They say Medford is the new Somerville, and tonight (August 2) a couple of Boston’s finest rock and roll bands prove it as perennial Vanyaland faves The Downhauls and Duck & Cover team up for the Trash Fest 7-inch release party at Deep Cuts.
Featuring four blistering new tracks, two apiece, from the melodic punk and garage rock bands, the music — either via streaming or the physical product from Rum Bar Records — doesn’t drop until next week, but that’s not stopping the gang from celebrating both present and the past, as the Trash Fest title is a throwback to the raucous annual parties once held at The Abbey Lounge, the long-gone Inman Square dive bar that’s still often on the lips of those who often frequented the joint.
And while both The Downhauls and Duck & Cover have been doing dirty rock and roll business in the years after The Abbey’s demise, their collective DNA runs deep with bands indelibly linked to the era, like Vagiant/Tijuana Sweetheart, The Coffin Lids, The Spoilers, The Acro-brats, The Wynotts, Killer Abs, The Throwaways, and Wild Zero. And probably more we’re forgetting — which is on brand for this whole jam.
“If you weren’t a garage/punk/hard rock/trash-pop/whatever fan local to the New England area back in those heady days,” The Downhauls dish out in a press release, “this new release gives you an authentic taste of the rowdy, beer-spitting, ‘What do you mean they made smoking inside clubs illegal?,’ capacity-defying vibe in Inman Square’s hippest dive bar. If you were in attendance at ‘Trashfests,’ this release is bound to spark some foggy, fond memories (conversely, if you went to the Abbey Lounge and have total recall of those shows, you were doing it wrong).”
Here’s another chance to do it right.
TRASH FEST WITH THE DOWNHAULS + DUCK & COVER + CE SKIDMORE AND THE DAMN FINE BAND + GOSSIP COLLAR :: Friday, August 2 at Deep Cuts, 21 Main St. in Medford, MA :: 7 p.m., 21-plus, $15 :: Event info + tickets
