{"id":793148,"date":"2026-07-30T10:34:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T10:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/793148\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T10:34:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T10:34:16","slug":"our-favorite-local-music-we-heard-in-july","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/793148\/","title":{"rendered":"Our favorite local music we heard in July"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AlbumAlbum covers clockwise from top left: Fortuna 500\u2019s \u201cThe Lemon Man\u201d (Photo by Lizzy McEleny); Coral Moons\u2019 \u201cCalling Me Insane\u201d (Art by Megan Kelleher); Sophie Wellington\u2019s \u201cHer Bright Smile Haunts Me Still\u201d (Photo by Pat Piasecki, design by Whit Hayward); Haasan Barclay\u2019s \u201cFour Leaf Clover\u201d (Courtesy Haasan Barclay); The Amplifier Heads\u2019 \u201cSUPER 8\u201d (Courtesy Glenn Robinson); DeevoDaGenius and TEGA\u2019s \u201cDa Story of Tega Brady (Deluxe)\u201d (Art by Nicole DaSilva, design by DeevoDaGenius); and Kimaya Diggs\u2019 \u201cI know that I\u2019m perfect\u201d (Photo by Jo Chattman, lettering by Kimaya Diggs).<\/p>\n

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\u2019s deceptively pleasant new EP, which sounds like bedroom pop written for an arena. WBUR\u2019s music writers share their favorite local music they heard in July.<\/p>\n

Kimaya Diggs<\/a> has already pivoted once. The Northampton musician\u2019s debut album \u201cBreastfed\u201d was a contemplative, DIY affair; her follow-up, \u201cQuincy,\u201d unveiled a polished sound with R&B inclinations. Her new single, \u201cI know that I\u2019m perfect,\u201d teases yet another shift. The song opens with warbling synths and a rubbery bassline. Diggs sounds composed even as she hints at turbulence: \u201cI was born between two worlds\/ Like a clenched fist, like an open hand.\u201d At the chorus, everything changes. Guitars churn, drums smash, and Diggs unleashes a furious indictment. \u201cYou say that it\u2019s simple, you\u2019re oversimplifying,\u201d she sings, voice pitched above the distortion. \u201cI told you I\u2019d carry your children, I was lying.\u201d Ouch.<\/p>\n

Diggs explained in an email that the song is \u201cbased on an ex who made an entire life plan for me without asking what I thought even once.\u201d No wonder \u201cI know that I\u2019m perfect\u201d is such a satisfying anthem of outrage. The song will appear on Diggs\u2019 upcoming album \u201cGreen\u201d (due Oct. 2), which marks the first time Diggs is credited as a producer and engineer on her own music \u2013 a subtler, though no less powerful, expression of agency. \u2014 Amelia Mason<\/p>\n

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Brockton\u2019s TEGA released the attention-grabbing \u201cDa Story of Tega Brady (Deluxe)\u201d in June. This project\u2019s backbone is an authentic story, further supported by clever writing and DeevoDaGenius\u2019s 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. \u201cDepositing, n—as got no bank, but they Chiming in.\/ I been blacking out like Cole, they better mine (mind) they own,\u201d he raps on \u201cExquisite Timing,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

Producer DeevoDaGenius left his mark on \u201cDa Story of Tega Brady,\u201d 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\u2019s origins that have become part of Deevo\u2019s 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 \u2014 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. \u2014 Noble<\/p>\n

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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\u2019s Sophie Wellington<\/a> happens to be all three things, and on this record of ballads and instrumental tunes they\u2019ve found some remarkably original and fresh-sounding ways of making some very old songs sound brand new.<\/p>\n

\u201cScolding Wife\u201d (a fiddle tune found in both Irish and American traditions) and \u201cCharleston #1\u201d combine Wellington\u2019s ripping flatpick guitar sound with the subtle rhythms of their percussive footwork. On ballads \u201cIn Seaport Town\u201d and \u201cShirt of Lace,\u201d Wellington\u2019s vocals play tricks with time and harmonics, which give a deeply expressive feel to age-old songs of woe, heartache and death.<\/p>\n

With their attachment to traditional music, it\u2019s 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 Adhy\u00e2ropa Records, a label that specializes in artists who put their own imprint on traditionally rooted music. \u2014 Noah Schaffer<\/p>\n

Sophie Wellington celebrates the album\u2019s release Aug. 6 at Club Passim<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Indie-rock quartet Coral Moons<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

The band dropped its most recent EP \u201cCalling Me Insane\u201d 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\u2019s upbeat and highly danceable. \u201cWest Coast, Babe\u201d is a beautiful windows-down, \u201cbreezing across the highway\u201d 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. \u2014 Maddie Browning<\/p>\n

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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\u2019s screamed warning, “Stay away from the f—ing Lemon Man,” before the band launches into an explosive garage rock riff.<\/p>\n

Built around an idea that came to Triedman on a sleepless night, this absurd nightmare is indicative of Fortuna 500<\/a>\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

In contrast, this self-described “garage country” music seems to follow more haywired instincts. With \u201cThe Lemon Man,\u201d the band seems determined to prove that its debut, \u201cTwo For Flinching\u201d (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. \u2014 Lukas Harnisch<\/p>\n

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If you happen to be acquainted with Haasan Barclay\u2019s recent collab<\/a> with the rapper ET, you could be forgiven for assuming he is an R&B artist, as I\u2019ve sometimes seen him described. The pair\u2019s New Jack Swing-inspired EP is a riot of bouncy basslines and sultry vocal samples, but it represents just one facet of Barclay\u2019s rapacious and wide-ranging tastes. The musician and producer\u2019s new EP, \u201cFour Leaf Clover,\u201d sounds like bedroom pop written for an arena. Fuzzed-out guitars and frenetic drums crash into chintzy-sounding synths and breathy harmonies. It\u2019s deceptively pleasant music, tightly written and impossibly catchy, but there\u2019s a zealous undercurrent to the songs. Barclay favors quick tempos and aggressive lyrics. \u201cI\u2019m not a killer\/ But you\u2019re really starting to push your luck,\u201d he warns on \u201cThe Thing,\u201d a basement rock number with a churning, guitar-fuelled hook. It\u2019s the kind of posturing that\u2019s thrilling to let yourself believe. \u2014 Amelia Mason<\/p>\n

\"\"\/Load YouTube videoThe Amplifier Heads, ‘SUPER 8<\/a>‘<\/p>\n

Few artists have defined blue-collar Boston rock \u2018n\u2019 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\u2019s main outlets is the Amplifier Heads<\/a>, 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 \u2018n\u2019 roll \u2013 a mission shared by Rum Bar Records, which released the album.<\/p>\n

The opener \u201cRock N Roll Riot\u201d 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>. \u201cA Song Called Sha La La\u201d and \u201cHot Wax\u201d 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 \u2018n\u2019 roll may be up for debate, but there\u2019s no arguing with the passion, grit and heart heard on \u201cSUPER 8.\u201d \u2014 Noah Schaffer<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Album covers clockwise from top left: Fortuna 500\u2019s \u201cThe Lemon Man\u201d (Photo by Lizzy McEleny); Coral Moons\u2019 \u201cCalling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":793149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,216],"class_list":["post-793148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=793148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=793148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=793148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}