SAM MACLAUGHLIN

Bright Eyes

SAM MACLAUGHLIN — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 20:45:34 GMT

Noise Floor (Rarities 1998-2001) | Saddle Creek
Too often, B-sides and rarities are B-sides and rarities for a reason. But Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst is one of those songwriters who’s as musically adventurous as he is prolific.

Hunting season

SAM MACLAUGHLIN — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 22:25:08 GMT

The Dear Hunter set their sights on opera, Boston, and the Receiving End of Sirens
"Any shows in Boston feel like home," says Casey Crescenzo.

After being kicked out of the Boston-based post-hardcore outfit the Receiving End of Sirens, Casey Crescenzo decided to recruit the bodies needed to make his laptop side-project a real live band. The resulting Dear Hunter — which plays tonight in Worcester and tomorrow night, December 29, at the ICC in Allston — are currently in the process of writing an opera, and we’re not talking Verdi or, for that matter, Tommy. It’s electronic-infused rock which follows the story of a boy from birth to death (with harps and French horns and trumpets and strings thrown in for good measure).

Their first EP, Act I: The Lake South, the River North, is out now with a full-length on its way, and each subsequent album will be a single act in their six-act opera. When asked for a word to describe their sound, “eclectic” and “honest” were both offered up by the band. Both hold true: for all the talk of opera and acts, the band plays rock that swerves from heavenly a capella to manic prog to dark, brooding and stomping — all united by that sense of honesty, a genuine faith and confidence in the music that they’re making.

The band — Crescenzo, Erick Serna, and brothers Sam and Luke Dent — met up with thePhoenix.com on a brisk mid-December day on a Comm Ave bench, not far from the Public Gardens. What follows is an edited transcript of that interview.

So you were in TREOS with the Dear Hunter as a side-project. Then suddenly you were kicked out — what was it like making that transition from side-project to full-time band?
CASEY CRESCENZO: At first, the first day, I didn’t know what to do when I found out I wasn’t going to be in the band anymore. Initially I didn’t even know if it was what I wanted to do because it wasn’t necessarily the main thing I was doing — it never really was — so I didn’t know how to approach it. I was actually with my parents, and they said “Just do it full on.” I talked to my girlfriend and she said the same thing. The label and the booking said the same thing. Knowing that there was support behind it made it a lot easier to make it my main focus. Even when I was in TREOS, the Dear Hunter was still the most honest — for me — music that I was making. Allowing myself just to open up even more was something that I wasn’t used to because for the last few years I hadn’t been. I’d say that being comfortable with being myself was the biggest change.

Synapses firing

SAM MACLAUGHLIN — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 11:02:32 GMT

The Receiving End of Sirens have their own Fenway faithful
Back on Monday August 14, when Kenmore Square was the usual pre–Red Sox game Tasmanian clusterfuck, a smaller but no less devoted crowd began to form outside Avalon. Receiving End of Sirens, "Planning a Prison Break" (mp3)

STARTING SMALL: They recently sold out Avalon, but not long ago they were playing the Norwood American Legion.

Back on Monday August 14, when Kenmore Square was the usual pre–Red Sox game Tasmanian clusterfuck, a smaller but no less devoted crowd began to form outside Avalon. At four in the afternoon. A full three hours before doors opened, and probably another four, even five, before the Receiving End of Sirens took the stage. The kids outside the club and the Fenway faithful “are the same breed of fan,” said singer/bassist Brendan Brown when I caught up with him backstage. “Look at how fans are for the Red Sox and how fans are for any other team anywhere else. The kids here are just way more loyal.” Attesting to his argument was the time the line started to form, the size of the crowd around the Sirens’ merch booth, and the packed room when the band came on.

After a year and a half on tour, TREOS took the stage to the Cheers theme, and it was clear they were glad to be back. Hailing from Western Mass, the members met at Northeastern, and they honed their sound in dorm rooms. At Avalon, they powered through a set of epic post-hardcore with electronic flourishes, blasting forth three-part guitar harmonies. Their debut, Between the Heart and the Synapse (Triple Crown), is drive-with-your-windows-down, sing-along-as-loud-as-you-can, bang-the-steering-wheel, see-people-stare-as-you-drive-by-but-who-cares-this-shit-rocks rock. And that’s exactly what they delivered at Avalon. They open for Taking Back Sunday in a WFNX free “Disorientation” concert this Saturday, September 9.

What’s interesting is that TREOS have amassed loyal fans across the country. They’re one of those odd “local” bands who garner just as much national attention. And that didn’t come about from being plucked by Fallout Boy and thrust into national superstardom à la Panic! At the Disco. In fact, small shows like the ones here at the Norwood American Legion and the ICC are how TREOS found that national audience. As an unsigned band dealing with the loss of their first frontman, and with nothing more than a three-song EP to support, they hit the road, sold a couple thousand copies of the three-songer, and played all kinds of gigs.

Siren song

SAM MACLAUGHLIN — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 22:35:47 GMT

Keating, Portugal. The Man, The Receiving End of Sirens, and Circa Survive at Avalon, August 14, 2006
When the Receiving End of Sirens took the stage, coming out to the “Cheers” theme (“Sometimes you want to go….”) and the screams of a packed Avalon, it was clear that it was good to be back.

Saying something

SAM MACLAUGHLIN — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 15:33:52 GMT

Dashboard Confessional, Say Anything, and Ben Lee at the Opera House, August 13, 2006
No one who’s heard Say Anything's ...is a Real Boy , will be surprised that lead singer Max Bemis is bipolar. Slideshow: Say Anything at the Opera House

Such great Heights

SAM MACLAUGHLIN — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 16:57:07 GMT

Hawthorne Heights, Halifax, and Hit the Lights at Axis
Hawthorne Heights were into it, the kids were into it, heck, even the parents were into it. Slideshow: Hawthorne Heights, Halifax, and Hit the Lights at Axis, June 23, 2006

Head Automatica

SAM MACLAUGHLIN — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 21:10:36 GMT

Popaganda | Warner Bros.
Lead singer Daryl Palumbo has referred to Head Automatica’s debut CD, Decadence , as “electronic cock-rock”; the album suffered for it.