Fust uncorks the (alt)country at Deep Cuts on Thursday, 3 April 2025.

Dead Gowns strip down to a two-piece for the road.

Deep Cuts expands with a new pinball room.

Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix

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Hump Nights

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Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix 〰️ Hump Nights 〰️

Hump Nights

Apr 12

A punk rock finale to the Cambridge Day Record Store Walk.

Apr 19

A rock n roll fourstack at Jamaica Plain’s favorite dive.

Apr 26

Slo-Anne returns! or debuts! at Jamaica Plain’s favorite dive.

May 20

A tribute to David Lynch.

May 24

Neighborhood Shit | The Promised End | Fracture Type | Knock Over City at Midway Cafe.

May 31

Maine backwards at Jamaica Plain’s favorite dive. Don’t miss this!

Hump Nights

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Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix

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Hump Nights 〰️ Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix 〰️

New Pinball Room

Before we get to the music, a quick word on a major renovation at Deep Cuts. A brand new pinball room has been unveiled. Enter the door and take the immediate right turn. There are more than a dozen vintage machines. Some games you might remember from the old pinball cubby in the foyer area (which is now the new home of the Light of Day Records inventory). Some games are brand new. Most will run you about a dollar to play, though shoutout to the two fifty cent machines right by the entrance: one called “Spanish Eyes” (an inscrutable theme for a pinball machine, but hey…) offers the best value.

Hump Day News covered Dead Gowns live at The Rockwell back in 2023, a little after the release of their gorgeous EP How. The first release, that is. The band teamed up with Vinyl Me, Please to re-release the album in a vinyl edition, which is a beautiful format to memorialize a beautiful record. Not going to buy the record again, though, after having picked it up as a CD (which is on endless rotation in the car stereo – an album for all occasions).

Dead Gowns performed as a two-piece, and the pair was experimenting with a sampler and/or drum machine.

The experiments were partly effective, partly distracting. My hunch is that the band as a two-piece would be better off going full-folk, not worrying about percussion, and letting the enormous voice of Genevieve Beaudoin rip. It’s a voice with the soulfulness of Cat Power, the crackability of Cobain, and the moony impressionism of Joni Mitchell. It will survive a drumless evening.

There’s a knee jerk tendency to label an act “alt country” if it comes packaged a certain way, regardless of the sound of the music.

Fust comes packaged like an indie act, plays in clubs that book indie rock, and their synth player wears novelty t-shirts. Hence, no matter how “country” they sound, it’s “alt country.” But strip away all the non-essential markers and just listen to them play live: Fust is country. Call it “indie country” if you like.

Maybe people using the “alt country” phrase are trying to distinguish the Fust kind of country from that super crass country pop that dominates the country radio stations these days. That’s fair. Although it feels like a concession to a certain crowd that you don’t need to make.

Namely, that “real” country sounds like a shellacked F-150 hauling a load of cotton candy to a shooting range. Which Fust doesn’t sound like. Which is just fine. Preferable even.

Oof, a whole writeup on genre musings. My apologies. Enjoyed the show.