C

It's been a long time since I've shamelessly promoted my kids' art, but I see Patti has posted a link to Vincent's new record, so I think it's fair that I also be allowed to subject you, my unsuspecting social media acquaintance, to similar tortures.

Because it's not torture. Unless you don't like good rocking tonight, or maybe if you don't like subtly-cured melody tucked discreetly into short songs with one chorus. The first Boston record this aint. So if you like to be hit to death over the head with repetition or if you prefer polished production with glossy auto-harmonizered vocals, then maybe this not for you is.

Because 'C' was (almost) entirely made on 4-track cassette by someone without the formal training to know better-- quite intentionally on purpose. You can certainly make a record on your phone these days that sounds more conventionally professional than this, but the idea here was to build something that did not sound as if it had been crafted with the same tools available to everyone else for free. A lot of effort went in to making this album sound as shitty as it does.

Because it doesn't sound shitty. Hiss and hum and fart and the tones of discarded tracks that have been erased many sessions ago peeking out from under the final mix are the stuff that give recorded music some real DNA and that are often missing from modern music precisely because they're so easy to mute. There's a greasy, re-gifted thread that runs through this album, banding it together like a forcefield around the weird kids' lunch table in the corner of the cafeteria. They have all the secrets. They always have had.

And there are some secrets on this record. But you gotta listen to learn 'em. You might even have to listen twice. There isn't a note or chord out of place here. Some of it may sound a little rando at first casual pass, but I assure you that this is a very intentional work. The lyrics are insightful and bottomlessly clever. The melodies are sublime. And the atmosphere of the production gets more comfortable with each listen until you eventually can't imagine hearing it any other way.

But that's coming from a big fan who's listened to this a lot already. Several of these songs have been kicking around for years by now and these are merely the most-recent arrangements. Bandcamp isn't necessarily the most-familiar platform and that's no accident either. But it works perfectly fine, and I think you can pay for it if you want. However, I think Vincent would be more stoked if you listened to it without paying as opposed to the other way around. Go ahead, take a chance. On headphones if possible. And while you're there, 'B' aint bad neither...

(mastered by a real recording engineer, Evan Schiller)

(Try: Tell Yourself It's Good, Kick Down the Golden Door, Her Earlier Stuff)