PLAYGROUND BOSTON

Each week Playground Boston will feature a song from a local artist that has caught our attention. These songs span all genres and will showcase the best of what Boston has to offer. We hope you give the tracks and the artists that made them a listen and let us know what you think.

If you would like your best song to be considered for the PGB track of the week, email it to bryan@playgroundboston.com. We’ll check it out and notify you if your track is selected! Please note that submitting a single for consideration here will not discourage us from reviewing your full album – we still want to hear what you’ve got. Please see the Contact page to find out how to submit your album for review!

Oldjack

“Love Me Or?”

Union Glory

© 2009 Self-Released

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Oldjack

I can’t believe this song hasn’t made Track Of The Week before now. This is easily the best song off of one of the best local releases of 2009! Oldjack has a residency at the end of every month at the Rosebud in Davis Square, Somerville. They’ve been inviting some of their favorite bands in town to play with them, and this Saturday night (8/28) is certainly one hell of a lineup! Check out the soulful sounds of Oldjack, the catchy pop rock of Brendan Boogie, and a special reunion set by retro indie rockers The Charms! This is a lot of great music for only $5, mark your calendars now and be sure to get down to Davis this Saturday!

Saturday, August 28th – Rosebud
21+ / $5 / Doors at 9pm

Oldjack

The Charms

Brendan Boogie (acoustic)

The Sheila Divine

“Like A Criminal”

Live – Reunion Show 12/28/07
Originally appeared on New Parade

© 1999 Roadrunner Records

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The Sheila Divine

So yeah, we know we usually pick a brand new song for the Track Of The Week, not one that’s been out for 10 years, but we couldn’t resist in light of today’s news. Boston rock veterans will remember the huge success experienced by The Sheila Divine on both a national and international level around the turn of the century, including a victory at the 1999 WBCN Rumble, radio hits, a record deal with Roadrunner, and nonstop touring around the world. The band broke up in April of 2003, lead singer Aaron Perrino going on to form the popular indie rock band Dear Leader. This track was originally recorded in 1999, however this particular version is taken from their sold out 2-day Reunion at The Paradise back in 2007. It’s probably the most recent recording of these guys available… until now!

Oh yeah, and if you’re interested in downloading this and other Sheila Divine live sets, they have tons of good-quality bootlegs available for FREE download at The Sheila Divine Archive, we highly recommend you check it out!

The Sheila Divine are back! Well, at least temporarily. They have a Boston reunion show planned for this fall (date TBA – we’ll let you know!), and they’re also in the process of recording their first album since 2002. UPDATE: The reunion show has been set for September 30th at Landsdowne Pub, presented by WFNX! They can’t do it alone though, and to that effect they’ve launched a campaign on the popular band-funding website Kickstarter to give their fans an opportunity to help them finance the new album! Basically what you do is pre-order the album, which gives them the money to record it, and then when it comes out you get your copy sent right over to you! There’s also the opportunity to get band swag, custom songs, meet-and-greet opportunities, and more – depending on how much you’re willing to donate to the cause!

From Aaron Perrino, lead singer of The Sheila Divine:

“The goal of this Kickstarter project is to write and record an album streamed live to the internet with users having the ability to comment or participate in the piece of work.

I have been thinking about what kind of project I wanted to do next. Dear Leader has released a bunch of records and I was feeling like I just wanted to try something else for the next album.

We were asked to play The Crammerock Festival in Belgium and that sort of spurred us to actually make some new music. Seems like a good time to do it, and we are having fun playing the old stuff.”

Head on over to The Sheila Divine Kickstarter Page to see the list of Pledge Rewards and to learn more about the entire project, and to kick in some cash! The nature of the site is that the band only has 2 months to raise the funds they need, or they get nothing, and all donated money is returned to the donors. So if they can’t get the cash together within 2 months, we get no new album! Can’t have that! Follow this here link to Kickstarter and do it for the cause!

28 Degrees Taurus

“Electricity”

All The Stars In Your Eyes

© 2010 Self-Released

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28 Degrees Taurus

28 Degrees Taurus singer/guitarist Jinsen Liu has put together a spectacular festival happening this Saturday, August 7th in Union Square, Somerville. Deep Heaven Now will take place at 2 venues in the area, Precinct and PA’s Lounge, and will feature some of the best ambient and psychedelic acts in the Northeast! $10 gets you access to 19 bands stretched across 2 venues for 11 hours! They’ve even staggered the band starting times so you can run back and forth and catch everyone you want to see (I wish ALL festivals would do this properly!)

While the festival rages indoors the Somerville Rock & Roll Yard Sale will be going on outdoors in Union Square – get all the vinyl and music mementos you can handle while rocking out to the sounds of Sleepyhead, The ‘Mericans, Tad Overbaugh, and Thea Hopkins on the outdoor stage! This is an incredible event – Boston needs more multi-venue festivals like this, show some support and get treated to some amazing music in the process! Here’s the full lineup with set times at each venue:

Gozu

“Jamaican Luau”

Locust Season

© 2010 Small Stone Records

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Gozu

Mark your calendars! Gozu has a MONSTER show coming up this fall for their official CD Release! Don’t even think of going anywhere but the Middle East Downstairs on Friday, September 10th, for Gozu (CD Release), Mellow Bravo (CD Release), Township, and Zip Tie Handcuffs! PGB Favorites and Track of The Week honorees everywhere! Seriously, this lineup is like a Boston rocker’s wet dream. They’ll also have DJ Nook spinning in between sets! This one’s gonna be packed, make sure to get your tickets early! We’ll have more info on this as we get closer to the date, but make sure you’re around for this one, you will NOT want to miss it! Tickets can be purchased online HERE, or just get in touch with any of the bands!

Hail Plankton

“Chest Cold”

Hail Plankton

© 2010 Self-Released

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Hail Plankton

For all you Thrash guys out there, Hail Plankton singer/guitarist Matt Altieri is also currently the touring guitarist for the legendary 25-years-and-still-going strong godfathers of thrash metal DECEASED!

Check out PGB Favorites Hail Plankton TONIGHT (Thurs. 7/22) at Church, headlining a seriously crunchy lineup!

8pm: Taste

8:45pm: Loose Cannon

9:30pm: Neurological Damage

10:30pm: Cashed Fools

11:30pm: Hail Plankton

Rob Potylo

“No Delay”

So Far From The Hatch / Worried All The Time (Double Album)

© 2010 Quiet Desperation Records

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Rob Potylo

Rob Potylo’s CD Release Party for So Far From The Hatch / Worried All The Time is TONIGHT (7/15) at TT The Bears in Central Square, Cambridge! Check out this awesome lineup, then head down and pick up a copy of the album for yourself – 26 songs in total, including the infamous Bigg Nez track “Revere Beach” – for only $5!

9pm: Bacchus King

10pm: Rob Potylo

11pm: Humanwine

12pm: Superpower

Wicked Whiskey

“Westbound Train”

Wicked Whiskey

© 2009 Self-Released

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Wicked Whiskey

Wicked Whiskey is on a HUGE bill this Saturday (7/10) down at TT’s. Altercation Records’ Born To Lose are coming up from Austin, and Wicked Whiskey, The Swaggerin’ Growlers, and Glitter & Lies (ex-Designer Drugs) will be playing in support! That’s a hell of a lineup right there, plus the Growlers will also be releasing a promo song from their upcoming album, Outlaw Waltz! A little rockabilly, a little punk rock, and a little riot folk – good luck getting out of this one sober… Here’s the flyer:

Wicked Whiskey

Glitter And Lies

The Swaggerin’ Growlers

Born To Lose

TT The Bears

Drew and Paul of CTTG, shown here performing with The New Alibis - Photo by Johnny Arguedas

Cradle To The Grave

“Before The Dawn”

Cradle To The Grave

© 2010 Self-Released

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Download this song FREE

Cradle To The Grave is a brand new band consisting of four veterans of Boston music over the past decade or so. With a lineup this solid, big things are expected, and with this first single it’s looking like they’re going to live up to them! Check out this lineup:

Drew Suxx – guitar & vox (The New Alibis, Lost City Angels)

Paul Christian – lead guitar (The New Alibis, Far From Finished)

Vietnam Le – bass (The Appreciation Post)

Dave Norton – drums (The Men, Victory At Sea)

MARK YOUR CALENDARS – Saturday, July 31st @ Great Scott

Cradle To The Grave

The Morgan Knockers

Dead Ellington

Marc Cannata (Far From Finished)

DJ sets by Andrew “Panda” Galante (The Alrighters)

Cradle To The Grave has already recorded a 6-song EP and will be releasing it at their debut show! Pick up a free download of “Before The Dawn” today, and be on the lookout for more songs from these guys becoming available in the weeks leading up to their show!

Bodega Girls

“We Are Losers”

We Are Losers

© 2010 Fenway Recordings

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The fine folks at Fenway Recordings have given us permission to offer up this brand new single from one of Boston’s hottest bands for free download to you, our loving and loyal readers. Check out Bodega Girls’ website for more free songs to grab!

To download, right-click and select “Save Link As”

download: Bodega Girls - We Are Losers.mp3 (3.75MB) description: Bodega Girls - We Are Losers

Catch Bodega Girls as part of TeaParty Boston’s Cool Ranch Dance Party on June 30th at the Middlesex Lounge in Central Square, Cambridge!

Bodega Girls