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All New England Music News

New England Music News

A Tiger on the loose

Box Tiger

• New action on the horizon by art-rock band the BOX TIGER. The Toronto/Portland four-piece (half of whom do double duty in the rock group In the Audience) have been getting attention from online indie circuits lately with the release of "Set Fire to Your Friends," a punchy single from their upcoming full-length. The song was recorded in Toronto and mixed/mastered in Portland (at Ron Harrity's FOREST CITY STUDIOS), and those believers in their debut 2010 EP should be intrigued. The song takes the energy and soaring melodies of that record even farther, while the production spotlights frontwoman Sonia Sturino, whose voice and presence are two of the band's best features. Exciting, energizing stuff. While the Box Tiger rarely play around here, you have four chances to catch them this week: November 8 at Gelato Fiasco in Portland (8 pm, 425 Fore St.), November 10 at the Portland Flea-for-All (125 Kennebec St. between 10 am and 5 pm) and Gelato Fiasco in Brunswick (9:30 pm, 74 Maine St.), and November 11 at Slainte (9 pm, 24 Preble St.). Hear their work at theboxtiger.bandcamp.com.

•Somehow or other, the new electronic pop duo CONTRAPPOSTO scored a gig opening for the '80s new-wavers Human Sexual Response at Boston's House of Blues this week. Here's how: because they're awesome. The group officially release their first EP this month, a three-song concoction of minimalist beats, well-textured synths, and the talents of the adventurous Mirabai Iwanko, whose rich vocal grain is rife with influences. They've only been around since spring, but we can't help but affirm that this recording blows our expectations away. Stream it at contrapposto.org.

•If you like it bleaker than these, look here. The raw metal group BLACK CHALICE have been issuing a steady stream of bile since September of last year, three long EPs of gross, blackened doom. Where the production on their earlier dirges has been as off-putting as possible — not necessarily a bad thing — their latest, the four-song Obsidian, blends some oblique melodies beneath the funereal haze, reminding us of genre-collapsing heavy bands Nadja and Jesu. Not a ton of stuff like this getting made around here; Black Chalice come recommended to fans of doom metal and dark post-rock alike. Visit blackchalice.bandcamp.com.