.

BBC: What Boston bands are you currently crushing on?

Pretty & Nice are great and we're honored they'd join our CD release festivities. Night Rally played with the old version of Faces On Film and I love how Mike's developed that music. Banditas and Volcano Kings are awesome. And of course, we've still got plenty of close friends here: Big Digits, Animal Hospital, Neptune, Summerduck, Big Bear, etc. And I know there are lots of bands I'm missing from lack of exposure to a whole lot of local music over the last four years. I look forward to discovering what's popped up since I left!

*********

 Minutes To Manifest Destiny

Grab the record at the release show on Saturday, September 11 at Great Scott as Marconi shares the stage with:
Pretty And Nice, In Cadeo, & Baby Driver

Series Crush: As Built PResents every Wednesday in September at O'Briens

Kudos to As Built PResents for compiling an awesome line up of music every Wednesday in September at O'Briens. For the second night of the event, they have recently added BirdsMakeBirds, a band that has managed to put a fresh twist on moody mid-90s grunge.

As part of the festivities, PR giveaways include posters of the night's show to the first 20 people through the door, and a digi download sampler of all the artists from the series.

Tonight's line-up (last to first):

Night Fruit
Birds Make Birds
Soft Pyramids
Andy Menudo (Mittens)

For details on the rest of the series, check out the BBC post from last week.

Wednesdays in September
O'Briens Pub
3 Harvard Avenue
Allston, MA
$8, 9PM, 21+

Contest Crush 4: Win a pair of tickets to Township / Gozu / Mellow Bravo / Zip-Tie Handcuffs at the MidEast down this Friday PLUS other shwag

This show's been on the radar for months because of its extreme amounts of awesome. Not one but TWO of the bands on the bill – Gozu and Mellow Bravo – are releasing their long-awaited and hugely anticipated debut albums with this show. Bookending the two guests of honor are openers Zip-Tie Handcuffs and headliners Township, both of whom will do you just right. All night long Providence's DJ Nook will spin classics in between bands.

For one lucky winner, we have a prize package that'll make you swoon: a pair of tickets to the show, plus a screen printed Township t-shirt designed by singer/guitarist Marc Pinansky, plus a copy of Gozu's new album Locust Season, plus a copy of Mellow Bravo's new album Strut! To enter, you just gotta send us an email with the subject "GOZU BRAVO." We'll pick a winner Thursday morning.

Pick up Gozu's Locust Season here, and Mellow Bravo's Strut here. Or get em at the show! This Friday night, Sept. 10, Middle East Downstairs, 18+,  $12.

Contest Crush 3: Win a pair of tickets to Muy Cansado / The Lights Out / Sidewalk Driver / The Press at the Middle East upstairs this Saturday

It's a big weekend of CD/EP releases and shows in general, and if you are struggling to make a choice for Saturday night, perhaps fate will decide for you. We're giving away a pair of tickets to one of Saturday's all-star shows: Muy Cansado (who are releasing their new EP Love and Fear), The Lights Out (who are releasing THEIR new EP Rock Pony), Sidewalk Driver (who are likely releasing lots of pheromones and confetti), and Brooklyn's The Press (we're not sure if they're releasing anything but we welcome them nonetheless). One lucky winner will get a pair of tickets PLUS the new EPs from The Lights Out and Muy Cansado. All you gotta do to enter is email us with the subject "LOVE PONY" (see what we did there?). We'll pick a winner Friday morning and notify the winner via email.

Saturday 9.11 / Middle East Upstairs / 18+ / $10

C.D. On Songs: Those Wolves Actually Happened - "Apathy & Arson"

You have 10 days. Those Wolves Actually Happened have begun the countdown, and by the time you exhaust all of your options for parsing their band name, they will be upon you. If you are at McGann’s. Which, judging by the strength of this track, you may want to find yourself. I don’t know how they are going to cram their sound into anything remotely resembling the size of a rock club. They should be someplace huge, like Symphony Hall or the Atlantic Ocean or something. Catch them now, while they are still like, indoors and stuff. You have 10 days.

Those Wolves Actually Happened - “Apathy & Arson”
[download it!]

The beginning strains of “Apathy & Arson” don’t sound very arsonous. They don’t sound very apathetic, but they are more reserved than one might think arson might sound when transformed to music. The high-toned pingy-pingy of the opening guitar tones create an odd sort of tension. You wait and wait, thinking something big is going to change or come into the scene of the song to alter its complexion. It sort of happens around 1:15 when there’s a huge swell, but the guitars continue after this miniature explosion.

This track actually moves deceptively fast. It seems like things will be easy to grasp and deal with in time, but “Apathy & Arson” actually travels a long distance in a very short time. This song actually plays out more like an orchestral piece than your standard rock song and it’s not just due to the eclectic instrumentation. Several “movements” transverse the larger part of this long-ish song. While there are several, wildly different themes or motifs within its sections, they remain a recognizable part of a larger whole.

It should be fairly impossible to listen to to this song only once. It’s like Fight Club. Or some other movie that benefits from repeat, “I-know-now” replays. Those Wolves Actually Happened create a listening experience that is both dynamic and richly textured. There is beauty in the bright clear vocals of the earlier sections and some turbulence in later guitar sections. Maybe this is the where that whole “Apathy & Arson” dichotomy comes from, if we can call it that. We don’t need to urge you to re-listen to this track - you will probably want to do this on your own.



Want to submit your band's song to C.D. On Songs?
To be reviewed in a C.D. On Songs column, please:

*Be a Boston-based band/artist.
*Email a single mp3/m4a/etc. (or a download link to one) to cdonsongs (at) gmail (dot) com, with the subject line "C.D. on Songs" (DO NOT send us a bunch of songs and make us pick, we will ignore you). We require a file – not a streaming link.
*Include album cover art if you have any. If you don't, a band photo or logo is acceptable.
*Tell us when you want to see it! Give us the date of your show and we'll make sure it runs as close as possible to that day. No kidding.

We will assume that we have your permission to make the song downloadable on Boston Band Crush (readers will want to hear it, after all). If that's not ok with you, say so and provide us with a link to the song on an embeddable player like ReverbNation – something we can include in the post (and not just link to).

Contest Crush 2: Win a pair of tickets for Neutral Uke Hotel / The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library at Café 939 this Saturday 9/11

As you may know, Michael J. Epstein is one of Boston Band Crush's founding fathers, and in the wake of his eventual death, the Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library has been christened and will debut this Saturday night at Café 939 as part of the brand new Red Eye at the Red Room series. The series pairs music with local rock photography, and the inaugural event will see the Library alongside Neutral Uke Hotel on the stage while photographs by 5432 Studios hang on the walls.

To win a pair of tickets, email us with the subject "HOTEL LIBRARY." We'll pick a winner on Friday morning and winner will be notified by email.

Go here to watch Neutral Uke Hotel's Take Away Session on La Blogoteque.

Contest Crush 1: Win a pair of tickets for the Rock and Blues Cruise this Saturday with Magic Magic

All summer long we've happily teamed up with the organizers of the Rock and Blues Cruise to offer ticket giveaways, so it seems fitting that we're doing it again for their final cruise of the season. This Saturday, Magic Magic and Three Legged Fox (from Philadelphia) will play aboard the boat as it sails the seas, and you and a friend can be there for free! This cruise is a matinee and sails at 2pm, so you don't have to forgo your evening plans (and, considering how much of a doozy this Saturday night is, that's good news).

This cruise is presented by non-profit Davis Concert Staging and proceeds will benefit Team Forward, a team of 15 cyclists who ride annually in the Pan Mass Challenge to support the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

To enter to win a pair of tickets, send us an email with the subject "I'M ON A BOAT." We'll pick a winner on Friday morning and winner will be notified via email. Please note, you must be 21+ to cruise.