It sits behind an unassuming green door a short walk from Downtown Crossing. The entrance to the UNRegular Radio studios gives away nothing of what awaits inside. I heard many tales of the herbal shenanigans purported to take place here, but now it was time to pull back the curtain and see how the myth stacked up against the reality.

I was here mainly to observe the Boston Pot Report’s musical guest for the day, Friday, July 15, Shoney Lamar and the Equal Rights, but it would be disingenuous of me to suggest that I wasn’t curious as to the actual goings on at Boston’s hottest new internet radio station. I assure you, no one had to ask me twice to attend.

Click here to read the rest of the review by Andrew Jeromski.

A couple years back, an enigmatic, redheaded boy named Dom surfaced on the blog circuit making synth-y bedroom tunes in Worcester, MA with a friend or two. The songs were pretty good, but never made a huge splash outside of local circles. Then Dom recruited more band members. Then the new group, under the monosyllabic name of its frontman, made an EP — and a lot of people liked it, including writers from Pitchfork, SPIN, and the Guardian. Then the band landed a spot at SXSW, and totally killed it, with some observers even touting them as “the band” of the festival.  

Now Dom has a new EP, and it does not slump a bit from the group’s trajectory, either in quality or energy.

Family of Love is very similar to its predecessor, Sun Bronzed Greek Gods, in sound. It’s the type of layered 80’s glam/60’s pop riffing that is so “it” right now that it can make it difficult to listen to a participating band for what it’s worth, rather than making needless comparisons right off the bat. Indeed, Dom’s music immediately recalls Best Coast, Girls, Ariel Pink, and Passion Pit, among many others. But what makes Dom illuminate beyond those bald comparisons is their consistency, in both quality and attitude. Every song on the first EP was great, and every song on Family of Love follows suit. Together the new EP’s five songs are such an explosion of ideas that they require a few listens to digest, not for difficulty (they are as poppy as anything, and infectious), but to catch a breath, since there is no low point whatsoever: the exuberant energy just plows ahead from song to song. All the tracks are at once danceable and singalong-ready, which should say something about the band, and why you probably would like them.

And if the first EP’s highlights (Living in America, for one) smacked a little bit of the kind of fun pop that will get stuck in your head but loses luster after too many listens, when it becomes evident that the hook was all it had going, Family of Love shows the band growing in complexity of composition, with denser songs that still brim with energy, but offer more and more as you repeat listens.

–Alexander Pinto