Live Shows: The Ghouls, Tysk Tysk Task, and Makeout Palace, The Lilypad, Cambridge, MA 10/17/25

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My love of Tysk Tysk Task is heavily documented here at If It's Too Loud..., so I try to get out anytime they play. The Ghouls have been quickly becoming another favorite due to their fun and energetic live shows, and I've heard good things about Makeout Palace. Once these three bands announced a show together at The Lilypad (a beloved venue I don't get to nearly enough), I obviously needed to attend.

Makeout Palace opened the show, and are fairly hard to define. Their sound was all over the place, especially from song to song. It was mostly alt-rock with a side of pop, but some songs were more punk, and another was almost straight up ska. They played a few songs as a guitar/bass/drums trio before they were joined by a saxophone player for the rest of their set. They were a bunch of fun with a solid set, and their die hard fans were well represented in the crowd. It's always great to discover a band like this, since now I have new-to-me albums to check out, and a new band to obsess over.

Tysk Tysk Task played next, with a just released single (the excellent "Toadstool") and a just announced Boston Music Awards nomination for Rock Artist of the Year. This was my first time seeing their new lineup, with Keith Dusoe on bass and Joe Milia on drums joining Samantha Hartsel and Rick Martel. This is an excellent line up that truly reflects Tysk Tysk Task's sound and emotion, which can be a crash out (as the kids say) set to music. Their set was raw, as always, just barely contained by Martel's shoegaze-esque guitar work. Brand new song "11:11" was a joy, and I can't wait to see how it evolves before it's finalized as a single.

Closing out the show was The Ghouls, who were nominated for three Boston Music Awards. (Last year they won Rock Artist of the Year.) This was my third time seeing the Lowell band, and each time they're exponentially better than the last. Their sets are a ton of fun, and their sound is a mix of alt-rock with sone punk and pop mixed in. It's kind of like a more unhinged and more poppy version of early Arctic Monkeys, and they've mastered the middle ground of having a 90's too cool to care attitude, but being so good they obviously care. If there is any band in the Boston scene right on the edge of blowing up, it's The Ghouls.

On Repeat...

The New Limits - "Normal Day"

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Photo via Facebook According to their Bandcamp profile, The New Limits are a "Boston ska band with a taste for rocksteady, reggae, soul, and rock n roll." They just released a single that shows off their sound perfectly. "Normal Day" is a laid back ska song dripping with soul. You know that joke that goes around every few months saying that ska is the sound that plays in a twelve year old's head when they get an extra mozzarella stick? The New Limits are the grown up version of that sound. This is ska/rocksteady for adults. It's ultra chilled out music with some of the best horns in the city. Even if you haven't listened to ska since your youth, you need to check out "Normal Day." This might help re-open the entire genre to you. The New Limits say of their latest single: " What is normal, anyway? Some of us just want a nine-to-five. Others cry at the thought. 'Normal Day' has nothing to do with quarantine and lots to do with figuri...
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The Beths - "Mother, Pray for Me"

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Photo by Annabel Kean For their latest single, New Zealand's The Beths have released "Mother, Pray for Me." This is a heartbreaking ballad consisting of Elizabeth Stokes' vocals and guitar with just the slightest hint of organ. It's a deeply personal song for Stokes, made obvious with how intimately the song comes across. It truly feels almost confessional, and it's quite simply beautiful. The Beths are most known for huge little indie rock gems perfect for bopping along to, but "Mother, Pray for Me" is quite the opposite. Stokes' vocals and lyrics are right up front on this one, and I can't imagine it any other way. Elizabeth Stokes says of her latest single: “I cried the whole time writing it. It's not really about my mother, it's about me — what I hope our relationship is, what I think it is, what it maybe actually is, and what I can or can't expect out of it.   “My mother is a first gen Indonesian immigrant, and very Catholic....
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Brennen Leigh - "Dumpster Diving"

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Photo by Lyza Renee Brennen Leigh has quickly become a favorite of ours, with her take on a classic country sound with a slight sense of humor. Her latest single, "Dumpster Diving," which she describes as a "trashy little tune," is everything we love about the musician. It's a vintage style country song that comes in at a punk like one minute, forty-eight seconds. With a chorus of "Dumpster diving, this ain't gonna last / Dumpster diving, 'cause baby you like trash..." how can you possibly resist. Leigh's latest gives us a decades old sound with modern sensibilities and her fantastic voice that's tailor made for this genre of music. It's almost like a collaboration between Loretta Lynn and Shel Silverstein, and who doesn't want to hear that? You can hear "Dumpster Diving" below. Don't You Ever Give Up On Love  is due out October 3 on Signature Sounds, and is available for pre-order here . For more on Brennen Leigh,...
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