IS MOSS BOY REAL SHOEGAZE?

While watching The Moss Boy and The Critters during their set on 11/30/2024 a question crossed my mind; Is Moss Boy and the Critters real shoegaze? 

If you haven’t heard Moss Boy and The Critters before they are an alternative rock band (in layman's terms) from Rhode Island who share members with past features of the IAFUTS blog, Told Not To Worry and Porcelain, that isn’t to say Moss Boy is overshadowed by an extension of those bands. Moss Boy puts a nice spin onto the early 2000 Title Fight, pop-punk adjacent sound that gets the kids movin’ up and down, left to right, while still being able to get you to stop dancing and hang your head low. 

Their new EP “Throw Me a Bone” encapsulates those up and down swings into a well rounded 4 song ep, with the title track being my personal favourite. It reminds me of sitting in a garage loft, pit-pat pit-pat, as the rain falls onto the tin roof above my head. As I write this I have been playing the new songs on repeat and the “dreamo soundscape" is in full effect. Merrit (the Moss Boy) has such an inspiring ability to write catchy riffs and lyrical hooks without reaching, everything about Moss Boy and the Critters feels completely natural and honest. 

To bring it back to our focus question, is Moss Boy and the Critters real shoegaze?

If you google, what makes shoegaze shoegaze it will tell you that some stand out factors are ethereal, swirling vocals with layers of distorted, bent, or flanged guitars. If that’s the definition you’d like to go by, be my guest. As I stood there and watched Moss Boy I counted a rough total of 20 moments of pedal engagement, that was only what I had counted for Merritt and if you told me that Jacob had around the same or more while playing second guitar I’d believe you. But some songs only have 2-3 moments where pedals are stomped, that leaves little time for shoe gazing. For false prophets and in the power bestowed upon myself I sentence Moss Boy and the Critters to the title of indie rock for one million years in the name of stolen shoegaze valor. 

If you want to support Moss Boy, which I highly recommend doing, they have 3 more shows to cap off the year. Friday the 6th with Husk, Buried With Your Word, Commuted, and Passion Play - AS220 Main Stage, Providence, RI; Friday the 13th with Pond View, Bugslam, Blandest, and Sowing The Tank - VFW Post 185, Feeding Hills, MA; Sunday the 22nd with Asphyxia, Porcelain, Two Boys Kissing, Pulse, and Told Not To Worry - Omen Skate Shop,  Middletown, RI.

Baby Breath played their first show as the secret set before Moss Boy went on and I was IMPRESSED! Hearing and seeing a new band, BB is as new as they get, sounding like a band plucked right off of the suggested section of my Youtube feed is nuts. These guys ripped. Something I really appreciated was the back and forths between the two vocalists Carmen and Coco, using the space to talk and belt out some real emotional shit. It may sound dumb but when I hear every band screaming and everyone is screaming and they won't stop screaming and yelling it gets polarizing, so this band was a refresher. Think Lazarus Plot, picky jazz guitar emo, they are for sure a band that will be a recurring character in the IAFUTS chronicles. Happy Belated Coco. 

This would also be a great time to talk about the run of shows that Told Not Two Kiss* just conquered this past weekend. There’s an unusual difficulty that I face when it comes to writing about my own endeavors. 

Freestyling this. 

Aidan and I in Amherst photo by @413_lumix

Over the past weekend the two gayest bands from Rhode Island hit the road in three separate cars to rip open some holes in uncharted land. Chapter one took place in the Amherst Library (Jones Library) with Holder, Buried With Your Words, and I Have No Mouth. We had sushi before the show and I got upset because I thought the staff took away chopsticks after I sat down, it was a great meal but my food came when everyone had already finished theirs. Bradley Holder brought us to get burritos after and it was exactly what I wanted to stuff my hole with after watching a 12yr old fuck up some hard ass drum fills with the most beautiful china. We were lucky enough to stay with our buddies Austin (Red Dot Recording) and Tim (tim) at 550 on Campus, we watched Home Alone 8, cat videos and ate cake. After a U-ie around half way to retrieve Walter’s bag, we took our asses to Troy, NY to play with Blouse and Croquet. They had both released new music the week before but I don’t know how to write about cranky ass screamo type shit, what I can say is it was rad as hell. I started the show off with a Korean Coffee from the restaurant we played (Son Of Egg) and ended it with a chicken sandwich which had me licking more than my fingers after, woo-ieee. That show started at noon and ended by 2:30 which fucked up my fish brain so after getting back in the car to head to NJ we stopped at a Green Apple (?) rest stop and I got garlic hummus and cheddar curds cause I hated everyone who was in the car with me (besides Moth I love you Moth). We were able to see our ol’ friend Malcom who was playing a show in NJ as we were passing through. When we arrived at the Clown House, I took a piss and saw a band called Plaster Head whom I cannot find anything about but let's say it was some quirky type shit with a lot of pedals and only three people. I woke up in Philadelphia and had a chicken Bahmi for breakfast and hoped in the car to head back to NJ. That sandwich  which fueled me up to rock my heart out one last night. This time around I played bass for TNTW and forgot every part. We played in a dance studio that looked identical to the one Aidan grew up dancing at. We finished the night by getting Chinese food and meeting my new bud Pat. Rockin type shit. Vampire Survivor rocks harder than you.

*Told Not Two Kiss is the love child of Told Not To Worry and Two Boys Kissing

Awesome hardcore demo for 2004, Tarpit.While trying to find the otr benefit for the national multiple sclerosis soicety compalation this came up as the first video. Anything with an Infest homage, I'm game.

Loud With a Punk Ethos

 

We return with an interview with Connecticuts Primer Noise Rock Band SPACE CAMP

FFO: Lighting Bolt, The Locust, and trombone

The summer excitement was winding down, the kids were heading back to school and it was on the last Wednesday of August that Moth and I decided to take the trip to AS220 to catch our favourite gay noise rock two-piece team from Connecticut- Space Camp. It was the second time my ears were blessed by the brash duo that month, knowing they had an album coming on the horizon...

I had some Q’s that needed A’s…

*editor note* The album titled “How Could I Not Be Your Girl?” has since been released independently on vinyl, Cd, and cassette, a pain in the ass thing to do, so if you want to show them some support and be an ally pick up “How Could I Not be Your Girl?” now through their Bandcamp!

June - Piano and trombone 

Daisy - Drums and do vocals 

What do YOU classify Space Camp as?

June -  We often describe it as loud with a punk ethos

Daisy - Our friend Max has been playing with us and he told us that everything he plays he classifies as noise rock, and I was like okay I guess we can be kinda sorta that… Maybe but no it’s been about ten years and we haven’t found a genre yet.

June - You know, and that’s why we’re not doing so well

Is there a go-to Space Camp story you like to tell?

Daisy - Well the classic one is we played a show in like 2015 in Wilmington, North Carolina, and the guy who played before us used all of our stuff… Well no, so this guy did a noise set in the basement of this unventilated bar. So, he does some noise, he does some spoken word stuff and then he rips open his chest and lights off a bunch of fireworks and fills the room with smoke. Then he Silly Strings everyone in the crowd, and this was right before we were supposed to play. The basement been ruined, everyone had left, there’s smoke in the basement, there’s firecracker debris everywhere and we found out as we were about to play that this guy threw up all over our PA. So, like his vomit was all over our equipment and the bartender was like “You have to clean this all up” and he was like “You’d make me do that?”. So, we had to take a broom and had to sweep away all of his stuff so we could have a stage to perform on.

June - Big 2015 vibes there. Indie sleaze

What’s the connection to the Crunch House Bathroom?

Daisy - We’d been going to show at Crunch House since 2014-

June - 2016-ish

Daisy - We grew up going to shows there and it's gone through so many iterations. There was one time we played there; I think the last time we played there, 2017 or something where the lights were just flickering on and off the whole time like you were in a haunted house. It was one of those moments where you were like “What am I doing right now”.

What are some non-musical themes Space Camp pulls inspiration from?

Daisy - The new album has a lot of themes about conflict: inner personal conflict. I’ve personally always written songs about alienation and feeling like a stranger, alone.

June - More general things we pull from are movie aesthetics, and our favourite shows we have apart from music.

Is there some kind of ritual/routine that involves going to the Providence Place Mall while recording at Machines With Magnets? 

June and Daisy - There definitely is!

Daisy - Well we found out recently that they closed the pink berry there which was a big part of it. So, we’d go, get on the escalator. There’d be a lot of jokes about the Anal Cunt guy falling off, and then usually as soon as the Chinese food place opened we’d go and get food there and then we’d go to Pink Berry. But now there’s no Pink Berry so we might be boycotting. 

June - We still go and shop while we wait for Seth to wake up

Are there any final words you’d like to add?

Daisy - No, I think this is great, we’re fans of the newsletter. We’re fans of your ethos

Space Camp after their set at AS220 8/29/2024 by @bbsnapspotography

Now that “How Could I Not be Your Girl?” has been for a couple months now and there’s been time given for it to marinate in my cranium. With the civic duty bestowed upon myself to give you my formal opinion on these bands that just so happened to be picked by the board of IAFUTS with yours truly sitting at the chair. So with that out of the way may I begin…

Firstly, not many bands can come to the cusp of that two digital mark. Secondly, not many of the bands that do, do it well. Releasing their first album back in 2016 and playing shows even before that, this band does nothing but evolve and grow. The song “YOU SWING YOUR AXE AT THE TREE” gives me an intense feeling of manufactured disturbance. With the path of destruction growing into the next song, it puts you into the street of an outdated post-American city as the 50’s style robot lays waste to the common folk that dare to come in the way of his chaos. There is something beyond sinister about these songs, “DEAD NAME ME ALL NIGHT” puts all the compiled odious face-twisting feelings into a second-place trophy that Space Camp hands off to you as you get pushed back down the hill you pulled yourself up from. “TOUCAN PLAY THE GAME” is the song that makes me love this album and this band so much. A five-minute free-form jazz song that is so out of place but doesn’t stand out negatively. This is so unusual and quirky it makes sense that this song exists in the realm of “How Could I Not Be Your Girl?”.

Bending the eccentric and freakish is something that Space Camp is consistently able to do without being annoying. They are unapologetically Space Camp, melting heads together- and that is beautiful. 

I would like to take the time to thank my great team at IAFUTS. Besides my contributions, IAFUTS isn’t a one-brain project but is centered on heart feelings as well as two other brains. Firstly I’d like to thank my Mom who is always ready for whatever writing I have for her, doesn’t matter what time of day or night she is my editor and I am thankful for her because without her editorial work, a lot of this would be slop. Secondly, I would like to thank my girlfriend Moth, there is never a time when I am working on anything; IAFUTS or not, where I can’t turn and talk to them about an idea and get the answer I need from them. Grateful doesn’t begin to describe my appreciation for Moth and everything they have done for me and with me over the years. We just celebrated our second year together and that is something I am proud to say, there isn’t a more caring and genuine person who walks the green grass under the sun- I’m lucky enough to know that person. Lastly, I’d like to give a big thank you to my cheerleaders and the kindred souls who consistently show love to the fanzine, blog, or whatever new thing I have that week. It means a lot, every submission and every interaction. I feel satisfied with the current state of IAFUTS, so I thank all who have sat through the silence and fumbling as I’ve attempted to pick myself off my feet and dust off my pants. 

I am always looking for engagement on any level, a constructive comment, a band suggestion, a question you want my answer to, whatever! Writing has been a source of so many good feelings for me recently so the more I can do it the better; I love answering odd questions and plan to start adding some to these blog posts at the end for a finishing piece.

To close us out with a question from @warlockofwarmincepie. English Muffins?

This is a strong one to start with, I am a breakfast carb enthusiast in my own head so I got excited when I read this response. For a good majority of my elementary school career, I can vividly remember eating buttered English muffins with Nutella and it is an amazing combo. Recently though, I haven't found myself loving English muffins as much as I once did. For context, I like my toast pretty toasted and in English, muffins are good for something, but it is not that. Every time I eat an English muffin and my preferred toast I find myself ready to spit up the pool of blood collecting in my mouth from this bar trap bread. But when they are toasted just right; still soft, with a little bit of butter or some jam they top most other breakfast items in my opinion. Something my parents do is put them in the freezer which skeeves me out. For whatever reason, I don’t like frozen bread.

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In the Middle Of Everything

Welcome to the IAFUTS blog, today we will be taking a quick look into a local band that is flaming red HOT and just released some new material.

        In the middle of everything there is delicate solitude, a stillness in the shadows of what stands taller than all of us. “Next to the Middle of Nowhere” is the title of Porcelian’s debut EP and with it being released in November, there couldn’t have been a better time for these songs to drop. As I listened to them, red and orange leaves fell outside of my window. In a similar vein to Cocteau Twins, each song offers such a fresh take on a shoegaze sound that Rhode Island has been missing for years now. 

    Porcelain has been building momentum around these songs since their first show back in April and having them here now in front of us, with the help of Nathan Wright’s master recording abilities, it was everything we hoped for and more! Small town shoegaze is here and Porcelain demands your attention.

“Next to the Middle of Nowhere” opens with a song titled “Decay” which is one that the band has been playing since the spring. This was also the first song that the band released around June onto their bandcamp soon after their first show which was a jump from their initial sound. 

Photo by @Ragsnick (Met Alumni)

Back in April Porcelain played their first show at AS220 with Epicede and Mabon. At the time played as a four piece with Hanah playing bass and vocals, Aidan still played guitar, Coco still played drums, Austin Allard had been playing second guitar, which he did up until mid summer.They opened up the night with an explosion of punk energy. It felt like Darby Crash was right there in front of my eyes, that feeling was felt throughout the dance floor as kids started to launch themselves from one side of the room to the other. Pogoing up and down, slamming back and forth. If you made me bet money that in a month that same band would be playing in that same room with the same people; now with Coco’s sibling Natalie on bass, but playing WBRU shoegaze. I’d lose my life savings-$24. 

Bringing it back to the original demo, to say the band has made progress would underplay their talent. With an angry and hate fueled beginning, rags to riches, the change from punk to post-punk happened in the blink of an eye. But that wasn’t the only change the band went through, they grew! GREW! Sitting now with a line up of three guitarists, including Merrit Cathers from Moss Boy & The Critters, another wonderful shoegaze band from Rhode Island. The current group is TIGHT! The first show that I saw with Merrit on third guitar, one word. Dreamy. It felt like I was transported into The Bronze, I could see myself sitting at one of the club’s tables with Buffy, Zander, and the lesbian witches. Something I really appreciate about Porcelain is their ability to create so many unique and beautiful sounds while keeping me backed up against the invisible wall of sound. From what I’ve heard Porcelain is working on a whole new collection of songs that take heavy inspiration from that more drowned out sound that My Bloody Valentine has. This band continues to grow musical and sometimes even member wise everytime that I see them. In the middle of everything, Porcelain does an alright job at keeping my interest. 

Here all all the links to Porcelain's Instagram and Link Tree where you can listen to their new EP as well as Nick's Instgram give him some love for taking such great photos!

Apart from that we are working on an interview with long time supporter and Middletown hero Brody Johnson. I'm going to ask them for some advice and hopefully get some answers...

If you have any burning questions that you need answers to, or have a band / artist you feel deserves some love shoot me a message on Instagram @IAFUTSFANZINE. I am always looking for interaction and contributions in any shape or form so reach out if your interested or have ideas of how IAFUTS can improve in the future. 

Lastly if you are interested in getting monthly* emails from IAFUTS consisting of interviews and extra shorter writing bits you can send your email my way via instagram or text 401-239-4011

*monthly as in when I remember to get around to it... until then   

So long, farewell

Auf Wiederseh'n, goodnight