About Me
Press:
"a well-oiled, dark Americana/gospel/klezmer/polka (yeah, polka) machine that kills fascists and doesn’t need no stinking niche." - The Boston Phoenix
"a hidden gem of the Boston folk driven rock music scene" - Today's Country Magazine
"This celebration of folk and barrelhouse songwriting is a specialty and there are so few bands in Boston that pull it off with as much fun and honesty as these people do..." - Joel Simches, The Noise Boston
"...Wielding an arsenal of ferociously catchy made-for-drinking tunes fixed in Americana and gospel, yet delivered with punk vigor." - Barre Thompson, Boston's Weekly Dig
"Thetford’s gypsy outlaws compose a multigenre maelstrom that threatens to hijack Boston airwaves... Shape-shifting through ’60s surf, jukebox hand jive and Delta blues, the band’s versatile bards mine a century of iconic sounds." - Vermont's 7 Days
...love us....hate us...
"Pariah Beat turns swing, jazz, zydeco and bluegrass upside down, into a concoction of inebriated fun, hearty emotions and salt of the earth freshness. They take traditional accompaniments and make rowdy, down home fun out of them" - Bootleg Magazine, Wilmington, NC
"...Pariah Beat creates down and dirty party music that seems destined for the sole, but noble, purpose of fun." - Julie Bolcer, New Now Next
"If you mix punk rock guitar with gypsy-folk rock sensibilities (adding a squeezebox and fiddle) and a hell of a lot of ingenuity you get PARIAH BEAT. This group of story-tellers, formerly of Vermont, now call Jamaica Plains their home. This band is rocking to rave reviews and impressing audiences all around. This is a perfect case of old meets new meets Punk Rock. Awesome!" - Ryan's Smashing Life (Boston Blog)
"I first heard about them [Pariah Beat] because someone told me they sound a lot like my band, Three Day Threshold. I disagree, they are much better. They remind me of one of my other favorite local eclectic acts, Reverend Glasseye. There is so much energy and talent in Pariah Beat. Throw in a boatload of eclectic instruments, big sing-a-long choruses and multi vocalists who can nail their harmonies, you get songs have more hooks than my grand daddy’s tackle box. Expect these lads to invade the Boston music scene with a vengeance soon!" - Kier Byrnes (of Three Day Threshold), Spare Change
"Pariah Beat are storytellers in the same vein as Tom Waits, The Denver Gentlemen, Beat Circus, Three Day Threshold, and World Inferno Friendship Society. This celebration of folk and barrelhouse songwriting is a specialty and there are so few bands in Boston that pull it off with as much fun and honesty as these people do..." - Joel Simches, The Noise Boston
"The beat is an inventive, traditional band that smashes all traditions." - Main Street Museum, WRJ
"'Pariah Beat Radio' is a lively stew of Americana, punk, sacred harp, western swing, beat poetry, crusty blues and eastern European klezmer music. Really — it’s all in there. If Borat had inherited Morphine from Mark Sandman, it might sound like Pariah Beat. Or cross the Clash with the Klezmatics, or imagine Dan Hicks hooked up with the politically inconvenient love child of Pharoah Sanders and Bobbi Gentry or…" - Michael Witthaus, CV Spectator
" An incredible crossing between the energy of the Pogues and the madness of the glorious
Holy Modal Rounders." - Massimo Ferro, Highway 61 Radio Voce Spazio (Italy)
"This is, without a doubt, our favorite band out there. They put on the most energetic fucking firecracker of a live show that I've ever had the privilege of seeing first hand. They make you shake and rattle and fall right down like the walls of Jericho. You feel every note in the gut. They are a fearless band. Their music is intelligent, defiant, angry, and jubilant." - Megan Jean and Byrne of the Klay Family Band (one of our favorite bands, check 'em out!)
"[Pariah Beat's music] has the virtues Huck Finn attributed to 'a barrel of odds and ends;' where 'things get mixed up, and the juice kind of swaps around, and the things go better.'" - Walter Smelt 5/15/08
"...one haircut is better than the next. The smell coming from the singer practically demands that their music not stink..." - Olfactorily Sensitive Stace, The Noise
"Rowdy, fun and full of spunk, this band is one of the bright spots on the Vermont music scene right now. Their self-described sound is "honky-punk," and indeed it is an amalgamation of Americana – jug band music and rockabilly – all played with an in-your-face punk sensibility. This is serious drinkin' music, for sure, so come ready to hoist a few pints if that's your inclination. Fans of bands like Dropkick Murphys, Gogol Bordello or The Reverend Horton Heat are bound to love Pariah Beat."
- Ed Dufresne, The Barre Montpelier Times Argus
"So, yeah, no hard feelings to the party house dudes. I guess it is a pretty well known trashy party house. " - Kimya Dawson, formerly of the Moldy Peaches, and the Juno soundtrack; in regards to Pariah Beat, and our house. True story.
Memphis, TN
"Musikalisch wandern Pariah Beat ein bißchen auf anderen Pfaden und anstatt Blues und ruhigem Folk gibt es knackigen englischen Folk-Rock, der ein bißchen an ... entschuldigung ... Sauflieder erinnert. Und das ist jetzt überhaupt nicht böse gemeint, denn da bleibt kein Fuß still und auch kein Auge trocken. Sowas macht nur Laune und Freude." - Roland Leicht, prog-rock.info
"Musically hike Pariah beat a little on other paths, and instead of calm blues and folk, there are crunchy English folk-rock, which is a bit ... Sorry ... Sauflieder recalls. And that is not meant bad, because there still remains no feet and no eye dry. Sowas only makes whim and joy." (eloquently translated by Google)
"You guys, you rock! Your my favorite band!" - Mark Vogel, Man Around Town
"Stay out of Chicago!" - angry and confused patron of rock in Wilmington, North Carolina
"We liked them even before they gave us a chocolate lava cake!" - Red Molly, true story
“Pariah Beat is a dirt-encrusted buzzsaw from the past, moving forward with the weight of a freight train behind them.†- David S. Hammond, Main St. Museum Visiting Scholar
Noam Chomsky on March 19th event/show in Montpelier: "I wish I could join you, but hopeless, I'm afraid. Hope it goes well, and has some effect."
