The Lights Out, announced they will enter the studio at the end of this month to record their first full-length album since 2011’s Primetime.

Back with award-winning producer, Benny Grotto (Aerosmith, The Dresden Dolls), at Boston’s Mad Oak Studios, the band is exploring new textures to make On Fire their most sonically rich effort to date.

The band will test new material on Friday, Jan. 13 at Church of Boston, performing with Paranoid Social Club (featuring members of the Rustic Overtones) and Portland Phoenix “Best Live Act of 2011” winners, The Mallett Brothers Band. It is a 21+ event, tickets are $10.

This March, The Lights Out will travel to Austin, T.X. to preview On Fire at South By Southwest, in preparation for an official album release in the spring of 2012.

–The Deli Staff

If you’re searching for some new songs to add to that ipod you got for Christmas, look no further than Kid Chocolate’s latest release, Greatest Hits. The ten-track album is a brilliant mix of both laid back and upbeat tunes. The opening track, Hardly Ever, reaches out and pulls the listener into a sea of churning guitars and hypnotizing melodies. The entire song sounds like it could be a B-side from some early Black Keys recording, if Dan Auerbach had five too many beers and decided to lay down some vocal tracks.

Upon moving to the second track, the album completely changes direction and breaks out into a rockin’ song reminiscent of the early Kings of Leon days (remember when they actually sounded good?). The songs continue to evolve and change shape as the album progresses, as one can hear in Sea Monster, with its catchy keyboard riffs and reverb-laden vocals that dominate the track.

Overall, I was extremely pleased with Kid Chocolate’s efforts. The band manages to provide an eclectic, yet cohesive, collection of songs that are sure to appeal to a wide range of listeners. You can stream (and download!) all of Greatest Hits for free on Kid Chocolate’s bandcamp site. Be sure to vote for the band in this month’s The Deli New England Artist of the Month Poll as well!

–Daniel McMahon

Llama Tsunami want to dance with you. If their music doesn’t make you want to stand up and jam with all nine members of this Connecticut ska band, it may be that either A. you take yourself too seriously, or B. you’re intimidated by vocalist Nick Perry’s dance skills, a staple to any show they play. If the answer happens to be A., Llama Tsunami’s album Get Serious is aimed specifically at you. Get Serious isn’t about pretense or obscurity, it’s about keeping it upbeat and fun and Llama Tsunami’s twelve-song album reaches a level of fun that’s on-par with The Aquabats— maybe it comes with their shared affinity for writing pirate songs. That said, sea bandits aren’t even the most peculiar song subjects on the album. Ernest may be the first song about a gay shark ever to be recorded, and more power to the band for filling that niche.

The lighthearted attitude found in most of their song lyrics pairs well with their catchy riffs and impressive four-piece horn section (two trumpets, a trombone, and a baritone sax), giving the album an all-around happy-go-lucky vibe. The album also keeps a good-natured, sassy sense of humor as it pokes fun at man thongs, emo kids, and themselves, like in the title track lyric: “And our biggest fans are our biggest fans because your mom can’t hate your band.”

Get Serious does have a few changes of pace, though, as in Unraveling, When It’s Over, Swing, and Bite My Thumb, all of which demonstrate more reflective songwriting and moods.

Llama Tsunami are constantly playing shows around New England, their next show is  Sunday, Jan 15, 2012 @ the Waterford VFW in Waterford, CT.

–Sarah Ruggiero

Thick Shakes are braving the New England winter (but wasn’t it 50 degrees just a couple days ago?) and hitting the road this January with Radio Control for a tour around the Northeast.

Tour dates:
1/13 Flywheel, Easthampton, MA: w/ Missing Data, the Fantasies
1/14 house show, Syracuse: w/ ThoseGhostfuckers
1/15 the Monkey House, Winooski, VT
1/21 131 Washington, Portland, ME: w/ the Restless Shades

The band says they’ll be back in Boston in late January for shows that include Ghost Box Orchestra, Royal Wedding & Leagues at the Rosebud, as well as Boston’s first Ladyfest.

–Chrissy Prisco

Burlington, Vermont’s The Vacant Lots are offering a new unreleased track, Kingdom Come, as a free download on New Year’s Eve. Remixed by Spectrum drummer Roger Brogan, who also provides drums, percussion, electronics and drone, Kingdom Come was written and produced by The Vacant Lots. Brian MacFadyen contributes organ and electronics to the track as one half of the band’s permanent lineup, while Jared Artaud provides guitar, vocals and lyrics, as the groups frontman.

A steady gentle organ runs throughout the track, allowing Jared’s vocals and spaciously executed guitar figures to float atop like waves on an ocean. The mix is carefully textured, with percussion provided more for emphasis, rather than any kind of steady beat keeping. That, combined with shifting tempos, creates a somewhat mystical listening experience.

On NYE these links will be activated :

Official Music Video
Free Download link of Kingdom Come on Bandcamp.

Citing influences such as the Mississippi delta blues sound of Bo Diddley, New York pioneers The Velvet Underground and Television, Detroit’s The Stooges and The UK’s Spacemen 3, the band has evolved all of this into their own sound, combining minimal drumming, hypnotic guitar riffs, electronic drone, poetry-driven lyrics, and live film projections. They are a band who not only embrace their influences – but are confident that the filter of their own sensibility will yield something uniquely their own.

Their debut single Confusion/ Cadillac was released earlier this year on Mexican Summer as the band embarked on east and west coast tours, while playing significant festivals inbetween. Their tours have included supporting Sonic Boom’s Spectrum as well as apperances at SXSW, Austin Psych Fest 4, and a featured support slot for Dean & Britta’s Galaxie 500 show in Brooklyn. This past September had them touring the west coast, followed by a mid-western stint during October. Currently in the process of recording new material, expect a second single out soon, to be followed by a first official album release.

—Dave Cromwell

Within the first moments of Fortune Metal’s opening song, it’s obvious that Pavement is possibly the biggest influence on Ratigan’s music. The Providence, RI indie group, led by 20-year-old Patrick Higgins, share a nostalgia similar to that of most kids who grew up in the 1990s, and it is made evident in their lo-fi and low-key alternative rock. Higgins talk-sings his way through Cherry Blossom and the rest of the songs in a way that blends Gordon Gano, Stephen Malkmus, and John McCrea at its best, but sounds as if it was recorded in his sleep at its worst.

The fifteen songs of Fortune Metal range from the boisterous noise of Get a Load of THIS (Magic the Void) and the aptly named What the Fuck (Noise), to the instrumental explorations of Criteria, Dreaming of You, Waltz, and Love You. The band make it a point to add fits of clamor sporadically throughout.

One of the album’s highlights to play on repeat is French Kiss, a quirky and endearing song of seduction that you’ll wish someone wrote with you in mind. Higgins quips lines like “Unbutton my buttons and lay me down to die / Black mascara dripping from the circles in your eye”; The perfect make-out jam for the lusty indie pop couple.

Fortune Metal concludes its 42-minute journey with its most candid and gripping track, Chaos. Soft guitar and tambourine lead into introspective and emotionally hopeless lyrics. The song proceeds into ghostly wails echoing behind the repeated droning of “the emptiness always finds its way back in.”

The music Ratigan produces here is always understated and blissfully haphazard, but never dull. Unrefined and earnest, Fortune Metal proves to be an ambitious first full length for Ratigan.

–Sarah Ruggiero

A long time ago, the only wise thing a very unwise person said was “Revolutionize your field and, short of that, convince others that is what you’re doing”, This is a rough paraphrase, of course; however, the point is Night Fruit don’t need to convince too hard.

On Dark Horse, their follow up to their debut Triangles EP, they blend a shoegaze dreaminess with sinister post-apocalyptic undertones, due to the otherworldy-ness of lead singer Amanda Dellevigne’s voice. It is a voice that rises and falls dreamy and distant and rides Jonathan Gill’s guitar like a stripper on a pole — all hips and swinging around. Commanding is one word to use. The guitar is reverby, and how. Jon often looks like he’s play-acting rockstar when he’s on stage, but it all comes down to the fact that he loves to entertain. He’s a greater guitar player for it too; this man isn’t afraid to throw every iota of emotion into a set or onto a record. Luke Sullivan’s tight drumming betrays his disaffected demeanor; he’s having fun no matter how taciturn the expression on his face.

The title track undulates out of the gate with dreamy riffing from Gill’s end and builds from there on out with Dellevigne’s voice, that enchanting dreamscape voice. Paper Thin is more of a straight forward rock song that includes some lovely building and breaking down, the bridge for this song was my favorite on the album. Bittersweet finishes this offering with some poppy goodness, a great bouncy beat, and some sing-a-long quality lyrics. Overall, a great showing from this excellent gang of bandits.

Night Fruit shows have a tendency to be an awfully good time and you should check them out. These smooth operators can be seen in the near future on:
Jan 10 at TT the Bear’s with Slowdim and You Can Be A Wesley
Feb 24 at O’Briens with Lymbyc Systym

–Chris Saenz

Hailing from Rhode Island, indie-pop artist Miss Geo is ready to make a big impact on the New England music scene, and with an album like The Story, it’s hard not to be impressed. The album contains some of the best vocal tracks I’ve heard from a local artist in a long time. The project serves as a solo outlet for leading lady Abby Gutierrez.  Her voice is a wonderful combination of Tegan and Sara with a splash of Metric thrown in for good measure.

Gutierrez seems to have cracked the code for crafting perfect pop songs; her track Snake Soiree being a prime example of her talent. The long, slow build-up of the verse into a full-on synth-laden dance party chorus is brilliant. Once again, I found myself dancing in my chair as I typed this review.

Gutierrez’ talents extend far deeper than just instrumentation or orchestration of songs. Her lyrical descriptions are quite striking. Fore xample, in Snake Soiree she described her significant other as being “muter than the silent film stars”, an image that I found to be very powerful.

This collection of songs is well-worth a listen (or two, or three). I would not be surprised to hear her songs start showing up on the radio (they certainly have enough hooks and pop-clarity). If my ravings about Miss Geo haven’t yet convinced you of Gutierrez’ skills, head on over to the Miss Geo Myspace page or check Miss Geo out live (accompanied by her live band consisting of fellow musicians Jessy Bartlett, Chris Mendoza, and James Wilhelmsen).

–Daniel McMahon

I met up with Alan Hague and Jared Paul of the Providence-based hardcore punk band Prayers for Atheists (PFA) for a Thai dinner on a warm, late-summer evening. The restaurant was about the size of my closet so when we sat at the tiny table we knocked knees at the tiny table and struggled not to distract the seven year-old girl and her family eating at the next table over.

Our hour-long conversation meandered from the history of hardcore punk to political activism to pop music. We started with their recent tour.

Click here to read the rest of the interview by George Dow.

Prayers for Atheists — Guns Up

Tucked in-between the ads on Craigslist for “busty” photo models and pleas from recent Berklee grads looking to teach people the skills they spent all of their busking money on, I was surprised to find the gem that is The Cold Beat. After listening to this album, I’m pretty sure the 90s was the best (and most influential) decade ever. I mean, most good bands that I hear nowadays have a clear 90s-rock influence, and The Cold Beat is no exception. Get Safe is a brilliant mix of punk and 90s pop/rock that can get anyone up and dancing.

The third track, Snake Oil, is reminiscent of Against Me! with its guitar and vocal build-up into a full-on punk rock ruckus. I thought that the use of gang vocals throughout the album (especially on The Ditch) added a nice depth to the tracks and round-out the punk rock feel of the record. The gang vocals work extremely well on I’ll Follow—I felt like I was out at a party with my friends and singing along with the band.

Hints of a prog-rock/spacey influence can also be heard on tracks like On The Way Down—think Foo Fighters, if Dave Grohl played solos on the moon.

Overall, I’m exceedingly pleased that my sifting through craigslist ads actually paid off for once. Get Safe is chock full of driving guitar riffs and raucous vocals; it’s the kind of music you listen to when you want to have a good time. So, if you like having a good time (and who doesn’t), head on over to their Bandcamp and have a listen. Oh, and if anyone is curious, I did not get that photo modeling gig.

–Daniel McMahon

Up All Night, the four-song EP from Blossoming Mums, weaves in ethereal melodies with plucky strings to create a pretty and wandering ambience. Blossoming Mums play a mix of lo-fi dream pop and shoegaze, but there is little information on them to be found; the only detail given on their last.fm page states that they are from a small town in Western Mass. The lyrics of Autumn Birthday help to substantiate this: “It’s Autumn in Massachusetts / I’m at the bottom of Massachusetts / the leaves are changing in Massachusetts.” However, most other clues regarding the band members are left a mystery for now.

Cloudy Soft introduces the EP with the rise and fall of layered, airy voices spurred on by the shaking of a maraca. The gentle guitars and lilting style of My Room make it seem like the kind of song that would bridge the gap between drowsy eyelids and a peaceful sleep; an indie lullaby. The whole album, actually, seems like the music to play in a dimly lit room filled with paisley throw pillows and the scent of patchouli. Weekly Wonders, the longest and last track of the set, clocks in at just three minutes and begins with folky vibes and a chorus of voices that border on other-worldly. The instrumentation speeds up toward the latter half before tapering off in its conclusion.

Up All Night paces itself at a drawl and creates a calming mood with its set of soundscapes. The lyrics often meander into indecipherable territory, but the overall aura is perhaps more important than the details.

–Sarah Ruggiero

While the Boston area is a well-known hub of all things sonic, the surrounding sections of Massachusetts are more prone to slow times and allowing all that is weird to gestate and thrive. Up route 9 from the capital can be found a town called Amherst, home to one half rural escapism and one half college party capital of the Commonwealth. This small town has produced its share of recognizable bands, including scremo pioneers Orchid, hardcore heroes Deep Wound, and of course alternative royalty The Pixies. Now, coming from the weird and wild west is one-man-band The Suitcase Junket, Matt Lorenz’s country/noise infused push into the Bay State music scene.

The latest release from Lorenz’s project is a ten song full length entitled Knock it Down, a quick, haunting, experimental jaunt through folk song structure, feedback gimmicks, slide guitar and dirty south distortion. In a schizophrenic cacophony, the songs trade between slow and somber folk to Muddy Water distortion latent blues. The album’s subject matter is lonely and medicated with hints of grungy undertones. Bone is a stand out single that pulls from the Nick Cave school of folk rock. Knock it Down is defiantly good company for misery and should be checked out for a mood music collection.

–Anthony Geehan