Band In Boston

For a bunch of Northerners (as far as we know), Dressing the Debutantes would be right at home on a rickety porch overlooking a swamp. With a vocal style reminiscent of John McCauley from Deer Tick, Chris Hutchison-Jones and company deliver a mix of southern-tinged ballads and boot-stomping testimonies. If these 11 songs aren’t enough for you, you can download 4 of their albums for free!

Dressing the Debutantes online

Download individual songs here, or stream the whole thing:

Here’s how to make your band hard to pigeonhole: do a cover of a Zombies song and a Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass tune. Mix it with equal parts Elvis Costello, Squeeze, and throw in a pinch or two of Pavement, perhaps a little Built to Spill, and you’ve got yourself Boston’s own The Stereo Flys.

The Stereo Flys on the Myspace

Download individual tracks here or stream the whole thing:

We switched around our mic setup the day before The Accident That Led Me To The World came in, and what good timing it was. This may be the prettiest sounding thing we’ve ever put out, if I do say so myself. TATLMTTW call themselves a folk band, but we think that may be selling themselves short. They incorporate elements of country and rock, and seem to have the musical dexterity of a group of seasoned jazz performers. Go and see them on Wednesday, January 6th at the Middle East!

TATLMTTW online

Download individual tracks here, or listen to the whole thing:

Philly doesn’t seem to provide an overwhelming number of bands, or perhaps they’re protective of their local talent. But the ones we do hear of tend to be worth noting – Dr. Dog, The Teeth, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, to name just a few. Add to that list Drink Up Buttercup. They put on a truly engaging live show (their last gig at PA’s ended with an a capella in-the-crowd rendition of Lovers Play Dead, complete with mannequin-head-on-trash-can percussion), and have some of the most clever songs you’ll have stuck in your head for days. Observe.

www.drinkupbuttercup.com

Download individual tracks here, or listen to the whole thing:

Bird & Flower from Columbus Ohio is your basic three piece folk band – banjo, ukulele, harmonium, glockenspiel, keytar… Wait, keytar? Yup. Much like the occasional inclusion of an instrument you would never expect, their songs have a freshness and an honest-to-god groove that makes them a lot more than your typical folk group. They stopped in during their first visit to Boston.

Bird and Flower online

Download individual tracks here or listen to the whole thing:

Boston’s own Antiques, back again!

Antiques online

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Merry Christmas everyone. Here’s a live version of Silent Night, performed by Tulsa at the Middle East downstairs on December 17, 2009!

Cambridge’s Thick as Thieves are a diverse pack of musicians. Actually, it’s a bit difficult to describe what they do, musically. Sometimes T. Rex, sometimes Television, but never boring. And they seem just as comfortable playing a song full-out on stage, or much more intimately, like here in our living room.

Thick as Thieves online

Download individual tracks here, or listen to the whole thing:

We had so much fun the first time our favorite Texans came in that we made sure they paid us another visit. Here’s another batch of wonderful tunes!

The O’s on Myspace

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Israel Darling is another great band from North Carolina – Greensboro, to be exact. Their songs tend to start with a folky melody, and then they add layer after layer of goodness. Today, Jacob takes it all back down to the bare bones.

Israel Darling online

Download individual tracks here, or listen to the whole thing: