If It's Too Loud...

A strange thing happened while listening to Sam Mulligan's new album Pizza Forever. I expected a pizza themed chiptune/VGM/nerdcore album to be fun, and this album certainly is. It's a genuinely funny release, with songs about ordering so much pizza that you lose all your money ("Broke"), and another about getting a pizza and not being able to recognize the toppings ("Weird Pizza"). Pizza Forever should be a novelty release that you listen to once, chuckle, and then move on. But the songs on Pizza Forever are great. Turns out they are ridiculously catchy and well put together. You'll put this on once out of curiosity, but you'll end up going back to the album repeatedly because it turns out to be great. You can listen to Pizza Forever below. The album can be purchased via Bandcamp . For more on Sam Mulligan, check out the artist's website . Pizza Forever by Sam Mulligan

2026 is a rough year for festivals with many of our favorites either taking the year off or calling it a day after 2025. Nice, a Fest took 2025 off, which had us a little worried, but they are back for 2026 and returning to Davis Square! This year's edition will run from July 24-26 and take place at The Rockwell, Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theater, and Dragons Lair. Of course, the important thing is the music, and Nice, a Fest once again have an amazing all local line up with many, many of our favorites. It will feature Battlemode, Class President, Coral Moons, Downtown Boys, Evan Greer, Gymshorts, JVK, Landowner, Mal Devisa, Meg Elsier, Perennial, Pinklids, Rick Rude, and a ton more! This is always one of my favorite musical weekends of the year, and attending is strongly recommended! Nice, a Fest takes place in Davis Square, Somerville from July 24-26. You can get more information and tickets here .

You would think that after putting together a four day chiptune/VGM/nerdcore festival over six to eight venues (can't fully remember) last weekend, Battlemode would take some time off to recoup. Well, Boston's favorite chiptune idols are back with a new three song EP, DON'T PANIC! . It opens with "SW33TTOOTH," which we've previously covered and remains my favorite in their repertoire. The other two songs on the EP, "L'amore Toujours (Battlemode Mix)" and "Chasing Kaoss," help expand the band's sound. "L'amore Toujours (Battlemode Mix)" sounds like an absolute joyous celebration but also had more of a punk edge than we've heard from Battlemode's recordings and captures their live sound almost perfectly. "Chasing Kaoss" keeps the punk vibes going while also being a nearly fully pop song. That might be the true secret weapon of Battlemode. I'm the type of person that normally would recoil at the tho...

One of my musical highlights of 2025 was attending one of the nights of Boston Bitdown. I wasn't sure what to expect from a chiptune festival, but I was pleasantly surprised by how diverse based on Gameboy samples could be, and just how much fun it was. This year sees Boston Bitdown expand to four nights (March 5-8) and taking over eight venues throughout Somerville, Medford, Arlington, and Salem. We had some questions about what to expect this year, so we reached out to David "Biff" Jabinsky of Boston Bitdown (and Battlemode) to fnd out some more! If you're looking for tickets, who is playing this year, and some more info, check out the festival's website . First question we have to ask: What is chiptune? David “Biff” Jubinsky: It’s video game music! There are deeper, convoluted, conversations out there about the definition of chiptune, but to keep it simple: It’s music made with Game Boys. What is it about the Game Boy that makes it so popular to create music? I...

As someone who's seen Battlemode a few times in the past year, "SW33TTOOTH" has been a highlight of every one of their live shows. Now, the Boston based chiptune band has officially released it as a single, their first on Lonely Ghost Records. It's a beautiful dance song, which doesn't sound possible considering Battlemode's music is Gameboy based, but they pull it off surprisingly well. It's a fun song demanding that you dance to it. It's quite a feat since it's a sentimental song "dedicate to the lost fathers of Battlemode." I can't think of any artist that can make a beautiful and touching song dedicated to their late fathers that's also full of this much joy and fun. Plus, "SW33TTOOTH" rocks harder than any previous Battlemode single. You can listen to "SW33TTOOTH" below. The single is out now on Lonely Ghost Records. For more on Battemode, check out the band's website . If you're looking for someth...

Photo by Astro Our favorite Boston chiptune artists are back with a new single and two new members. Battlemode have enlisted Leo (guitar/bass) and Isiah (drums) into the fold and released "NVR KNO." The new song adds some hyperpop into their world of Gameboy music. It takes everything we love about the band and adds in an entirely new element. "NVR KNO" might be the first single that truly captures the appeal of Battlemode, particularly their live show. Their live show has always had a much more raw energy than their recorded music, and this latest single captures that rawness. Plus, "NVR KNO" is ridiculously fun, which is kind of the entire point of this style of music. Astro says of his band's future plans: “There’s still so much left to do. We feel like Boston Calling was just a stepping stone onto our future purpose. We still have an entire genre to define. We’re definitely getting a Grammy someday but for now we plan to write our best music yet, s...

As someone who goes to a lot of shows (what many people would regard as a ridiculous number), I'm always looking for something a little different. Sometimes that can be something as simple as a non-traditional venue (boats, churches, a park without a stage, etc.), and sometimes it can completely eschew the traditional concert format of three bands in a bar. Saturday night, Battlemode provided a completely different experience with The Blame Canada! USO Show at Capitol Theater in Arlington. The first part of the evening was a quick performance by Battlemode. This was my fourth time seeing Battlemode perform since March, and the chiptune band keep me coming back for more. Taking the stage in a vintage movie theater, this was the most restrained performance I've seen of theirs, but that could mostly be because we're all socialized to be quiet in a movie theater. It was still a fun show, as always, and I wish I could be less self conscious and have danced like the few people wh...

Megan from Work Photo by Boston Calling Alive Coverage You're going to see a lot of headlines saying things like "Rain and cold temperatures couldn't dampen festival goer's day," but that's actually the truth. Despite temperatures way below the average for Memorial Day weekend in Boston, and despite a cold rain starting late afternoon, the crowd had a great time, and the weather was mostly shrugged off in a "can you believe this?" kind of way. Of course, great music always helps. Here are the best artists I saw Friday, in the order that they played. Bebe Stockwell Bebe Stockwell is an artist with Boston roots who I was unfamiliar with until she took the stage to open the festival at 1:30. I'm now one of her diehard fans. She played a fantastic set of folk-pop with a charm that was completely irresistible. Anyone who chose to get there early was treated to one of the best sets of the day that included a cover of "Home" by Edward Sharpe ...

Photo by Astro Whatever you picture chiptune (aka music made from vintage video game sounds and consoles), "Game Over" does not fit that. Sure, the latest from Battlemode has all of the necessary bleeps and bloops, but it is a stone cold banger of a song. It is propelled by an infectious beat, and is one of the most infectious songs we've ever covered. It's a ridiculously fun song, especially for a break up song, and is guaranteed to get even a Boston audience up and dancing. If you've ever loved any dance club scene or any style of electronic music, "Game Over" will be completely irresistible.  Biff (vocals, keyboard, violin, aerophone) says of his band's latest single: “Oh, not Battlemode doing another song about a soured relationship. Are we petty for writing a song about exes who have wronged us? Our last breakup song ‘Playlist’ came from a place of heartbreak and vulnerability. We’re sad bois, OK?!?! But ‘Game Over’ covers the colder side of bre...

Friday night marked two weeks before the start of this year's Boston Calling. As part of WBUR's Sound On series, they presented an evening featuring three of the most interesting local artists playing Boston Calling this year. Even though I can see them all in three weeks, when the artists chosen are Latrell James, sidebody, and Battlemode, I'm going to make the trek into Boston on a rainy night to check them out early. First up was chiptune heroes Battlemode. I'm always a little hesitant to see electronic artists live since so much of the genre is just a guy pressing play on a laptop, and seeing that much of the chiptune genre is made up of retro video game noises, it could be a fairly dull show. But, Battlemode are one of the most entertaining live bands in all of Boston. They play live instruments, bring in weird instruments I don't recognize (they called one thing a spit tube(?)), and have an insane energy. As much as I enjoy their recorded music, live they are ...

Sometimes it's good to step outside of your musical comfort zone, and I don't know how much more I can step outside of mine than by going to a chiptune festival. According to Wikipedia, chiptune is "... a style of electronic music made using the programmable sound generator sound chips or synthesizers in vintage arcade machines, computers, and video game consoles." I know some people that would insist that's exactly the type of thing I should be into, but the only chiptune band I'm familiar with is Battlemode, who was putting on the entire festival. Thursday night was the opening night, which took place between The Jungle Community Music Club and Warehouse XI. I got to the venues late due to real life, and I walked into Warehouse XI just as Saoirse Dream started. When you're exploring a new genre, sometimes it takes a little while to adjust to what exactly was happening. The first thing that surprised me was how many traditional instruments were being used...

After watching some wild speculation the last few weeks on Reddit, Boston Calling has announced their 2025 line up, and, dare I say it... it's pretty great! The headliners are Luke Combs and Megan Moroney on Friday, Fall Out Boy and Avril Lavigne on Saturday, and Dave Matthews Band and Vampire Weekend on Sunday. Personally, I'm most interested in Sunday's headliners, more out of curiosity than anything else. After that, we've got quite literally something for everyone with legends like Sheryl Crow, TLC, The Black Crowes, Sublime, Public Enemy (!!!!!), Tom Morello (playing the same day as Public Enemy, so I think we need a collaboration...), and Spin Doctors, along with newer favorites like Thee Sacred Souls, Lucius, and more. Once again they've outdone themselves with local bands that include Latrell James, Megan from Work, Battlemode, Rebuilder, sidebody, Pinklids, and Vivid Bloom! This is the strongest Boston Calling line up in years, and we're thrilled for th...

Photo by Dave Green Chiptune electronic pop trio Battlemode are back with a new single, filled with the sounds of a vintage 8-bit Game Boy. "Just Pretend" is a pure pop song that reminds me of TRL in the early 00's, just a hipper version. Well... hipper if you consider music that uses video game music to be more hip. This is just a fun song that can even win over the aging hipsters (ie: me) if we can just get over ourselves and let music can be fun. This is the kind of song that is worth a listen, even if you typically recoil at pure pop music. It's just a great, and fun, version of the genre. Astro says of his band's latest single: “‘Just Pretend’ is about two people starting a possible new relationship, but still having reservations because of past love trauma. They ultimately decide to ‘Just Pretend’ that stuff doesn’t matter and to live for the moment. The theme and lyrics were inspired by a relationship I was in where we both were scarred by the past, but we ...

Photo by Dave Green Photography I didn't expect the latest from Battlemode to work for me, personally. "Playlist" is a pure pop song, which is usually a genre that doesn't do it for me. However, the Boston trio have something that works on their chiptune single. Maybe it's just that the song is saturated with 90's nostalgia, and even music I hated from TRL is now kind of fun. It could also just be the killer synths that propel the track to unexpected heights. Or, it could simply be that at this point in our lives, we could all just use some fun... especially when it involves music that combines 90's pop, hip hop, and video game sounds. Oh, and saxophone. Atlas says of the band's latest single: “‘Playlist’ deals with a breakup or loss through music, and how songs and other unsuspecting things remind you of significant times in your life. The idea of having a love song about a playlist — something that exists in a digital format – also plays off of the i...