Quick Six: The Best of Boston
In our recent piece on the debut full length album from Actor|Observer we got to talking about that signature style of Boston post-hardcore that has become such a staple of the region’s music scene. And it isn’t the first time we’ve talked about the music scene up in Boston either. The city is chock full of amazing talent and even more amazing dedication. So many bands have worked their way up through the Boston scene, some have grown up past that to reach national and international touring levels, but the majority of them never made it past the regional level. But regardless of their level of fame, so many of them will forever remain local heroes. That’s the thing about Boston, it isn’t concerned with fame, even the smallest local bands can reach the same level of acclaim as the internationally touring acts. Just ask any older Boston musician about The Cadence – which I would include in this list if there were any recordings of their music still available anywhere but MySpace – and you’ll realize that talent counts for a lot more than album sales in Boston. And here are six bands that have proved that point throughout their entire careers.
Therefore I Am – Boston is still mourning the loss of these guys. Once you got too far outside of New England, you won’t come across all that many people that know about these guys, let alone people that coveted them quite like the Boston music scene, but these guys really were the best of the best in Boston. They were the perfect representation of that signature sound from Boston, and the city knew it. Therefore I Am worked their way up playing small VFW halls and basement shows throughout the Boston area, and no song quite captures the spirit of those shows quite like “I Get Nervous in Cars”. The recording quality is far from perfect, but it didn’t need to be, the feeling of the song made it through no matter the quality. And as the music video shows, you’d catch every single person in the house singing along to this one. And that is precisely what the Boston music scene is about.
Vanna – Vanna are, without a doubt, one of the bigger success stories Boston has had. If you pay attention to the metalcore scene, it’s very likely that this is not a new name. They grew up playing throughout Boston, and worked their way on to the national, and international stage, which of course means they’re more or less Boston’s golden boys, they’re something just about every musician in the city is proud of, just like The Receiving End of Sirens, or Four Year Strong, if we start counting bands outside the city limits. I included one of their older tunes from their earlier days in Boston with their former singer, Chris Preece, but his replacement, Davey Muise, formerly of New Hampshire southern metal band Seeker Destroyer has had an equally impressive tenure with the band. But Preece-era Vanna is much more reminiscent of their days playing VFW halls with Therefore I Am, so it seemed more fitting with this piece.
Farewell, Dreamer/Stolen Houses – This band is a deeply personal choice for me. Farewell, Dreamer were great friends of mine when I lived in Boston, I watched the band form, I watched the line up change and evolve; I watched them grow. I even signed them to my record label and put out their first album, that’s how much I believed in these guys. They went on to become a fairly influential band in the New England metalcore scene, and have only recently parted ways. However, that was not the end of music for these guys, a few of the band’s original members, Chris Donis and Romano Salvi went on to form Stolen Houses, helping to head up the indie/”emo revival” movement that’s gaining a lot of traction in Boston. No matter what these guys do, they consistently write good music, it doesn’t matter who the singer is, what genre they’re playing, it’s always something impressive, and it definitely makes me proud to call them friends of mine.
Defeater – Out of all of the bands on the list, Defeater may be the ones pushing the envelope the hardest. There are progressive bands on this list, heavy bands, influential bands, but none are quite like Defeater. They are taking what is honestly a rather tried and true dynamic up in Boston, a melodic hardcore band, but turning it on it’s head by ditching many of the conventions that have defined the genre for decades. In fact, every single song they write follows a storyline of a post-WWII family growing up in suburban New Jersey. That’s not something a hardcore band does, that’s something Coheed & Cambria does, but they don’t care, they’re showing the hardcore scene what is possible, and they don’t give a shit what anyone that’s stuck in that same old rut thinks about it. And if that doesn’t define the Boston mindset, then nothing does.
Transit – We’ve visited these guys before in our Quick Six. They are quickly becoming the pride and joy of Boston, they are a wonderful representation of the sense of community that drives the entire music scene up there. It’s that sense of community that means it doesn’t make a difference if you’re in TREOS or Vallon (god bless you if you get that Vallon reference), you’re treated with the same respect because everyone is on the same team, and they’re all just trying to make some music and have some fun. Everything about Transit represents that mentality, and Boston loves them for it.
Art Decade – Alright, so this is the least known name on the list, but holy shit. That’s really all there is to say about these guys, if you don’t believe me, just do yourself a favor and check out “The Queen”. When the band formed, the trio were all students at Berklee College of Music, as if that’s any surprise. They have since swapped out drummers, and added another guitarist, but other than that, the mastermind behind the songwriting, Ben Talmi, hasn’t gone anywhere, and has continued to push the prog rock envelope. These guys may not be a traditional Boston band, but they sure as hell are a great showcase of the talent the city contains.