Boston Calling Fall 2015

There’s something about music festivals—most people who attend them can relate that they’re incredible experiences, but it can also be hard to ignore the drawbacks to the staging of such large events. Festivals have a remarkable capacity to bring out self-centered behavior in their target millennial demographic—phone screens block out the faces of crooning performers while bodies force their way through the crowd past those who have been waiting outside for hours. Festivals are also vulnerable to the inevitable misery of adverse weather; multiple acts were rained out of last fall’s Boston Calling when a violent thunderstorm passed through the city. But amidst all this chaos, there’s a deeper reason people still flock to large festivals; they transcend the realm of pure entertainment and become a unique artistic amalgamation. The density and range of musical talent on display at a multiple-stage festival is, in the literal sense of the word, incredible. Boston Calling’s legacy is set to develop further this Friday.

The festival has wasted little time in establishing itself as a dynamic, populist event that works within tight temporal and physical constraints—every May and September, organizers transform the stark, boxy concrete of City Hall Plaza into a booming fairground where the bass frequencies can rattle your skull if you’re standing close enough to the stage. Like the Governor’s Ball in New York City, albeit on a smaller scale, Boston Calling has seen a rapid rise in prominence over the past several years and has become one of the city’s musical centerpieces.

The festival stands out not only for its substantial growth but also because of its distinctive vibe. This is due in part to its organizers, business partners Brian Appel and Mike Snow, both veterans of the Boston music industry. Both worked for beloved Boston radio station WFNX before it tragically went off the airwaves in 2012, after selling its frequency to the hulking media conglomerate Clear Channel Communications. Both men also worked for the now-defunct Boston Phoenix, an alternative weekly publication that covered the city’s art scene. No new publication or radio station has cropped up to take the places that WFNX and the Phoenix occupied as mouthpieces for Boston’s music scene. With Boston Calling, Appel and Snow’s agency Crashline Productions has given the city a new musical center.

The unique personal histories of the organizers are apparent in the structure of the lineup. Aaron B. Dessner, a member of the band The National, serves as a curator for each iteration of the festival. Dessner’s influence gives the small lineup an unpredictable nature, especially with respect to genre. For instance, after featuring rap acts like Run The Jewels and ILoveMakonnen in the spring of 2015, Boston Calling presented a fall lineup that does not feature any rap.

“It’s a combination of a lot of things, and we don’t necessarily go into it with a blank Excel sheet when we’re going to start booking and say, ‘This is our hip-hop slot, and this is our DJ slot, and this is our gospel slot,’” Appel says. “The lineup is a reflection, typically, of what Aaron Dessner and the curation team feel is important in the zeitgeist in the moment.” Consistent with that spirit, this year’s lineup is quite timely—for instance, CHVRCHES will release their sophomore album the day before they take the stage at Boston Calling. The festival has brought some big names to the heart of Boston in the past, ranging from Nas to Beck to Vampire Weekend to Neutral Milk Hotel, and this year’s lineup includes standouts like Father John Misty, The Avett Brothers, Alt-J, and Of Monsters and Men. “When Mike and I are standing there on the ground during the festival, we can’t believe the difference just in terms of efficiency versus when we started just back in 2013,” Appel says.

—Staff writer Michael L. McGlathery can be reached at mcglathery@college.harvard.edu.

Alt-J

Alt-J is difficult to categorize. The band—founded in 2008 at Leeds University and currently made up of lead vocalist Joe Newman, keyboardist Gus Unger-Hamilton, and drummer Thom Green—has a three-year discography spanning musical styles from Southern rock to indietronica, winning it the nebulous and meaningless genre title of “alternative” and making it a perfect fit for the wildly eclectic atmosphere of Boston Calling.

Despite (and perhaps because of) this lack of concrete classification, Alt-J has enjoyed commercial success: Their debut album, “An Awesome Wave” (2012), won a Mercury Music Prize, went platinum in the UK, and sold over 1 million copies worldwide, while their second album, “This Is All Yours” (2014), was nominated for this year’s Grammys and BRIT Awards. Alt-J’s Facebook page declares that they “continue to excel as a genre-defying act,” and under Facebook’s “Influences” category, band representatives have offered an apathetic “Haha” (no word on whether Haha is, in fact, a musical influence).

In any case, whether it’s the steady thrumming of “Breezeblocks,” the loose Americana vibe of “Left Hand Free,” or the ambient experimental rock layers of “Bloodflood, pt. II,” Alt-J promises one thing—lots of blended sound layers. The sounds in Alt-J’s songs draw from commonly used instruments—a bass guitar and drums—as well as more eccentric ones—drummer Thom Green has used the back of a saucepan instead of a cymbal, and a riff in the band’s Bollywood-esque song “Taro” is played on an electric guitar using a roll of electric tape. With the support of oddly hypnotizing lyrics, often unintelligible except for tiny, rhythmic snippets—for example, a continuous repeat of “tralala” in “Fitzpleasure”—and startlingly evocative music videos, Alt-J creates a mesmerizing sound-visual landscape for listeners to explore.

Check this group out if you want to sound edgy when people ask you whom you saw at Boston Calling—then you can explain that the band’s name is styled Alt-J, which you can input into a Mac keyboard to get ∆, and maybe make a reference to the Illuminati. Haha.

—Staff writer Melanie Y. Fu can be reached at melanie.fu@thecrimson.com.

CHVRCHES

Three years after the release of their first single “Lies,” CHVRCHES is no stranger to critical acclaim. In 2013, the group won the Inaugural Grulke Prize at South by Southwest and earned fifth place in BBC’s Sound of 2013 list for promising new musical talent. Rolling Stones hailed it as one of the few in its genre to do early-Eighties synth-pop well. What drives these successes is a distinct musical style that is immediately and unmistakably recognizable CHVRCHES. The clean beats, booming synth, and tender vocals are some characteristics that—according to Mike R. Snow, founder of Crash Line Productions (the organization that produces Boston Calling)—will distinguish the Glaswegian three-piece at the festival.

However, the CHVRCHES at Boston Calling might differ from past iterations—a move appropriate for a festival known for its unpredictability in line-ups and direction. When the band last came to Boston’s House of Blues in 2013, they were newcomers to the music scene; their debut album “The Bones of What You Believe” had yet to be released. Taking the stage on Sept. 26, the trio will have conquered 364 shows and will possess a new repertoire from their latest album, “Every Open Eye,” which will be released one day earlier on Sept. 25. Furthermore, the venue for this Boston performance—now a plaza instead of a nightclub—is much more expansive. “[Boston Calling] will be very much bigger,” says Iain A. Cook, guitar and bass player and vocalist. “I can’t wait to get back and play some of the new material.”

Still, the CHVRCHES at Boston Calling will be the same CHVRCHES behind the fresh, electronic “Lies” of 2012. According to Cook, the music performed remains a production that seeks to capture the spontaneity behind its creation. Their sound, as recent singles “Leave a Trace” and “Never Ending Circles” indicate, continues to seamlessly fuse light beats with weighty, honest lyrics. The electrifying pop triad might be more polished, but its persisting charm promises an exuberant, dynamic performance.

—Staff writer Ha D.H. Le can be reached at ha.le@thecrimson.com.

MisterWives

When MisterWives dropped their debut album “Our Own House,” Billboard characterized the venture as “explosive, larger than life.” The description is apt for a group whose discography includes a stripped, folksy cover of Drake’s “Hold On, We’re Going Home” and the sassy “Not Your Way,” brimming with sudden but smooth tempo shifts and a jubilant electronic beat. Yet while the New York City-based band’s music encompasses a diverse range of moods from jubilant disco funk to sombre ballads, MisterWives never ceases to infuse every song with a sincere energy—a quality that will no doubt manifest in the group’s appearance at Boston Calling.

But what drives this energy? Perhaps it is the music itself. Take the hit “Reflections.” It magically blends head-banging rock and marching synths to unexpectedly form an organic pop melody. Fueled by Lee’s powerful vocals, which fluidly oscillate from operatic to husky, the beat is surprising in its ability to avoid what would be, in less experienced hands, cacophony. This special quality fills every work in the MisterWives canon. The result is an addictive and kinetic sound that defies genre.

Or maybe it is the band’s commitment to performing an entertaining set. “We [want] to make it so that everybody has a good time,” says lead singer Mandy Lee, a desire that percussionist Etienne B. Bowler and bass guitarist William J. Hehir echo as the trio considers dancing and even crowd surfing during the show.

Regardless of where the energy comes from, one fact is certain: MisterWives will be rolling into City Plaza on Sunday to follow through on the Boston Calling mission, to provide eclectic music and entertainment. But that is only to be expected from a group that has consistently delivered a certain level of charm to even the most meditative of songs. “Bring your dancing shoes,” Lee says. “You’ll need a second pair.”

—Staff writer Ha D.H. Le can be reached at ha.le@thecrimson.com.

Of Monsters and Men

In a stark departure from the rousing, hand-clapping melodies of their 2011 debut album “My Head Is an Animal,” Icelandic folk-pop quintet Of Monsters and Men brings an unprecedented level of vulnerability and emotion to their sophomore effort, aptly titled “Beneath the Skin.” The group—which expands to an impressive size of nine for live performances—will return this fall for their first appearance since the inaugural Boston Calling in Spring 2013, making one of many stops on the North American leg of their tour.

The new album’s darker material may take longtime fans by surprise. The whimsically upbeat duets and frequent choruses of “Hey!” that so distinctly characterized the band’s earlier work have been eschewed for brooding percussion and melancholic solo vocals by co-lead singer Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, who now takes the lion’s share of vocal responsibility. The band’s classic first album track, “Dirty Paws,” no longer serves as their typical set-opener, having been replaced in most performances by the ominous “Thousand Eyes,” which features Hilmarsdóttir steadily pounding away at a floor tom-tom drum. “I lie awake and watch it all diffuse / Like thousand eyes,” she sings, as if in a trance. In the slow, regretful ballad “Organs,” she brings the album to its emotional core with heart-wrenching reflection: “I am sorry for the trouble, I suppose / My blood runs red but my body feels so cold / I guess I could swim for days in the salty sea / But in the end the waves will discolor me.”

Although much of the band’s new music feels mournful, imaginative woodland imagery still dominates their songwriting, and even the most funereal of tracks relies on simple yet catchy melodic hooks that make the band’s live performances incredibly enjoyable sing-alongs. Of Monsters and Men has the uncanny ability to rally crowds behind their uniquely folky blend of rock, whether it be with new singles such as “Crystals” and “Empire” or with beloved old tracks such as “Little Talks,” “King and Lionheart”, and “Mountain Sound.” With a variety of guitarists and percussionists taking the stage alongside trumpet and trombone players, the band manages to achieve an idiosyncratic live sound unlike any other and will likely take the stage at City Hall Plaza to uproarious, rhythmic applause.

—Staff writer Alan R. Xie can be reached at alan.xie@thecrimson.com.

The Avett Brothers

“The songs are honest: just chords with real voices singing real melodies,” reads The Avett Brothers’ short write-up on the Boston Calling website. Those songs are also effortlessly organic. Rather than muddy up the flavor profile of their music with eclectic sauces and spices, the group lets the raw ingredients stand for themselves. Essentially, The Avett Brothers make music that is simple. And while their work may lack the technical sophistication of records put out by musicians in other genres, the simplicity of their music allows them to focus all of their energies on playing with passion. Their songs are comfortable. Listening to them is easy, and so is singing along.

Hailing from the woods of North Carolina, the band comprises guitar and banjo players Seth and Scott Avett—yes, they really are brothers—along with Bob Crawford on the double bass and Joe Kwon on cello. The band released their first album in 2002 but did not emerge as the big label powerhouse they are today until they released their 2009 album “I and Love and You.” They have brought their brand of roots rock to a wide audience and continue to climb the Billboard charts with each subsequent album release.

While The Avett Brothers may seem a more appropriate headliner at the Newport Folk Festival than in the urban center of New England, their arrival in Boston makes sense. For one, Boston Calling’s typically smaller lineup tends to lean toward a more eclectic group of artists. More than that, their arrival is timely. This is a time in which Donald Trump leads Republican presidential candidate polls by a wide margin because he represents a counterpoint to what The Atlantic calls “the current immoral situations that taint and threaten our blueprint of the American dream.” Many people seem to be especially anxious to return to simpler times, and The Avett Brothers provide just that.

“They are a reality in a world of entertainment built with smoke and mirrors, and when they play, the common man can break the mirrors and blow the smoke away, so that all that's left behind is the unwavering beauty of the songs,” their Boston Calling biography continues. So go to the center of Boston to get away from it all. For one set, the artifice of the city will dissolve and all that will remain is music: simple, pure, unadulterated music.

—Staff writer Andrew J. Wilcox can be reached at andrew.wilcox@thecrimson.com.