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 5
Friday, April 8 at ONCE Ballroom, 156 Highland Ave. in Somerville MA
With Junior Classics, Choke Up, Worshipper, The Longwalls
Doors at 8:30 p.m., 21 to drink, $10 in advance and $15 at the door
Advance tickets, Facebook event page
How The Night Stacks Up:
Friday night's alright for fighting, and it's perfect for Rumbling, too. After four nights of work-in-the-morning reluctance hanging over our collective heads at ONCE, Night 5 provides an opportunity to rock the fuck out. And it delivers one of the best aspects of the Rumble, pairing four bands with four distinct sounds in a mad night-long jump across genres lines. It's truly a hodgepodge: From Junior Classics' sometimes atmospheric, sometimes anthemic indie rock to Choke Up's not-crust punk (see below) to Worshipper's lightning-colored rock to the Longwalls Americana-pop. Buy hey, screw these half-assed descriptions, listen to the bands below and start playing favorites.
Get To Know The Bands:
11:45 p.m.: The Longwalls
HOMETOWN: Boston, Massachusetts
SONG YOU NEED TO HEAR: “The Gold Standard”, off the 2015 LP of the same name
BIO: Mining the edges of indie, country and the worst of basic cable, The Longwalls make American Pop music with hearts firmly planted on sleeves. The Longwalls stalk a line between noisy post-pop and twang, exploring ideas and ideals from pop and pulp alike. Their most recent release Gold Standard was called “a near perfect tone of Americana-infused fuzzpop”. They are known for making dark pop and sugary death songs better than most. Comparing them to Uncle Tupelo and Guided By Voices should give you the perfect landing pad to understand what they sound like. Hailed as “Boston’s best kept secret” The Longwalls are a band to keep on your radar.
VIDEO YOU NEED TO WATCH: The Oasis-esque “Zombies!”, live last year at the Bridge
WHY THEY CAN WIN: Because we all want to see the city’s collective head explode when a band that’s self-described as “indiefuzzicana” wins their Rumble night. Plus anyone who names their album Kowloon is cool with us.
TWITTER: Follow The Longwalls on Twitter @TheLongwalls
