[photo by Alex Allinson]
Nefarious Industries expands its peculiar family of musical entities with the acquisition of Boston-based bass and drums rock duo, BEDTIMEMAGIC. The outfit is putting the final touches on their impending new Andrew Schneider-produced Pillow Talk full-length release, which will drop this summer.
Ahead of the disbursement of Pillow Talk‘s details, BEDTIMEMAGIC is already posting tour dates for the coming months in support of the record, including several New England dates in July, the Extreme Noise Terrier mini tour in August, and more.
They’re self-described “trash rock”. They perform so loudly that you’ll second guess your current life insurance policy. Their aesthetic depicts monochromatic, broken, distorted, half-man half-canine outsiders wearing glasses. But don’t let those dog singlets fool you: lyrically and musically, BEDTIMEMAGIC is a serious band.
Their sound is majestic, caustic, plagued with feedback, lush chords, and conflicting rhythms. Sonically, they herald the early experimental days of ’90s and ’00s punk, angular hardcore, and noise rock. Visually, however, they’re two dads in their forties wearing pug wrestling onesies, playing a larger-than-life drum kit, a foot-pedal organ straight out of Black Sabbath or Rush, and a Rickenbacker 4003 bass that’s heavily modified, pumped through a wide range of toxic, custom amplification.
The whole concept ultimately doesn’t make sense on paper. Yet live and on recordings, it works. Nicholas Pentabona stands six foot tall, ostensibly rotund. He barks hot breath into a black honeycomb microphone whilst whirling around more than a man of his definition rationally would. The guitar flips behind his head, over his lap, off his shoulder and into the air. Feet tap dance along a thick effects board revealing nothing more than a line of cables drawing more and thicker distortion. Low end frequencies jostle the listener’s precious teeth around, clearing even the most impacted sinuses.
“People are paying to see a show,” he says. “Your job is to give them one.” His past is rife with dozens of former acts: The Taste Of Silver, HYEO, Crippling Fear, Fuck Everyone — to name a few. He reckons he’s been doing this music stuff for the better part of nearly three decades. Behind a handmade wall of percussion is Morgan Berns. Slightly taller, bespectacled, shorter in hair and slenderer in build, he broadcasts a mosaic of tattoos. His swings and crashes of the drumsticks are powerful and determined. He craves the desperate chaos of the upcoming beat but forces himself to hold back to stay in tempo. His arms cascade through the air like furious battalions. Berns has modeled himself a peculiar beast of burden; he not only sings while playing drums but also plays a single-octave organ with his left foot. The organ compliments the bass and allows for Pentabona to free from constantly playing the melody. He has earned his stripes with bands such as Coleman, Blacktail, LIVVER, and Bury The Needle, toting musicality through the best years of his life.
The two have been a unit since 2014. Both were drawn together over their love of weird time signatures, edited pop-tendencies, funk, and of course, dogs. Typically, Pentabona is free with his speech and candor, while Berns is more reserved and thoughtful to his tongue. Both enjoy food immensely.
“We have a lot of things that we want to inevitably say,” notes Berns, “I think, maybe part of what we talk about is that you can’t take things, yourself, too seriously. I’m impressed when people can see the humor in how we’re presenting a stronger concept. So maybe that’s the message: Go fuck yourselves.”
BEDTIMEMAGIC Tour Dates:
7/12/2019 The Worthen Attic – Lowell, MA w/ Needle Play, Toothless, Bad Move, Skytigers
7/25/2019 The Hong Kong – Cambridge, MA w/ Labor Hex, The Wayward, Hex Machine
Extreme Noise Terrier Mini Tour:
8/23/2019 Cherry St Station – Wallingford, CT @ CT Punkfest
8/24/2019 Friendship Mountain – Egg Harbor City, NJ
8/25/2019 TBA – Philadelphia area
11/08/2019 ONCE Ballroom – Somerville MA w/ GayC/DC
BEDTIMEMAGIC:
Nicholas Pentabona – bass, vocals
Morgan Berns – drums, vocals, pedal organ
https://bedtimeboston.bandcamp.com
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