And The Winner Is…

The Ghouls take the W in the Rumble Finals at Sonia on Saturday, 4 May 2024.

Gut Health and Other Brother Darryl kick ass in the runner-up spots.

Halfcocked fully loaded as closer as the judges tabulate their scores.

Another Rock N Roll Rumble in the books.

What new things did you learn about the storied competition that never fails to surprise? Maybe you learned that Rumble participants can only enter once. That might be why the Rumble never fails to surprise: new bands every year, by design.

To be clear, that doesn’t mean the individual musicians can’t compete in the contest again, so long as they participate under the flag of a different band. Other Brother Darryl was shouting out the number of Rumble appearances between its band members, totaling into the double digits. No wonder they had such a suave approach to the whole affair – it never looked like they were sweating, even when they were sweating.

The “no repeat” rule really makes you think about the unique character and qualities of individual bands. Every year the slate of Rumble bands are singular concepts that can’t be repeated. Monuments to a special constellation of people, and ideas, and creativity, indexed to a specific moment in time.

With Steve Albini’s passing, it also makes you think about the spaces in the music industry that encourage the experimental, the singular, the taking a chance on an idea and not looking back. He was a producer, or engineer, that worked to bring out the unique character of the bands he was working with. No matter how big his “brand name” as a producer got, he was always about tailoring his approach to what was good, and special, and non-repeatable about the band right in front of him.

The “no repeat” rule is a tough rule because it means that no band, however well put together, gets a second bite at the apple. Makes you wonder what a Rock N Roll Rumble All Stars would look like. You know, like a Real World/Road Rules Challenge? But that would be a whole other enchilada. Tough or not, the “no repeat” is a good rule that guarantees that each Rumble is a snapshot of a special moment in time, which you can cherish in memory, but never get back again.

That’s how life moves and time flows: forward.

Other Brother Darryl

Hats off to Other Brother Darryl. It’s possible that they rolled with the same setlist for the entire competition, and why not? Don’t fix what isn’t broken. They will be remembered as rocking the best vocal harmonies in the entire Rumble.

Gut Health

Post punk, psych-slinging powerhouse Gut Health rode into the Finals at Sonia, and every other round, on the wings of a fire-breathing dragon. If the crowd thought they were ratcheting up the stage antics – toilet paper gun, hula hoops, placards, punker doll, streamers – they don’t know this band, which treats every gig like it’s Mardi Gras in Ian MacKaye’s rumpus room. Hats off to Gut Health for bringing it every night.

The Ghouls

And a final tip of the cap to The Ghouls. Why’d they win? What stood out about this band above all. Hard to say, who knows what lurks in the hearts and minds of judges.

But here’s one thought: the band from Lowell showed a lot of range in terms of mood, style, emotion, attack. A lot of bands – good ones! – do one thing really well, like expressing one particular emotional valence, at one particular volume, with one particular sonic texture or whatever. It’s hard enough to do one thing well and most bands struggle with that.

The Ghouls weren’t a jack-of-all-trades by any means – they still did their thing. But after seeing them play once, twice, and thrice, you appreciate their ability to inflect their music along a broader sonic spectrum. It’s hard to do, takes practice, intention, and is a difference maker if you do it right.

Halfcocked

Halfcocked, 1999 Rumble veterans, played us out. What’s next for Anngelle Woods, DJ at Boston Emissions and organizer of the Rock N Roll Rumble? How about a little time off? You earned it!

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