Noah of Request Freebird On Influences, Nerves, and Why Being Famous Is Horrifying

Hello, below is an interview I conducted with Noah of Request Freebird a few weekends ago.

Photo by Cindy Fuentes 

Whether he was playing as ACLU Benefit or under the new moniker Request Freebird, Noah sings with a country drawl so real that nothing fake could be uttered by it. His songs about past loves and life turn everyday vulnerabilities into poetry. This weekend, donned in angel wings and a Morphsuit, Noah performed and sang along with the crowd at the Hassle’s own Wicked Mess. Following his set he talked to me about fame, ageism, and Boston music.

Keeley Cormac: How long have you been writing and playing music?

Noah: 20 years. I started in 7th grade when I was 13. I stopped off and on. I didn’t start playing guitar till I was 17. So that’s like 15 years now of guitar songs and stuff. I played as my own name, I played in bands, and then I started ACLU Benefit in 2008. And then Request Freebird at the end of last year and that’s where we are today.

KC: How many projects are you involved in currently?  

N: Well, there’s Request Freebird. The Best Thing Ever is playing what might be our final show in July at Jen Page’s wedding. Asperger’s Are Us is touring, that is my sketch comedy troupe. In theory, my band Style might play again, currently that band is on hiatus for the foreseeable future. I think we’re gonna play at Halloween. We’re going to do a combination Roy Orbison/Joy Division cover band called Jroy Divorbison. I’m excited for that. It’ll be Roy Orbison songs in the style of Joy Division. I think I came up with the name before I realized it would work musically.

KC: Do you have any really big musical influences?

N: Have you heard that song “Why Aren’t I Famous?”?

KC: Yeah.

N: That one mentions most of them at the beginning, all the people I played with. Steven Merritt was one I hadn’t played with when I wrote that, but I have since. He’s probably my biggest inspiration. This band Smoke from Atlanta that no one ever talks about is my favorite band ever, but they’re tough to hunt down.

KC: Do you ever get nervous about sharing really personal things (in your music)?

N: That’s a good question. I think when I was young I was very nervous performing or talking to people or doing anything. I guess the cliché of ‘fake it till you make it’ is true. What I interpret that to mean is not pretend to be confident, but force yourself to reveal more than you’re comfortable doing and see what happens. And usually the response was really positive, so it made me more confident with that stuff in the future. It made it a lot easier for me to just tell people things that typically no one would want to reveal to an audience or to a stranger, because it made it a better show. Sometimes I get nervous about performing. I don’t think there’s anything I would be too nervous to sing about or play a show about, that isn’t the issue. I get nervous about like ‘Maybe this will be a bad show or maybe it won’t sound good’ or something. But I don’t get nervous about what people might think of me revealing personal stuff, because everybody has vulnerabilities and they respect people who reveal them. So I made a conscious decision to do that more and it’s worked very very well. I think someone called out during my set just now, they didn’t yell out, but I was overhearing someone talking to someone else saying like “He’s really arrogant” or something. It was offensive to me because I don’t think that’s accurate. I think that it’s just that I’m not insecure which is different from being arrogant. I’m trying to motivate people on purpose, which might come off as me sounding like I know what to do, but really I’m just trying to get people to do the stuff that will make the show better. So when I’m yelling at them to sing better, it’s not like I know this is the best song in the world, that’s not what’s happening, it’s like ‘You need to sing, because it’s fun’ and that’s important, having fun. And I don’t tolerate people having a bad time.

KC: How has your perspective of being a musician changed throughout your life?

N: That’s a good question. That’s a hard question. The song I debuted tonight was partly about this. When I was young, I was really just performing in the sense of ‘How much can I own the crowd?’ or ‘How much can I get the audience to pay attention to me?’. It made me a lot better at performing. But as I got old, I think part of the perspective isn’t so much ‘How much can I own the crowd?’, but ‘What can I do that will be interesting for me and fun for me to do and be something that works?’ But it used to be something much more to the need of immediacy of paying attention and having no one talking. But now that’s less important than it once was. Also when I was young I was more antagonistic. When you get old you become less antagonistic and you get more about like ‘I wanna have a good time with people’ and this is why punk bands are young or just recycling stuff they wrote when they were young. So all my punk stuff is from when I was in my twenties, a little bit in my teens but mostly in my 20’s. But now looking back on it I’m like ‘I could not write that today’. It’s too mean. I wouldn’t do something like that. I want to be nicer to people. Which is a personality change, but it effects the art. In a way I think that’s bad. I think that good art comes from that immediacy that you need to say something that’s really important to you. It feels like it’s a problem you want to correct but I’m much less about that now and I’ve come to appreciate the good stuff about people and things that I encounter instead of worrying about flaws. Or if I don’t like it, I’ll just bail but I’m not thinking ‘These bands are terrible! They need something to wake them up and play better music’. I’m not thinking that way. I’m thinking that ‘If you wanna play terrible, bad music, that’s fine’, and people like it, that’s fine. I’m not mad about that stuff like I was at 16-25 probably, or later than that.

That’s all I have to say about that I guess. I used to want to be famous. That’s a big change. I don’t care anymore. I just care about like ‘I need a crowd and a place’ and it doesn’t have to be big and it doesn’t have to be a thing where I look at myself like ‘Wow, I succeeded!’ it just has to be an audience who’s listening. And that’s all I really want. So that’s changed. I used to be hungry for success, but that’s not how I approach it anymore. I’m totally fine as long as there are good crowds and I get to keep doing what I like.

KC: What shifted to make you not want to be famous?

N: Well, I think the thing that happened recently was that my comedy troupe’s movie sold to Netflix and while we were at SXSW, for the very first time I realized what it would be like to actually be famous. Which is you would get no privacy in public and that would be so terrible for me. And all the guys, autistic people especially can’t handle surprise interactions with strangers very well. It’s really terrifying to imagine being in that position of like ‘Oh, god. I’m gonna be harassed all the time.’ Like if I’m buying groceries, people are going to interrupt me. Like that will suck. So I don’t want that level of fame. The only thing I really wanted fame-wise, aside from all the stuff I’ve done already, is to be able to have a spontaneous press conference. Just like go outside and be like ‘I’m bored. I want to do an interview.’ And then just be like ‘Hey! I’m Tom Cruise. Come hang out with me or whatever.’ And then they’ll be like “Yeah, totally. Do an interview.” And then that would happen. And that would be really fun. I would enjoy that. But aside from that, I don’t care about the fame stuff anymore, because I can see how it’s damaging. I see why Mariah Carey and Dave Chapelle went kinda nuts. You don’t get privacy for like twenty years straight. Like that’s terrible and horrifying.

KC: How do you usually record and write your music?

N: I usually record most of my music on Audacity, which is just like one track on my computer, but it sounds terrible for the most part. Sometimes I’ll have someone else who’s good record stuff. Like Love & Fame was recorded by an actual professional producer when he was too young to need any money for it, and now it would cost way too much for me, even three years later. Writing, I usually just make it up. I’ll play something on guitar, have a hook in my head and play it and go and record myself just playing it and later write it down as it was. So it’s all improv and record the improv and maybe edit it a little bit. But the hook is usually where I start. The chorus is the thing that brings me into pop music so much, and that’s what I do usually. Sometime I’ll play guitar for a long long time and come up with something. “Country Suicide” is one that didn’t come easily at all. It was a bunch of work. It was just like ‘This seems like a throwaway.’, and it took a long time, but people really like that one, surprisingly. But the pop songs are the ones where it’s like ‘Oh, shit. This is gonna be good. This is a hit.’, and then I’ll record those. I get a lot of ideas walking around. I’ll just be like ‘Where’s my coat?’, I’ll say it out loud, then I’ll say *singing* ‘Where is my coat, where is my coat’ and I’ll pull out my phone and record that and see if it goes anywhere. And a lot of the time it doesn’t and it’s fucking stupid, but sometimes it’s good that way too.

KC: Do you have any particular songs or lyrics that you are the most proud of?  

N: I’m really proud of “43 Cents” which is on the new record. That one I played the most out of anything in the last few years. Every band always likes their new stuff the most, even thought you can obviously point to stuff in their back catalog that’s better. Like I’m really proud of all the stuff I did between age 23 and 27, so like the stuff on The Bathroom Tour by The Best Thing Ever and Eskemo, the record I put out in 2010, that’s the best music I think that I’ll ever make. But the stuff I’m doing now feels more present and relevant to me so I love that. “RIP Lilly” is something that I’m really proud of, because I couldn’t play it for a long time because I couldn’t play it without balling. You can hear me on the record crying while I’m recording it and it wasn’t the first time I cried while recording it. And that is just the one that ended up, so that I’m proud of.

I’m ashamed of a lot of them. I’ve written probably about 200 songs, and about 150 of them are awful. Just like worthless, no one would enjoy them. If you write a lot some of them are bound to be good.

K: What do you have planned coming up?

N: Asperger’s Are Us is going on tour because our movie is coming out in September, so we’re trying to do a tour in July and August, assuming people know we’re gonna be on Netflix and book us and care enough to come. I’m worried that they won’t because the movie won’t be out yet. That sucks, but this is the only chance we have to tour. So that will be really fun. We’ll go around the country.

As far as my music stuff, I have a show May 18th at Middle East Upstairs with Rick and Chris from Pile, Rosie and the Rosies and Kevin from Math the Band. In June I have a show at Aviary. June 16th I’m playing Aviary with Gracious Calamity and Kateboard. Those should be fun things that people might go to. That might be the important stuff. And I’m playing Jen Page’s wedding with The Best Thing Ever, but no one’s invited, so be sure to write that down. People need to know.
I’m sad The Best Thing Ever might never play again after that, but marriage typically kills art for a whole lot of people, which sucks but that’s just how it works. Better than the alternative I think.

KC: Being alone?

N: Yeah, like I struggle with this a lot, because when you’re young you’re like ‘I would never settle down with someone if I couldn’t be the person I want to be.’ Then you look at people who are 50 and single just like ‘God, this person is suicidally sad. I don’t want to end up like them.’ That’s how a lot of people get married in their 30’s. It’s that same like ‘Oh, shit. I don’t want to be that guy.’ And honestly they’re right. That’s true. You don’t want to be that guy. I worked with that guy at the hardware store and one day he disappeared and never came back. I think he went to Alaska spontaneously to go be a fisherman. It seemed like a mess. He was always my big fear for what happens if I think like ‘It’ll be cool to be to be like a traveling homeless performer when I’m old.’ Like no, that sucks. That’s sad. No one will listen to you, just think you’re a loser. Ageism is real and we’re not gonna fix it. So accept it or end up like that guy.

KC: Are you from Boston?

N: No. I was born in Dayton, OH and I lived there till I was 8. And I moved to Atlanta. Lived there for 10 years, and then I moved to Boston. And then I moved to New York, and then I moved back to Boston because I couldn’t get a job in New York. Now I have the best job I could possibly have in Boston, so I’m pretty glad that worked out nicely. Boston’s a cool spot. I’m glad to live here. Sometimes I want to leave, just because I miss the sun or whatever, but now it’s summer so it’s okay.

KC: How do you feel about the Boston music scene?

N: It’s interesting, at one time it was a really great place where it felt like home and I would go to shows and see so many people I who I knew and who liked me. And then every couple years the scene changes because the college students leave, so if you don’t know the new crop of college students every few years you lose your fans. So now, for me I’ll play and then I’ll see some people I might know from shows and then it’s really for strangers. Maybe they see me once and come back or maybe they see me and they’re like “Ok, that’s it.” I wish that there were more stability in it, but that’s just inevitable. I think there are some good bands locally. Actually this (Bugs and Rats playing downstairs) is one of them. *runs away to watch Bugs and Rats*

Zine #5 Is Now Available

My fifth zine is all done. It is my thickest one yet, almost 5x bigger than the others. I will slowly put the articles from it on here, but will leave some stuff zine exclusive. There are so many articles on my zines that I have never put online, so email if you ever want some physical copies of Fanatic. Amongst the topics featured in #5: G-Eazy, booking shows, Ben Katzman's DeGreaser, and Rostam leaving Vampire Weekend. 

My friend Sara and I tabled at the last Black Market, so you can sometimes find me at those. I'm also just around. 

Formerly ACLU Benefit

I have limited knowledge on ACLU Benefit. I know his real name is Noah and retired the name ACLU Benefit. He recently released an EP under his new name, Request Freebird, but I’ve been primarily listening to his 2013 album, Love & Fame. At the time of writing this I have not seen him live. He has a real freak vibe that people are drawn to. You can tell his songs mean a lot too many people. There has been a tribute show to him and on his bandcamp he has a full album of other artist covering his songs, featuring the likes of IAN and Frankie Cosmos. The music makes me want to have a very cleansing cry. To say his lyrics are beautiful would be an understatement. He knows how sad life is but has made a blissful peace with the sadness. I met someone who said that they just never got into music. I literally cannot comprehend that. Music is everything, ACLU Benefit is the type music that proves it. He has a country drawl so real that nothing fake could be uttered by it. His simple guitar makes the music feel like poetry. It is folk and it is simple. It makes me feel things I’ve never felt before by taking things I think and making them ache. I wonder if he is still playing ACLU songs live, but I guess if you have like 5 albums you probably don’t worry about re-playing songs. Sometimes melancholy music is what you need to get you through your melancholy days.

EDIT SINCE THIS WAS WRITTEN: I have since met Noah and seen Request Freebird and it was awesome. It sounds just like the recordings live and he stilled play all new and old ACLU Benefit songs. He was funny and cool and I almost cried during the set due to pure joy and the songs. I'd still really like to interview him sometime.

An Interview with Colleen Green

Back in August, my favorite singer, Colleen Green, played the Middle East Upstairs. After the show we talked in a doorway across the street. It was a great experience and I feel like I could have asked her 5 million more questions. Here is the interview that I published on the Boston Hassle:

Massachusetts native and L.A. resident Colleen Green is an inspiration to many. Known for her punk-DIY drum machine and stoner-pop, Colleen has been releasing the most relatable albums since 2010, because her planet is your planet and we all feel the same things and wanna be left alone to watch TV sometimes. Colleen returned to Cambridge this past Monday, and I was lucky enough to talk to her for a few minutes after her energy-packed and people-packed show. She talked L.A., self-recording, and her parents’ influence.

Boston Hassle: Were you involved in any music scenes when you lived in Massachusetts?

Colleen Green: Yeah, I interned for Fork In Hand Records when I was in high school. They were an old label, with like Big D and the Kids Table, it was their label. So I kinda knew those guys. I guess, I don’t know. I guess we were friends with a lot of New Hampshire bands. There were a few bands from New Hampshire that my old band would play with.

BH: Was the Colleen Green music your first time using a drum machine and recording yourself?

CG: Yes it was. I had recorded myself in the past, but friends had helped me with it, so it wasn’t just totally on my own.

BH: How did you teach yourself?

CG: Just by trying it out and experimenting and seeing what sounded good and what didn’t. And just having a lot of spare time to do that shit.

BH: When you first started releasing and performing where did you get the courage to share all of your thoughts and feelings?

CG: Well, it was actually incredibly scary, but I kind of just forced myself to do it anyway because I figured if it was something I thought was really scary but I could do it anyway then that would take away the scariness about it.

BH: How different do you think your life would be if you hadn’t moved to L.A.?

CG: Hmmm, I think it would be completely different. I don’t know. I just feel like L.A. is just such a magical place, because when I moved there good stuff started happening to me. Yeah, I think it would be completely different.

BH: Did you start working with Hardly Art as soon as you moved to L.A.?

CG: Well, I moved to L.A. in, it was like in a little less than a year. Yeah, I moved to L.A. in December of 2008. And then then I was signed to Hardly Art in.. oh no, 2009. And I was signed to Hardly Art in September of 2010. So it took like ten months. But I had also started going on tour already at that time, so I was giving a lot of people my music.

BH: Are any overlying themes of your albums conscious or do they emerge naturally? 

CG: Definitely conscious.

BH: Do you try to make concept albums? 

CG: I don’t know. I love the idea of concept albums, and there are a lot of concept albums that I really like, but I don’t know if I could do it. It seems really hard.

BH: Like a Colleen Green rock opera.

CG: Yeah! I just don’t know what to talk about. Yeah, I guess you just have to have that inspiration to do something like that, but I don’t think I have it at this point.

BH: Why, now, did you decide to stop self-recording and move into a studio with other musicians? 

CG: I just wanted to try it out. See what would happen. Do something different, you know. I don’t know, I think it’s always good to try new things, and it was something I’d never really done before. Yeah, I just wanted to try it out.

BH: Do you think you’ll ever go back to self-recording? 

CG: Yeah! Definitely, I want to do that for my next album actually, but I’m not sure.

BH: Is there anyone who has really inspired or influenced you throughout your life? 

CG: Probably my parents. Right? Because just generally speaking they kinda like influence your personality and what your life path is gonna be.

After the interview I asked her to take a picture with me and sign my poster. 

G-Eazy

The Rise & Marketing 

G Eazy is DIY. Even if he now has gone more corporate, his still in control of his career and everyone on his team. He is on a major label, but I cannot help but thing that he is still in charge and just got the major label to play into his plan. He knows exactly how his fans view him. He has a degree in music business and utilizes it well. His latest album, When It’s Dark Out, is the album that shows that he is where he wants to be. There are no more songs about the journey to the top or what it will be like when he makes it, that is what Must Be Nice was for. On this album he is showing how he got to where he is. Like on the track “Random”, he clearly states “I got it all, yeah I'm young, rich, and handsome. This shit is not random.” He formally introduced himself on his debut The Endless Summer, basically being like ‘Hey this is me. This is what I am going to be, a dapper young rapper who is going to sample the beach boys’. Then on Must Be Nice he laid down his goals and personal agenda. These Things Happen was his stretch into the mainstream. I feel like that album was more about try to garner the masses. Which worked, considering he also only been playing bigger venues and selling more albums since. I first saw him play the Middle East Upstairs, and now he just sold out that arena in Lowell. So many rappers say they are going to make it to the top, but when G Eazy said it in 2011, he was stating a fact. Because he knew it was all business and he had everything planned out. He didn’t rush anything. He focused on the fans in the beginning, by doing free meet and greets at all of his shows and executing every release with the professionalism of someone with a much bigger stature. Most importantly, his first four mixtapes were free downloads, which is definitely the best thing he could of done for himself, because it just makes it that much easier for people to get his music.

I think When It’s Dark out is much better than These Things Happen. When It’s Dark Out is more of a throwback to his earlier music. He even uses some of the same beats he used years earlier. He can do this because his longtime fans will love it, and his newer fans won’t know the difference. Like I said, this album shows that he is where he wants to be, but also tackles the feeling that maybe getting everything you want won’t make you as happy as you thought it would. The song “Sad Boy” is about just that: “Man stop acting like a bitch. Forgot you're all famous now and rich? Gerald what you so sad for?” He address himself using his really name (Gerald Earl Gillum).

In the video for “Me, Myself, and I”, there is a scene where G Eazy is talking with two other versions of himself, fighting and getting yelled at saying that he signed up for fame and should not complain at all. There are three G Eazys in this scene, a sad one, one that yells at him for being sad, and one that just wants to party. It makes me sad to think that G Eazy is unhappy considering his success and mad at himself for being unhappy, especially after watching him make the climb up the music latter for so many years. He knows that he thought he has already worked so hard, that he is really only at the very beginning of his career, and probably feels more pressure than ever. I always wondering if his newer fans will understand these songs as much, since they have not been along for the whole G Eazy journey. They can backtrack his releases and grasp some understanding, but how could they view the transformation. The new fans may get it, but will they really get it?

Thurston Moore: An Essay

I have very mixed feelings about Thurston Moore. On one hand, I have a deep admiration for him. He is the coolest. He’s published poetry. In interviews he is completely charming and cool and collected, kind of in a manner where he knows he’s being so. On the other hand he cheated on Kim Gordon (his ex-wife, and Sonic Youth member). I know I should not base my feeling on him around something that happened in his personal life, because it is none of my business, but it is so hard not to. Especially after reading her book, Girl in a Band, in which she gives very riveting details about the end of their marriage and the end of Sonic Youth. Basically, he cheated for a good period of time with a woman that Kim definitely never ever liked that he was working on some book project with. I feel guilty reading her book, because I loved reading all the dirt on him, in the same way people enjoy any type of gossip. Mostly on the nosey-ness hidden deep within us that we try to repress. In the end of the book Kim said that she feel sorry for him, but does not forgive him. I called Thurston an asshole in my last zine, which I kind of feel bad about, but also don't because that article was about Kim Gordon, and looking from her perspective he probably is.

Kim exposes so much of Thurston in the book it is almost hard to look at him after. She uses the word narcissistic and rock star showboating. And describes him as stubborn and non-confrontational.  And says he views his post-divorce life as being free. He is kind of the reason Sonic Youth broke up. There is never going to be a reunion tour. She talks about him hiding himself, and why she thought she knew his so well and could trust him. Maybe marriage introduces a sense of domesticity that can cause a loss of creativity. I can only imagine how devastating the news of Kim and Thurston's divorce must have been for those die hard Sonic Youth fans. They were so re-closed in Western Mass and were a solid institution for so long that the thought of them splitting probably never crossed the minds of most people.

He seems like a happy person. Why wouldn't he be? He's known worldwide as a guitar legend. He's make a living off art. He has good taste and he knows it. He has put a lot of thought in his rock and roll strategy. He knows his art and facts. I feel like he would know more about any topic than I would. Not in a condescending way, just in a way where he really enjoys art and wants to know everything about it and be able to let you all about it. Intense, wild loves music, not in just a playing sense, put a deep appreciation. Some musicians say they don't listen to music that much, but Thurston probably does. He's an avid record collector.

His solo music, especially his most recent album, The Best Day, is pretty good. It is defiantly is not as experimental, but it has the aura of a guitar great. At what point does someone who has spent so long trying to be experimental and different just kind of throw in the towel and make music that doesn't require as much of an active listener? When that band you were in for over 20 years is over? When you are recently divorced and have that post-divorce middle age reborn glow? When you have garnered enough respect amongst the whole musical world to last the rest of your life? Probably all the above. He has worked hard and feels he deserves to keep doing music and enjoy his life as a rock legend and have people pay attention to whatever he does. I feel like any form of art requires some sort of ego. Just the sheer fact that you would feel the need to share what you have to say or made with others must mean you think it is pretty good. I feel like Thurston Moore is an artist because he feels like others should hear what he has to say.



"Benediction" is my favorite song of Thurson's. It burns so bad that they lived so close to me for so long and I never cared, I only started caring about Sonic Youth in 2015. The video above is from a festival in New Hampshire, not far from where I'm from.

My Favorite Releases of 2015

Gracie – Gracie
This was also the year I started listening to the Fat Creeps, so it was very comforting to be able to follow them up with Gracie Jackson’s solo project, Gracie. Gracie Jackson has acquired a demurred confidence and a penchant for strange guitar tunings, finding influence in Sonic Youth, folk, and grunge. Jackson has gathered a backing band full of friends and fellow Boston musicians and has recorded this debut steadily, only having previously released one song on their Bandcamp in October 2014. Gracie’s brooding allure pull you into the trepid waters that are Gracie’s smokey vocals, rich guitar and themes of nostalgic despair. The album feels both hollow and hopeful, as the listener senses Jackson being guided more by feeling than logic, like when she spills “Climb the ladder, what did you fall for? Climb the ladder, he makes me feel more” on “Jesse”. Gracie is very rich and drippy. It has a big sound, big like the room of destruction Gracie is calmly standing in the middle of on the album’s cover. The themes of angst and despair are reminiscent of 90’s grunge, but more woodsy and eerie at times.
Sun Young – Sun Young
I am low-key obsessed with IAN, so that low-key obsession crosses over to Sun Young, fronted by Damien (bassist of IAN). Sun Young is a three-piece that makes a groovy freak pop that investigates family, life, and identity. I was able see Sun Young twice this year, once in a kitchen and once in a basement. Both times I was enthralled by their semi-goofy manner and grunge-y avant-pop. I’d been listening to one of their earlier EPs a bunch, so I was excited for the release of a ten song EP featuring re-recorded versions of 4 of the old songs and some of the newer ones I’d seen live. Very cool effects on the vocals and guitars, and the general composition of the music makes it more interesting than most. The songs go from happy to sad, but never lose hope, like on “Hell’s a Place Like Cherry Hill”. There is something about Sun Young that really stands out to me, and I wish I could figure out what it is.

Mommy Long Legs – Assholes EP & Life Rips 

My super cool friend, Donna, sent me a YouTube vid of Mommy Long Legs slaying KEXP. They are a group of true punk rock prom queens out of Seattle, WA making that special brand of feminist punk and pop I love so much. Crunchy guitars, group vocals, and a comedic angle is what Mommy Long Legs uses to address their feminist agenda and issues with people. They eat all Girl Culture and throw it back up at you. In March they released the Life Rips EP. On which, they cover slumber parties, being afraid of your horoscope, and sororities. Many of the songs come from extreme views on people and jokes. They make big characters out of “Yuppie Moms” who wants an “Oprah Mocha Frappuccino right now”, among other stereotypes. Then they released the Assholes EP, which is just as fun but a bit heartier and less fictional, but very direct. Like on the track “Assholes” where they chant “You can take your asshole and put it in your new car, and drive it in a wormhole, cuz in the end we’re all alone” at some hypothetical asshole modern man. The track that stands out the strongest to me is the anthem like “Weird Girl” that declares “I wanna be a weird girl, a freak girl. I want to freak you out cuz I’m a freaky fucking girl.” I like music that reminds that nothing really matters, so just do and be whatever you want and have fun.
Chastity Belt – Time to Go Home
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 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.’”
Ben Katzman’s Degreaser – Venus in Pisces
On Ben Katzman’s new album, Venus in Pisces, he contemplates growing up and breaking up. He is able to take the most universal problems and emotions of people in their young twenties and turning them in to complete Rock n’ Roll. It’s like Glam Rock with more easily relatable topics. Astrology runs heavy throughout the album, hence the title, and the lyric “You’re only keeping me around because your Venus is in Gemini” on “You Shred (But You’re Really Just Playing Me)”. The track “Sad Boi to Bad Boi” summarizes the whole album, the concept of transitioning from Sad Boi 2 Bad Boi, and being a Bad Boi who sometime feels like Sad Boi.

Colleen Green – I Want to Grow Up 

On this album Colleen sheds her D.I.Y sound and adopts a bigger rock persona with stronger vocals, heavier guitar, a drummer instead of a drum machine, and a bassist. The album is called I Want to Grow Up, and you can tell she really means it. The most major step the punk songstress takes in growing up on this album is identifying that she needs to. All of her releases have shown progression, but this album was the most drastic. The biggest change was the studio recording, it makes the songs sound clearer and fresh. The themes of the album cover figuring out what her problem is, getting healthy, and even dying alone. Colleen's realest and maybe most personal song to date, "Deeper Than Love," is an almost haunting account of her past and fears about relationships, featuring lyrics like "How can I give you my life when I know you're just going to die?" It digs deeper, but still keeps the good old fun CG punk charm. The most empowering song on the album is the closing track, "Whatever I Want," where Colleen realizes that she doesn't have to be scared, her world is a design of her own, and she can truly do whatever she wants. It’s super awesome to see Colleen do new things. Colleen Green focuses on being the best she can be, and Colleen Green continues to be the best.

Mannequin Pussy – Kiss me tender demos 

I love these three songs by Philadelphian punks, Mannequin Pussy (the whole EP is under 5 minutes). “I am not ashamed to be lonely, but I’m afraid to feel it so deeply.” Guitarist and vocalist, Marissa screams in way that completely transfers what she is feeling, the exertion of pent up anger makes a relieving and positive vibe. She is so strong and, what’s a different word than aggressive but just as powerful? Assertive, energetic, and dynamic are what’s coming up when I just searched for synonyms, and they fit. The drums and guitars swirl together in a fury. It’s punk with a drive, they work hard and know how to play the s of their instruments, and won’t take any, like on “Anything”: “Don’t you try to lie or mis-treat me/ I want this more than anything/ I want it more than you.” Very excited for these demos to be made into an album in 2016.

Tomboy – Sweetie 

Featured on my list last year, and probably any list of favorites I make until the day I die, Tomboy is one of my favorite bands. Formed in Boston, Tomboy is now spread along the East coast. Sweetie, their first full length, they tackle and conquer cat-callers, assholes, and relationships with dominance, grace, and wit. The sound of this album is just so strong, the fierceness and determination of Madeline's vocals carries the songs messages and themes. The rowdy drums and fuzz-strong guitar give them a sound similar to all of the strong female-lead rock bands of the nineties. These feminist are inspiring. On "Sweetie" they are calling some unknown figure out for treating them like some 2-D toy object. After they call him out and say "No!!" that is not what they are or what they are there for, they assert this with wicked lyrics such as "You call me sweetie/ but that's not what you mean/ 'look pretty with that smile'/ well, I think you're fucking vile." And they can see threw them: “You read my mind, well I read your diary.” The songs may have some anger in them, but it's an anger that makes you dance, then when you are dancing you have fun, so the joke is really on any asshole that has ever wronged Tomboy. They are sort of an angry-pop that makes you have fun. It's beautifully written and simple, the smooth track ends album in impeccable standing. Every girl in the world should listen to Tomboy.

Tall Juan - Why Not 

BUFU Record’s supreme rocker Tall Juan, previously seen in The Beets, is an extremely tall and lanky Argentinian rocker who is known for being a lover of the Ramones. He released a two song cassette for “Falling Down” late last year, and released it on a 7” again in 2015. Then he released It’s True, which doubled in length from two songs to four. Both of these EPs were recorded by Tall Juan’s friend and roommate Mac Demarco. Why Not is three originals and one Ramones cover that features Dee Dee Ramone's wife Barbara. The songs are fast and fun with guitar and drums that do not stop. It is lo-fi poetry laced with Ramones influence. Saying the Ramones influences Tall Juan feels like I’m putting too lightly.

Erica Eso – 2019 

If Cloud Becomes Your Hand is avant synth rock, then Erica Eso is avant synth pop. From the mind of CBYH composer and synther, Weston Minissali, comes Erica Eso. Erica Eso is not an alter-ego, it is an explorative Brooklyn-based pop group. They’ve combined their transcendent musical affections to bring you some of the freshest and most exciting pop I have heard in a long time on their debut album, 2019. Erica Eso features many elements modern pop. It is very clean dance music, with existential feminist themes, no unnecessary sounds, and a calm pace. It has an electronic R&B vibe. Autotune is used on the already very high pitched vocals to keep up with the synths. It’s the most tasteful use that I have ever heard. When I asked Weston about Erica Eso, he said this: “Erica Eso is my baby… or maybe duel identity is more appropriate… or maybe she’s pregnant with me… It has been such an intimate process writing and now performing this music, it really has been unlike any other project. I started to imagine this loner voice cruisin’ all sexy and fragile over loose synth rhythms and crackles”. Minissali is able to achieve amazing harmonies with the synths and every instrument. 2019 draws attention with its pop melodies that sound strong but fragile, like glass.

Tredici Bacci – Vai! Vai! Vai!

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. 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. I like how Tredici Bacci is basically band leader Simon Hanes’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, and a prime example of how much depth there is in Boston music.

Lily Konigsberg & Kassie Carlson - Muriel: Utter Perfection 

Muriel means utter perfection. This tape project on feeding tube is a solo spilt. The first side is six songs by Lily Konigsberg (of Palaberta) and the second side is three songs by Kassie Carlson (of Guerilla Toss). This project sounds like a theory, like building one. The recording process is a learning process. Side A, Lily’s, has an eighties science fiction feel. Feels like it’s swarming around you. The tracks sound like techno music was dismantled and put through a filter. At some points there is an utterance of grand synths, like on “Swept by SH”. The vocals are heavily filtered and effected, and are on the verge of becoming an eerie chant. Along with some creepy keys, this side has a chaotic and otherworldly aura. Side B, Kassie’s, is intimate pop. It is recorded by Kassie and features her vocals, a drum machine, and which ever other instruments she plays. The drum machine gives the three songs a good beat, which gives an upbeat feel, even on the morbid “Nobody Loves Me”, with a retro twist. Kassie’s music is about feelings, like feeling something hyper-real or interpenetrating feeling, very specific. Such as the levels of body language. She writes great lyrics and that gets more of a light shown on it here than in gtoss. Everything she write has meaning, no random lyrics. Hopefully your familiar with Kassie’s other solo music, under the name Jane La Onda, this tape and the Jane tape are my two favorite tapes ever. Some things I am excited for and hoping for in 2016 are: seeing Birthing Hips live, recorded Bong Wish, and a new Free Pizza record. This article will probably be re-published in my zine.