This is it folks. The home stretch. It’s hopefully no surprise that there’s been a lot of great music being made, both live and recorded, and we’re not able to cover it all. This is the time of year when start to go back and look for the bands, releases, and news that we missed. Let’s start by catching up on some new music that’s crossed our path in the last month or so. There’s a mix of local and not-so-local stuff below, but it’s all worth a moment of your time.
Bears! Bears! Bears!
Do you love Losing Streak-era Less Than Jake? Who doesn’t! You’ll like this new band out of Rhode Island. Check out their debut release.
Rhyging
This four piece roots reggae outfit out of Braintree released a music video and EP this year. Listen to the full EP on soundcloud and watch their video below.
Jr. Thomas and The Volcanoes
Maybe you saw this soulful dude sing a few tunes with The Pomps a couple years back at the Middle East. He put his most recent album “Beware” on YouTube for your enjoyment. The record features a few Aggrolites alumni so expect top notch early reggae and rocksteady. He’s from Minneapolis but now resides in LA, presumably for the reggae scene.
The Hempsteadys
This CT ska mob has been at it for years but they’ve only recently completed a full length record. They call themselves “the p-funk of streetpunk” if that gives you a sense of the kind of party they deliver. Did you see them at Midway this summer?
The Ratazanas
Portugese early reggae act The Ratazanas recently called it quits. As a parting gift, they’ve left posted all of their releases to soundcloud! Do you like weird? You’ll like this. Here’s the video for “Grandma DJ” off of their 2009 album “Ouh La La.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jydn1hY6cKQ
Jukebox 101
In case you didn’t think the new three songs from The Aggrolites were enough, Jeff Roffredo and Jesse Wagner have debuted a fantastic 5-song EP via RareBreed Recording Co. There’s soul, there’s rocksteady, there’s bluegrass, and it’s wonderful. Download the EP for free.
Yes, I’m still waiting for that badass bossa tune from their website…
RareBreed Recording Company
You may have first heard Jukebox 101 on the RareBreed Recording company Summer Sampler. You probably did because that sampler was just awesome. Well, Obi and Vinnie have done it again, because they released a Winter Sampler this week, too. There’s some familiar faces as well as some new ones. Expect us to take a deeper dive on this one in the near future. Download it here or stream below.
The First Band To Play On Mars
I can’t tell if these are the marching band or music major types. Either way there’s a sousaphone on this ska/punk record out of UMass Amherst.
Crazy Baldhead
The alter-ego of Agent Jay, the guitarist for The Slackers, last released “Boots Embraces” in 2014. This sampler leads us to believe there’s new music on the way.