Permafrosted

Plus, why the Tremont Brewery rocks

by Brett Milano

It can't be easy being friends with Permafrost (formerly Miles Dethmuffen) singer/guitarist Ad Frank. If you have an argument, there's always the possibility that he'll write a witty, scathing pop song about you.

"I used to get really paranoid about that," notes singer/bassist Linda Bean P. "I don't worry about it myself -- but then, I'm safe because I still sleep with him," adds guitarist Kevin Coombs (yes, he's kidding).

"I think they keep pissing me off on purpose so I'll have something to write about," Frank deadpans from across the table during an interview with his bandmates at the Middle East (drummer Adam Goodwin completes the line-up). "I used to hide the meanings of songs more, not to play it safer but to be cutesy and clever. I don't have the energy for that anymore. There are plenty of things in my life that go right, but I don't seem able to make a good song out of that. Whenever I come in trying to write about something positive, the other three start looking at me funny. Besides, it's not easy to write positive songs unless you're Van Morrison."

I point out that Van the Man is known as a notorious crank off stage. "That's exactly it," Frank says. "My problem is that I'm too damn cheerful."

A promising band for something like a decade (they'll admit under pressure that they were playing gigs back in the late '80s), Permafrost hit their stride on In Harm's Way, which was released this month on the Los Angeles-based Emperor Norton label. It's the most commercial-sounding collection of tunes they've released, and that's a compliment: the abrasive side of their two previous releases (last year's Permafrost EP on Summerville, and the album Clutter on Rainbow Quartz) is toned down a bit to let the hooks and harmonies come upfront. Better use is made of the two lead singers, with Bean P.'s sweeter tones played against Frank's rougher side. Guitars are still loud enough to give the songs an edge, but the overall sound has a warmth and confidence that they've only hinted at before.

"That's because we had the songs arranged before we got into the studio, so we could ask each other `What the hell did you play that for?' before it came time to record," Coombs notes. Frank adds, "Our producer [Rich Costey, of Apples in Stereo fame] saw us as what we are, which is a new-wave band. When I think of new wave I think of guitar bands -- the Smiths, Echo & the Bunnymen, Television."

The accessible approach extends to the new name, which they'd been planning for a long while -- "Miles Dethmuffen" was getting embarrassing. "I'm a lot happier now when anyone asks me the name of my band," Bean P. admits. "The name grew from a love-hate thing into a hate-hate thing," Frank explains. "We were under the impression that we had a local following who'd be upset if we changed it. We got over that one."

Most of the songs on the album fall into two lyrical camps, nice and nasty. The "nice" mode involves paying tribute to the band's heroes. True to its title, "Kurt Kokasik" sounds like a cross between the Cars and Nirvana -- the title combines the names of those bands' frontmen. "Johnny Marr" and "Mary Lou a-Buskin' " are the most straightforward songs I've heard about loving a specific artist since the old Juliana Hatfield/Blake Babies tune "Nirvana." "Johnny Marr" praises the Smiths' guitarist for being "the tsar of everything that rocks." The other one airs a fantasy that must be common around these parts -- seeing Mary Lou Lord play on the subway, rescuing her from the clutches of some drunk guy. It's set to the kind of sunny acoustic tune that one might hear Lord play at Park Street Station.

In the "nasty" mode, the band treat betrayals by former friends and lovers with some of the brightest and catchiest melodies on the disc. An ex gets raked over the coals on "Goodbye My Avalanche" ("I'm glad I had to fuck you/If that's what it takes/To find out what a fake you are" -- any questions?). Broken friendships are the topics of the toothsome "We Are Not Friends Anymore" and "Happy Birthday to a Friend to Whom I'm No Longer Speaking." "Sequin in Your Dress" brings some sarcasm into the bargain, throwing mock adoration at a woman who left her intimates for the lure of the limelight.

Pressed for details, Frank lets on that "We Are Not Friends Anymore" is about "a certain entertainment lawyer we had a bad time with" and the rest are fairly autobiographical. "Most of them are really about the same person," he concludes, "and she's going to be so pissed when she hears this album."

ROCK & ROLL BREWERY

It's nothing new to walk into a room and find a bunch of local-rock-scene figures gathered around beer. But in this case, the musicians aren't drinking beer; they're making it. The location is the Tremont Brewery in Charlestown, most of whose staff has some rock-scene connection. In fact, the brewery's personnel would make a killer rhythm section. Its co-founder is Alex Revliotty, former drummer of Institute of Technology. The head brewer is Jeff Biegert, former Think Tree and current Max drummer. Gravel Pit drummer Pete Caldes runs the bottling line; ex-Mindgrinder bassist Diane Bergamasco is the sales rep. And most of the other half-dozen employees look familiar from crowded rooms at the Middle East.

The brewery will be the scene of a major rock splurge this Saturday, with 10 bands playing over nine hours beginning at noon (see "8 Days a Week," on page 4, for details). On the bill are local headliners the Amazing Royal Crowns, Quintaine Americana, Count Zero, and Boy Wonder, as well as an eclectic support cast including Jayuya, Wooden Leg, Shirim Klezmer, acoustic rocker Todd Thibaud, and the demented circus outfit Jumbo. And this is one party where you won't have to worry about the taps running dry: the brewery -- whose beer is currently carried only in the Boston area -- cranks out about 250 kegs per week.

How did so many musicians wind up working at the same brewery? "It seemed like a natural progression for me -- where there's music there's beer," Biegert explains during my visit. "I got into beer when Think Tree was doing a tour in Europe, I wound up taking an apprenticeship when I got home and gradually became more serious. I'd been getting into electronic drums, building hardware, so it was a similar kind of physical activity."

Sales rep Bergamasco hasn't been seen much in the local clubs lately, though she was a recognizable face during her days with Mindgrinder and Busted Statues. Before laying her bass down two years ago, she had a close brush with the big time: she got flown to Seattle to audition for Hole and apparently came close to landing the gig (which ultimately went to Melissa Auf der Maur). It wasn't your usual audition, she notes; the first question Courtney Love asked her (via an office go-between) was whether she had large bones or not.

In Seattle she spent three days playing with guitarist Eric Erlandson and drummer Patty Schemel, both of whom noticed that Bergamasco bore a physical resemblance to Hole's former bassist, Kristen Pfaff. "Maybe that's why I didn't get the gig, they seemed a little weirded out. Or it could just be that my bones weren't big enough."

Meanwhile, working in a rock-and-roll brewery has its advantages: this year the Tremont's house band took part in a local "Battle of the Brewery Bands," playing against three other brewery-based outfits. Following a competitor's set of "Mustang Sally" and other standard oldies, the Tremont folks took the stage, played an entire set of Big Black covers, and won. The beer business is apparently hipper than some might suspect.

SINGLE OF THE WEEK

Making creative use of the seven-inch medium are three friends who got together to play on each other's tunes. The Greg Jacobs Rock Band, the Paula Kelley Rock Band, and the Pete Weiss Rock Band are all pretty much the same rock band switching instruments around for three songs on one single (on Rhubarb). Normally the leader of Weeping in Fits & Starts, Jacobs contributes the hit of the set with a bit of advice for local musicians looking for some career security: "Get In with the Deadheads" ("You can tour with Dave Matthews. . . . It's like striking an oil well. . . . All you need is sex, drugs, and more drugs"). The song's not especially gracious, but it is funny. Kelly lays the louder side of her usual band, Boy Wonder, aside for "5:01," a charming and old-fashioned slow dance. And Weiss's track features the quirky time changes that are usual for him, and a rockabilly flavor that isn't.

COMING UP

The fab Halifax pop band Super Friendz play at T.T. the Bear's Place tonight (Thursday) with our own Syrup USA. The Misfits' reunion (with New York hooligans D Generation) is at the Middle East, Boy Wonder hit the Attic in Newton, and Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys are up from Louisiana to play Johnny D's . . . Tomorrow (Friday) finds Southern popsters the Drag at Bill's Bar, Ben Harper at the Paradise, the Johnny Black Trio at Mama Kin, Weeping in Fits & Starts at Club Bohemia, and Slughog upstairs at the Middle East . . . Gravel Pit are at T.T.'s on Saturday, Peter Prescott's new Peer Group open for Speedball Baby at the Middle East, and Victory at Sea are at O'Brien's . . . The funky Wild Magnolias from New Orleans are at the House of Blues and Birdsongs of the Mesozoic make a rare appearance at the Middle East on Sunday . . . New York heartthrobs Cake Like are at the Middle East Monday; the Grey Eye Glances continue a Monday residency at the Kendall Cafe . . . And Elixir play T.T.'s on Wednesday.