Tredici Bacci

                Tredici Bacci is the smoothest, sultriest, and most Italian pop ensemble in Boston. They are one of the only bands doing what they are doing right now, and if they are not the only ones, they are definitely the youngest. It’s a 14-piece orchestra that is describes as an1970’s Italian film soundtrack. 

The motivation of the band was to investigate one very specific type of Italian music, and to explore composer/conductor/ electric bassist, Simon Hanes’, interest in Ennio Morricone and all things Italian. I like how Tredici Bacci is basically Simon’s way of praising Ennio Morricone, because I know all I wanna do is praise my idols and make fan art all day, and it cool he’s got other people to help him do that. It’s like spaghetti western, but in reverse. Because instead of being western stuff made by Italians, it’s Italian stuff made by Americans. Tredici Bacci is melting the world of composition with the world of more abrasive abstract style.

You really need to see Tredici Bacci live. Listening to them is only half the experience. When you see them live it can feel electric, like a movie, which is exactly what I think they’re going for. It’s so smooth and European, it makes you feel like a smooth European. There is so many of them! And they sound fresh and energetic about the music they are making. It’s a powerful! And they are all so talented and look like they’re having so much fun and act sort of goofy, which just makes for a very positive energy.

On the latest TB tape, Vai! Vai! Vai!, they’ve made the soundtrack to a fictional lost film. This one sounds bigger than The Thirteen Kisses EP. The horn, the keys, the strings, everything sounds augmented, like everything was paid more attention to in the studio. Tredici Bacci is the prime example of how much depth there is in Boston music. 

“Well, I Like Joey Ramone Cause He’s Tall and Handsome. He Looks Like a Poem to Me”: Riff Randell, the Ultimate Fangirl

Being a fangirl takes up so much of you. You just love whatever it is so much that you can’t stop thinking about it and you feel so emotionally invested you get so proud almost like it’s your child, or else you feel hopelessly in love. And you think it must be a figment of your imagination because there is no way anyone else could have created something so perfect for you that you must have somehow made it yourself. And in the Ramones’ 1980 rock comedy Rock n’ Roll High School (which has the perfect amount of Ramones performing with minimal Ramones acting) , protagonist Riff Randell is the supreme fangirl. Riff is cool. Riff is punk. Riff is confident. Riff is a nerdy Ramones fangirl.

 The movie takes place in 1980, but everyone at the high school, except Riff, acts like it’s the 50’s. The stuffiness of the adults and the way they talk about rock is so exaggerated. Which makes it so great and funny, it’s not taking itself seriously. So it’s really funny to watch the up-tight square adults straight out the 50’s have confrontations with Riff, the super abrasive modern rocker. The film exaggerates Riff using the wildest ideas 50’s of teenage rebellion. It’s funny that Riff is seen as so rebellious, when all she is guilty of is literally listening to the Ramones. But she is proud of her punk trouble maker status and get almost excited when she gets in trouble, like it validates her as a punk. Even though she is really just a nerdy fangirl with a big ol’ crush on Joey Ramone.

She is the ultimate fangirl because she just wants to share her favorite band with the whole world. She has felt the power of The Ramones and she knows her whole school needs to feel it to. She blast Ramones over the loudspeakers, ditches school to buy her whole class concert tickets, and makes her gym class do a dance routine to “Rock n’ Roll High School” (which isn’t really a Ramones song in the movie yet, but she wrote it for them, so same dif). She is the object of the main jock’s affection but Riff can’t even pretend to even notice him because he is not Joey Ramone (who was so ugly that it reverted back to being cool and attractive). She daydreams about getting serenaded by The Ramones in her bedroom. She inspires her submissive and conservative best friend, Kate, to open up and be more assertive. She thinks the Ramones make her a better person, so she wants to make everyone else better too by sharing the Ramones.

Riff wants to be IN the band, she wants to be involved. She has a goal, she needs to give them the song she wrote for them. She is full of confidence and knows the second the Ramones read her lyrics she will become their primary songwriter. It’s cool that she wants to write for them. As much as I would want to be involved with my favorite bands, I don’t think I would want to write songs for them because I just wanna hear what they have to say. It’s kinda of intrusive of her, but in a cool way, like she feels she knows them so well that she can write music for them and her lyrics line up with what the Ramones are about. Riff wins a radio contest and gets to meet the Ramones, which is her opportunity to hand them her sheet music. She is so ready and prepared to give them the sales pitch of a lifetime, but when she gets in front of them she melts and gets giddy, like anyone would. But she still has the confidence in her lyrics to put it right in front of Joey’s face. Riff is a very determined fangirl.

Riff Randell the ultimate fangirl because she gets the ultimate fangirl fantasy in the end. At the end of the film when Riff is at school getting tortured by the evil principle, The Ramones roll up singing to tell her they liked her song. Then they roam her high school, which has gone vigilante in wake of their presence, and Riff gets deemed an honorary Ramone. Riff’s dreams came true and she got to become a Ramone.

May 31 Playlist

Ideal World - Girlpool Suck It and See - Arctic Monkeys Virgo Babe in a Maiden Shirt - Ben Katzman's Degreaser Summer Mood - Best Coast Lonely Boy - The Black Keys Joke - Chasity Belt Don't Call Me - IAN Messed Up Kids - Jake Bugg Emma - Tomboy Memorize - Jane La Onda Temptation - New Order Young Folks - Peter, Bjorn, and John

Girlpool

While not as outwardly punk as other riot grrrl bands, this young guitar duo’s music cover everything a girl feels in the simplest, blunt, raw, and smoothest manner. So free with their emotion and, Cleo and Harmony play together harmoniously and cover their childhoods, relationships, and oppression.

Growing up and apart is one of the main themes on their debut album, When the World Was Big. These Philadelphian teens have no drummer and it adds an edge to the guitar and vocal game. You can tell that something between them just clicks on another level, Harmony says “There’s a certain understanding and empathy that we have for each other.”

Chastity Belt

These Washington natives are making waves with their sophomore album, Time to Go Home. They’ve written the feminist anthem of the year with “Cool Slut”. With lyrics like “We just wanna have some fun /Grind upon everyone.” Chastity Belt is letting girls know that it is okay to do whatever they want and just have some fun. They are writing songs for the modern girl. They started off writing joke party songs, but have since moved onto more witty and emotional party songs.
One of Chastity Belt’s main goals is to encourage more girls to be in bands. Guitarist Julia said “I’d like teenage girls to be able to relate to this album and listen to it and think ‘Oh! I could be in a band too.’”

ITS AM-ZINEEE!

Hello! Very exciting! Fanatic is now in paper format! You can now hold Fanatic! I've made a zine! Its cool, its new, its pink! Email me at kcormac15@gmail.com if you would like one.
maybe people will actually go on this now haha

One the founders of the original Riot Grrrl movement, Kathleen Hanna is keeping it alive. She has made her life’s work about feminism and keeping girls informed and encouraged, whether through music, art, zines, counseling, fashion, or public speaking.

Kathleen inspires other people, and a riot grrrl should be inspiring and supportive. After being a victim of abuse, she was a counselor at a women’s shelter, and after Bikini Kill shows she would counsel women who needed it. After performing punk shows Kathleen would be in the back performing crisis counseling, sometimes every night while on tour. But she hasn’t let anything that has happened to her make her jaded. She is sincere and has a sense of humor.

 After Bikini Kill broke up and she was in a low point, she took those pent up feelings a turned it into a self-recorded masterpiece solo album, Julie Ruin.

Then she was a part of Le Tigre, an electronic dance-punk trio which covered Bush era politics, a whole new wave of feminist issues, and supported the LGBTQ community. Currently, Kathleen is fronting the feministic post-punk pop band, The Julie Ruin, sounding more confident than ever and not letting her Lyme disease hold her back.

Kathleen is still a modern riot grrrl because she is 100% in tune with everything happening in a girl’s world. She is waiting for the next movement to occur. Kathleen recognizes that the original Riot Grrls had their flaws, (read Girls to the Front by Sara Marcus), and she is hoping that the next generation can learn and grow from that. visit Kathleenhanna.com and also watch The Punk Singer

Come To My Bedroom / Talk To My Bedroom

Bedroom music is anything that is ultra-personal. Whether it be bedroom pop, punk, or whatever, I usually think of it as usually self-recorded or semi-lo-fi. 

The word bedroom is used because what is more personal to someone than their room? A safe place that is completely their own, cut off from the rest of the world, and free from its judgement.

Colleen Green started her solo career in her room after she moved to L.A. and had been diagnosed with an incurable autoimmune disease. It was a turning point in her life and she channeled that emotion into recording and writing and figuring out how to use a drum machine by herself. Now, 4 albums later, Colleen has moved out of her room and into a studio, collaborating with others on her latest release. 

I really wouldn’t call Sky Ferreira bedroom-pop in the recording sense, but definitely in the sense of content. Sky has been the victim of abuse, and when she was writing her album she thought a lot about the way people are treated and about not letting what has happened to her define who she is. She writes songs based on ideas, not always experience. Her main goal is to be honest and speak to people. She writes simple lyrics to get her points across clearly. Sky Ferreira is taking the most personal events and sentiment and trying to help others. 

Mariam from Bong Wish said she started making music when she felt her life was missing something. She started recording songs in her room on her own. From there the band progressed and came out of her room. Which is a great thing, that she could take something intimate and share it with people. 

I have nothing but respect for anyone who takes their emotions and turn it into an art to help and share other people who have felt the same things.  

Bong Wish Interview

Hey everyone! Do you guys know Bong Wish? Well ya really should! They're a group of lovely ladies that have been playing shows non-stop. They are great and groovy and I love seeing them live. Check out my recent interview with front-women, Mariam, from the Boston Hassle! 

----------------------------------REPOST FROM BOSTONHASSLE.COM--------------------------

Mariam Saleh is the creating force behind the psych-folk dream that is Bong Wish. Not long ago, I got the chance to electronically interview the groovy songstress. Mariam shared her sagacity on spirituality, what's next for the Bongettes, and her advice for those who want to start performing.

Boston Hassle: What first inspired you to start writing and playing music?
Mariam Saleh: It just happened, my life needed something and it was music.

BH: When and how did Bong Wish form?
MS: Bong Wish I feel is always changing form, but with a strong core! The original configuration started with me, Ana Karina and Kristina. I had Kristina on bass and Karina on drums until we realized that the opposite made much more sense.

BH: How has Bong Wish changed, developed, and expanded since the band's start? 
MS: Well it started with just me in my bedroom. Multiple times a week I would record these 'under a minute' songs. I soon found myself wanting more and that's where Karina came in. It was very natural, very sisterly! Our bond was instant, quickly with love and support. Our voices also worked so perfectly together. Kristina came in, and again it was very obvious we all were supposed to be together at this time. Over time the songs lengthened, and the group spiritually became closer. We then came across Molly and like that she was a part of this sisterly connection. We often have Bongettes jump in and out of the mix, it's a very open and loving crew! Anyone can be a Bongette!

BH: Are there any particular themes or messages you try to explore or instill in your work? MS: Spirituality, love and the everlasting journey are messages I feel come across naturally with this group. Growing and sharing is important in our songs and as people.

BH: I read that when you first started a band you were a semi-inexperienced musician. What were some of the challenges that came along with that and how did you overcome them? 
MS: The only challenges I came across were inspiring ones! Getting better at my instruments and learning how to focus on what was important and to not get caught up in rock stardom.

BH: Do you have any advice for anyone that wants to form a band, but doesn't have any experience? MS: Love yourself and give love! No matter what kind of music or performance you want to pursue. Believe in yourself and challenge yourself! Don't give into the pressures of society and what fits in and what's currently cool. Real music comes from within.

BH: What is Bong Wish currently working on? Do you have a release in the near future?
MS: We are currently working on bonding as a whole, becoming more and more in tune to each other. That's the most important thing I think, playing together often and connecting mind, body and soul. We plan to record next month, potentially some demos to share with the world, or maybe even a more full record. Who knows, but for now you can see us play live!