On Saturday, Nov. 12, in conjunction with Projekt Records, the Middle East Downstairs will be host to the first darkwave/steampunk/cabaret music festival in the Boston area. PROJEKTFEST '11 will feature three national headliners from the Projekt Records label - WEEP (featuring Doc Hammer of "The Venture Brothers" fame); Black Tape for a Blue Girl (pictured above, the brainchild of Projekt Records founder Sam Rosenthal), and Voltaire (who has a massive cult following in the world of sci-fi conventions, comic book fandom, and is known for "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy").
Supporting local Boston acts will be: DJ Matthew Griffin, Sugar Snow (listen below), and Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling (Their music video Episode 1: Arrival was recently projected at The Deli's CMJ showcase in NYC). There will also be vendors of clothing, art, jewelry, etc.
Friendly People’s debut, self-titled 3-song EP gives a concise taste of a promising young Cambridge, MA-based band. Their jangly indie pop is peppered with hints of Americana, roots rock and folk with vocals that owe a debt to Neil Young. The EP’s clear highlight is its opening track—their namesake song—“Friendly People”. It’s a tremendous, positive track buoyed by a horn section in the bridge which lends a mariachi feel. “A Lot of Work To Do” brings out Harvest-era Neil Young, starting as a plaintive acoustic ditty which builds slowly into a passionate electric number. Closing track, “Branches”, follows the same acoustic-to-electric path. As the song builds, it introduces tribal rhythms that are reminiscent of 80s indie-punk legends, the Volcano Suns. Friendly People are scheduled to record their debut full-length in March. If the Friendly People EP is indicative of what we can expect from this young group’s next batch of tunes it will be a record to keep an eye on later in 2012.--George Dow
Post new comment