NE PopFest 2005 Bands

September 15-17, 2005
The Abbey Lounge

[ information is from festival time and is not necessarily current ]

Auto Interiors (Somerville, MA)
www.theautointeriors.com
Eric Waxwood, Larry Mansdorf, Tom Girard, Bruce Caporal

After giving up on his early aspirations of becoming Aquaman, Eric Waxwood’s second choice for a career as a musician seemed thoroughly reasonable and formed Auto Interiors. Their first CD No Frill Halo Flight (2001) demonstrated their strong songwriting ability and multi-genre influences. With their second release, Let’s Agree to Deceive Our Best Friends, Auto Interiors has matured as a band, their style evolving from shoegazing psycho-pop to a more visceral synthesis of rock rhythms pop hooks and sweet melodies.
Bleu (Groveland, MA)
www.bleutopia.com
Bleu and his eBand

A versatile and charismatic performer, depending on the circumstances, Bleu might appear fronting his full-on rock band or as a solo artist with his electro-acoustic conceptual "eBand." Bleu has been heralded by the music press since the inception of his career. The Boston Globe described Bleu's music as "story-filled frappes of classic rock, pop hooks, and a weirdly lo-fi take on epic anthemics." "For the first time since Evan Dando's heyday," wrote Billboard, "it looks like Boston has a genuine pop star on its hands."
The Buckners (Boston, MA)
www.thebuckners.com
Luke McInnis, Jim Collins, Tony Dintino, Don Woodward

The Buckners play a brand of guitar pop that is both smart and powerful, with a few quirks thrown in for good measure. The group has played countless shows throughout Boston and the Northeast in the past few years, and fans old and new are psyched about the latest CD, entitled See You in Court. Memorable, sing-along melodies, top-notch harmonies, and rich guitar work are always in abundance, on record and at live shows. If you like pop music, The Buckners are a "must see!"
The Cyanide Valentine (Boston, MA)
www.cyanidevalentine.com, www.myspace.com/cyanidevalentine
Jake Zavracky, Wendy Mittelstadt

The Cyanide Valentine is an electro-poprock duo from Boston. Jake Z. plays guitar and delivers powerful and melodic vocals, while Wendy M. plays keyboards and sings lilting harmonies. The pair plays with dancey beats and has a sound combining elements of Billy Idol-esque rock, Michael Jackson-esque pop, and Chemical Bothers-esque electro.
The Fawns (Northampton, MA)
www.thefawns.com
Lesa Bezo, Henning Ohlenbusch, Brian Marchese, Ken Maiuri

The music of the Fawns is lovingly crafted from elegant simplicity; the songs of Lesa Bezo sometimes settle into a musical armchair we'll call "twanglepop", with an essence of a gentle 1950s country-rock amble married to sweetly poignant and honest ruminations on romance. But more often than not, these days, it's power poptastic hooks that the Fawns deliver. Aromas of shimmering reverbed guitars, spunky new wave flavors and boy/girl pop-bounce all blend into the mix.
Mike Gent (North Providence, RI)
www.thefiggs.net, www.thegentlemenrock.com
Mike Gent and friends

Mike Gent is well known as the leader of both The Figgs and The Gentlemen, as well as playing with Graham Parker and Candy Butchers. This year Mike will be celebrating his birthday at NE PopFest 2005, playing a set with special guests.
Hank Crane (Tewksbury, MA)
www.hankcrane.com
Eric Stevenson, Craig Thomas, Adam Kelley, Michael Russo, Eric Faulkner

Hank Crane are a band featuring former members of Only Living Witness, The Details, and The Omen Signal. The band is in the process of mixing their debut album for the newly formed Gunslinger Music label, and are currently playing their brand of alternative-country in and around the Boston area.
Heavy Stud (Somerville, MA)
www.heavystud.com
Melissa Gibbs, Meredith Byam, Chris Foley, Owen Burkett

Childhood friends Meredith Byam and Melissa Gibbs of Lakeville, MA formed Heavy Stud (named after the Ampeg guitar of the same name) and helped christen Boston's most rock 'n' roll venue, The Abbey Lounge. They picked up Chris Foley and Owen Burkett just in time to release their first full-length album, Straight Out of Lakeville. The quartet is currently working on the follow up to that album.
Max Heinegg and the Nervous (Somerville, MA)
www.maxheinegg.com
Max Heinegg, Alex Necochea, Tim Marten, Matt Ogoglia

When Max Heinegg's last record came out in 2003, he was the lead singer and driving force behind Boston's acclaimed psychedelic grunge group, The High Ceilings. After a year of solo work, he has created a new record that takes on a chilled-out, autumnal tone without losing his signature poetic lyrics, architectural song structures, and soaring voice. Joshua Tree-era U2: deceptively ambient with subtle-but-unforgettable hooks. As he steps out of the shadow of The High Ceilings, By June promises to please old fans while breaking into uncharted new territory.
Illustrious Day (Providence, RI)
www.illustriousday.com
Jackie O'brien, Jim O'brien, Pete Abdou

Intense acoustic rock driven by dynamic female vocals, haunting lyrics and unforgettable melodies are but a few words that describe the music of Illustrious Day, led by singer-songwriter Jackie O'brien, bassist Jim O'brien and drummer Pete Abdou. Think Shawn Colvin meets the Foo Fighters. Jackie is a nominee for Best Female Vocalist in the Providence Phoenix Music Poll 2005.
Mollycoddle (Boston, MA)
www.mollycoddle.org
Eric Schmider, Russell Chudnofsky, Joe Klompus, Jefferson Davis, and Aaron Gelb (bass clarinet), and sometimes Alfred marra (on Vibes)

Mollycoddle arose out of Eric Schmider's traffic accident and the love that was part of the collision. Beautiful Californian Failure is our first record and has received acclaim from the Boston Globe, Tape Op, The Big Takeover, The Noise, and others. The songs are pop moments with straight language riding the road from innocent love to akward love. The record was recorded with care over two years on Tape--it feels like a 60's record, and yes, Eric's voice sounds like Lennon. (I can't help it.) Other influences include T-Rex, Stax, and probably some other band with the letter X in it that I can't think of right now.
The Montgomerys (Boston, MA)
www.petemonty.com
Peter Montgomery, Tony Savarino, Andrew Malone, Bob Melanson, Mike Levesque

Fans of XTC and Andy Partridge will immediately be drawn to The Montgomerys. Lead singer/guitarist Peter Montgomery, known to many as the leader of his previous band The Irresponsibles, writes songs boasting powerful immediacy, melodies to hang your hat on, and emotive vocals that wrap themselves around you in a big way. Song after song of lucid, witty and inventive music is all over the place on their CD Unnatural Selection as the billy-club hooks hit hard and pepper the pop fan with a lustrous meditation on how to write great pop!
pome (New Haven, CT)
Gary Heriot, Dave Gouge, Jason Smith

Gary sings and plays rhythm-guitar. Dave bangs up the drums. Jason funkily plucks the bass. Like peanut-butter, jelly, and fresh white bread, pome makes a delicious pop sandwich. Along with a more adult-themed lyricism, the band has memorable choruses that you'll be dunking into your milky memories for an appeitie yet to come. pome by any other name would taste as good!
Brett Rosenberg (Boston, MA)
www.brettrosenberg.com
Brett Rosenberg

Brett Rosenberg is a multitalented musician and songwriter who plays with his own band, The Brett Rosenberg Problem, as well as with The Rudds and as a solo artist. For NE PopFest 2005, Brett will be playing a solo acoustic set that is not to be missed.
Scamper (Boston, MA)
www.scamper.net
Keith Michel, Nate Rogers, Mike Mirabella, Brendan Clarke

Power pop. Three-part hamonies. Infectious melodies. Sweetened guitar hooks. Raw, youthful energy. Weezer meets Ash meets The Cars meets Fountains of Wayne meets Elvis Costello meets Green Day meets Jimmy Eat World meets Poison meets Letters to Cleo meets the Gin Blossoms.
The Shods (Lowell MA)
www.theshods.com
Kevin P Stevenson, Roy Costa, Scott Pittman, Carl Ayotte

The Shods were formed on the dirty banks of the Merrimack River in Lowell, MA, amidst used syringes and Tylenol bottle crack pipes. But that didn't interest them; only one thing did... music, music, music. One week after they formed, they went into Carl Ayottes studio in Lowell and recorded the EP I'm in Lowell, MA. The Shods went on to sign a deal with Fort Apache/MCA, but the deal went belly up before MCA even listened to the stuff. They have since had five stellar releases. It has been two years since the Shods have played a show, and more than ten years with the original lineup, which is re-forming to play NE PopFest 2005.
Static of the Gods (Boston, MA)
www.staticofthegods.com
Jennifer Johnson, Mike Latulippe, Sam Smith, Charles Young

Static of the Gods is a Boston-based foursome that creates distinctive music made up of catchy, noisy songs that bridge the gap between chanteuse-pop and indie rock. Their melodic hooks are mathematically calculated to fuse the high-energy rock of bands like Failure and The Pixies while retaining the "heart on your sleeve" honesty of bands like Weezer, The Smiths, and That Dog.
Welcome (New Haven, CT)
www.welcomemusic.net
Dave, Carmella, Steve

Welcome is a 3 piece band from New Haven, CT. We like playing music and we try to do it at different places in front of people. Sometimes we rock pretty hard, other times it's all feelings. There are only 3 of us, but we do our best to make lots of pretty noise. Our music is a great soundtrack for eating ice cream, dancing or punching someone mean in the neck.


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