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BARRY THOMPSON

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09096_humanwine_list

Wandering stars

Humanwine's mysterious substance
The line between art and entertainment gets thicker and darker every time someone opens a Facebook account. Most of us music types are entertainers, because entertainers just want attention.
By: BARRY THOMPSON  |  June 24, 2009
090605_cobras-List2

The Detroit Cobras give new life to old soul

Blessed versions
There's nothing lazier than the typical cover band: musicians taking the easy way out for listeners who don't want to be challenged — or, worse yet, revisiting the glory years when their shitty taste in music was current and therefore socially acceptable.
By: BARRY THOMPSON  |  June 01, 2009
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Smashing success

The New Collisions start things off right
It feels as if all the music people these days were rushing toward a hyper-electro-modern future where they'll be programming drum machines hard-wired directly to their erogenous zones.
By: BARRY THOMPSON  |  May 27, 2009
090508_cellasr-list

Something for everyone

Hands and Knees' vintage-to-Fraggle rock
In the last three years Hands and Knees have been signed to the Beatings' Midriff Records and racked up ample gold stars from critics; late last month they also dropped their splendid sophomore record, Et tu, Fluffy?
By: BARRY THOMPSON  |  May 12, 2009
090601_visuals_lits

Between rock and a soft place

Is the Everyday Visuals' likability a liability?
There's a blog post on the Everyday Visuals' Web site titled "Pop is fucking (aka. Everything to all people? / a/k/a. Coldplay is just as bad as Wavves)" that I was tempted to cut, paste, and submit in place of this article.
By: BARRY THOMPSON  |  May 05, 2009
090501_cellars_list4r

High drama

The glam amalgam of MEandJOANCOLLINS
It's a quintessential rock-and-roll love story. Sort of . . .
By: BARRY THOMPSON  |  April 28, 2009
090424_Inferno_l

Classing up the joint

World/Inferno Friendship Society at Paradise Rock Club, April 11, 2009
A substantial portion of the Paradise's clientele Friday evening wouldn't have looked out of place at a fancy dinner party. Thanks to the World/Inferno Friendship Society, punk rock and snazzy fashion sense are no longer mutually exclusive.
By: BARRY THOMPSON  |  April 21, 2009
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Faulty Conscience | Good Enough for Punk Rock

BPO (2009)
Of the innumerable punk bands who will release their debut full-length this year, Allston's Faulty Conscience will surpass the majority with their aptly titled Good Enough for Punk Rock .
By: BARRY THOMPSON  |  April 14, 2009
090410_Screaming_l

Screaming Females | Power Move

Don Giovanni (2009)
A while back, New Jersey's Screaming Females achieved the prestigious distinction of coolest band ever to crash at my apartment.
By: BARRY THOMPSON  |  April 06, 2009
090403_Far_l

The kids are OK!

Boston Rules brings back the good old days of punk
There has been much debate — public, behind closed doors, and on message boards — as to whether Boston punk does in fact rule.
By: BARRY THOMPSON  |  March 31, 2009
090327_Bomb_l

Bomb the Music Industry! | Scrambles

Quote Unquote/Asian Man (2009)
To Leave or Die in Long Island  (2005) and Goodbye Cool World  (2006) cemented this outfit's legacy as a band-type thing too self-consciously goofy to be taken seriously.
By: BARRY THOMPSON  |  March 23, 2009
090320_milkyway_list

The Milky Way takes it to the streets

A parade from dead end to new beginning
Nobody likes gentrification, but everyone loves a parade.
By: BARRY THOMPSON  |  March 18, 2009
090313_Growlers2_list

The Swaggerin' Growlers | Keep Your Head Held High

Thugly Goose (2009)
The Growlers reckon their music is best heard while you're shit-faced.
By: BARRY THOMPSON  |  March 10, 2009
090213_irepress_list

Slay anything

Words fail the post-everything epics of Irepress
Boston's Irepress weren't supposed to be an instrumental band. What they've evolved into just happens to be too stylishly sinuous to lend itself to lots of words.
By: BARRY THOMPSON  |  February 09, 2009
090130_cellars_list

Three Day Threshold take pride in roots

The undiscovered country
Three Day Threshold take pride in their roots
By: BARRY THOMPSON  |  January 26, 2009
090109_math_list

Review: Math the Band, Lima Research Society

Middle East Upstairs, January 5, 2009
Math the Band suck greasy elephant balls, I was told by a source.
By: BARRY THOMPSON  |  January 12, 2009
091009-fuckedup_list

Save yourselves

Fucked Up are not your father's hardcore
The media-propagated notion that the Canadian sextet Fucked Up are "saving hardcore" seems silly.
By: BARRY THOMPSON  |  January 13, 2009
09018_havenots_list

Review: Have Nots, Serf City U.S.A.

Bankshot
Poverty sucks, but buying stuff is awesome, so I have mixed feelings about capitalism.
By: BARRY THOMPSON  |  January 06, 2009
09019_beat-list

Southern exposure

Beat Circus's Brian Carpenter returns to his roots
Multi-instrumentalist and Beat Circus patriarch Brian Carpenter has made his share of escapist music, but he's also written dozens of songs that confront real life.
By: BARRY THOMPSON  |  January 07, 2009
081219_barnicle_list3

Angst-free zone

Barnicle keep things nice and friendly
It’s possible I’m working backward from a bullshit conclusion, but I’m half-convinced the main topic of most arts-and-entertainment journalism isn’t actually arts or entertainment.
By: BARRY THOMPSON  |  December 16, 2008
jefreelist.jpg

Jeffree Star | Cupcakes Taste Like Violence

Popsicle (2008)
Why am I listening to this pitch-corrected-to-death excrement when we should all be watching Jeffree Star's Cunt of Love (or something to that effect) on VH1?
By: BARRY THOMPSON  |  December 02, 2008
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