State Of The Union / The New Frustrations / Billy Connors Project / Far Above The Ground
Midway Cafe, Jamaica Plain, MA 3/18/18
I’m Samm Gunn, I’m a private eye.
I take on jobs no matter how big or how little they are.
I deal with clients no matter how high up in the world they are, or how low.
And let me tell ya. It gets no lower than these punks who publish the Thrash N Bang newsletter. I mean, these lads would need a step ladder just to get in the gutter.
What with Andy Bang still incarcerated in a Kentucky prison, taken the fall for Slimedog’s facebook crimes- and Slimedog, himself, probably in the drunk tank, this being the day after Saint Patrick’s Day.
He’s half Irish and half witted, too. But when you’re a drunk writer, I guess you qualify for being full Irish.
Me, I think he’s full of shit.
But I’m not here to judge, but then again, I guess I am. I’m here to do a review, a kind of stakeout, write down what I see and make a report.
And that’s what brings me to this swanky night spot, this classy joint. I leave my coat and fedora with the check out girl, tip the Maitre’d for a choice table, buy some cigarettes from the cute dame with the curly, blond locks and signal to Mike, the bartender, for my Rob Roy Martini.
I light up a cigarette and await for the first act to perform.
Far Above The Ground is a four piece combo. They have a guitarist who sings leads, another who sings back up and an able rhythm section.
I did some investigation about them, found their records clean, and also that they describe themselves as rock/pop/alternative. Which is a bit odd to me because I hear none of that alternative angst but a lot of well-written pop songs with energetic beats.
I find them a lot closer to The Replacements than Nirvana- a lot of good, honest pop like “Moving On.”
Slimedog goes on and on about bands that call themselves punk when they aren’t- well, here’s a band for him that I feel is melodic/punk but doesn’t claim to be so, one I’d think he’d really enjoy.
Most of the bands and fans here today are as old as dirt, almost as old as Slimedog! But this band and their fans are young- a welcome reprieve from that- and I think their style fits perfectly on today’s program.
Next up is the Billy Connors Project, who have players that are part of Boston Rock History- Ray Fernandes on drums was in The Atlantics and Adam Sherman, on guitar and back up vocals, was the singer for Private Lightening. Both these bands were on major labels in the eighties.
So it’s no surprise to me that Adam sounds so great and Ray still lays down the perfect Boston beat- a bit heavy on the snare and precise and rockin’. But the whole band sounds excellent to me.
There’s great songwriting here as well. Mostly songs about broken hearts or a good woman, all are about real life.
My favorite tunes fall into the Chuck Berry rockin’ style, but there’s some classic garage and even some country, too- not like the goofy, current country they have now, but the real thing.
And they play a rockin’, heartfelt set.
The New Frustrations are the first band today that I’ve seen before. They’re a trio that uses eighties influences to create a smooth and polished but rockin’ and of substance, melodic/punk style.
Even a jackass like Slimedog saw the beauty in their song “Right As Rain.”
Slimedog knows more about drinking than music but I studied music at Berklee before I got into the more lucrative field of detective work.
That song by them has two verses before hitting the chorus and reminds me of the great, sixties soul band’s song “You’re My Everything” by The Temptations.
The Temptation’s song, which is about expressing love for a woman, has two verses and then a bridge!- before even a glimpse of the chorus. When it finally hits it creates quite the impact!
Much like this band creates today.
During their cover of “Somebody Got Murdered” by The Clash, their guitarist/singer, Rick, slashes his hand open.
I believe it’s called suffering for your art. I just wish Slimedog would suffer, a far deal greater, for his.
Highlights include their song “Radio Generation” and their cover of “We’ve Got The Airways” by The Ramones.
State Of The Union is a band I’ve seen before. Two guys names Joe, not five guys named Moe, and a dame that beats the skins like they did her wrong.
But today is the first time that I notice that the Joe, on guitar, looks exactly like Quentin Tarantino, much like how Slimedog looks exactly like Mr. Bean.
They describe themselves as old-school, power pop punk and that sounds pretty right to me. And they always provide an intense, energetic, emotional punkin’ set, like today, that always satisfies.
An Agent Orange cover, one by The Neighborhoods- and lots of terrific originals. A perfect ending to a prefect day.
Now, it’s time to make my leave.
I recall during The New Frustration’s cover of “We’ve Got The Airways” the young people from the first band and their friends all got up to dance. One of the girls toppled over some equipment and then retreated, a bit embarrassed. But I told her, you should have kept on dancing because, this is not perfection, this is punk rock- real life, after all.
I’ve spent some time working in offices, in the so called “real world.” Where people are so uptight they lose track of their real being, lose track of their feelings, lose track of the love and joy that had made them so wonderful as a child.
Today I pointed towards the dance floor to indicate to folks, “This is what real life is about. This is where real life exists, where people are being who they really are!”
But they just laughed and thought, he must be drunk, which, I guess, I was.
But what I said couldn’t be more true.
(Samm Gunn)
