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I show up at the Lizard, traumatized by bad dance, just in time for Bully Pulpit. They play a pleasant, lightweight pop-rock, with pretty melodies and buoyant guitar leads. The melodies actually remind me of Squeeze a bit, although the singer has more texture to his voice. The room is really filling up early, with a lot of loud, enthusiastic friends of the band.
Up next, Sparkola come tearing out of the gate with a powerful, driving bass line. They're a three-piece, and while the guitar solos don't really do much that I find interesting, they play really well together, tight and rocking. There's a swampy feel to their sound, but not slow. Just thick and dark, with great, intricate bass. I don't like the singer's voice, but he uses what he's got really well, and makes excellent, sparing use of a decent falsetto.
Rocketscience have a truly great lead singer and add lovely three-part harmonies. Their songs are fun, engaging, and occasionally, judiciously goofy. The guitar leads are good, and the whole band seem really relaxed and happy in front of an audience. The drummer makes a few fairly obvious bobbles, but he's also a pretty good guitarist, as demonstrated when the rhythm section and the singer/guitarists switch places for a song. This sounds like a gimmick, but they're all really good in this other configuration; Andy Galdins plays a lively, interesting drum line!
The Pills benefit from one of the most solid-yet-flashy front lines in Boston. Corin, Dave, and Dave can all sing great leads, harmonize sweetly, or freak on out in the most convincing way imaginable. It takes a lot for a bassist to impress me, but Corin is just out-of-control fantastic, and the Daves have the good sense to scale back the guitar heroics once in a while and let the bass shine through. I also think his vocal freak-outs are the rockin'est. The last time I saw them was a while ago, when their sound was a bit more "classic rock 'n' roll," so I'm pleased that the songwriting has broadened and developed without losing that fundamental soundness and swagger. I need to buy the new album, if only for the gorgeous "Halifax." They also bullshit their way through one verse of "Summer of '69" for an audience request, and even manage to give Bryan Adams some balls.
