Knock, Knock. Who's there? Rock & Roll - Mean Creek

Sometimes I really think I live on the wrong coast. Sure, Washington is great, we've got lots of coffee, rain and salmon. Seattle has a great local music scene, but the local music scene in the city I live, well, lets just say it sucks. On the other side of the country, in Boston, something magical is happening. The hemorrhagic outpouring of amazing bands from that town is getting a little out of control; good out of control, amazing out of control. Four piece rock powerhouse Mean Creek is one of these bands.

I was first introduced to Mean Creek back in April when they opened for Counting Crows in Seattle. A couple weeks before the show I got their EP Hemophiliac. I was impressed by both the EP and the band's live performance. After that show I kept Mean Creek in the back of my mind, when their songs would come on my ipod, I'd be like "oh yeah, these guys. I like them" but that's about it. My second encounter with Mean Creek was at the Outlaw Roadshow in NYC during CMJ in October. It was at this show where I realized that Mean Creek was indeed a force to be reckoned with, that they are an incredible live band, that they are really, really good. 

Chris Keene (Vocals, Guitar,) Aurore Ounjian (Vocals, Guitar,) Erik Wormwood (Bass) and Mikey Holland (Drums) are Mean Creek. Keene's vocals spur comparisons to Robert Smith or Morrissey, but with more edge, like if The Cure or The Smiths were more rock and less emo. His flannel shirt with cut off sleeves and mop of curly hair spike memories of my childhood, growing up in the Grunge-laden Seattle. His onstage intensity radiates through the crowd and gets everyone going. Aurore Qunjian is the epitome of the "rocker girl" classification. Unwavering guitar skills and vocal ferocity radiate from her unassuming stature. When I saw Mean Creek in Seattle back in April, I remember thinking that bassist Erik Wormwood was really, really good. This thought was confirmed at the NYC show.

Mean Creek's October 2012 release, Youth Companion, is a record that must be played with the stereo cranked up to eleven. Right from the opening drum count off of the opening track Do You Know? you are thrust into a ten track journey through nostalgia evoking rock and roll. For me, the record brings back memories of my teenage years, growing up in the hub of the Grunge music scene (yes, I grew up in the suburbs of Seattle, but the music was still all around.) The flannel, the hair, the guitars, the angst, it's all here in Youth Companion. 

I really love the guitars on Shakey, Young & Wild has an epic youth summer-time anthem feel to it. Mikey Holland's drum line echo's Max Weinberg's infamous Born in the USA drum line, evoking yet more memories of summers of yesteryear. The Reason Why most resembles the 80s British emo-before-emo-was-emo rock/pop, like the Smiths, The Cure or Tears for Fears. As I am a big fan of this brand of music, I was immediately drawn to The Reason Why. Rounding out the record is the heavy, intense track The Comedian. Both Keene and Qunjian's vocals in the song are electrifying and emotional. Seeing this song live is incredible. The feeling and emotion the band pours into the performance is mind-blowing. At the NYC Outlaw Roadshow, Aurore was so deep into the emotion of the song, just absolutely killing it on her guitar, at one point her mic stand fell over, she just kept on going; amazing.

Mean Creek has had a big year, with the release of Youth Companion, being awarded Album of the Year (2012) at the Boston Music Awards, and touring not once, but twice this year with Counting Crows. Check out Hemophiliac, check out Youth Companion (available form Amazon and iTunes.)  Let's help them make 2013 just as epic.