R.I.P. Mayor Tom Menino

Charlie Pierce is not only a Boston-area native, he’s forgotten more about state politics than I ever knew, so I’ll let him write the obit for Mayor Menino. I will concur on one major point: Boston is a more welcoming and inclusive place than when I first came here. Back then, identifying with outsiders was a sure way to remain one yourself, so I felt compelled to regularly remind everybody that my grandfather was from mid-MA, came from a venerable line of preachers and soldiers that included Gen. Nelson Miles, my Dad went to Amherst, etc. etc. (And yeah, I found the weird importance attached to such connections very tedious — mentioning I grew up in Montana was the equivalent of noting I’d been raised by wolves.) Sure does feel like more than a university town nowadays. Thanks, Mumbles.

Boston Album of 2013

Yeah, I got one —

Guerilla Toss, S/T on Tzadik.

http://www.tzadik.com/

http://digboston.com/boston-music-concerts/2013/12/interview-guerilla-toss/#more-225174

Reminds me most, esp. Kassie Carlson’s vox, of Melt-Banana back when they played real instruments (my preferred incarnation), but noise-rock from James Chance to Butthole Surfers to Ponytail also apply. Fans of chaos in general — guitarist Arian Shafiee seems willing to doff the duds at the drop of his pants. And I have no idea what the songs are “about” except, with titles like “Judy Wants Sex in the News” and “Diluted Fetus Circuit Tycoon,” they are not humorless. The latter, my selected cut, will alienate the poop out of my more conservative “Best Of” discs recipients, but they gotta tuff it out this time.

Related articles

• The corrosive no-wave funk of Guerilla Toss will melt your face (dangerousminds.net)
• Guerilla Toss – “Pink Elephant” (stereogum.com)

Guerilla Toss, Gay Gardens, July 21, 2012 (Photo credit: Ethan M. Long)