If It's Too Loud...

The Boston music community was rocked by the sudden passing of Justine Covault on June 8. Justine formed Justine and The Unclean in 2016 and had just released the fantastic The Signal Light on June 2 (and played a great album release party that night at Faces in Malden .) She was also in Justine's Black Threads and the founder of Red On Red Records in 2020, which quickly became one of our absolute favorite local indie labels. This Friday the 6th the Boston rock community comes together to celebrate Justine's life. It's the kind of line up that I wish was coming together for any other reason. The Unclean is playing with a bunch of guest vocalists (Andrea Gillis, Linnea Herzog, Linda Veins, Linda Bean Pardee, JoEllen Saunders Yannis, Lynda Mandolyn, and Melissa Gibbs), Tom Baker's Double Down, The Pelvic Thrust, The Bags, The Black Threads with guests, The Croaks (featuring Justine's daughter Haley Wood), and Quest for Tuna. The evening will be emceed by Rum Bar Recor...

I've been trying to hit up Faces Brewing Co. for shows as much as possible. It's a great small room, and as smaller, independent clubs seem to be going away in Boston, breweries in the suburbs are stepping up as stages. Plus, there's a free garage a block away, and you truly can't beat that. A great show finally worked out with my schedule, and I couldn't pass up the double bill of Justine & The Unclean along with the legendary Barrence Whitfield & His All-Star Band. Spiller opened the night, and I unfortunately missed about half of their set. I had never heard of them before this show, and I wasn't able to find out much online, so I went in pretty much blind. They have a total 90's sound, injected with some metal riffs. It wasn't 90's alt-metal like Quicksand or Helmet, but more 90's alt-rock with a metal edge. They had the loudest and heaviest set of the night, and made me wish I had made it on time (it was a very rainy drive in with mu...

Boston's Justine and The Unclean make the kind of rock and roll that doesn't break any new ground but still sounds fresh. Their latest single, "The Chasm," is just loud garage rock and roll with a cleaner, fresh sound that accepts it's own poppy side. It's power pop with an emphasis on both the power and the pop. It's reminding me of the speed of the Ramones with the arena rocking guitar solos of Cheap Trick and the gorgeous grit of Belly. This is the kind of song that will remind you why you love rock so much. In a Bandcamp post, songwriter Justine Covault says of the new song: "This song is about when a breach of trust between two people causes a blinding flash of insight. Sometimes pain can be very instructive. "I'm really excited about what The Unclean brought to this song. I told them that in my mind, it should sonically resemble The Who's power chords and bombastic rhythm section -- and so, instrumentally they channeled Pete, Keith,...

"Scorpion Bowl to Go" isn't the kind of song that's going to be considered high art. It is called "Scorpion Bowl to Go," after all. But the latest from Justine and The Unclean is a fun rock song in the power pop/pop punk kinda way. And that's fine. Great, really. It's a loud, catchy song with crunchy guitars and lyrics like "I don't have a good excuse / I like my rum with juice." Plus, there's a slinky little groove almost hidden throughout. It's almost like The Divinyls mixed with Letters to Cleo and Cheap Trick. If you're looking for a fun and catchy rock song with little to no pretention, this is a great one for you. You can watch the video for "Scorpion Bowl to Go" below. The song is available as a single via Red on Red Records, and can be downloaded via Bandcamp . For more on Justine and The Unclean, check them out on Facebook .

The travelling Whistlestop Rock Festival was derailed along with everything else this spring. The festival featured local New England bands  The Chelsea Curve, Cold Expectations, Field Day, Heather Rose In Clover, Justine and The Unclean, Kid Gulliver, The Knock Ups, Linnea’s Garden, and Tiger Bomb  playing in different cities throughout New England with special guests. Keeping the spirit of that festival alive is "Queen of the Drive-In" which features an all-star line up of Whistlestop Rock bandmembers. Kid Gulliver's Simone Berk takes on lead vocals. This is a wonderfully fun song that is a little too poppy to be garage rock and a little too upbeat to be dream pop, even though it's all of these. Plus, with a chorus that features the lyrics " I'm the Dry Hump Queen of the Drive In /  Squeeze over the handbrake and we'll both win," this is just a simple, fun rock song, just the kind we need in a summer like this one. You can listen to "Queen...

The winter is a fairly dead time for live music in New England. A storm can derail a live show at any time, and who really wants to deal with being cold and carrying around a big, bulky coat inside a sweaty, packed club? Whistlestop Rock Festival is going to change that for the better. Simone Berk (Kid Gulliver, Sugar Snow) reached out via a group message to women in bands about doing a show together. That idea expanded into a regionally touring festival featuring eight bands plus special guests in each city. As you can tell by the name, Whistlestop Rock Festival sticks with the rock side of things and features the retro-mod punk of The Chelsea Curve, the Rolling Stones meets Hank Williams of Cold Expectations, Boston rock veterans Field Day, heavily 90's alt-rock infleunced Heather Rose in Clover, the power pop punk of Justine and The Unclean, Kid Gulliver's power pop, power trio The Knock Ups, the impossible to classify Powerslut, and Tiger Bomb's garage pop. Any thre...