1.
Dungen, as close listeners to their music may have observed, are not from Boston. In fact,
tonight is their first time in these parts. And yet, sorta like the first time
Bevis Frond played here, everyone knows their name and is acting like they're old friends. Why? because that massive wave of US buzz on the album -- the one that has finally gotten it released domestically -- was generated largely on the efforts of
some of our Malden neighbors.
READ: Mikael Wood
interviews Dungen's Gustav Ejstes.
READ: Nick Sylvester
reviews Ta Det Lugnt.
LISTEN: Dungen, "
Panda" (mp3)
LISTEN: The House of Leaf and Lime has "
Lipsill"
2. That the
Hidden Cameras' on-line fan club is called the "
Mild Mannered Army" kinda says it all. Over the course of three albums and countless singles, main man Joel Gibb has marched his fluctuating brigade of Canadians through some raunchy topical terrain, though the music has disguised itself as catchy twee-pop. To hear the Cameras' lush arrangements and multi-tracked vocal harmonies, you'd never suspect they came from a dude who yanks inspiration from dirty drawers and golden showers. Which isn't to say the Cameras are all smut - when Gibb croons a line about his old home town's "Mississauga people/Bearing the weight of common evil," it's straight poetry. Just not the kind you'd want mom to catch you listening to. T.T. the Bear's Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge $8 617.492.BEAR.
LISTEN: Hidden Cameras, "
I Believe in the Good of Life" (mp3, left-click to download from Insound)