Roomrunner is fronted by former Double Dagger drummer Denny Bowen. He was the first to release music after the bands’s unfortunate breakup. Roomrunner is definitely more melodic than Double Dagger. But at the same times there are still underlaying tones of aggression and angst a la early 90s rock, but all the best possible ways. I see Denny as a Dave Grohl. The dude can’t do anything wrong. He’s a great drummer and is clearly promising to be a great singer and guitarist.

I got to chatting with Denny in the B Room at Mobtown prior to their microshow. There was a nervous energy with him. I was slightly befuddled. Denny has clearly played some pretty huge shows. However, it was possible he wasn’t used to performing in front of an small audience five feet from his shoes. Either way, we had a great conversation about Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr. and Foo Fighters and lots of crazy awesome bands and mutual friends. I’ve always felt like success with bands (aside from writing awesome songs) lies mainly with being nice dudes and getting along as a band. Luckily they have it all. And do so effortlessly.

Denny Bowen: guitar, vocals
Jeff Byers: guitar
Dan Frome: bass
Bret Lanahan: drums

Engineered by Sean Mercer
Mixed by Mat Leffler-Schulman

Download MP3s - 60.01 MB

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The Bostonia EP is the reinvention of Baltimore pop-rock group Blind Man Leading. From late summer through October of last year, the four piece recorded their first electric studio project at Mobtown Studios, tracking together for the first time. Engineer/producer/drummer, Paul Mercer recorded and mixed the 5 tracks in-house, with mastering by Mat Leffler-Schulman.

Cellar Door

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The sound emphasizes emotive images and stories while contrasting those themes energetic drum patterns, bright-edged guitars, a humming cello, and melodic bass lines. Within the rhythmic and harmonic structures, a subtle jazz influence surfaces throughout. BML recently partnered with “International Justice Mission”, a non-profit that fights human trafficking throughout the world, and part of the proceeds from album sales will go to this great cause. The group plays regionally in the MD/ VA/ PA area, and the tracks are available now on iTunes and CD Baby. Keep on the look-out for a bangin’ EP release party!

Boston Ferry

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Raindeer began as a solo project for singer and multi-instrumentalist Charlie Hughes. But as he’s brought on additional members to fill out the band’s live quartet, the off-kilter lo-fi pop sensibility of Hughes’s early Raindeer recordings has been preserved remarkably well. That may be due to the fact that the other three members, Devin Byrnes, Liz Vayda and Nicky Smith, contribute primarily synths, guitars and bass, with no live percussionist replacing the loops and drum machines.

So when Raindeer came in for their Microshow, it was exciting to hear the songs from the self-titled 2012 release fleshed out, but not rocked up or drastically rearranged. “Moon Child” in particular simply just sounded right in this context. The result sounds like early rock’n’roll balladry filtered through the cutting edge technology of the 1980s – a similar process to, say, Bruce Springsteen’s Born In The U.S.A. with a very different result. One cover in the set, of the Talking Heads’ classic “Don’t Worry About The Government,” which is perhaps more relevant than ever now, was filtered heavily through Raindeer’s aesthetic, putting their own stamp on it instead of just being another band that tries to sound like the Heads.

Charlie Hughes: vocals, acoustic guitar, keys, samples
Devin Byrnes: keys, bass, percussion
Liz Vayda: keys, vocals
Nicky Smith: guitar

Engineered by Sean Mercer
Mixed by Mat Leffler-Schulman

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