What’s New: UMass Amherst-based band Red Velvet Ribbon has been making huge waves this past year, and that’s culminated in the release of their new EP The Red Velvet Ribbon EP (imaginative title, no?). For those of you who haven’t seen these dudes play live and/or haven’t heard them as part of the mélange of sound that emanates from Herter any given night from campus bands, this EP is a really good introduction to their sound.
The first and third song on this EP, “Your Time” and “What You Take,” respectively, show their harder-edged side, as both of them are uptempo rockers that showcase guitarist/singer Will Conway’s bluesy guitar and vocals, along with tight grooves from guitarist Kyle Ostrander, bassist Ethan Sennett, and drummer Ragit Sachdeva. The songs “Stood Up” and “Miss You,” the second and fourth tracks on the EP, show a quieter and more languid side to them. Rather than balls-to-the-wall rock and roll, “Stood Up” is a subdued shuffle which allows an expansive canvas for the guitarists to work their magic on, and “Miss You” is effectively the ballad of the group. All the tracks are pretty sweet, and while they’re done with shows for this year, make sure you see them next year as they’ll be coming back with a vengeance to melt faces. Check it out here.
What I’ve Been Listening To: This isn’t a specific album or artist, but a thing people have done with various songs. Even if you’re not particularly musically inclined, you can hear in certain songs whether the music sounds sad or happy, and that’s due to whether the piece was written in a minor or major key. The folks over at Major Scaled TV play around with that, turning songs in a minor key to major, transforming even the brooding Metallica track “Nothing Else Matters” to sound like the feel-good hit of the summer simply by changing a few notes. It’s pretty cool, and you can check some more permutations on this concept here.
Another thing that’s not a full album, but has been stuck in my head recently, is Phish bassist Mike Gordon’s new single “Yarmouth Road.” This track off his new solo album Overstep has a reggae-influenced groove and a chorus that’s infuriatingly catchy. While I’m not a huge Phish fan, nor a huge fan of reggae, this song is pretty sweet. Also, a couple fun facts about Mike Gordon and Phish: one of their main places to play in their early days was Amherst College, and Gordon is a native of Sudbury, MA, about ¾ of the way between here and Boston.
Finally, the Australian band Pond is something I’ve been checking out a lot at the request of my bandmates, and they’re sweet. I’ve recently been checking out their 2012 album Beard, Wives, Denim. The group contains many of the members of fellow Australian psychedelic rock act Tame Impala, and it shows in both their lo-fi production and the psychedelic-yet-poppy aspects of the songs. Songs like “Sorry, I Was Under the Sky” and “Sun And Sea And You” sound like a mix between Tame Impala and psychedelic garage rock singles that you’d find in an aging hippie’s record collection. It’s definitely worth a listen.
Local Music: Note: Due to it being close to summer, I’ll include some shows for people in a couple locations where they may live.
1. Western Mass: Llama Lasagne is coming to the VFW Hall in Florence, MA on May 30th. Join the fun and check out this multimedia theatrical oracular spectacular.
2. New York/New Jersey: Check out a new DIY venue called the Meatlocker in Montclair, NJ. I’ll be stopping by there over the summer with a band, but there are tons of other awesome shows put on multiple nights a week.
3. Boston: The Great Slambovians will be coming to The Center for the Arts in Natick on May 30th. Enjoy a band that people call “hillbilly Pink Floyd” and “surreal Americana.” Also, if you’re in that area, check out the TCAN concert calendar, since there’s tons of local acts playing throughout the summer, and maybe even show your stuff at one of their open mic nights.
Enjoy, Collegiettes!