Freak Scene #35: Ginger Bug Find the Fizz on 'My Magnolia'
Plus, Couchboy helps us hold on to summer with his latest LP, and what's up with the New England Music Awards?
A Guide to Music in Western Mass. (and sometimes Connecticut)
This week in Freak Scene, we check out My Magnolia from the Ellington, Conn., band Ginger Bug — named for a semi-successful attempt to brew ginger ale at home — and catch the last rays of summer on the latest from Northfield’s Couchboy.
Pop singer Gene Pitney was known as the Rockville Rocket at the height of his fame in the 1960s for his origins in that section of Vernon. Neighboring Ellington has no such claim to fame, though Reuben Torrey is working on it with his band Ginger Bug.
The Ellington trio just released My Magnolia, Ginger Bug’s sixth album since 2017. It’s a nine-song collection of indie tunes with elements of folk-rock and a little bit of soul. Torrey, bassist John Eisler and drummer Jesey Meche favor laid-back musical arrangements stripped down to their essentials: warm guitar tones sometimes pushed into crackling distortion, solid basslines that hold down the low end and straight-ahead drums. The unfussy song structures focus attention on Torrey’s voice, which is clear, tuneful and expressive without affectation. His lyrics blend descriptive imagery with resonant emotionalism, and the former often sets up the latter.
That’s particularly true of album opener “The Last River Song,” where Torrey contrasts the temporal with the eternal as he sings about water that flows onward through ever-changing context on the banks. His guitar licks lock in with the bass and drums for a sound that’s tight, but expansive, especially when the band lets loose as the song builds to a close. Elsewhere, “Hard to Be Strangers” starts with a bright guitar line that frames tragicomic lyrics about a former couple who constantly bump into each other, exacerbating the feelings each still has for the other. “Shameless Love” has a blue-eyed soul vibe, with a heavy bassline, layers of fat-toned guitar and a vocal approach that evokes Van Morrison in the late-’60s and early ’70s.
Torrey’s pre-pandemic outings as Ginger Bug were largely a solo affair as he recorded songs by himself in his basement, honing his voice and his style. “When I first started out, I wanted to write my own songs, but I didn't feel like I had much to write about,” Torrey says by email.
His early recordings didn’t attract much attention, so he took a break to focus on his day job teaching English as a second language to high school students. When the pandemic hit, he returned to writing songs, and soon realized he had plenty to say, and as the pandemic eased, he fleshed out the band with Eisler and Meche. All that woodshedding (basement-shedding?) served its purpose: These days Torrey’s songs sound like the work of an experienced hand who has lived enough of life that he has something interesting to say about it.
Ginger Bug performs Saturday, Oct. 12, at 6:40 p.m. at Hotrods Spotlight Lounge, 554 Main St., Middletown as part of CT Rocks! Fest.
Couchboy Hangs on to ‘Summer’
Summer already seems like a distant memory, what with the crisp mornings and pumpkin-spice mania. Yet if the season has passed us by, the sound doesn’t have to, thanks to Couchboy’s late August release Summer.
Couchboy is the latest project of David MacDonald, an Amherst native who fronted the Chapel Hill, N.C., band Jasper in the ’90s before moving back to Western Mass. (to Northfield) and taking a break from music. Like Torrey, he got back to playing during the pandemic, resulting in the 2023 release Singles and What Nots (2021-2023), followed this year by Summer. It’s 11 songs that span styles and sounds, from lo-fi to jangly indie-pop to alt-country.
Often the songs have a wistful undertone, which shows through on the title track when MacDonald is reminiscing about bygone seasons. “And I’m never gonna feel that way again,” he sings, trebly guitars cascading around his voice as he delivers hazy, sun-kissed pop hooks. Elsewhere, “Faded Lines” draws on a grungy early ’90s rock sound with terse guitars, “Watercolors Run” has a sludgy vibe that calls to mind his Amherst neighbors Dinosaur Jr. and “Moment” has a surging lo-fi feel.
Though the Couchboy musical approach varies from one song to the next, Summer finds a unifying theme in MacDonald’s emphasis on melody: every song here has a hook that grabs hold. Though this past summer has faded into fall, these songs will help carry you over until the warm weather returns.
New England Music Awards Voting Is Live
Voting for the New England Music Awards closes today, and a handful of Freak Scene-featured acts are in the running: Grayson Ty (in issue #21) is nominated for Roots Act of the Year, Jennifer Hill (in issue #29) is up for Soul/R&B Act of the Year, and the Baxbys (issue #25) are up for New Act of the Year, Live Act of the Year and Rising Star: Massachusetts. Which is awesome, and everyone should vote for them.
But there are a lot of great acts from Western Mass./Connecticut who didn’t make the cut: Lisa Bastoni in folk (or Americana, or songwriter of the year), Black Pyramid in metal, Hannah Mohan in pop (or rock, though she’s really in a category of her own), bobbie in pop or rock. All of them, and plenty of others, should be in contention, too.
The nomination process begins in February, when fans submit their suggestions. Next year, let’s make sure Western Mass. and Connecticut are more fully represented.
Upcoming Concerts
The High Noons perform today, Friday, at Luthier’s Co-op in Easthampton, with Andrew Victor and Root 5. Music starts at 7 p.m.
Ken Cormier (featured in Freak Scene #3, and forever in our hearts) plays Saturday outside Willimantic Records as part of the Bliss Marketplace second Saturday sidewalk sale. Willamantic’s Litvar and New Haven’s Lars and Their Lilac Uke also play. Music starts at noon.
The Off Minor Trio + 1 + 1 plays a free show Wednesday, Oct. 16, at Fame Lounge/Eater in Holyoke. The group features Mark Weissman on tenor sax, Donald Anderson on trumpet, Ken Forfia on piano, Mark Dunlap on double bass and William Matthews on drums.
Fantastic Shows keeps the gigs coming with the annual Halloween tribute show Oct. 26 at JJ’s Tavern in Florence, with Egg! performing as Nirvana, members of Recent History as Tenacious D, members of Astral Bitch and Eye Witness as the Doors and A.P.E. as the Misfits, with a “spooky DJ set” by Big Bad Buildings. There’s also a costume contest. Tickets are $15 in advance here and $20 at the door. Bag Lady, Linnea’s Garden, Hard Car and Always Manic play JJ’s Nov. 15; admission is $15 at the door.
Speaking of Recent History, Fantastic presents them performing the (very good) soundtrack from the 1992 movie Singles Nov. 10 at the Iron Horse as part of an acoustic brunch, which marks a return of sorts: weekend brunch used to be a regular feature at the club. Tickets are here. DSP Shows brings guitarist Johnny A. back to the Horse Jan. 18; tickets are here. The Femmes, a Boston wedding band specializing in songs by female and non-binary acts, are there Feb. 14; tickets are here.
Keller Williams performs Jan. 16 in the House Theater at Tree House Brewing in South Deerfield; tickets are here.
Cliff Eberhardt, John Gorka, Lucy Kaplansky and Patty Larkin perform as part of On a Winter’s Night Feb. 16 at Bombyx in Florence; tickets are here.
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.
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