Album covers clockwise from top left: Fortuna 500’s “The Lemon Man” (Photo by Lizzy McEleny); Coral Moons’ “Calling Me Insane” (Art by Megan Kelleher); Sophie Wellington’s “Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still” (Photo by Pat Piasecki, design by Whit Hayward); Haasan Barclay’s “Four Leaf Clover” (Courtesy Haasan Barclay); The Amplifier Heads’ “SUPER 8” (Courtesy Glenn Robinson); DeevoDaGenius and TEGA’s “Da Story of Tega Brady (Deluxe)” (Art by Nicole DaSilva, design by DeevoDaGenius); and Kimaya Diggs’ “I know that I’m perfect” (Photo by Jo Chattman, lettering by Kimaya Diggs).
Massachusetts musicians have been busy: A new album from longtime blue-collar Boston rockers The Amplifier Heads. A satisfying anthem of outrage from singer-songwriter Kimaya Diggs. Producer and artist Hassan Barclay’s deceptively pleasant new EP, which sounds like bedroom pop written for an arena. WBUR’s music writers share their favorite local music they heard in July.
Kimaya Diggs has already pivoted once. The Northampton musician’s debut album “Breastfed” was a contemplative, DIY affair; her follow-up, “Quincy,” unveiled a polished sound with R&B inclinations. Her new single, “I know that I’m perfect,” teases yet another shift. The song opens with warbling synths and a rubbery bassline. Diggs sounds composed even as she hints at turbulence: “I was born between two worlds/ Like a clenched fist, like an open hand.” At the chorus, everything changes. Guitars churn, drums smash, and Diggs unleashes a furious indictment. “You say that it’s simple, you’re oversimplifying,” she sings, voice pitched above the distortion. “I told you I’d carry your children, I was lying.” Ouch.
Diggs explained in an email that the song is “based on an ex who made an entire life plan for me without asking what I thought even once.” No wonder “I know that I’m perfect” is such a satisfying anthem of outrage. The song will appear on Diggs’ upcoming album “Green” (due Oct. 2), which marks the first time Diggs is credited as a producer and engineer on her own music – a subtler, though no less powerful, expression of agency. — Amelia Mason
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Brockton’s TEGA released the attention-grabbing “Da Story of Tega Brady (Deluxe)” in June. This project’s backbone is an authentic story, further supported by clever writing and DeevoDaGenius’s production, which seems to only get stronger over the years. TEGA put together a very clever rollout with his Toxic Tuesdays freestyles, where he put his writing skills on display, speaking to a fictional love interest. Every installment just kept getting better. The way he flipped known concepts and embedded them within his rap made me want to listen to the project to see how he would continue to supply this creativity. “Depositing, n—as got no bank, but they Chiming in./ I been blacking out like Cole, they better mine (mind) they own,” he raps on “Exquisite Timing,” referencing Chime online banking, J. Cole the rapper and coal mining. The way TEGA raps forces close listening so as not to miss these moments of mastery.
Producer DeevoDaGenius left his mark on “Da Story of Tega Brady,” but in a tasteful way. Directing the album art reminded me of how DJ Drama used to put together projects for artists, but without the heavy talking over the music. It is a new era. The beat production was eerie to fit the street tales, hard-hitting to keep your attention and has DJ scratches to pay homage to the genre’s origins that have become part of Deevo’s production style. Another portion worth noting was the features on the project. TEGA was able to tap into a community of artists he respects that Deevo also works with to create a seamless chemistry. Dun Dealy, BoriRock, Shaykh Hanif, 4FIVE6 NICE, FNM Mook, KIL THE ARTIST and BlueHillBill — all great storytellers with their own styles that are respected within Massachusetts hip-hop culture. This project is well-rounded, with clever writing and beat production that will have you unknowingly nodding along. — Noble
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The old-time folk melodies and ballads that helped lay the foundation of American music were for dancing as well as listening. That tradition is now being reclaimed by a young generation of singers, musicians and percussive dancers. Boston’s Sophie Wellington happens to be all three things, and on this record of ballads and instrumental tunes they’ve found some remarkably original and fresh-sounding ways of making some very old songs sound brand new.
“Scolding Wife” (a fiddle tune found in both Irish and American traditions) and “Charleston #1” combine Wellington’s ripping flatpick guitar sound with the subtle rhythms of their percussive footwork. On ballads “In Seaport Town” and “Shirt of Lace,” Wellington’s vocals play tricks with time and harmonics, which give a deeply expressive feel to age-old songs of woe, heartache and death.
With their attachment to traditional music, it’s not surprising to learn that Wellington grew up in a square dance-loving community in Virginia before studying with old-time masters Bruce Molsky and Darol Anger and Boston blues greats Paul Rishell and Annie Raines at Berklee College of Music. This remarkable record was produced by old-time icon Cathy Fink, and is on Adhyâropa Records, a label that specializes in artists who put their own imprint on traditionally rooted music. — Noah Schaffer
Sophie Wellington celebrates the album’s release Aug. 6 at Club Passim.
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Indie-rock quartet Coral Moons formed in Boston in 2019. The band previously played Boston Calling, Levitate Music & Arts Festival and Summerfest, and was nominated for Indie Artist of the Year at last year’s Boston Music Awards. The musicians now live and write in the woods of Upstate New York, delighting in the stillness and uncomplicated existence of tending to chickens and drinking wine by the fire, according to a press release.
The band dropped its most recent EP “Calling Me Insane” on July 1. The project traverses the bliss and hardships of being human through a bright sonic palette. On the title track, lead vocalist Carly Kraft sings about the cyclical emotions of a toxic relationship over frantic, buzzing synths. Although the song is infused with deep heartbreak and confusion, it’s upbeat and highly danceable. “West Coast, Babe” is a beautiful windows-down, “breezing across the highway” track about the electricity of a new romantic connection. With rapid drumming and a cinematic guitar riff, the song captures that giddy feeling where anything is possible. — Maddie Browning
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The final single off this new band’s upcoming debut warns of a predaceous monster that is part man, part citrus. It sounds fittingly off-putting. Blistering guitars shriek and wail like the soundtrack to a horror movie set in the desert. Groovy shuffling drums and plodding bass only serve to build tension as vocalist Cole Triedman drawls about grocery store aisles and cul-de-sacs. It all culminates in Triedman’s screamed warning, “Stay away from the f—ing Lemon Man,” before the band launches into an explosive garage rock riff.
Built around an idea that came to Triedman on a sleepless night, this absurd nightmare is indicative of Fortuna 500’s brand of goofiness. Started by a couple of roommates in Somerville, they sound like a project built around letting loose. Members are tried-and-true musicians familiar to the scene also playing in more sober but nonetheless beloved acts like Tiberius and Otis Shanty.
In contrast, this self-described “garage country” music seems to follow more haywired instincts. With “The Lemon Man,” the band seems determined to prove that its debut, “Two For Flinching” (out Aug. 21), is a world where anything can happen. Crescendos can break out into blink-and-you-miss-it mosh music before disappearing again into a steady drone. A nightmare can also be kind of silly, and even a little vitamin C can be an ominous villain. — Lukas Harnisch
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If you happen to be acquainted with Haasan Barclay’s recent collab with the rapper ET, you could be forgiven for assuming he is an R&B artist, as I’ve sometimes seen him described. The pair’s New Jack Swing-inspired EP is a riot of bouncy basslines and sultry vocal samples, but it represents just one facet of Barclay’s rapacious and wide-ranging tastes. The musician and producer’s new EP, “Four Leaf Clover,” sounds like bedroom pop written for an arena. Fuzzed-out guitars and frenetic drums crash into chintzy-sounding synths and breathy harmonies. It’s deceptively pleasant music, tightly written and impossibly catchy, but there’s a zealous undercurrent to the songs. Barclay favors quick tempos and aggressive lyrics. “I’m not a killer/ But you’re really starting to push your luck,” he warns on “The Thing,” a basement rock number with a churning, guitar-fuelled hook. It’s the kind of posturing that’s thrilling to let yourself believe. — Amelia Mason
Load YouTube videoThe Amplifier Heads, ‘SUPER 8‘
Few artists have defined blue-collar Boston rock ‘n’ roll more than Sal Baglio. The Eastie native co-founded The Stompers in 1977, and the band enjoyed a decades-long run as one of the staples of music venues The Rat and Channel. These days one of Baglio’s main outlets is the Amplifier Heads, a storming power-pop vehicle that also includes Brad Hallen (whose unique resume ranges from Ministry to Roomful of Blues) and drummer Kevin “King” Rapillo. For this uplifting project, Baglio has penned nine songs that celebrate the essence of rock ‘n’ roll – a mission shared by Rum Bar Records, which released the album.
The opener “Rock N Roll Riot” depicts the Boston tradition, which has seen authorities cut off shows by Chuck Berry, the Rolling Stones, Green Day and even Baglio himself when a 1982 Stompers appearance at Boston University yielded 50 arrests. “A Song Called Sha La La” and “Hot Wax” harken back to the days when the saxophone (played here with gusto by Jeff “G-Man” Giacomelli) was as important a rock instrument as the guitar. The commercial future of true rock ‘n’ roll may be up for debate, but there’s no arguing with the passion, grit and heart heard on “SUPER 8.” — Noah Schaffer