Archive for January, 2011

Boston Phoenix MP3 of the Week: “Please Don’t Go”

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

Perhaps the most famous ribs in Boston last year were the ones Jacoby Ellsbury fractured, ribs that forced the Red Sox outfielder to sit out most of the 2010 season. Now that the Fenway heartthrob is all healed up, 2011’s ribs to watch are of the rock-n-roll variety. One of the louder members of our Class of 2011, RIBS the band are poised for a breakthrough. The anthemic “Please Don’t Go” — one-half of the Locrian Singles, which gets the release treatment tomorrow (January 28) at the Ryan’s Smashing Life 4-year anniversary party at TT The Bear’s — is an almost-industrial gear-grinding stomp-along rock hammer, its brute force skillfully offset by the falsetto of vocalist Keith Freund. A follow-up EP to last year’s sterling British Brains is almost finished, and a tour along the east coast is planned for April. But for now, RIBS are Boston’s treasure, so check them out in Cambridge tomorrow night and grab the mp3 below.

LINK: http://thephoenix.com/BLOGS/onthedownload/archive/2011/01/27/mp3-of-the-week-ribs-quot-please-don-t-go-quot.aspx


Locrian Singles.

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

Download free: http://hear.ribstheband.com

Buy on Amazon MP3

RIBS Named One Of The Boston Herald’s Favorite Upcoming Shows

Wednesday, January 12th, 2011

On the upcoming January 28th show:

“But know [if you miss this show] you may be missing the next Hub heroes. RIBS puts a loud Allston spin on English rock from Joy Division to Clinic.”

SOURCE: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/music/general/view.bg?&articleid=1307844&format=&page=2&listingType=musi#articleFull

EVENT TICKETS: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=3382355

FACEBOOK EVENT: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=181043351923954

Sneak Peek: New RIBS Track On WFNX’s Breakfast Show With Fletcher And Henry Santoro

Monday, January 10th, 2011

Boston Phoenix music editor Michael Marotta appears as a guest on this morning’s Breakfast Show on Boston’s rock station, WFNX 101.7, to talk about his “Class of 2011: Boston’s 11 Best New Bands” story.

Skip to 3:45 to hear “Please Don’t Go” from the upcoming Locrian Singles (coming January 25th).

DOWNLOAD: Phoenix Music Editor Michael Marotta discussing Class of 2011 on FNX [mp3]

FULL STORY: http://thephoenix.com/BLOGS/onthedownload/archive/2011/01/10/morning-would-class-of-2011-crashes-wfnx.aspx

Were you awake this morning at the ungodly hour of 9am?

I was, and honestly, I don’t know how you people do it. But with a little help from the amphetamine juice called 5 Hour Energy Boost, a few fruitty bottles of Powerade Zero and my Little Jetta That Could ambitiously motoring up Route 1A all the way to Lynn, I dropped by the WFNX radio studio this morning to be a guest on the Breakfast Show with Fletcher and Henry Santoro.

The subject was this week’s “Class of 2011: Boston’s 11 Best New Bands” feature in the Boston Phoenix, with Stereo Telescope’s “Geography” and RIBS‘ “Please Don’t Go” getting some early drive-time airplay. The former was our MP3 of the Week back in August, and the latter will take that high honor later this month before their Locrian Singles release party at TT The Bear’s Place on January 28 (don’t tip off competing news outlets, k?).

So yeah, in case you slept in (mad jellz) or had a board meeting or whatever it is that normal people do at 9am, check out an mp3 of the appearance below.

The Boston Phoenix Calls RIBS “Rock’s Great New Hope”

Thursday, January 6th, 2011

From The Boston Phoenix‘s cover story this week, “Eleven Bands To Watch In 2011:”

Last week, the Village Voice correctly named Train’s “Hey, Soul Sister” the Worst Song of 2010 and pretty much declared rock music dead. It’s a sentiment we can get behind, except for this noisy racket we hear coming out of RIBS, a Boston-based quartet who, despite being a bitch to Google, are catching attention with a face-forward rock onslaught that’s already rendered the easy comparisons to Muse and Deftones passé. This month sees the release of Locrian Singles, a one-two punch of futuristic, star-screaming almost-metal that might enable bassist Blake Fusilier to quit his day job at Redbones (hence the band name). Last year, RIBS quietly dropped the cantankerous British Brains EP and shared the stage with Helmet, but this force is getting louder. Rock’s great new hope. NEXT SHOW – January 28 @ T.T. The Bear’s Place, Cambridge

LINK: http://thephoenix.com/Boston/music/113748-class-of-2011-eleven-boston-bands-to-ring-in-the-/?page=7#TOPCONTENT

SHOW TICKETS: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=3382355

FACEBOOK EVENT: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=181043351923954

RIBS Performer Magazine Interview (Jan 2011)

Monday, January 3rd, 2011

From this month’s Performer (Spotlight column):

Asked how Boston has affected their sound, Oquist jokes, “The bitter
winter has dulled us from expressing joy.”

For some, the heavy sound may be too much to handle. The band knows this and even jokes about it. “If you listen to RIBS all day you will get depressed,” Oquist jokes.

“I don’t think we’re depressing,” Freund replies.
“Empowering?” Oquist asks.

“It just depends. Like how Jay-Z says when he listens to Radiohead he wants to slit his wrists. But, when I listen to Radiohead I get excited and energized. Maybe I want to slit Jay-Z’s wrists,” Freund jokes.

With themes of obsession, revenge and betrayal in their music, RIBS have slowly captured a steady fan base in the college town and are looking to gain more converts across the country. They have had a steady slew of dates in Boston, with the goal of performing outside the city as much as possible in 2011 in order to grow a larger fan base. Their Boston shows have garnered much acclaim and have led to the band being hailed as one of the must-see acts in town by local press.

When Freund posted on the popular news site Reddit about the release of British Brains, the onslaught of public praise was overwhelming. The post became one of the most popular in history of the site, helping RIBS sell 600 copies of the EP in the first week of its release.

“It showed us that we were on to something and inspired us to keep moving,” Freund says. “People were basically telling us you can’t stop now and don’t take another five years to put out your next EP.”

For the full story, check out this month’s issue of Performer (Jan 2011).