This summer has been missing a lot of things, and the Boston Phoenix sits near the top of the list. Our city’s famed alt-weekly, which shut down in March (spawning this devil-child website), was making a habit the past few summers of naming the best band in each of our country’s 50 states. While discussions for Idaho, Nebraska, and Minnesota tended to fly by with ease based on a participant’s impassioned submission, the debates for Massachusetts were spirited, drawn-out affairs — until last year, when guitar-crushers Speedy Ortiz were a fairly unanimous pick. We’ll never know for sure, but odds are the Best New Band in Massachusetts trophy would have stayed in Western Mass for a second straight year; any committee led by myself as music editor and Liz Pelly as assistant music editor no doubt would have campaigned hard back in June for Potty Mouth, yet another explosive guitar-rock act coming out of the Northampton area.
In fact, it was just after last year’s 50 Bands 50 States issue that we first got into the quartet’s Sun Damage 12-inch, a noisy alt-rock racket which became a bit of a personal newsroom soundtrack later that fall.
Fast-forward a year and Potty Mouth are on the verge of an expected breakthrough, as their new LP Hell Bent is out September 17 on Old Flame Records. (Pre-order it here). The first single (we think) is “The Spins,” a carousel-rock asphalt-dragger that keeps the band’s core of aggressively smooth sounds. The video, posted above and out this week, finds Abby Weems and crew blasting away down at the park, and provides a nice warm-up to the new record.
Coincidentally, Potty Mouth are playing Great Scott this Sunday, August 18, for the Bent Shapes release party for their own highly anticipated record, Feels Weird. Krill is also on the bill (perhaps another band in the mix for that 50 Bands stuff a few months ago), so stuff some buds into your earholes, and do not miss.