The Boston Strangler

They just had an album drop, I think a refresher is in order.

Modern hardcore has a bit of an aptitude problem. When I say "modern hardcore" I am basically talking about the This Is Hardcore audience. Here's the problem with their aptitude, they fall into two schools of thought. The first is consumption of sounds they are oblivious of. For instance when a band starts claiming Burning Spirits hardcore as an influence and kids buy into it because they have no earthly idea what Burning Spirits actually sounds like. The second is when a kid is actually too dumb to understand a good band's sound so they are written off as a "hype" band. The two major aptitude problems of the modern hardcore kid is either false sensibility or dismissive stupidity. This is the story of bands like The Boston Strangler. A modern hardcore kid doesn't understand why they're good, they just see people with sensibilities praise them and assume it must be the merch.

The fact is that The Boston Strangler is one of the best bands to do the "This Is Boston, Not L.A." era of Boston hardcore sound better than anyone since that comp dropped in 1982. The Boston Strangler (obviously named after infamous serial killer Albert DeSalvo) features Ban Reilly (Anxiety, Scapegoat) DFJ (not even gonna try to name all of his bands), Dave Sheehan (Peacebreakers & Scapegoat), Danimal (Waste Management, Peacebreakers, Prisoner Abuse), and Cliff DeMederios (Blank Stare & the underrated Social Circkle). When you hear The Boston Strangler you are hearing Jerry's Kids, The Proletariat, The Freeze and Gang Green. You are hearing Boston's past and Boston's present. These guys have been part of the very foundation of Boston hardcore for over a decade. Them, along with the rest of the Nu Scene, have helped to keep Boston as a global hardcore power while other scenes who spent the 1990s dominated by crew control fell by the wayside. The Boston Strangler is not a tribute to Boston's first wave of hardcore. Rather it is a representation of the scene's evolution. The attacking guitars (coupled with some great solos), relentless rhythm section, and trademark livid vocals (along with a dose of sarcasm) make up The Boston Strangler's sound. It is a representation of where they came from as much as it is a pronunciation of who they are. The Boston Strangler is an identity project.

Pick up their new album at funwithsmackrecords.bigcartel.com included is their first album (Primitive), their demo, a promo for the new album and a promo for the first album. Enjoy.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/6txhmb58sxpa2kr/Boston_Strangler,_The.rar