Allston rocks!

And a new CD proves it

by Brett Milano

Only in Allston would something like this happen: a long-haired guy walks into a deserted working-class bar, says, "Hey, let me book some bands in here and see what happens," and the bartender says, "Okay." Soon the place is packed on a weekly basis and a new rock venue is born.

That's more or less how O'Brien's became Allston's best, and currently only, underground rock venue. Located just on the edge of upper and lower Allston (at the intersection of Harvard Avenue and Cambridge Street), O'Brien's is the kind of place where rock has always flourished in this area -- to put it bluntly, a dive. Which suited Tim Catz, who now books the club and also plays bass for Roadsaw, just fine. He's lived in Allston for 13 years, long enough to remember the days when you could hit Bunratty's (later the club was called Local 186), Molly's, Johnny D's (no relation to the Davis Square club), and Streets in one extended stumble. And that's long enough for him to get cranky about the more upscale hangouts that those clubs have all turned into (respectively, they're now the Wonder Bar, the Kells, Common Ground, and a flower shop).

"Those places are too collegiate for me," he says. "What I missed were the days when you could see bands like the Five, Uzi, and Black Cat Bone; Johnny D's was my favorite club back then. After Local 186 closed, it was the first time I can remember when there was no place to hang out." Since it stared booking music last year, O'Brien's has filled some of the void. It now has music Thursdays through Saturdays weekly, and the number of band members and other bohos who live in Allston has proved sufficient to provide a steady clientele -- especially since it doesn't take much to fill the place. "If a band can bring in 100 people, then we're packed," Catz notes.

This week sees the release of Allston Rock City (Curve of the Earth), a compilation CD with 19 bands who have played the club, about half of whom are making their disc debuts. Aside from giving Catz a chance to gloat (his liner notes include snide remarks about the Kells and the Wonder Bar), the CD introduces a bunch of bands who could make waves in years to come.

About half the disc is devoted to big, loud rock (with big local names like Quintaine Americana, Slughog, Roadsaw, and 6L6), but some of the best tracks come from left field. Babaloo and Elbow are respectively a garage-salsa outfit and a rough blues band in the Fat Possum-label vein. Dave Steele's post-Orangutang band Cherry 2000 include a track from last month's Phoenix "Demo Derby"-winning tape. On the experimental edge are Juneau, an instrumental band including former Spore guitarist Marc Orleans; further on that edge is Michael Mancini (whose track, recorded entirely backwards, is the one you'll probably skip over). Other personal faves: Verago-go, with a track not on their CD, and Max doing one of their psychedelic homages. And an obvious pick to click, especially if you still miss Malachite, are 3 1/2 Girls, doing spunky and snotty punk-metal with over-the-top, doom-obsessed lyrics. (They play O'Brien's tonight, Thursday, with a full CD due next month.)

What do the bands on the disc have in common? "About three-quarters of them hang out at the club, and they've all played there," Catz notes. "And a lot of them are pretty hard-drinking bands. When bands play, they get the door and they get to drink for free; the club keeps the bar profits. A lot of the people there drink a lot, actually; it's got that kind of vibe. Nobody drinks cocktails; it's all shots and beers."

The biggest band to hit O'Brien's so far would probably be a tie between Sam Black Church, who played last year to break in some new material, and the Upper Crust, who last month played their only local gig in the past year (neither is on the CD). The most bizarre night would have to be a party thrown last year by the fanzine Ugly Mug, which brought some drag queens into the club.

"The funny thing is that they showed up at soundcheck in full dress and a lot of the people that hang out at the bar were there: carpenters and working people," Catz notes. "They didn't know what was going on, but they started thinking that the drag queens were looking pretty good."

CHRISTIAN GILBERT

So you're the guitarist of two prominent local bands, both of a dark and shadowy persuasion. What do you do to commemorate the occasion when you wind up celebrating your birthday on stage?

"Good question; I don't think we'll be kicking into `Happy Birthday to You,' says Christian Gilbert, a guitarist who's attracted more to the idea of ritual and ceremony than to fun and pop. He'll be playing at the Paradise with both his bands -- One of Us and Opium Den -- next Thursday, the 27th, the night of his 30th birthday.

The show is notable for another reason: it may be the last chance to see Opium Den, whose future looks uncertain at this point. Founded around the start of the decade and fronted by magnetic singer Annette Kramer, the group anticipated the dark-pop trend by a few years, showing a better sense of melody and dynamics than most bands on the goth circuit. Their two CDs came close to getting a national following, but apparently not close enough. Most of the members now play in other bands, and drummer Mike Demma has moved to Las Vegas, so getting together to play is becoming more of a problem.

"This will probably be the last show," Gilbert admits. "I guess we're not very connected now, but we'll do a gig whenever we're in the same place and there's a club that will have us. This might at least be the last chance to see us when we're this good, though."

They've had most of a third album in the can for more than a year now, and it still may see release if they can find a taker. "It's a bit more rocking, less moody, more diverse than what we've done before. One problem we had is that we always sounded like one kind of music meeting the other kind of music, and it wound up being neither. Opium Den used to have a manager who said that we needed to become poppier, or else become better musicians like Dead Can Dance."

One might say that Opium Den did the former while One of Us did the latter. And Gilbert is casting his lot with the latter band, whose debut CD, Sky Clad, hit the streets last year. Perhaps the most striking difference between the two bands is their singers. Opium Den's Kramer prefers to retreat into the shadows; One of Us's John Eye is more out front and theatrical.

"To me the bands are similar because the drummers aren't straightforward, and they're both pretty Middle Eastern-sounding," Gilbert offers. "And they're both into metaphysical lyrics, probably on the melancholy side." As for Eye's stage persona: "He saw a lot of theater when he was younger and he was raised half his life on a Native American plantation; they were Wampanoags. So he's got some mythology there he needs to communicate."

MUSES BREAK-UP?

Following a surprising appearance last month at the Middle East -- a semi-plugged show with many audience requests and obscure album tracks from the early days -- Throwing Muses are going on indefinite hiatus. According to a statement posted on the band's Web site last week, "The Muses have scraped by for a long time doing something they love, for and with people they love. The time has come however to take a break and explore other options . . . Please don't think the Muses are `breaking up' per se; it's important to all of them that you know they'd do this for free if they could, but that's a big `if.' "

Kristin Hersh is now starting work on her second solo album. The Rykodisc/Throwing Music reissue of the first Muses album, with bonus tracks, has been delayed until next spring.

RIP BOBBY CHOUINARD

Condolences go to friends and family of Bobby Chouinard, the ace Boston drummer who died of a heart attack two weeks ago. Lately based in New York, Chouinard had a stellar reputation among local players. An original member of the long-running club band Duke & the Drivers, he went on to join Billy Squier's band and to play on most of his hits. Later he did a few handfuls of high-profile sessions, including a stint with Peter Wolf, playing on the album Come As You Are.

COMING UP

It's release-party time with the Gigolo Aunts at Bill's Bar tonight (Thursday). The folks at Lollipop mag present a showcase at the Rat with Hi Fi & the Roadburners, 6L6 are at Mama Kin, Chevy Heston play their last pre-tour gig at T.T. the Bear's with I am Japan (with Todd Phillips, of Juliana Hatfield/Bullet La Volta fame), and the Sterlings and Rhino are at the Middle East . . . A pair of greats hit town on Friday: Robyn Hitchcock comes into T.T.'s for the first of two nights, and Bob Mould plays acoustic at the Paradise. J. Geils and Magic Dick do the Bluestime thing at Johnny D's, Slughog are at the Middle East, Ramona Silver plays the Attic in Newton, the Irresponsibles are at the Linwood, the Mudhens and the Rustic Overtones are at Mama Kin, the Love Dogs are at the House of Blues, and Susan Tedeschi plays Harpers Ferry . . . A night of majestic mentalness will see Johnny & the Jumper Cables playing a reunion show at the Linwood Grill on Saturday. The Nines and Throbbing Lobsters (playing an all-Bags set!) will also be aboard. Turkish Delight play one of their last pre-break-up shows at the Middle East; Superfly are at the Attic, el Dopa are at the Rat, and the Royal Crown Revue begins two nights at the House of Blues . . . Pansy Division play T.T.'s on Tuesday, and Xixxo are at Mama Kin.