The Glow

Nothing cures what ails ya like a good rock show. In my case, I've been a little bummed about not being able to run for the last five weeks or so because of Achilles tendonitis, so I schlepped it down to Precinct in Somerville to check out The Hush Now, Soccer Mom and Chandeliers. As an added bonus, the show was presented by my pals Jay Breitling (and his Clicky Clicky multimedia empire) and Bryan Hamill (and his blog The Ash Gray Proclamation), so I got to hang out with them and drink beer.

Not long after I got there, the Hush Now guys showed up. Hung out with Noel Kelly, the band's frontman, for a while; he's a cool guy. Also on the agenda was the U.S., and possibly worldwide, premiere of the new Johnny Foreigner album, Johnny Foreigner vs. Everything. There were only a handful of folks in the club at the time, but we dug it. Full of the whisper-to-a-scream dynamics that JF specialize in. Jay also had a bunch of three-song samplers to give away, seeing as he is THE expert on the band in the New World.



It was an educational night for me because I wasn't familiar with the any of the bands (Cooling Tower was a late addition to the bill, but I took off before they hit the stage because it was already 12:15 or so). Chandeliers is a trio from Allston Rock City that was pretty technically proficient and played a sharp set of indie-prog rock.

The show was billed as a homecoming of sorts for The Hush Now, which was wrapping up a 17-show East Coast tour (and provided a tour diary on the Clicky Clicky) and had just played the CMJ fest in NYC the night before. The five-piece was crammed in on the tiny stage area (basically a corner of the back bar), but they sounded tight as they played a set of mostly new material (seven of the nine songs were from the band's excellent Memos album). Kelly's voice was in good shape as the band effortlessly jumped from pop ("Arkansas") to rockers ("Clouds") to piano-driven slow songs ("Sitting on a Slow Clock") to dance music ("The Glow").

Soccer Mom is another local act that left an indelible mark. The band pummeled the crowded club with a Sonic Youth-esque wall of sound that sounded very good indeed. The band only has a 7-inch out now, but I'll definitely be watching for more music from them.

Rock shows are always a blast, but it's nice to occasionally see the great local bands that Boston has to offer.