$12 Cover @ the Door / Start 8pm / Doors 7:30pm
These bands have plenty of written songs. But they won't be performing any of them tonight.
Two sets. Completely improvised. Is this a good idea? We don't know, but we know it'll be an interesting night.
The Sheila Divine
The Sheila Divine were originally a Boston based rock group whose activities have been intermittent since 2003. Critics have compared their sound to the band's own heros, mainly early 1980s post-punk. The band has been most often noted for its loud/soft musical dynamic and Aaron's Perrino soaring vocals, screaming in key one moment and howling a falsetto the next. The band had a large die hard fan base in what was often called "the three Bs": Boston, Buffalo, and Belgium. The band most often explained that they took the name from the Australian term "sheila", which denotes an effeminate man or wimp - thus making them in a literal sense, the sacred wimps. The name is also similar to that of the suicidal main character of the book Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York. However, they took their name directly from a college friend named Sheila Devine. After changing the spelling and operating as Sheila Divine for several months the "The" was added to distinguish the band from such female artists as Fiona Apple.
Hallelujah The Hills
Hallelujah The Hills have been releasing critically acclaimed albums and touring the U.S. since 2007. Described by Spin as “criminally underappreciated” and lauded by Pitchfork for their “fist pumping anthems,” they’ve been declared “Boston legends” in their hometown and as having a “cult following and pockets of hardcore fans scattered throughout the country” by Stereogum. The band released their first two albums on Misra Records, assisted Titus Andronicus in making their breakout album The Monitor, and are one of the only bands to have ever toured with The Silver Jews. The Hills have also worked with Jealous Butcher Records, Re-Vinyl Records, and are the recipients of two Boston Music Awards. Their sound was creatively explained as “the kind of punk rock you’d expect on stage at the roadhouse from ‘Twin Peaks’” in The Boston Herald. Others go further, with Aquarium Drunkard noting “few do it with the style and imagination of Hallelujah the Hills” and Captain’s Dead boldly publishing that they “without a doubt they are one of the greatest bands currently making music.” Their 2014 album Have You Ever Done Something Evil? was named the #1 Overlooked Album of the Year by PopMatters and landed the band on over a dozen year-end best-of lists. The recording of their latest full length, 2016's A Band Is Something To Figure Out, was observed by author M. Jonathan Lee, who is working on a biography of the band. In the press release for their debut album, the band promised to make 33 albums before breaking up.