Allston Rock City

Allston Rocks!
and a new CD proves it by Brett Milano

Only in Allston would something like this happen: a long-haired guy walks into a deserted working-class bar, says, "Hey, let me book some bands in here and see what happens," and the bartender says, "Okay." Soon the place is packed on a weekly basis and a new rock venue is born.

That's more or less how O'Brien's became Allston's best, and currently only, underground rock venue. Located just on the edge of upper and lower Allston (at the intersection of Harvard Avenue and Cambridge Street), O'Brien's is the kind of place where rock has always flourished in this area -- to put it bluntly, a dive. Which suited Tim Catz, who now books the club and also plays bass for Roadsaw, just fine. He's lived in Allston for 13 years, long enough to remember the days when you could hit Bunratty's (later the club was called Local 186), Molly's, Johnny D's (no relation to the Davis Square club), and Streets in one extended stumble. And that's long enough for him to get cranky about the more upscale hangouts that those clubs have all turned into (respectively, they're now the Wonder Bar, the Kells, Common Ground, and a flower shop).

"Those places are too collegiate for me," he says. "What I missed were the days when you could see bands like the Five, Uzi, and Black Cat Bone; Johnny D's was my favorite club back then. After Local 186 closed, it was the first time I can remember when there was no place to hang out." Since it stared booking music last year, O'Brien's has filled some of the void. It now has music Thursdays through Saturdays weekly, and the number of band members and other bohos who live in Allston has proved sufficient to provide a steady clientele -- especially since it doesn't take much to fill the place. "If a band can bring in 100 people, then we're packed," Catz notes.

This week sees the release of Allston Rock City (Curve of the Earth), a compilation CD with 19 bands who have played the club, about half of whom are making their disc debuts. Aside from giving Catz a chance to gloat (his liner notes include snide remarks about the Kells and the Wonder Bar), the CD introduces a bunch of bands who could make waves in years to come.

About half the disc is devoted to big, loud rock (with big local names like Quintaine Americana, Slughog, Roadsaw, and 6L6), but some of the best tracks come from left field. Babaloo and Elbow are respectively a garage-salsa outfit and a rough blues band in the Fat Possum-label vein. Dave Steele's post-Orangutang band Cherry 2000 include a track from last month's Phoenix "Demo Derby"-winning tape. On the experimental edge are Juneau, an instrumental band including former Spore guitarist Marc Orleans; further on that edge is Michael Mancini (whose track, recorded entirely backwards, is the one you'll probably skip over). Other personal faves: Verago-go, with a track not on their CD, and Max doing one of their psychedelic homages. And an obvious pick to click, especially if you still miss Malachite, are 3 1/2 Girls, doing spunky and snotty punk-metal with over-the-top, doom-obsessed lyrics. (They play O'Brien's tonight, Thursday, with a full CD due next month.)

What do the bands on the disc have in common? "About three-quarters of them hang out at the club, and they've all played there," Catz notes. "And a lot of them are pretty hard-drinking bands. When bands play, they get the door and they get to drink for free; the club keeps the bar profits. A lot of the people there drink a lot, actually; it's got that kind of vibe. Nobody drinks cocktails; it's all shots and beers."

The biggest band to hit O'Brien's so far would probably be a tie between Sam Black Church, who played last year to break in some new material, and the Upper Crust, who last month played their only local gig in the past year (neither is on the CD). The most bizarre night would have to be a party thrown last year by the fanzine Ugly Mug, which brought some drag queens into the club.

"The funny thing is that they showed up at soundcheck in full dress and a lot of the people that hang out at the bar were there: carpenters and working people," Catz notes. "They didn't know what was going on, but they started thinking that the drag queens were looking pretty good."

Reproduced absolutely without permission from The Boston Phoenix March 1997. Copyright © 1997 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group. All rights reserved.