For a band from Boston, Louder My Dear sound suspiciously like London in the late 70s. More specifically, LMD sound like late-period The Jam. With his Paul Weller-esque drawl, I expect leader David Grabowski to break into “That’s Entertainment” at any moment. What a welcome surprise.

Much of What’s The Matter With You, Rock? is acoustic-based indie rock, which makes sense when you consider that the bulk of the record was written by Grabowski before the band ever formed. Though every song gets the full-band treatment, you can hear the bedroom roots in every track.

WTHWYR is surprisingly well produced for a debut release on a tiny indie label (Midriff Records). Subtle electronics coupled with occasional horns and strings make the tracks pop. Any one of these songs could hold its own on any progressively-minded radio station alongside the current indie rock playlist.

With ballads like American Standard and Little Boat and poppy rockers like Two Cars and Clamshack, WTHWYR has the variety to match any self-respecting music fan’s tastes.

–George Dow

For a band that formed in November of 2010, recorded their first sessions in December and released them to the world in February of 2011, Il Abanico’s self-released debut EP, Crossing Colors is a surprisingly fully-realized affair.

The core of Il Abanico are native Columbians Juliana Ronderos and Nicolas Losada who met in Boston (Juliana is a recent Berklee grad). Their music is a refreshing conglomerate of worldly rhythms, indie rock guitars, and lightly accented vocals. The sound is at once familiar and exotic, combining for a sprightly, whimsical treat of an EP that sounds fantastic on the back porch on a warm summer evening.

The pair is playing around town throughout the summer. They will be headlining the Deli Magazine NE show Thursday, July 14 at PA’s Lounge, along with Tan Vampires, Pack of Morleys and Melt.

–George Dow

Last night, Rhode Island natives Deer Tick played a concert on a boat that cruised around Boston harbor. The set up was awful:  the guitars sounded tinny and the drum set was not mic’d well—and the band already had to compete with the open air on the top deck and low rumble of the ancient boat motor. Plus there was no stage on deck, so the only people who could actually see the band were those that had staked out spots early, or else had enough chutzpah to push through the tight crowd. But alas, the gods of concert ruination failed miserably, as nobody in the crowd seemed to care about any of those detracting factors.  Instead, the positive aspects of the evening won out easily: it was an almost embarrassingly perfect summer night, the sun was setting magnificently behind the city skyline, the opening band, Aunt Martha, was a hit with the crowd, and the beers were reasonably priced. The prevailing mood: totally pumped.

Deer Tick is not a low-fi band by any means– if they’re anything, they’re gritty—which definitely helped their efforts to overcome the crappy boat acoustics. They came off as a band that can successfully play any concert situation, if nothing else because of John McCauley’s highly distinctive singing voice and the underlying quality of his/their songwriting. The fact that the crowd was mostly comprised of well-lubricated die-hards that sang along to nearly every song didn’t hurt either.

The band rolled out some new material—truly new, as a few songs stumped everyone—presumably to be released on an LP sometime soon. (Note: if any fans had been concerned that the band was “going soft” since the ballad-heavy Black Dirt Sessions, know that at least one of the new tracks is a straight up hard rocker like they’ve never done before, and it kicks ass). But aside from the handful of new tracks, the band played an unsurprising but substantial set of favorites from their first three LPs, and at least one of the Nirvana covers that they are wont to pull out.  As usual, they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

In all: a highly successful show, sound quality be damned.

–Alexander Pinto

The Adam Hofmann Revival is preparing to release their second album this coming September, marking a huge milestone for the band from Cape Cod, MA. You’ll Get There consists of ten original songs written by Adam, each providing a combination of high-energy instrumentation, high-emotion vocals, and passionate lyrics.

The album will be used as a vehicle to raise awareness and revenue for the Made By Survivors Network, a non-profit organization that works to educate, empower, and reintegrate survivors of human trafficking in an effort to break the cycle of modern day slavery. All profits from the sale of the new album will flow through the Made By Survivors Network, and to young survivors of human trafficking.

The Adam Hofmann Revival has set up a pre-launch campaign through PledgeMusic — those who preorder the album will gain access to exclusive songs, merchandise and more.

–Chrissy Prisco

Two new tracks, Deep Pockets (which you can listen to below) and Gimme Time, by Boston’s garage rock outfit, Thick Shakes, are available today for listening and downloading on the band’s Bandcamp page. Their vinyl 7" Why Buy the Cow is also still available here.

Thick Shakes next local shows are Wed. 7/20 at PA’s Lounge with Naga Gaga and Magic People, and Thurs. 8/11 at the Naga Gaga residency at The Haven in Jamaica Plain.

–Chrissy Prisco

Boston’s Naga Gaga begin a month-long Wednesday residency tonight at PA’s Lounge in Somerville. This folk/pop/rock outfit delivers music that’s exuberant and charming as well as fun and energetic in its delivery. Definitely hightail it to one– or all–of these shows. Listen to Hunger Dog below.

July 6th
Poor Everybody
Naga Gaga
Brief Awakening
Jade Sylvan Band

July 13th
Teenage Penis and the Herpes
Naga Gaga
TBA

July 20th
Thick Shakes
Naga Gaga
Magic People

July 27th
The Diamond Mines
Night Manager (NYC)
Naga Gaga
TBA

–Chrissy Prisco

MMOSS and QUILT, two of Boston’s revered psychedelic rock n’ roll bands are touring together across the country this July. Both bands will be performing their new  releases by Burger Records. Their tour kick-off is this Saturday, July 2, at The Lilypad in Cambridge with local psychrockers Herbcraft and the Fedavees.

MMOSS & Quilt Summer 2011 Tour Dates:
7/02 Cambridge, MA @ The Lilypad w/ Herbcraft and the Fedavees
7/04 Philadelphia, PA @ The Dream Oven
7/05 Baltimore, MD @ The Penthouse w/ Dustin Wong, Lands and People
7/06 Asheville, NC @ Bobo Gallery
7/07 Asheville, NC @ Houseshow
7/08 Knoxville, TN @ The Pilot Light
7/09 Murfreesboro, TN @ The Fortress of Solid Dudes w/ Harry and the Potters
7/11 Bloomington, IN @ Magnetic South
7/12 Detroit, MI @ Donovans Pub
7/13 Chicago, IL @ Warehouse Space w/ Nude Sunrise

–Chrissy Prisco

Boston-based experimental rockers, The Venetia Fair, released their long-awaited EP, The Pits this week on Red Blue Records. The band will be heading out on the Vans Warped Tour in support of the record, playing select July dates (see below).

A Lady And A Tramp, the first single off the new EP, doesn’t disappoint — building off the same deliciously outrageous cabaret-experimental-rock formula their debut album, 2009’s The Circus, received recognition for.

"We try to make music that is theatric, chaotic, catchy, and sometimes a little silly but not too silly because it’s also serious business. We have a lot of fun writing the music we write and performing the way we perform," says vocalist Benny Santoro.

The Venetia Fair – A Lady And A Tramp

Warped Tour Dates:
7/7 Noblesville, IN
7/9 Tinley Park, IL
7/12 Buffalo, NY
7/13 Mansfield, MA
7/21 Camden, NJ
7/22 Burgettstown, PA
7/24 Oceanport, NJ
7/26 Washington, DC
7/28 Charlotte, NC
7/29 Orlando, FL
7/30 West Palm Beach
8/2 Cincinnati, OH

–Chrissy Prisco

Boston-based rock quartet Mean Creek has released their latest single, The Land of Hopes & Dreams. The new single comes on the heels of the band’s self-released Hemophiliac EP and is the band’s collective statement on how they view living in America. The single can be downloaded for free through Mean Creek’s Bandcamp page.

The band has also released a music video for the single, directed by Kieran John Delaney and produced by Lunar Pictures, the video was filmed in Rhode Island over the course of a weekend and is a complimentary companion piece to the song’s searing message. Check out the music video below:

Mean Creek – The Land of Hopes and Dreams from Kieran John Delaney on Vimeo.

–Chrissy Prisco

Dropkick Murphys announced today that they will perform two landmark hometown shows, September 8 and 9, at Boston’s Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox. A portion of the proceeds from the two shows will benefit the Massachusetts 9/11 Fund–which helps support families of victims of 9/11 throughout the state–as well as the band’s charity, The Claddagh Fund. Special guests Mighty Mighty Bosstones will perform at both shows, with additional opening acts to be announced in the coming weeks.

Tickets for both shows go on sale Thursday, July 7 at Noon ET and will be available online at redsox.com/dropkicks, or by calling (877) RED-SOX9, or at the Fenway Park box office.

–Chrissy Prisco