What a collection of rad MA musicians! And we’re a little discombobulated regarding Boston’s Real Beaut as we discovered them through their new, yet-to-be-released EP and are backtracking with an almost 2 year old release that you might not have heard about already. Still with us? Super!
Instantly iconic? Timeless and tantalizing? Rawk-ous and riotous? Whatever alliteration you’d like to attach to the Real Beaut sound, there’s no way one can deny the kind of mesmerizing music they produce. Hell, chances are if we had taken the plunge when this release initially arrived in 2023 we’d have it in constant rotation still. Guess we’ll just have to listen to it more to make up for the lost time then, huh?
Anywho! Gentle Messages is the name of the EP and features the talents of phenom vocalist Keith Pierce (Party Bois), Mad Oak Studios maestro (And former Motherboar’er) Benny Grotto on drums, another Party Bois alum in Johnny Northrup on bass, and Andrew Doherty of Mellow Bravo and Bird Language on guitar. As for the tunes? It’s actually exactly what you’d expect from such a lineup representing such different facets of the Boston Music culture.
Pierce is a chameleon at the mic with a gruff, commanding presence on opener “Hot Spot” while on “Yoke and Throttle”, Pierce delivers an endearing, emotive performance. The Grotto/Northrup rhythm section is beyond reproach, bouncing off each other on the rollicking “Doomed Young Lovers” while on that aforementioned opener “Hot Spot” they create a wall of sound akin to some of the Desert Rawk classics of the mid-’90’s (Think Fu Manchu especially). As for Doherty, the guitarist rips across all four tracks with nary a song without some sort of signature riff that immediately stands out as is the case with closer “EuroLove” and that instantly iconic sound we teased about earlier.
Gentle Messages is out now and you can get your copy by heading here or to the stream below. For more from Real Beaut, including all the info on upcoming new music and live performances, follow the trail of socials found by clicking here or here.