Freak Scene #117: Unagi's 'Western Mass Hysteria'
Plus, Roger C. Reale is back on the microphone for Steve Cropper on the guitarist's latest single.
This week in Freak Scene, Colrain rapper Unagi returns with a new album, and that’s Connecticut singer Roger C. Reale singing on the new track from Steve Cropper & the Midnight Hour.
Even if Colrain rapper Unagi didn’t specify that he was born in the 1970s on his new album, Western Mass Hysteria, you’d have figured it out. There’s the shout-out to adolescent crushes Markie Post and “Bonnie from CHiPS” on “Favorite 80s Ladies,” for example, or the putative benefits of getting older on “AARP Card” (spoiler: it’s all about the discounts). It’s not just the lyrics, though: the overall vibe on Western Mass Hysteria evokes the golden age of hip-hop in the late ’80s, before gangsta rap took it in a harder direction that overshadowed the music’s fun side.
Unagi takes a pre-gangsta approach on his 15th LP. He has an easygoing lyrical flow and a fondness for boom-bap beats augmented with funky samples and tight instrumentation. A rotund bassline pushes opener “Kilauea,” where Unagi drops rhymes over swiggles of synthesizers, while “Lightweight” has a light-soul feel with meandering guitars and punchy bass as Unagi chronicles his younger adventures with mind-altering substances, before concluding, somewhat ruefully, “Now I want a new drug/ It’s called a good night’s sleep.” Hard relate. Later, a sampled blend of synths and bass at the start of “Punchlines” evokes the Top 40 circa 1985 before a busy drum beat takes over and Unagi offers a swiftly paced catalog of his attributes as a lyricist, producer, rapper and person on verses sprinkled with throwback references to test pilot Chuck Yaeger and Red Sonja (the original comic/1985 movie with Brigitte Nielsen).
It's not a big surprise that Western Mass Hysteria is well-produced. Though Unagi started rapping and making beats in the mid-’90s, he zeroed in on production for a long time, working with underground acts including Infinito 2017, Eddie Meeks and Kero One. After a decade in the Bay Area, where he started his own 442 Records, Unagi returned to Western Mass. and, in 2020, returned to rapping. In other words, he’s a veteran at this point, and while his style contains echoes of his influences, he has distilled them into something very much his own.
Unagi performs May 17 with Dome Lettuce and DJ Toro Bravo at Greenfield Records, and May 30 with DJ Toro Bravo at Shelburne Falls Bowling Alley.
Roger C. Reale Calls for ‘Ticket First’
Memphis guitar ace Steve Cropper died in December at 84, but he has an album on the way: after the 2024 release of Friendlytown, Cropper and his band the Midnight Hour have a posthumous release due in August. Watching the Tide features Connecticut singer Roger C. Reale on vocals.
Not only does Reale sing, he wrote most of the lyrics on the album — including on the lead single, “Ticket First,” which features Eric Clapton on guitar. The track glides along on a locked-in blues groove with punchy guitar riff that dissolves into a fluid solo from Clapton. Reale sounds right at home on vocals with a burly blues shouter sound that holds its own against the musical arrangement.
Reale, of the Manchurians and Reale Wolfe, tells Freak Scene that the name of the song came from a joke Cropper was telling in the studio with the punchline, “You gotta buy a ticket first.” Reale jotted down the phrase and wrote the lyrics around it, before recording his vocals at Bonehead Studios in Cheshire. (He had already cut the rest of his tracks in Nashville.)
Watching the Tide is due Aug. 28.
Upcoming Concerts
These are new shows announced this week. The full concert calendar is available here for paid subscribers.
The Academy of Music in Northampton hosts Graham Nash Sept. 12 (tickets) and guitar veteran Robin Trower Sept. 29 (tickets).
The Iron Horse features a fundraiser for the Children Advocacy Center June 2 with Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem, Peter Mulvey and Pamela Means (tickets). Also coming: Melissa Carper July 22 (tickets), Horse Lords Oct. 6 (tickets) and Willie Nile Nov. 21 (tickets).
The Drake in Amherst hosts the Berkshires blues band Misty Blues Aug. 21 (tickets).
The Marigold Theater in Easthampton features "savage folk" singer Arthur Buezo May 29 with the DiTrani Brothers and Moon Hollow (tickets). Diana Daniels (as seen in Freak Scene #103) is there June 28 with Tremolo Fields and Michael Suddes (tickets).
Infinity Music Hall in Hartford presents the Outlaws Aug. 9 (tickets), a Lifehouse acoustic show Oct. 17 (tickets) and Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox Oct. 18 (tickets).
English power-pop band Squeeze play with Adam Ant Aug. 25 at Westville Music Bowl in New Haven (tickets). The Avett Brothers are there Sept. 17 (tickets).
Sevendust and Theory of a Deadman play Aug. 29 at College Street Music Hall in New Haven (tickets).
The Space Ballroom in Hamden hosts hardcore band No Cure July 12 with Big Ass Truck, Bayway and Bolt Cutter (tickets), Judge and Bold July 26 (tickets), Kill Bill: The Rapper Aug. 7 (tickets) and pop duo 76th Street Oct. 1 (tickets).
That’s all for this week. Thank you for reading! Previous issues are available in the online archive. Freak Scene is free, but donations help make this happen and are gratefully accepted. If you’re able, please consider a paid subscription!
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