Weakened Friends - "Early" (acoustic)

Photo via Facebook

For some reason, the acoustic performance thing feels very 90s to me. I know bands did it before and have done it since, but the 90s seemed like a heyday of that between MTV Unplugged, acoustic albums, and import singles. 

This might be why I'm so thrilled about Weakened Friends letting us hear a brand new song from their upcoming debut album via an acoustic performance. Over the weekend, the band played an acoustic set at Sofar Studios in Boston, where they premiered the new song "Early." It starts off really acoustic performance-esque, and almost like a ballad. Further on it kicks in a bit more and gets more Weakened Friends-ified, so we can hear a bit more of what the actual album track will sound like. It's everything we would expect from Weakened Friends at this point, with vulnerable vocals mixed with noisy, fuzzed out riffs (at least, that's what I'm imagining it will sound like). I usually avoid the live performance debuts of new songs, but this isn't just lousy cell phone footage, so it's well worth your time.

For more on Weakened Friends, be sure to check out their Bandcamp and Facebook.

Ken's Top 10 of 2016 - #10: Weakened Friends - Crushed

2016 has been a pretty rough year for everyone, but luckily it's been a great year for music. This has been such a particularly great year that I've been agonizing over my top 10 this year more than others. In such a great year, I wouldn't normally include an EP in my top 10, but Crushed by Weakened Friends is too great not to include. For a band that only formed last year, they've had a great year topped off with a mini-tour with a reunited Letters to Cleo. It was a perfect pairing for such a 90s influenced band. Weakened Friends have this amazing indie rock meets power pop punk sound. "95" is one of the most perfect songs of the year. "She's so Cool." truly shows their great pop chops with some of the best "Whoah oh oh"s you'll ever hear, and yes, that's important. "Blankets" might be the hidden gem of the EP in it's almost power ballad sound, but a sped up power ballad. Crushed might have landed higher up in my top 10 of 2016 if it was just a little longer. But, for a 6 song, 20 minute release, it's virtually perfect.

Live Shows: Letters to Cleo and Weakened Friends, Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA 11/19/16

Letters to Cleo is the band I've seen more than any other. It's somewhere around 25-30 times by now. This weekend I realized that I've been going to see Letters to Cleo shows for over half my life now, which is just ridiculous. But they're a band that I used to go see multiple times in one week, including a few back to back nights, so when I haven't seen them for 8 years, there's no way I'm going to be missing a show. You add in Weakened Friends as the opener, literally the band I was hoping would open the show, and it's just an added bonus.

I figured rolling into the venue around 8:30 (15 minutes before showtime) would be perfectly fine. Most people there are going to be 35 and up, we have kids, need to get sitters, and all that. It would probably be a rare night out with people getting dinner before the show, so nobody is going to get there until just before Letters to Cleo go on. How many middle aged people will show up early for an opener they don't know? Looks like I forgot how rabidly dedicated the LtC fanbase is, especially after not seeing the band for 8 years. I ended up getting there just as Weakened Friends took the stage and the Paradise was just packed. Ridiculously packed. The great news is that Weakened Friends took the stage to an almost full house. I don't know what percentage of the crowd knew them before they started, but they won over everybody before it was done. Playing in front of a packed and receptive house is much better for any band than the last time I saw them, and Weakened Friends shone. The band members looked like they were having a blast, and songs like "95" and "I Don't" are becoming absolute epics. Granted, for a band that's around a year old four months is a huge chunk of time, but their growth in that time has been almost immeasurable. Expect huge things from them in the next few years.

Next, for the first time in almost 8 years, Letters to Cleo took the stage in their hometown of Boston. It would be almost impossible for them to fuck up a show in front of a crowd this devoted. Of course, LtC have always been an amazing and fun live act. In their time off as an active band, all members have just become such expert musicians that they really are far more tight than they have any right to be. They opened with the usual "Demon Rock" and mostly stuck to the classics. They did squeeze in three songs from their just released (and surprisingly good) EP Back to Nebraska, but mostly stuck to the oldies everyone wanted. They stuck with a setlist that very closely resembled their Live From Boston album (recorded 8 years earlier in the same room), but threw in just enough surprises to keep it fresh. "Get On With It," "Step Back," and "Co-Pilot" were some of my favorite surprises. In fact, "Get On With It" ended a three song mid-set acoustic mini-set with just Kay Hanley and Michael Eisenstein playing, until the rest of the band rejoined for the end of "Get On With It." They also broke out their cover of Scruffy the Cat's immortal "You Dirty Rat." "Here & Now" and "I Want You To Want Me" were played, of course, since they are the biggest hits, after all. Closing with fan favorite "Rim Shak" was the perfect choice. Let's hope this short series of shows is just a warm up for a more active 2017 for Letters to Cleo.

Live Shows: The Sheila Divine and Weakened Friends, Ralph's Rock Diner, Worcester, MA 7/23/16

Living an hour outside of Boston, that gets factored into the choice to go see a show. There isn't a whole lot that makes it out my way. The closest city with any kind of music scene is Worcester, which is mostly for metal and cover bands. This past Saturday, The Sheila Divine and Weakened Friends made the journey out to the distant suburbs. The chance to see two of my favorite local bands at a venue with a parking lot and I could be home before 1 a.m.? Obviously something I couldn't miss.

Despite The Sheila Divine and Weakened Friends playing together multiple times in the past year, this was my first chance to see Weakened Friends. Live they're just as raw and fun as you'd want them to be. Lead singer/guitarist Sonia Sturino has mastered the art of awkward stage banter, referencing the garbage bags that mysteriously covered the stage amps, the "Time to Fuck" neon light behind the bar, and bringing the fact that both "Worcester" and "Weakened Friends" begin with the letter "W." Despite being fun and great, they never seemed to win over the Worcester crowd. Unfortunately, when a middle aged crowd from the distant suburbs heads out for a night, they're not looking to discover new music. It's a shame, because they missed out on a great discovery. Maybe it was because it followed a particularly awkward set of banter from Sturino, but "Main Bitch" is an absolute beast of a song live, with lyrics like "I'm the worst and you're the best" fitting in perfectly right then.

The crowd was definitely there to see The Sheila Divine that night, and someone doubled in size as soon as Weakened Friends ended. The songs from The Sheila Divine's 1999 album New Parade were met with enthusiastic rejoicing, fist pumps, and shouting along. The crowd didn't seem very interested in the band's output from this century, which lead to lots of side conversations and polite clapping. Even the great "Beautiful Midnight" from the recently released album The Morbs couldn't stir much of a reaction. The crowd was there to shout along to the songs they knew from college, and not else more. "Hum," especially with it's inclusion of lines from "Jessie's Girl" and Tone Loc's "Wild Thing" was definitely a favorite. The set closer of "Automatic Buffalo" had the best shout along chorus of the night. 

It was a great show from two bands that deserve better. But, I did get home before 12:30 a.m., so I hope they come back out this far again soon.

First Listen: New Releases for July 22

We're definitely in the slow period for new releases right now.

Co-Albums of the Week:

Artist: Look Park
Album: Look Park
Quick Description: Side project from Chris Collingwood of Fountains of Wayne.
Why You Should Listen: Collingwood is an underrated songwriter in his own right, and this is a nice indie pop album.
Overall Thoughts: Named after a park in Northampton, MA, this side project has flashes of FoW without feeling like a retread, and has some really high quality moments throughout. Rarely, when listening to it, do you feel like you're listening to Fountains of Wayne (which can't be said for a lot of other side projects) and the result here is just a quality record.
Recommendation: Worth your time even in a busy week.

Artist: Weakened Friends
Album: Crushed
Quick Description: Quick EP from the indie rockers.
Why You Should Listen: Weakened Friends are great anyway, but this is a short listen with great songs.
Overall Thoughts: "95" might quickly become my song of the summer, but blog favorites Weakened Friends blow through six songs in 20 minutes and the end result is an EP that I just wanted to fire up again as quickly as I had turned it on. I still hate that I couldn't hit their live show last weekend.
Recommendation: A great EP by a great band.

Artist: MSTRKRFT
Album: OPERATOR
Quick Description: Canadian dance punk.
Why You Should Listen: This is their first album in five years in a genre that's gotten some attention lately...
Overall Thoughts: ...but, unfortunately, this comes across as stark and dated as opposed to something that is well-anticipated in this area. On first listen, I kept waiting for things to take off and it instead feels like it stays in a holding pattern. I wanted more and ultimately didn't get it. It's a good album, but it felt like it was lacking things to make it great.
Recommendation: It's a slow week, so sure, but be wary.

Artist: Max Shrager
Album: Thoughts of You
Quick Description: Retro indie pop.
Why You Should Listen: If 1960s pop is your thing...
Overall Thoughts: This is a debut EP that's just soaked in reverb and a 1960s poppy slow song mentality. Different from a lot of the retro stuff we feature here, I truly think that your enjoyment of this EP will be in line with your tolerance for the style. For me, though? This really worked. If the title track doesn't get you, I fear nothing will.
Recommendation: A solid, quick listen.

Artist: These Wild Plains
Album: Distant Ways
Quick Description: Local favorite's new album.
Why You Should Listen: Some classic rock-tinged goodness is perfect this week.
Overall Thoughts: Ken covered the opening track from this album back in April, but having a whole album is great nonetheless. It's an album that feels older than it is from a band that's very good at covering the style. Especially this week, I recommend this one if only because of how different it is to what's released, but it's great that this is one of the more solid releases recently nonetheless.
Recommendation: Highly recommended.


Also out this week:

* Salem's Pot - Pronounce This!

Weakened Friends - "95"

Just when we think we can't love Weakened Friends more, they go ahead and release a song like "95." It's beyond catchy, with this great indie rock meets power pop punk sound. My own theory on the name of the song is that it just feels like 1995. Sonia Sturino has this powerful effect to her voice where it comes across as both powerful and strained and vulnerable. It's almost like a more sensitive Kathleen Hanna. Plus, the inclusion of hand claps, swirly guitars, distant backing "Woahhh woahhhh woahhhh" vocals, and a gang vocal bridge that ends up mirroring the backing vocals, and you would have the undisputed song of the summer, if such a thing still existed.

"95" will be on Weakened Friends' upcoming EP, Crushed. You can pre-order it on vinyl through Counter Intuitive Records, and receive a download of it now. That's pretty great since the album isn't officially out until July. For more information on Weakened Friends, check out their Bandcamp and Facebook. Listen to "95" below, and check out their current tour dates below.

05.12.16 - Birdseye - Portsmouth NH 
05.13.16 - KOTO - Salem MA 
05.14.16 - Blind Moose - Bloomfield CT
05.15.16 - Mercury Lounge - Manhattan NY
05.16.16 - Wonder Bar - Asbury NJ
05.18.16 -The Metropolitan Lounge - Annapolis MD
05.19.16 - Liveburghstudio (house show) - Pittsburgh PA
05.20.16 - Mantua Yacht Club (house show) - Philadelphia PA
05.21.16 - All Roads Music Fest - Belfast ME
05.22.16 - Great Scott - Allston, MA
05.27.16 - World Citizen Party House - Albany NY
05.29.16 - The Sportsman Tavern - Buffalo NY

Weakened Friends - "95"

"Gloomy Tunes," the first EP from Weakened Friends, came out of seemingly nowhere and floored both Jeff and I earlier this year. They are back with an acoustic version of "95," a song that will be on their forthcoming EP, due this spring. 

The video is a live, (mostly) single camera (or phone, with kids these days and all) recording of the song. It's more of a teaser at this point to help get us all ready for the new EP. It does that job, continuing the upbeat, slightly more indie version of Letters to Cleo that I loved on "Gloomy Tunes."

You can watch the video for "95" below. Also, make sure you check out Weakened Friends' Bandcamp and be sure to like them on Facebook.

Weakened Friends - Gloomy Tunes

When you call your EP Gloomy Tunes and the first song on it is called "Miserable" (which is what Portland, ME's Weakened Friends have just done), you'd expect the music to be a lot more depressing. The subject matter may be mopey, but the songs are truly fun. 

"Miserable" might include the lyrics "We're the worst kind of people," but it's this burst of 90s infused joy that successfully marries early 90s self deprecation with mid 90s power pop fuzz. "Won Yet" is as beautiful a song can be played this fast with fuzzed out guitars feeding back. This album feels like Boston in 1995 when bands like Letters to Cleo started graduating from TT the Bears to Avalon.

Gloomy Tunes is now available for the name your own price option on Weakened Friends' Bandcamp. You can listen to "Miserable" below, and be sure to give them a "like" on Facebook.


09.17.15 Dr.Martens Newbury Street - Boston MA (official EP release show) 
09.24.15 Great Scott - Allston MA 
09.26.15 Mathews - Portland ME
11.25.15 The Sinclair - Cambridge MA (The Sheila Divine record release show)