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 3
Tuesday, April 5 at ONCE Ballroom, 156 Highland Ave. in Somerville MA
With Idle Pilot, Field Day, Salem Wolves, Shatner
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:
The third installment of a series is rarely any good (Matrix Revolutions, Rocky III, the inning number 3 of every baseball game ever played), but Night 3 of the Rumble preliminaries has an interesting narrative: four bands with very distinct sounds that should make it hard for the judges to walk in with any presumptions. From Idle Pilot's complex post-whatever compositions and Field Day's riffy indie-pop to Salem Wolves high-octane witch-punk and Shatner's pile-driving, out-of-fucks-to-give brand of rock, the competition will be left out on the floor. Three will be someone's magic number.
Get To Know The Bands:
10:30 p.m.: Salem Wolves
HOMETOWN: Innsmouth, Massachusetts
SONG YOU NEED TO HEAR: Summer 2015 single “Teenage Wonder”
BIO: Formed in the winter of 2014, Salem Wolves released their acclaimed debut EP Black Books in January of 2015. The release saw three singles spend multiple weeks at #1 on the local song poll on WZLX’s Boston Emissions. In the summer of 2015 they released two new singles that were, included in Vanyaland’s 201V List, and The Boston Herald’s Top Songs of 2015 (beating out Justin Bieber even!). Garnering comparisons to Titus Andronicus and The Thermals, they’ve toured relentlessly and shared the stage with acts like Crocodiles, July Talk, Radkey and more. The band features howling and clattering guitars, thundering percussion and some serious bass riffing. All North Shore trash, through and through.
VIDEO YOU NEED TO WATCH: “Rumblr”, off their 2015 EP Black Books
WHY THEY CAN WIN: One of the more exciting guitar-rock bands to come out of the North Shore in years, Salem Wolves pack both a seductive and aggressive wallop in their tunes. And their story is a fucking history lesson, as 2015 single “More Weight” is based on the famous last words of accused witchcrafter Giles Corey during the Witch Trails of 1692. While their stated home base really doesn’t exist (Innsmouth is an H.P. Lovecraft creation), it does fit the narrative: gritty, asshole-ian rock and roll rounded out by surf rock hooks, lyrical tales of black magic, and a slight touch of rockabilly all compiles a pretty interesting package. Also, drummer Paul Koelle is fun to watch.
TWITTER: Follow Salem Wolves on Twitter @salemwolves
