New England Music News

Boston music news: October 6, 2006

Notes on the Unseen and the Beat Circus

By JIM SULLIVAN | October 3, 2006

The Unseen

Go to the Paradise Lounge this Wednesday, October 11, at 8 pm, drop $12, and you’ll hear local punk luminaries disguised as BASTARDS OF THE YOUNG play punk covers, watch DROPKICK MURPHYS drummer MATT KELLY spin discs, and listen to UNSEEN bassist/singer TRIPP UNDERWOOD read from his new book So This Is Readin? Life on the Road with the Unseen. What makes this rock diary different from any other? “It’s fairly common ground as far as rock-and-roll writing goes,” says Underwood, “and the band itself, though we have been marginally successful, we haven’t broken any big ground. Most of the rock-and-roll diaries end in tragic letdown or the band playing Shea Stadium. Our story isn’t that. It’s a band that started 12 years ago in a garage and made it two steps out. But none of us have real jobs; I haven’t had an alarm clock in five years. I can afford an apartment in Boston. It’s just a bunch of real guys who got lucky enough to do it for a living.”

Underwood deals head on with two major misconceptions. “Because you’re in a punk-rock band, people think you’re nihilistic drug addicts. And in the underground punk world, because we’re on a ‘big’ label like Epitaph, we’re big rock stars and use our money to buy blow and snort it off girls’ tits.”

Following Thursday’s gig, the Unseen get back to writing an album they’ll record with JIM SIEGEL at Outpost. They hope to release it next spring, and they’ll begin a British tour with RANCID in March. Goal? “We’re staying relevant in a subculture that’s been overwrought with cookie-cutter rebellion. What do you do when the nature of the beast has been so dulled?”

The BEAT CIRCUS spent the end of summer finishing their second disc with producer MARTIN BISI, whose recent credits include the Dresden Dolls and who’s best known for his work with Foetus. Multi-instrumentalist BRIAN CARPENTER reports that the disc — due spring 2007 — is “a firestorm of dark cabaret, Gypsy music, and saloon songs.” Guest singers include Holly Brewer and M. McNiss (Humanwine), cellist Julia Kent (Antony & the Johnsons), trombonist Curtis Hasselbring (Golem), saxophonist Briggan Krauss (Sex Mob), and multi-instrumentalist Brian Dewan.

On the Web
The Unseen: http://www.unseenpunks.com/

Topics: New England Music News , Entertainment, Music, Pop and Rock Music, More

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