Welcome to the latest in a series of posts previewing the 2016 Rock And Roll Rumble, our city's annual throw down that doubles as a monthlong local music festival unlike any other. This year's Rumble goes down April 3 to April 22 at ONCE Ballroom and Lounge in Somerville, is organized and presented by Boston Emissions with Anngelle Wood, with the Verb Hotel and Vanyaland on board as official sponsors. For our full Rumble coverage, click here; for tickets and venue information, click here.
What You Need To Know:
Rock And Roll Rumble Preliminary Night 2
Monday, April 4 at ONCE Ballroom, 156 Highland Ave. in Somerville MA
With Jack Romanov, The Black Cheers, Analog Heart, Eric Salt & the Electric City
Doors at 8 p.m., 21 to drink, $10 in advance and $15 at the door
Advance tickets, Facebook event page
How The Night Stacks Up:
We've written this here in the past (or maybe it was during our ghost life as an ink-stained alt-weekly), but one of the best parts of the Rumble every year is the discovery aspect. With four bands randomly drawn together, people from different scenes and cliques and circles all come together under one roof, there to root on and support their friends or lovers but also exposed to experience as many as three bands they've yet to hear. On first glance, that could be the underlying theme of the preliminaries' Night #2 -- four very distinct bands that will likely play for a room comprised mainly of people who are hearing them for the first time, whether it's the theatrical pop of Jack Romanov, the blue collar punk of the Black Cheers, Analog Heart's galaxy rock, or the we've-listened-to-everything-and-still-don't-know-how-to-peg-them rock and roll of Eric Salt and The Electric City. But don't go in totally cold -- check out their songs and backgrounds below. But be warned -- one of these bands features a dude from Darkbuster, but we won't tell you which. You'll just have to guess.
Get To Know The Bands:
11:15 p.m.: Eric Salt & the Electric City
HOMETOWN: Boston, Massachusetts
SONG YOU NEED TO HEAR: “Women I’ve Loved”, from 2014 LP Please Say Yes
BIO: Imagine Dylanesque lyrics set to catch rock guitar. Imagine hints of The Rolling Stones and Replacements. Imagine a band whose live show can approach a Springsteen like explosion and captivate audiences with raw power. If you can imagine all of that in just one band you have Eric Salt & The Electric City. They have had music featured on TV and scored movies. Their album Please Say Yes was released in 2014 and they are currently working on a new album to be released this spring. Eric is also a member of Jenny Dee & The Deelinquents and has toured with Andrew Greene opening for G Love & Special Sauce.
VIDEO YOU NEED TO WATCH: The official video for recent single “Excellent”
WHY THEY CAN WIN: Eric SAlt & Electric City have the Boston pedigree on lock down. As Daykamp Music notes, the “Excellent” video features shout-outs to Q Division, John Powhida, Will Dailey, Hot Stove Cool Music, Tim Gearan, and, of course, the fine folk at Daykamp. But what grabs out attention is the actual sound of “Excellent”, which bounces from jittery guitar number to ’60s pop joyride and back around the front again. We could be hearing a dozen different bands when Eric Salt and company take the stage, and that kind of versatility usually plays well in Rumblemania.
