Live Shows: Cape Crush, Massive Nightmares, and New Favorites, The Silhouette Lounge, Allston, MA 11/27/24

The night before Thanksgiving is a huge night for going out, and I try to avoid the big going out nights. However, if there is something great going on, I'll do my best to make it out, and seeing Cape Crush and Massive Nightmares was definitely enough to get me to venture out to The Silhouette Lounge in Allston.

I missed Joe McMahon & Chris Coughlin due to difficulty parking, so my first band of the night was New Favorites. I had never heard of them before, but the Massachusetts trio quickly won me over. They play a brash and noisy version of pop punk that was fun and raw. The theme of the night ended up being that the crowd was pumped to see all three bands and knew all the words to all the songs. That's saying quite a bit for New Favorites since they only have a four song demo out which was released in October. If you're looking to just have some fun for a live show, definitely check out New Favorites.

Massive Nightmares played next, and are a band I was looking forward to checking out live. They kept the pop punk theme going, but with some added alt-rock elements to keep things fresh. I kept being reminded of bands like Husker Du and The Replacements during their set, which was cemented when they broke out a cover of "Bastards of Young." Back when I first heard their song "Back to the Beach," I immediately knew I needed to see it performed live. The chorus of "Bring my bones back / Bring my bones back to the beach" demands to be played live with a crowd shouting the lyrics, and it certainly was. Massive Nightmares are melodic punk rock at its absolute finest.

Closing out the night was Cape Crush, another band I was looking forward to seeing perform live. They play an upbeat and extremely melodic version of pop punk that is just a joy to hear. "San Souci" was a delight to hear in person, and Cape Crush easily remind you that the appeal of pop punk is that it's supposed to be fun. Live, they reminded me a lot of The Beths, particularly their vocal harmonies. Now, I can't not hear the similarities when I listen to San Souci, the EP. They might be a little more pop punk than their New Zealand counterparts. 

All three bands playing at The Silhouette Lounge Wednesday night have major mainstream possibilities, and could break out at any point. I can't imagine any of them will be playing a place as small as the Sil very much longer.