If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Lucie March Normally we wouldn't cover the release of a video for a song we covered almost a year ago, but most aren't the video for sidebody's "fingerprints." First of all, it feels like it's been far too long since we've heard from the Somerville quartet. Second, "fingerprints" is one of my favorite songs of theirs, and the video helps enhance that. It could be that I've started putting on old 120 Minutes episodes while I fold laundry, but the video for "fingerprints" is hitting this great nostalgia spot for me. It features the band in a bathtub, at a laundromat, at a carwash, etc. It's the kind of clever and quirky video that could have been all over MTV in the 90's. Plus, you can tell the members of sidebody are having a ridiculous amount of fun making this. (As an added bonus, the video includes multiple Market Basket images, so if you're a Basket 'til the Casket type, you'll especially love it!) Yo...

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...

Photo by Lucie March I distinctly remember sidebody playing "no commercial enterprise" when they played Deep Cuts with Hallelujah the Hills back in November. It was a fun song about the biggest band fight they had, and seemed like the kind of song that would only exist as a silly live song and wouldn't ever make it on an album. Well... as of today it's now an official single. I don't think any band besides sidebody could pull off a song about the inner argument in a band about whether they should be focused on making money or purely focus on their art. It's been a personal favorite of mine from their live shows for reasons I don't completely understand, but that's kind of the magic of sidebody.  You can listen to "no commercial enterprise" below. Be sure to check out the song on Bandcamp to hear special edits of the song made for various local radio stations, which is actually kinda genius. For more on sidebody, check out the band's webs...

Photo by Lucie March sidebody's 2024 album full time job  was my #5 album of the year, so I'm obviously thrilled they already have a new song out! "fingerprints" is what they're calling "... our take on a poppy summer jam." If they were shooting for a summer jam, they have completely nailed it. This might be the most poppy the Somerville band has gotten so far, but this is pop through the sidebody prism. The song is a light and fun track with a guitar riff to match. It's a little dirty, but in an oddly old timey kind of way. Of course, it's still a sidebody song so it's hardly Top 40 ready. There are little bursts of DIY punk that jump out at you with some fun and unexpectedly catchy gang vocals in the chorus. This is the perfect song to use as an introduction to sidebody to ease them into their new obsession.  You can listen to "fingerprints" below. If you're free Thursday night, they'll be playing The Jungle as part of Clo...

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 ...

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...

sidebody almost didn't make my top ten for 2024. I first heard the Somerville band's album full time job shortly after it was released in May of this year. I enjoyed it, but it slipped off my radar like many new releases do. I revisited the album when it was announced that they were playing with Hallelujah the Hills in November, and I ended up liking it even more. I became enamored with the band after that show, and each time I listened to full time job , I got more and more into the album. It's a quick one, only lasting seven songs in a little over sixteen minutes, but something about sidebody's mixture of art rock and fun that I can't resist. I was still a little hesitant to add it to my top ten of the year since sometimes my flavor of the month albums don't hold up as well when I revisit them down the road, but sometimes I wish I had put them up higher on my end of the year list. But sidebody fandom may not officially be a cult, I have a feeling they're t...

I loved Hallelujah the Hills' 2019 album I'm You. It was my #6 album of the year, and looking back, I listen to it a lot more frequently than the albums that I ranked higher. Friday was the fifth anniversary of the release of that album, and to celebrate, they decided to play the album from start to finish at Deep Cuts. Obviously, I could not miss this one. sidebody opened the show, and I was excited to see them. Their album full time job  was released earlier this year, and it's great. One of the obvious comparisons for their art rock style is Talking Heads. Seeing as the four members of sidebody took the stage wearing oversized grey suit jackets, it's a hard comparison not to make. Like Talking Heads, sidebody make New Wave inspired art rock that is fun and makes you want to dance. All four members take turns with vocals and swapped instruments liberally. Songs like "he's dead" and "quantumly entangled" were a complete blast live, and while the...