Ho-Ag | Victory at Sea and Helms are two bands who deserve props for helping to hold up the noisy avant-punk wing of the Boston scene. But Ho-Ag’s debut is coming out this week, so I thought I’d give them the nod.
Ho-Ag, "Golden All Night" (mp3)
The Konks | Yukki Gipe was ahead of his time back when the ’80s band he fronted, Bullet LaVolta, created an incendiary mix of punk and metal that you might say was, oh, grungy. A couple years later, Nirvana broke and Bullet LaVolta were broke. But Gipe’s back and better than ever as the drumming frontman of the garage-punking Konks.
Lock & Key | Yep, they sound a lot like Hot Water Music. It’s got a little to do with Ryan Shanahan’s raw, emotive delivery and a lot to do with a muscular punk rhythm section and guitars that are as hard-hitting as they are melodic.
Lock & Key, "Process of Molting" (mp3)
Read Yellow | Anyone who thinks Kim and Thurston haven’t had an impact on the Northampton scene hasn’t heard Read Yellow. They’re a post–Sonic Youth band in that they use dissonance to season otherwise melodic tunes, and their female bassist also plays guitar.
Read Yellow, "Model America" (mp3)
The Rudds | When you’ve got a name like John Powhida, a voice that can do Prince and Cheap Trick, and a knack for writing pop songs that fall somewhere in between the two, well, it’s okay to call yourself “J-Po.” And the Rudds are like seeing three bands in one, with Brett Rosenberg on guitar and Papas Fritas mainman Tony Goddess on bass.
The Rudds, "Astrological Sign Choker" (mp3)
