Freak Scene #24: The Demographic's New EP Is All Over the Map
A Guide to Music in Western Mass. (and sometimes Connecticut)
This week in Freak Scene, the Demographic give new life to some previously hidden bonus tracks with an official release, and there are a whole bunch of concerts on the horizon.
You just don’t come across that many covers of Jethro Tull songs, so count the Demographic among the few. The Northampton group takes on Tull’s “Hymn 43,” a deep cut from Aqualung, on the Demographic’s new EP, I Hate Us. The title is a bit of wordplay: Core duo Tom Pappalardo and Sturgis Cunningham describe the six-song EP as “the little brother” to their 2021 album Hiatus.
https://thedemographic.bandcamp.com/album/i-hate-us
The Demographic dirty up the song a bit, skipping the piano part (and the flute, too) in favor of crunching electric guitar and lashing drums that land with more force than on Tull’s original. Pappalardo’s vocals sound startlingly similar to Ian Anderson’s, and he fully inhabits Anderson’s sneering denunciation of religious hypocrisy. Pappalardo was a freshman in high school when he discovered the song in the record collection of a friend’s dad.
“Ian Anderson's particular flavor of prickly snottiness really appealed to 14-year-old me (and sticks with me still, ha),” he says by email.
The Demographic are all over the place on the other five songs, which were originally included as unlisted bonus tracks on Hiatus. Opener “Metal Quest” starts as an atmospheric instrumental before turning heavy about halfway through, while the taut “Nowhere” rides along on an amped-up bluesy shuffle. Two songs here are new recordings of tracks the band originally included on its 2011 debut, Verse Chorus Verse. Back then, Pappalardo and Cunningham did everything themselves. More recently, they’ve been playing with a third member (currently Aaron Borucki on bass, though Marc Seedorf played on I Hate Us).
The new versions of “Cost/Benefit” and “Post Encore” are tighter, with higher sonic fidelity, while fully retaining the seat-of-their-pants feel that makes the Demographic entertaining in the first place.
Parlor Room, Secret Planet Post Fall Lineups
It’s not quite time for back-to-school shopping, but the Parlor Room and Secret Planet have made their fall concert lineups public, so it’s open season on concert tickets. First, the Parlor Room:
Bandits on the Run headline with opener John Gallagher Jr. Sept. 14. Jolie Holland is there Sept. 18.The Wildwoods are there Sept. 19. Adeem the Artist plays Sept. 20. Ari & Mia do an afternoon show Sept. 21, while alt-rockers Kids That Fly play that evening. Golden Oak and Ben Cosgrove play Sept. 26. Daniel Champagne is there Sept. 27. Clem Snide performs Sept. 28. The Dead Tongues, the project of singer Ryan Gustafson, hits the Parlor Room Sept. 29. Dave Dersham plays an album-release show Oct. 3. Dead to the Core: An Acoustic Celebration of the Grateful Dead is there Oct. 4. Soggy Po Boys play Oct. 5. Noble Dust perform Oct. 12 with Amherst's Naomi Nye. Klezmer musician Itay Dayan is there Oct. 17. Driftwood perform Oct. 18. Jake Blount & Mali Obomsawin headline Oct. 19. Joshua Hyslop and Matt the Electrician share the bill Oct. 23. San Miguel Fraser perform Oct. 24. Antje Duvekot is there Oct. 25. Laure Cortese & the Dance Cards are there Oct. 26. Ken Yates plays Nov. 2. Maya de Vitry performs Nov. 3. Christie Lenée is there Nov. 10. Folk veteran Ellis Paul stops in Nov. 15. Abbie Gardner plays Nov. 17. Say Darling headline Nov. 30. Garnet Rogers is there Dec. 7. The Nields Holiday Show holds court Dec. 21. Tickets and more information is available here.
Last week, we learned that Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto play the Marigold Theatre in Easthampton Aug. 1. That's a Secret Planet booking. Here are the others: Ghanian funk mainstay Gyedu-Blay Ambolley plays Aug. 18 at the Drake in Amherst. Colombia's Frente Cumbiero perform "avant-cumbia" Sept. 8 at the Iron Horse in Northampton. Another Colombian act, Bogotá's La Sonora Mazurén play Sept. 13 at De La Luz (formerly Race Street Live) in Holyoke, and if their 2018 cover of “Lupita,” interpolated with “Cumbia Árabe,” is any indication, they will be amazing. Niger's Etran de L'Aïr play Sept. 20 in Williamsburg at the Grange Hall. There’s more information on Secret Planet’s website.
Jon Auer, formerly of the Posies and a longtime latter-day member of Big Star, performs Aug. 14 at Best Video Film & Cultural Center in Hamden, Conn., with the Shellye Valauskas Experience opening. Tickets and more info are available here.
Some other shows: Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets play Oct. 18 at the Academy of Music in Northampton. Soft Machine hit the Iron Horse Sept. 18, while Amy Helm is there Nov. 21. DSP Shows has the skinny on all three, plus Bendigo Fletcher Oct. 24 at the Drake in Amherst, Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters Nov. 30 at the Iron Horse and Son Little Dec. 12 in the House Theater at Tree House Brewing in South Deerfield.
Next week: We catch up on some recent singles from the Glad Machine, the Baxbys and Tom Guerra.
Freak Scene is always seeking submissions! You can send music for coverage consideration to erdanton at gmail or reply to this email. Check out these guidelines first. Previous issues of Freak Scene are available in the archive.