The Dirty Dishes - The Most Tarnished Birds

The Dirty Dishes are back with their long awaited follow-up to 2010's impressive debut EP. The Most Tarnished Birds is another five tracks of wonderfully spacey jams. It's easy to hear the maturity on these new tunes, especially on Jenny Tuite's vocals. Opening track "Hush" allows her to take the spotlight with a melody that is both gripping yet subtle. "Bloom" is my absolute favorite track. The songwriting is reminiscent of the quieter material from The Smashing Pumpkins that still takes the opportunity to pop out at you during the right instances. The cascading guitars among Jenny's confessions of "I'm watching you bloom" create a truly absorbing moment. Closer "Blur", unlike it's name, is another clear bright spot. It has the same sonic punch as the Deftones complete with driving guitars and a soaring chorus. With Jenny coming into her own as a vocalist, The Dirty Dishes are more exciting to follow than ever. Listen below and prepare to be fully enthralled.

SXSW 2011 Recap: Day 5, March 19

Saturday is the last of “official” day of SXSW and mine turned out to be a disaster after starting out so strong. Some of the best, most memorable sets during the day were tainted by my infuriating night. This was a vastly different experience than the previous day. Again, I learned that SXSW is an unpredictable rollercoaster ride.

An Explosive Showcase

On Sunday, August 8, 2010, I went to Church to pay homage to the gods of rock n’ rock and hops n’ barley. My friends at Exploding in Sound put on a showcase featuring some of my favorite up-and-coming bands and it was not to be missed. Grass is Green, RIBS, Solar Powered Sun Destroyer, and The Dirty Dishes came together to celebrate Sunday in the most blasphemous of ways: by playing the devil’s music. Seeing that it was my birthday, the only praying I did was to make it to the end of the show.

Local Bands Get Dirty at Harpers Ferry

I had seen The Dirty Dishes before at Church and also in a more intimate setting with an acoustic set at The Loft. This time around I got a chance to witness them headline a gig alongside of some great local music at Harper's Ferry on June 8, 2010. It was a Tuesday and a modest crowd of people were looking to indulge in some hometown noise. The Dirty Dishes along with The Self Assembly and Grass is Green made sure to award those who ignored their work duties for the next day and the Celtics game that was currently taking place to come out and rock.

Dirty Southern Ribs

Unwinding after a hard day's work with a concert of mellow music is something I always appreciate so on Friday, February 26, 2010 I jumped at the opportunity to see a few great Boston bands for free. The Dirty Dishes, Southern Belle, and RIBS played together as part of Berklee College of Music's Unplugged Series. I previously spotlighted The Dirty Dishes and RIBS as two of my favorite up-and-coming bands so I was obviously excited to see both of them on this bill in an acoustic setting. The only problem was that it was at 6:00pm so I had to rush right from work to get there but I'm glad I put the effort in.

Church Gets Dirty

I finally got a chance to see The Dirty Dishes along with some other local bands on December 4, 2009 at Church in Boston, MA. I first have to mention that Church is among my favorite bars and small venues in the area. Located right outside of Fenway, it serves as a superb substitute to the stereotypical sports bars that plague the area. Church has nightly music as well as pools tables and brings in a diverse alternative crowd. It served as the ideal place to showcase the local bands that were performing. The Dirty Dishes opened the show and graced the modest audience with their catchy shoegaze tunes. Despite some microphone hiss, the band sounded great delivering tracks from their debut EP In the Clouds which I recently spotlighted. Songs like "Dear in the Headlights", their catchiest jam, showcased Jenny Tuite popping notes from her guitar amongst the timid delivery of her vocals. "Stolen Apples" was a punchier tune allowing drummer Mike Thomas to excitedly pound the skins in the background amid the dissonant synth. The live setting added strength to the soaring chorus of "In the Clouds" which was one of the highlights of the performance. In all, it was a solid set and I'm looking forward to catching them again soon.

Local Spotlight On: The Dirty Dishes, RIBS

The Dirty Dishes are a band quickly on the rise in the Boston scene. Possessing a sound similar to that of Silversun Pickups or Autolux, they exhibit excellent songwriting sensibilities and an intriguing sound. Singer/guitar Jenny Tuite, bassist Jay Marcovitz, drummer Kevin Lynch, and keyboardist Alex Molini meld their instruments together to create a dreamy blend that is sure to satisfy all the shoegazers out there. Songs such as the vibrant "Deer in the Headlights" or the atmospheric "Thin Air" warrant repeated listens and demonstrate much promise for the young group. Passion Pit has been mentioning them in interviews (here and here) and also picked "Stolen Apples" to be featured as the #1 track on their "Boston Bands We Like" Myspace playlist. You can download their debut EP In the Clouds for free for a limited time at the link below: