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A cornucopia of bands
‘The Boston Rising’
BY MIKE MILIARD

An oft-voiced complaint about the Boston music scene is that it’s too factionalized. You’ve got your Allston Rock City dudes, your Abbey Lounge garage-punkers, your indie-scenesters at the Middle East, and any number of mini-scenes besides. But Bryn Bennett and Ian Vogel and their bandmates in the Model Sons want to remedy that. So they laid out their own $2000 to rent the Middle East downstairs next Saturday for "The Boston Rising," a cherry-picked inter-scene bill featuring Runner and the Thermodynamics, the Information, the Model Sons, the Good North, and Harris.

"It’s all so segmented," Vogel explains. "That’s not good for the scene, it’s not good for anyone. This is kind of a crazy venture for us. We’re putting our own money forth, and it’s a big risk."

But Bennett says it’s worth it. "We were thinking about all we’ve got going on. WFNX has really started promoting local bands [the station is co-sponsoring the night]. Things are blowing up. [But] I have friends who’re not that into the music scene and they’ve never heard of these bands. They don’t really know what we have here."

It’s a diverse bill, but the bands all have one thing in common, Bennett continues: "We were fans." Take ’70s-smitten headliners Runner and the Thermodynamics, who revel in maniacal, self-destructive drumming and bone-shaking bass/guitar interplay. "They have that cool retro sound, but they’re taking it in a whole new direction. They’re not just posing in their tight jeans, they’re making incredible music."

Or the Information, an itchy, synth-driven sextet who shoot their smart, tight songs through with snarling guitars and a subtle menace. "They’re one of my favorite bands," says Vogel. "There’s a little of the ’80s flavor, that music I grew up liking, but with a really intelligent, modern take on it. They appeal to rockers, appeal to indie snobs. And they’re taking over the city. It’s incredible what they’ve done; they’ve gone from playing Charlie’s Kitchen to opening for Les Savy Fav. And their fan base is growing exponentially."

The Good North take their name from an Idlewild lyric, and with their plaintive vocals and melodic guitar swells, all sweeping dynamics and controlled fury, they do indeed recall that Scottish quintet. "They have a really cool commanding view of what’s out there today," Vogel says. "Their drummer is like an . . . octopus. They’re just really cool guys. I think they’re artists trapped in rockers’ bodies."

"Also, they’re the only other band who’re more wasted at shows that we are," Bennett points out. "Which I find pretty impressive."

Harris follow a proggy muse, with snaking melodies and tricky song structures. "They’re a quirky different kind of band," Vogel says, "chasing all these different time changes."

"They do really well at all the colleges," Bennett adds. "They just opened for Suicide Girls at the Middle East. They beat out a ton of great bands to get that show."

No, the Model Sons don’t stint in their praise. And they’re modest enough to forgo the headlining spot and wedge their own heavy-duty punk-metal bombast into the middle of the bill.

"We kinda ride the line between styles," Bennett says. "We could play on an indie bill, we could play on sort of an Allston Rock bill. It’s strange, the different people who show up to the shows."

"Boston has a cornucopia of great music," Vogel deadpans. "People get too caught up, hanging out with their own bands and their friends. People need to see more of these bands."

That’s why Vogel and Bennett have worked so hard organizing and promoting this novel concept (also look for The Boston Rising ’zine and CD sampler), and why they’re hoping to make it a semi-regular occurrence. "We’re trying to figure out how often we could do this without killing ourselves," Vogel says.

"We came up with a wish list of all the bands we’d like to help out with this and it filled up two pages," Bennett concludes. "We just want to raise some awareness, to say, ‘Hey, look! This is in your backyard!’ "

"The Boston Rising" takes place next Saturday, April 24, downstairs at the Middle East, 480 Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square. Tickets are $10; call (617) 864-EAST.


Issue Date: April 16 - 22, 2004
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