The Underground Sound of Emerson College
Doggone can do it all. Producing, recording, songwriting, singing…his creative vision is one that spans every mode of production, and it’s evident through his consistent delivery. Within a year and half, he’s released six singles, all intentionally paired with a visual aid and entirely his own creative direction, of course.
Exile in Guyville could be a sob story about shitty ex-boyfriends and childhood trauma and bad sex, but Phair doesn’t sing it like she wants your sympathy, or even like she’s particularly upset over the situation. It sounds like she’s resigned herself to it. It’s the tone of voice of a breakup that you’ve known is coming for months, the end of a relationship that you’ve already mourned the loss of by the time the conversation happens, the numbness that comes with deciding not to expect too much. Her vocals are devoid of any flourish or technical stylings, but are instead a monotone that sounds like she’s complaining to you over the phone.
“Spellbound” by Siouxsie and the Banshees “Spellbound” (1981) is the perfect example of Siouxsie and the Banshees’ magnetizing goth sound. Released as the first single from the band’s fourth studio album, Juju, “Spellbound” brews up Siouxsie Sioux’s hypnotic vocals, bewitching guitar riffs, and a heavy bassline to send you floating in mid-air. From her geometrical…
Design by Gabrielle Finucan By Heather Thorn Introducing… The Name Game playlist with over 50 songs, all with names in the titles. Meet Alison, Anna, Angelina, Angie, April, Baba, Billy, Brett, Bonnie, Buddy, Caroline, Chelsea, Clint, Delilah, Eleanor, Elise, Francis, Frederick, Harry, Heather, Henrietta, Iris, Jessie, Jezebel, Johanna, Jolene, Josslyn, Jude, Judy, Julia, Layla, Lizzy,…
Design by Sophie Parrish By Mario Sierra and Julia Schramm Arcade Fire – The Suburbs / The Dismemberment Plan – The City Phoenix – Girlfriend / Best Coast – Boyfriend Duster – Inside Out / Teethe – Upside Down The Drums – Days / Frank Ocean – Nights The Promise Ring – Nothing Feels Good…
The Numero Group, founded in 2003 by Tom Lunt, Rob Sevier, and Ken Shipley, has been a musical archive and curator of exceptional quality since its inception. The record label’s original intention was to release the obscure picks that its founders were deeply invested in—unknown gems from local R&B, soul, and gospel labels that had risen and fallen to history—and though the breadth of their musical cache has grown to encompass indie and emo bands like Ira and Everyone Asked About You, they have still managed to preserve some of the finest and most criminally underrated soul picks in the game.
Unlike the steady and booming resurgence of Duster within the past years, Eiafuawn has seen little resurrection outside of smaller spaces. On February 25, 2022, archival record label The Numero Group released deluxe pressings of Birds in the Ground, as well as full Spotify and Bandcamp uploads. But the area that Eiafuawn finds itself in doesn’t need to be large, and the album doesn’t need a cultural revival. It only needs to play in quiet bedrooms and turned-up headphones, existing in the personal and authentic world it cultivates for each listener. 20 years later, Eiafuawn stands as a meaningful record of early 2000s slacker artistry—gloomy and detached yet oh so emotional. Maybe in our own interior worlds, everything is still all fucked up, but in Parton’s world of Birds in the Ground, everything is right.
“White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter,” however, is about how amazing it is to be Lana Del Rey cooking dinner for her husband on the bayou. The whole trad-wife thing, as tongue-in-cheek as it may be, feels too on-the-nose for Lana, who has in the past expertly examined what it means to be submissive while still in power.
The local heavy music scene in Boston has always had a rich history. From Converge in the ‘90s, to Have Heart in the ‘00s, and Pat Flynn influencing basically every band that came from the Northeast after 2008, Boston hardcore remains one of the liveliest iterations of a DIY scene. These newer bands, Thiscityhatesyou, LOSER, and KeepYourDistance, are keeping the movement alive and modernizing it for the better.