The Bollard Bulletin: August 26, 2024
Local Music Monday: Gully and the "Rich Kids"
LOCAL MUSIC MONDAY
“Some people think that pressure’s a bitch / but pressure can’t hold no gun,” Oscar Romero sings to open “Rich Kids,” and right away you know you’re in for something special. Add this track’s casually kick-ass riffs and a shout-along chorus for the ages and you’ve got one of the greatest rock songs ever recorded in Maine.
Gully’s second (and last) EP, Gregory, came out in 2010, and in retrospect it’s almost shocking how many giants of Portland’s music scene had a hand in it. The band — Romero on guitar and vocals, guitarists Greg Bazinet and Brian Houdlette, drummer Jonas Eule and bassist Stu Gurley — collaborated with the late legend Dave Noyes (Rustic Overtones, Royal Hammer, Seekonk), Candy Carlson of doom-metal merchants Ocean, Peet Chamberlain (Cult Maze, Brenda), and Ron Harrity (Harpswell Sound, Honey Clouds, An Anderson), who mastered this record. The list of groups this collective group has played in since would just be ridiculously long.
The subject of this song — poor punks trying to kindle some magic in a basement while battling boredom, sobriety, gentrification, rookie cops and other goons — certainly came to mind this month as I delved back into Portland’s history with “street gangs” for a story in the September issue. But I’ve also been waiting to get the good news of the birth of Jonas’ and Tess Van Horn’s first kid, a beautiful baby girl who arrived earlier this summer. Another rich kid? Maybe not in terms of a trust fund, but certainly as the newest member of a creative and supportive indie-rock community that continues to make miracles like this track happen.
MUSIC
Flask Lounge
“Monday of the Minds” CommUNITY Hip Hop Showcase
8 p.m., light cover (21+)
Hi-Fidelity
Open mic feat. Carand Burnet
8:20 p.m., no cover (21+)
The Porthole
Henry Lowery
6 p.m., no cover (all ages)
Portland House of Music
Gina & The Red Eye Flight Crew (funk and soul)
9:30 p.m., $12-$15 (21+)
Portland Lobster Co.
The Josh Robbins Band (rock)
6:30 p.m., no cover (all ages)