If It's Too Loud...

Rebuilder Photo by Ken Sears The past few editions of Boston Calling have had what appeared to be theme days. Friday had a country theme, and Saturday was more of an early 00's emo and pop punk vibe going. However, there was a lot of going, and we took in some pop punk as well as electronic, folk-pop, indie rock, experimental pop, and vintage blues rock! Sofia Isella Playing during the heaviest downpour of the day, Sofia Isella opened the Green Stage and was the first artist playing Boston Common on Saturday. Stylistically, Isella doesn't sound like anyone else playing all weekend. It was more of an electronic/dance music vibe that made me wish she had played later in the day than 1:30 pm. Ever since first hearing her song "Hot Gum" on the Boston Calling Spotify playlist, I knew I wanted to see Isella live, despite her sound not being something I typically seek out. Live it sounded like Aphex Twin decided to try out drum and bass and recruited Poe to be the singer. I...

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...

I'm not one of those people that absolutely has to do something on New Year's Eve, but I at least like to do something around New Year's Eve so I can pretend I'm still fun. This year I was presented with Rebuilder's ten year anniversary show, which also doubled as my last show of 2023. Seeing as they were celebrating their tenth anniversary as a band, Rebuilder decided to do the "Eras" thing and play songs from each of their releases in little segments by album/EP. They started off with a song from Dead Ellington (a band some of Rebuilder was in before Rebuilder) called "North Station" they used to play live to fill out a full setlist. From there it was just a greatest hits set from Rebuilder from "Everything That I Hate" and "Heroes to a Sun" off their first EP, through "Le Grande Fromage" from Rock & Roll in America to "Get Up" from Sounds of the Massachusetts Turnpike. They even played "Antarcti...

CW: Self harm Typically when pop punk bands release a power ballad, that's when I start checking out. However, Rebuilder aren't your typical pop punk band, and their latest single is the perfect power ballad. "Stayin' Alive" is a song filled with pain. It's a gorgeous song filled with heartbreak, sadness, and hope. To explain the song, I'll take Sal Ellington's (vocals/guitar) words from a Facebook post. " The new Rebuilder song out today is a tough one. The lyrics might be the most honest I've ever been and deals with not wanting to be alive anymore. In my 20's during college I struggled the most with my mental health. I was so embarrassed to tell anyone and I'm still embarrassed about it. So many times I wanted to call someone or call a hotline but I didn't know how to explain that I'm not trying to hurt myself but I don't feel like I want to be on this earth anymore. I didn't know how to tell that to someone and have...

It took me a while to hop aboard the Rebuilder bandwagon, but now that I'm fully on I'm thrilled to bring you their latest song. "Hold On" is filled with that intense energy that is a hallmark of a Rebuilder song. It's upbeat and bouncy pop punk that is in stark contrast to the lyrical subject matter. It's a fast paced and heavy pop punk anthem about how terrible the world is and not knowing what to do about it. It's definitely not your typical pop punk subject, but Rebuilder isn't (but is?) your typical pop punk band. "Hold On" is perfect for live show sing-a-longs by being one of the most contagiously catchy songs around right now. Even if you typically turn your nose at pop punk, you owe it to yourself to give Rebuilder a chance. You'll thank me for this one some day. You can watch the video for "Hold On" below. The song is available via A-F Records. For more on Rebuilder, check out the band on Facebook and Instagram .

This one may be nine years old, but we only truly discovered Rebuilder last year, and this one is free and a Christmas release, so we assume you'll be ok with it. Way back in 2013, Rebuilder released a four song Christmas EP, obviously titled Rebuilder Christmas EP. We all know what a pop punk Christmas release sounds like, and sure, Rebuilder go that way a bit, but even nine years ago Rebuilder were writing songs that are far more clever than your average pop punk song. "Antarctica" is a bittersweet Christmas song that stops just short of being a power ballad. "X-Mas PunX" is a fairly dumb loud Christmas song, but still far smarter than it should be as a dumb loud punk song. I think the true fun of the songs on Rebuilder Christmas EP is that all four songs could sneak their way into a playlist or live set throughout the year. You can listen to "Antarctica" below. Rebuilder Christmas EP is available for the "name your price" option via Bandca...

In its second year, Nice, a Fest took over The Rockwell and Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theater for three night (four if you count the "after party" on Sunday). I wasn't able to go for all three (or four), so I made it for just Saturday. And seeing how I couldn't pull off twelve hours of live music at my advanced age, I made it a late afternoon/early evening start time. So apologies to all the bands I didn't see! Here are my five favorites from Saturday at Nice, a Fest, in no particular order. Circus Trees This one came out of nowhere for me. Circus Trees are a band out of Marlborough, MA made up of three sisters. Saturday night they had a replacement drummer, and they announced that they would be playing sad music before they started, which, they did. But Circus Trees are hardly a mopey band. Sure, their songs do have mopey parts, but it's more like if shoegaze was really, really heavy as well as beautiful. Their quiet parts were shockingly lovely, but whe...

It was three years almost to the day since I had last seen Weakened Friends. That's a long time to not see one of your favorite bands, especially when they're fairly local. When the band announced a two night stand at the tiny O'Brien's Pub, I knew I had to go, especially seeing as they hand picked their openers which are a who's who of Boston indie rock right now. First up was Oldsoul. This is a band I'm wasn't that familiar with. I saw their name on multiple bills I wanted to go to, but never quite make it. As this show got closer, I listened to them on Spotify a bit. I enjoyed them, but nothing prepared me for their live show. Oldsoul on record is a pretty tame indie rock band with some strong pop sensibilities. Live they are an absolute beast of a band. They played far heavier than I could ever have expected them to, especially since I think I have been confusing them with another band that leans a little folkier than they are. This was pure indie rock f...