Pussycat Tour 2017 - Live Review Round-up

Juliana Hatfield at The Mercury Lounge, New York - April 26, 2017. Photo: David Young

The Pussycat tour came to an end on Monday. (At least for now - Juliana has mentioned further dates are possible this summer in other parts of the US and Canada.)

Thanks to all who have written and contributed across the JH fan community during these hectic few weeks. Pussycat would seem to be one of Juliana's best received albums in recent years.

Very special thanks once again to this site's contributor-in-chief Carlos Lopez for many of the links that have been posted.

If you've missed David Young's photos, they're now all collected in the USA 2017 section.

Here's a selection of live reviews, some with photos and the odd clip:

New Haven, Apr 22

Paul Bass, New Haven Independent:

She kept her patter brief (and warm and heartfelt) between numbers Saturday night, launching relentlessly into non-stop fury and bared pain tempered occasionally with introspective numbers like the new “Wonder Why,” in which she revisited childhood dreams. “I wonder why the aliens who landed on the roof left me there / and didn’t take me to the sky,” she sang. Even if you couldn’t make out the lyrics, you could tell how honest, these songs were just by the passion and openness with which Hatfield sang, attacked her guitar, interacted with her fans.

Alexis Coleman, Side Stage Magazine:

During the set Philips and Fisher provided a steady percussion session. Fischer sang back up on some of the songs. Hatfield and the band were very connected and they played off each other well. Since it was the first night of the tour fans got to witness some moments where the band had to change some things up and work some things out and it showed the authenticity and realness of who these musicians are. The band did not have a set list per say they were playing songs they loved and a variety of over the year tunes.

Philadelphia, Apr 24

Jeff Gemmill, The Old Grey Cat:

The Juliana Hatfield Three delivered a loud, sweaty and raucous show at the Boot & Saddle in South Philly last night. In fact, you could say it was a night of true grrrl rock (it is the Pussycat tour, after all). The 20-song set opened with a ferocious “Got No Idols” from Become What You Are. As evidenced by the video, Todd Phillips was a monster on drums, Dean Fisher equally brutal on bass and Juliana – well, Juliana was Juliana, full of grace, grit and growls on guitar and vocals.

Josh Pelta-Heller, WXPN:

The band covered a lot of ground for one evening, noting early in her set that they’d try to touch on several eras from her storied thirty-year career. Though she mixed in so many fan-favorites like “My Sister” and “Nirvana” from the early ‘90s, she was sure to put some distance between then and now too. Tribute paid, and pigeonhole avoided.

Chris Sikich's Flickr photo album:

Juliana Hatfield with Laura Stevenson, Monday, April 24, 2017, Boot & Saddle, Philadelphia, PA

Columbus, Apr 30

Curtis Schieber, The Columbus Dispatch:

On the evening’s best, it all came together, expertly driven by the terrific rhythm section of bassist Dean Fisher and drummer Todd Philips. “Touch You Again” from the new album was the pay-off tune, an enticing melody, a psycho-sexual political statement, and a swinging delivery.

Pussycat - Review Round-up

Here are some links for a bunch of Pussycat reviews. All have been positive, including the one I wrote here last week.

Steve Ricciutti, Soundblab:

Generating 14 songs and getting them recorded and mixed in less than two weeks (she plays all but the drums), Hatfield said she felt driven by forces beyond her control and described the process as “cathartic.” It has that same feel for the listener, too. I haven’t felt this much righteous indignation from a record since Zach de la Rocha screamed, “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me” a quarter century ago.

Jeff Gemmill, The Old Grey Cat:

I could go on and on (and on) with my thoughts about Pussycat, but instead I’ll say that I haven’t wavered from the sentiment I shared in my review of Juliana’s Philly concert: It’s excellent. Fans (new and old) who share her outlook on politics and life will thoroughly enjoy it, though some may be put off by the blunt imagery in some songs. It’s a claws-out affair that draws blood and trades, at times, in the profane (as this Paste Magazine review details). There’s an energy and drive to the performances that’s as palpable as the passion dripping from her vocals; and the lyrics, with a few exceptions, are soaked with anger, indignation and bitterness.

Evan Rytlewski, Pitchfork (6.8/10):

Pussycat lends to the case for a critical reappraisal. Now would be an ideal time for one, given how the DNA of Hatfield’s hooky, plainspoken alterna-pop has carried through some of indie-rock’s sharpest young songwriters, from Waxahatchee to Bully to Laura Stevenson and Charly Bliss—artists that have demonstrated there’s plenty of substance in this sound. What a treat it would be if, 30 years into their careers, they were all making records as relevant, passionate, and strangely personable as this one.

Jon Putnam, The Line Of Best Fit (9/10):

What makes Pussycat an unqualified success is how Hatfield has constructed it with multiple dimensions and, no matter the mood or approach a given song takes, she continually scores with material among the finest of her career. The ruminative “You’re Breaking My Heart” and “Sunny Somewhere” bleed sublimity, highlighted by Hatfield’s lean guitar work. Never outing Trump by name, “Short-Fingered Man” and “Rhinoceros” tissue-thin veils are shredded through by Hatfield’s crudest lyrical jabs and ballsiest riffs to date. The one direct salvo is launched at Stepford Wife-cum-senior presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway, her namesake tune featuring Hatfield’s deliciously intimated desire to “be the first one to make [her] cry” and a downright danceable coda.

aLfie vera mella, Cryptic Rock (4/5):

If songs are the ultimate basis of an artist’s ability to balance youthfulness and maturity, then Pussycat finds Hatfield well in the middle of this equilibrium.

Brandi Smith, Riff Magazine:

Unlikely to be a favorite for Trump supporters, Pussycat is full of clever and biting lyrics that will give longtime Hatfield fans a reason to smirk.

Craig Dorfman, Paste (7.2/10):

Playing all instruments but drums, Hatfield completed Pussycat in under two weeks. That urgency comes through, to the album’s benefit. The immediacy of the melodies—simpler and scrappier than she’s written in years—paired with the snarl of the arrangements, gives Pussycat a rumbling, cathartic honesty ideal for the anger of our times.

Ashlyn Nicole, mxdwn:

The fast guitars and drums are not quite punk, but Hatfield’s political stance surely is. What initially is only conveyed through a couple of the song titles, such as “Kellyanne” and “Short-Fingered Man,” a closer look into the lyrics reveals that pretty much every song on Pussycat is political. Apparently Hatfield was pissed, and that fact is obvious throughout the entire album, even while masked with a soft, monotone and placid voice. The instrumentals complement the lyrics almost perfectly, while still walking on the tightrope of acceptable pop music. Hatfield’s album speaks out without being mundane, whilst hurling obscenities, which help to accentuate the mere point she tries to get across: politics are important and the current administration sucks.

Adrian Glover, Salute Magazine (8/10):

Aggressive in spirit, but catchy enough to entrap, Pussycat is uncomfortable reflection on where we are today.

These are indeed comfortable days that we wake up to. As such, expect plenty more records to come down the pipeline that showcase individual perspectives on why things feel the way that they do.

Hopefully, each and every one of them will be as raw and honest as Pussycat is.

Ben Gallivan, Stereoboard (4/5):

...the end product is one of Hatfield’s highlights as a solo artist. Heartless and Touch You Again are as energetic as any of the music produced by Blake Babies well over 25 years ago and there’s a renewed assurance in both her vocal style and delivery throughout. With a snap general election being announced in the UK, it’ll be interesting to see if any British artists follow this example and even more interesting to see if they can pull it off as well as Hatfield has done with ‘Pussycat’.

Kids Interview Bands - Piper interviews Juliana Hatfield

Kids Interview Bands:

Piper interviewed Juliana Hatfield at Ace of Cups in Columbus, Ohio on April 30, 2017.

The Kids Interview Bands YouTube channel bio:

Kids Interview Bands launched in the summer of 2012 with original hosts Olivia and Connie. In the summer of 2014, Olivia's youngest sister Piper took over the hosting duties. The girls have interviewed over 350 touring artists who have passed through Columbus, Ohio since launch.

A different set of questions to the normal here. Fabulous.

New York City, NY - Apr 26, 2017 - Photos

Juliana played The Mercury Lounge in New York City on Wednesday and Thursday earlier this week.

Photos from the first of these shows here are again kindly provided by David Young.

An Oral History of the Juliana Hatfield Three's "Spin the Bottle" | Elle

An interview with Estelle Tang for Elle, as part of Juliana's promotion for Pussycat but focusing on a song from many years ago. Juliana:

I was feeling sexism coming at me, I was feeling people making assumptions about me. But it was a continuation of lifelong sexism that girls start to encounter as soon as they're conscious, you know? It's a continuum of people seeing you in a certain way if you're a woman, or if you look a certain way or if you sound a certain way. And I was very self-conscious about the sound of my voice. I knew it was kind of young-sounding and girlish and thin, and I was always fighting against what my voice might make people assume about me.

I wanted to counter the cuteness with whatever else I could. Like intelligence, even surliness sometimes. I wasn't smiling all the time. I had a bit of an attitude, I was kind of irritable. There are people out there who will see a cute girl singing a melodic song and they have a bunch of assumptions. I wanted to just be clear that I was in charge of my thing. I was in charge of my music and my image and no one else was controlling me.

[Recently, while making Hatfield's new album] it all really became so clear that nothing has changed, with the whole Donald Trump pussy grab thing. All this stuff came rushing back to me, the whole lifetime of sexism and misogyny. It only became fully clear to me at that moment, where I realized the man who is about to become the most powerful man in the country—it's all the way up at the top. It's so rooted in the culture and in maybe in men. That's the truth. It hasn't changed. And it was always there [during] my whole career.

 

Interview | Performer Mag

Vincent Scarpa, interviewing Juliana for Performer Mag:

VS: Was there something about these songs, this project, that led you to make that decision? Did it feel necessary in some way to be in control in any and all ways possible?

JH: Partly it was just the urgency of the songs, the urgency of how I was feeling at the time. I wanted the songs to feel urgent and timely by the time the record was done. I thought, “Kellyanne might be fired soon!” [Laughs.] And if I do everything, I don’t have to negotiate with anyone about what I like or what I don’t like. I had a very strong, clear vision. And I’d just done some gigs with The Blake Babies playing bass, so I was feeling like my bass chops were kind of lubed up. It was quick, it was economical. Twelve days, recorded and mixed. And I’m so happy with the sound of it. With some of my older records, when I go back and listen to them, I’m disappointed in the sound. But I feel like I finally nailed it on this one. I was very particular. I was very clear with the engineer about exactly what I wanted. And I think cutting out a lot of people in the studio made me more able to have confidence in my vision. When there are other people around, I tend to listen to their opinions. Which isn’t to say their opinions aren’t great—they often are—but I think your vision can be muddied or diffused by other people. Being in there by myself, I was able to really tune in very closely to the process of hearing what I was hearing in my head and then getting that on tape. It feels good. I have doubts about a lot of things, and I’m worried about people misinterpreting it—all of that stuff—but I am proud of this record.

Super-Connected: Belly, Buffalo Tom, Juliana Hatfield, Letters To Cleo, & The Boston Scene Then & Now - Stereogum

Juliana, interviewed by Michael Tedder in a longform article for Stereogum:

“It’s very easy to overlook me, because I never really went away. It’s hard to sell me. I don’t care. Why would I care? What can I do at this point? I’ve been doing this so long. Some flukey thing could happen. I could have a ‘Walk On The Wild Side,'” she says, referring to Lou Reed’s unexpected, relatively belated hit. She then shuffles her legs. “It could happen. Probably won’t. Something could hit if the timing were right. But I’m not planning on it.”

The in depth article covers the Boston Scene from the early 90s, interviewing some of the artists still creating music today, including Belly, Buffalo Tom and Letters to Cleo.

Cambridge, MA - Apr 23, 2017 - Photos

The Pussycat tour stopped off in Juliana's home state last Sunday when Juliana, Todd and Dean (the band formerly known as The Juliana Hatfield Three) played The Sinclair.

The excellent photos here are by David Young.

Juliana Hatfield Shares The Songs That Shaped Her Sound - ARTISTdirect Interviews

Juliana's response to the query "The song that encouraged me to learn my instrument of choice":

I picked up electric guitar years after acoustic guitar ..I was 9 or 10 when I started acoustic guitar lessons and was about 18 or 19 when I bought my first electric guitar. At that point I was inspired by early REM and the song “Radio Free Europe” was easy enough for me to figure out and that was really exciting…to realize that, “Hey, I can do this, too! I can do what REM is doing!”

You can read more of Juliana's selections including the first single she bought, her first live show, her guilty secret track and more in an interview with Henri Montrose for ARTISTdirect

Pussycat - The liveontomorrow.co.uk Review

The promotional text for Pussycat's release suggests that by the end of 2016 Juliana was unsure of her songwriting future - to the extent that she considered that part of her career as "on hiatus." Her recent output tended to support that - 2015's Whatever, My Love record as The Juliana Hatfield Three was almost entirely old songs reworked, 2016's The I Don't Cares album was mainly Paul Westerberg songs with Juliana as muse, and while there's talk of new Blake Babies songs to come, she wouldn't be the only writer in such a project.

That Pussycat exists is however no surprise to those of us following Juliana's Twitter account towards the end of 2016. There were frequent tweets - almost entirely focused on the Republican candidate - in the weeks leading up to the election.

Juliana's disbelief, anger and fear of what seemed to be happening and what ultimately unfolded was clear. (For me and I suspect many other Brits the familiarity to emotions experienced in our EU referendum six months earlier was unavoidable. A different set of circumstances but a shared feeling of unprecedented horror.)

A month prior to the election and in the aftermath of what she described as the Trump "pussy grab" tapes, Juliana wrote for Talkhouse where she articulated her fears and how events brought back memories of men abusing positions of power and privilege.

It seemed inevitable that Juliana needed more than Twitter to act as an outlet for her feelings and in January 2017 she posted photos from a recording studio on Instagram:

oh, did i tell you i am making a new album?

A post shared by @julianahatfield on

“All of these songs just started pouring out of me. And I felt an urgency to record them, to get them down, and get them out there."

As recounted to Cleveland Scene:

"Some of the music I had lying around, the bits and pieces of chord progressions. When I had these lyrical ideas and when I started to feel like I needed to express these feelings, I went looking for the music and put the songs together very quickly."

Pussycat isn't framed as an anti-Trump record but the fallout of the 2016 US Presidential election is all over this album. There are lyrics and song titles unambiguous in reference to the 45th President.

I Wanna Be Your Disease opens the LP with calls for accountability, a desire to see that the actions of poisonous evil are answerable:

I want to be your disease
a catalyst for reckoning
with all of the harm you have done to the earth
and all of your vile and hateful words

The song hits a high key as Juliana reaches the lines:

I want you to listen to me
I want to make you sorry

This sets the tone for Pussycat. Juliana has plenty to say. In every sense her voice will be heard.

In recent years, Juliana has explored more use of keyboards to harmonize and add melody. This continues on the album, no better than on You're Breaking My Heart which furthers the profound sadness at how society appears to have changed for the worse:

i slept so well
down my quiet street
knowing we all cared about the same things

The anger in Pussycat kicks in further with the dirty blues sound of When You're A Star which recounts the aforementioned "pussy grab" tapes and ties it in with the Bill Cosby case.

when you’re a star they let you
do what you want
whatever the fuck you want to do
when you’re a star they let you
do what you want
buy the silence of your many tragic victims
do what you want
you’re protected by your sycophants and henchmen

Good Enough For Me has Juliana in self-deprecating mood although it seems a bit abstract and maybe at odds with overall direct themes of Pussycat. Cracker of a tune, mind.

It's obvious who Short-fingered Man is aimed at:

short-fingered man
can’t get her off
short-fingered man
best give it up

You can dance to it too:

The fast-paced Touch You Again has Juliana reaching for the high notes in a vocal performance reminiscent of her Blake Babies days. There's yeah yeah yeahs in it, which is never a bad thing. It's empowered. It's gorgeous.

Sex Machine talks of building a "sex machine to satisfy every single need - any time of day or night - you can turn it on an have a good time". As Juliana realises the liberty such a device would bring "finally I'll be free - left alone to sleep in peace..." the song explodes with maxed out multi-layered harmonic vocals, and some of the crunchiest guitar noises we've heard from a JH record in a long time. Juliana's fans are going to go nuts for this.

Wonder Why sees Juliana describe memories from her youth. As she told Consequence of Sound"It’s escapism and lately escapism is more important to me than ever. In my mind I go back there to my childhood and it comforts me."

Juliana is back with 14 brand new songs on her new album "Pussycat" out April 28th on American Laundromat Records. Available on CD, LP and Cassette. Limited Edition Peach and Pink vinyl bundles available exclusively at www.alr-music.com

Sunny Somewhere is driven by a pulsing bass as Juliana looks for an escape from her environment. In the darkness, hope remains.

Kellyanne addresses thoughts towards the Republican campaign manager turned "Counselor to the President." It's pretty much this tweet in musical form:

Heartless observes the erosion of empathy and increasing absence of humanity. Juliana may have one person in mind with this song, but the theme is global:

how can you care if you have no empathy
how can you judge if you have no authority
how can you tell the truth without honesty
and how can you apologize if you’re not sorry

how can you see if you’re not looking
how can you hear if you’re not listening
how can you preach without believing
and how can you teach if you haven’t learned anything

you’re so heartless

There's hooks, drum fills, a guitar solo, more use of keyboards, and a casual yet somehow urgent and compelling vocal. What a track.

Rhinoceros has a 70s glam rock feel to suit the brutal lyrics and the most instantly catchy chorus on the album. Fair warning - you might find that you're singing to along with "give it up for the rhinoceros. guess who’s getting fucked by the rhinoceros". The song references Melania from Slovenia but the callback of "America" tells us the whole country is getting fucked over.

Everything Is Forgotten is a particularly dark way to end the album and perhaps suitably so. Anger spawns anger. A thirst for revenge, for justice is inevitable in these times. There's luscious guitar noise and then, ultimately, defiance:

i'm not going to die a victim

Pussycat is magnificent.

It's full of lines you'll find yourself singing along with and for days afterwards. There are killer melodies, memorable riffs, exceptional keyboard harmonics, all helping to make some of the most inspired musicianship we've heard from a Juliana record in years. She hasn't sounded quite as energised as this for some time either.

This is all the more remarkable given that drums (Pete Caldes) and engineering (Pat DiCenso) aside (and not to diminish DiCenso's role here in particular), this is a truly solo record. Juliana wrote everything here and plays everything else. Repeat listens reveal more layers. It is an extraordinary work of intense, passionate, and accomplished art.

To this listener, it's a career highlight and the most exciting music Juliana has made since 2008's exceptional How To Walk Away.

Pussycat is also Juliana at her most political since 2005's Made In China. Whereas that album saw her defiant and ultimately empowered, Pussycat is an outlet for anger. Introspection gives way to a more outward looking theme. It's less "what the fuck is going on with me?" and more "what the fuck is wrong with other people?”

There's comfort in the power of music but the subject matter is unavoidably bleak. With this in mind I've deliberately omitted the 2nd song from this review until now, because Impossible Song is the most hopeful track on Pussycat. There's a sense of futility but hope isn't distinguished:

what if we tried to get along
sing an impossible song
figure it out later on

what if we tried to get along
just for a four-minute song
it’ll be all right
if we harmonize
on this line
what if we tried to get along
na na na na na na na

Juliana is back with 14 brand new songs on her new album "Pussycat" out April 28th on American Laundromat Records. Available on CD, LP and Cassette. Limited Edition Peach and Pink vinyl bundles available exclusively at www.alr-music.com

In 2010, Juliana declared that she wouldn't "give up on Peace and Love."

She hasn't.

We haven't.

We mustn't.


Pussycat is available in various physical formats - vinyl, cd and cassette(!) at American Laundromat Records, and digitally at Bandcamp, iTunes and elsewhere. The vinyl version is also available from UK distributor Cargo Records.

review by Craig Scrogie, April 2017

The Divisive Presidential Election Helped Indie Singer-Songwriter Juliana Hatfield Overcome Writer's Block | Cleveland Scene

Juliana, on the new album's title, from an interview with Jeff Niesel for Cleveland Scene:

“Sometimes, someone will talk about a person who appears to be gruff or harsh and say, ‘He’s just a pussycat,’” she says. “I was thinking about the duality of that and how cats can be soft and sweet, but if they don’t like you, their claws will come out. [The title] goes along with my image as well. I think some people hear my sweet little girl voice and think I’m a nice little pop singer, but I’ve always had these protest songs and these angry songs. People don’t always notice it or when they do notice it, they’re surprised and confused by it.”

 

TV Guidance Counselor Podcast - Episode 218: Juliana Hatfield

Juliana appears on episode 218 of Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor Podcast, titled "March 10 - 16, 1979":

Ken and Juliana discuss suburban potholes, garbage collection, the TV room, Six Million Dollar Cliff Hangers, James at 15, market research, Lance Kerwin, After School Specials, Dukes of Hazard, “Southern” TV, Love Boat, Mary Tyler Moore, The Comforting ritual of television, the revelation of the sexy librarian, Vietnam, Law and Order, Iraq War vets, loving Donny & Marie, Coma, The Rockford Files, Father/Son relationships, different actors playing the same character, soap opera understudies, Dirk Benedict, Battlestar Gallactica, dreamy Richard Hatch, In Search Of, Starsky & Hutch, goofy pimps, why the Six Million Dollar man is infinitely boring, The Bionic Woman’s superiority, revisiting your childhood, McMillan and Wife, Rock Hudson, real couples on camera, the Night Stalker, why TV is better when pretty people aren’t on it, Miami Vice, store brand generic music on TV, Bugsy Malone, Foxes, Over the Edge, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, One Day at a Time, the wonders of television hair, Eight is Enough, the Facts of Life theme, The Jeffersons, Farah Fawcett, Charlie’s Angels, Mork & Mindy, Jonathan Winters, Quincy M.E., mustache free Dads, Magnum P.I., The Day My Kid Went Punk, Donna Reed, The Incredible Hulk, shredded indestructible pants, Dallas, aspirational television, and the ritual of Dr. Phil.

You can listen at libsyn.

The podcast is also available at iTunes or via your preferred podcast client, including Overcast .

Q&A: Shamir On His Surprise New Album Hope, Discovering Blake Babies, & More - Stereogum

I was gonna quit music this weekend. From day 1 it was clear i was an accidental pop star. I loved the idea of it, i mean who doesn't? Still the wear of staying polished with how im presented and how my music was presented took a huge toll on me mentally. I started to hate music, the thing i loved the most! When i would listen to immaculate recordings with my friends their praise over the quality of the art as opposed to the art itself made me feel really sad for music as a medium in general. My music only feels exciting for me if its in the moment, and thats what this album is. I made this album this past weekend stuck in my room with just a 4 track feeling hopeless about my love for music. Im not gonna lie, this album is hard to listen to, but it was even harder for me to share. I love pop music, i love outsider music, and i love lofi music, this is my way of combining all 3. Anyway I played, wrote, produced, and mixed everything and big thanks to Kieran Ferris for Mastering an album with an hours notice! its free! Enjoy! Love Yall! Still more 2 come!!!!!!! Tracklist: Hope What Else Ignore Everything Tom Kelly Easier Like A Bird One More Time Won't Kill You I Fucking Hate You Rain (Blake Babies Cover) Bleed It Out Album download: https://www.mediafire.com/folder/u0wwrkud56vad/HOPE+MP3S

Dan Weiss, writing for Stereogum:

Shamir Bailey, the 22-year-old Philly-via-Vegas polymath who goes only by his first name, made one of 2015’s best and brightest albums — and possibly its best debut — with the electro-disco revelation Ratchet. It was released via XL, home to Adele and Radiohead among others, and from his country covers and hip-house rapping, we always knew that the album was merely the tip of the iceberg for Shamir’s considerable talent and wide-ranging taste. That prophecy came true this morning as Shamir self-released a surprise follow-up, Hope, all on his own via SoundCloud.


STEREOGUM: So are you a huge Blake Babies fan, or was the cover [“Rain”] something you were planning to do for a while?

SHAMIR: No, I actually discovered them this weekend. I’ve been listening to a lot of ’90s [music] all weekend, trying to find related artists to Velocity Girl. The [Blake Babies] singer, I think her name’s Julie…Juliana… [Hatfield], I think we kind of sound the same! Which is kind of crazy to me, I heard so much of myself in her. This is my first, full, fleshed-out cover I think! Because even my Lindi Ortega cover [“Lived And Died Alone” from my first EP [2014’s Northtown] was just stripped down and kind of a look into my soul coming out.

STEREOGUM: I know you’re getting blown up all day but has any particular reaction to Hope stuck out to you today so far?

SHAMIR: Just the fact that the guitarist and songwriter of “Rain,” from Blake Babies [John Strohm] tweeted at me today and I got to thank him, and he was so sweet. It’s only been a few hours! And he heard it already somehow! The internet is crazy!

Rain is at 27:38 on the SoundCloud embed above.

You can download the album at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/u0wwrkud56vad/HOPE+MP3S

Louder Than Words : John P. Strohm (Blake Babies / The Lemonheads) Guestlist #20

John P Strohm has selected a number of songs from Boston related artists of the late 80s / early 90s in an article for Louder Than Words.

Here's what he says about his selection of Buffalo Tom:

There was a girl who used to crash with Blake Babies sometimes who came in from the suburbs.  She knew these guys Buffalo Tom and she said she was managing them.  She had a bunch of demo tapes that we ignored.  It just didn’t occur to us that she could be cooler than us.  Then when people around town started talking about Buffalo Tom I made the connection: “Oh, that band that we have, like, 100 tapes of.”  J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. took them under wing and produced their first album, so obviously they’ve got my attention at that point.  We became great friends – and fans of each other’s bands.  For the final Blake Babies tour, we actually chose to open for Buffalo Tom in Europe over a competing offer to open for Nirvana on the Nevermind tour.  And that was before Nevermind was out.  And….I don’t really want to think about that anymore.  We had a great time with our friends overseas while we were in the process of breaking up.