Mass. Hysteria

Rocking steady in Brookline and beyond

Boston Globe, June 26, 2003

By JAMES REED
World Beat


Minutes before a rehearsal on a recent sticky Sunday, members of the local reggae/ska band Mass. Hysteria are still rubbing their eyes and a little sleepy. It’s just past noon, and as they descend into drummer Eli Kessler’s basement, his mother has words of advice.”Watch out down there,” she says with equal parts sincerity and jest.

The warning is justified. Heavy amplifiers and guitars sit in random spots, posters of local bands such as the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and vintage album covers dangle from the walls, and today everyone has an opinion on Kessler’s new haircut from shaggy to short. “Eli, I’m disappointed in you. You cut your hair, man,” says guitarist/vocalist Alex Stern in mock alarm.

When lead vocalist Rachel Elliot hurries down the stairs and grabs a tambourine, her petit diamond nose ring twinkling in the lights, the band opens with a robust blast of Jamaican music. Chris Wrights trombone slides up and down the scales, and Stern hops from one foot to the other as he strums his guitar and calls out compliments.

They take their music seriously, especially today: Mass. Hysteria has a big gig coming up. They open for reggae legends Third World at the House of Blues Saturday night. The show arrives just in time to support Mass. Hysteria’s recent album, “Waiting for the Day,” and a new disc of sleek electronic dub reggae remixes by Victor Rice in Brazil. They signed to Primary Voltage Records, based in Cambridge, last year and have toured up and down the East Coast.

These fresh-faced musicians look barely out of their teens. At 18 and 19, respectively, bassist Danny O’Neill and Elliot are the youngest members; the rest are in their early 20s. When O’Neill noodles between songs, it’s not from Led Zeppelin but rather from “Super Mario Brothers,” the Nintendo game.

Today, though, they don’t want to talk about their youth; they want to discuss their music. “Ideally, traditional reggae and ska are the fundamental sounds that we’re built upon and on which we incorporate other music styles tastefully,” says Stern.

Their sound is Jamaican, but today their aesthetic is pure garage-rock chic: Dickies pants that hang on the hips, tiny ‘80s-style buttons on the guitar straps, and tufts of unkempt hair. Elliot, their lead singer, is raven-haired and tan and wears her nails long and ruby-red and her tank tops short and tight. But that doesn’t mean they copy No Doubt, the so-called saviors of Top 40 radio ska. “We can appreciate that comparison,” says Stern, “but No Doubt is not really a ska band.”

What’s most striking about this Brookline-based band is that it sounds decades older than it looks. Members have come and gone, but the band has been recording its fiery brand of old-school ska and reggae for four years. Some of the seven members are childhood pals, while others met through the small local ska scene. Trumpeter Matt Giorgio inadvertently joined the lineup after he kept showing up at the band’s shows.

Mass. Hysteria doesn’t have an acknowledged leader, but it is clear during the rehearsal that Stern and Kessler are the guiding lights. They love Jamaican music but compliment each other with different interests. Kessler listens to a lot of free jazz, and Stern is more in tune with pop-rock music. They also collaborate on song-writing and arrangements. Stern and Kessler are students at Berklee School of Music.

Generoso Fierro, general manager of WMBR radio (88.1 FM), heard talent early on, when Kessler and Stern, fans of Fierro’s Tuesday night ska program, “Bovine Ska and Roscksteady,” sent him a copy of their first album.

“I remember thinking that sounded like kids with a lot of talent, but not produced by anybody,” Fierro says. “They sounded like they were trying to make traditional ska music, but they were a little all over the place and kind of pop.”

Still, Fierro recorded the band for free in the stations professional studio and later produced the 2001 EP “No Cabaret License.” “I’m sure people give them crap for being in a ska band, when other kids their age are in rock bands or whatever,” he says, “ but I remember Alex told me when I first met him that ska makes people dance, and he thinks dancing is important.”

Wright says the band sometimes catches flak for its varied styles. ”Occasionally, we’re told that we’re too ska for the pop fans and too pop for the ska fans,” he says.

Guitarist Emeen Zarookian pipes in: “That ain’t stopping us.”
- The Boston Globe

City Newspaper
Rochester, New York
Volume 32, Number 37, June 4-10, 2003

By FRANK DE BLASE

Here’s something great, mid-tempo rocksteady for ya. Mass. Hysteria plays traditional ska with jazz leaning, in the horn department, on their new CD, Waiting For The Day. They avoid the accelerated tempo temptation, opting for a steady, sultry pump and swing. Vocalist Rachel Elliot sings smoothly and (sometimes) dramatically over the comfortable shag of the band’s deep grooves. It’s great music for dancing or just making out.
- Rochester City Newspaper

The Pipeline - the Portland/Boston Connection
By Brian Westbye

Reviews:
This month we’ve decided to focus on the music of Primary Voltage Records (for label info and links to all band sites, http://www.primaryvoltage.com). The label, based in Cambridge, MA, has assembled an impressive roster of bands from Boston and the Northeast in general. In these bleak days of horrific interchangeable-parts pop and imbecilic “punk” frauds who can’t spell or write their own songs (Hi, Avril!), and with more of the same to come in the wake of the FCC decision to jump into bed with corporate demons hungry for profits-uber allies, Primary Voltage represents a vital commodity: a final frontier for good music. Label poobah Evan Koch should be commended for releasing the music that he is. Here’s a sampler.

Waiting for the Dub
Mass. Hysteria
Primary Voltage Records
4 song CD

A reggae/ska/electronic band from Boston? This could be trouble. In the wrong hands, electronica and reggae can be malodorous indeed, and ska has been overblown to the point where any band that has ever accented double eighth notes on beat two can be categorized as such (Hi, No Doubt!).

Fortunately, the hands of Mass. Hysteria are quite capable, and the resulting aural experience is fabulous and totally original. This is not reggae for Vermont/ Jersey trustifarians with white-boy dreads and pot-befouled burlap pullovers. No, this is reggae for the intelligentsia, the martini set. It’s apparent from the opening spy-noir exploration “Dub Indigo 2” that Mass. Hysteria are channeling the first wave of British ska much more than traditional reggae, but with a reverent nod to (post) modern dub and electronica: think The Specials meeting up with The Chemical Brothers and DJ Shadow. Rachel Eliot’s vocals are spare and atmospheric, as the real calling card is the stellar remix work of Victor Rice (from Studio Rocha in Sao Paulo). But her delivery is haunting, and nicely framed by the mix.

This is a frustrating release in that it’s only two tracks and two remixes. I can’t wait for the next full-length. Stellar effort.
- Face Magazine

Local band has 'Mass.' appeal

By Josh Gordon / Correspondent
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
Through the smoky haze in the top floor of the House of Blues in Harvard Square, seven guys and a girl take the stage. The crowd below, the front few rows of which are T-shirt-clad students from Brookline High School and local colleges, cheer for their peers in Mass. Hysteria, a local reggae and ska band.
Though three of its members hail from outside of the town, the nucleus of the band, both in membership and mentality, are solidly entrenched in Brookline.
Mass. Hysteria's genesis can be traced back to 1999, when three Brookline High School students got together with designs on performing in the annual school talent show. Danny O'Neill, Eli Kessler and Rachel Eliot, all 2002 BHS graduates, prepped together for the performance.
"The funniest part about it, though," said O'Neill, "is that we never even played at the talent show," because it never happened.
Because the talent show gig never materialized, these initial jam sessions became the foundation of Mass. Hysteria.
"We just found that we really liked playing together," O'Neill said. "It turned into a serious project."
In its current incarnation, Mass. Hysteria has seven members, including the three core players: Eliot on vocals, Kessler on drums and O'Neill on the bass. However, since its early talent show days, the group's composition has changed numerous times. Other members include Emeen Zarookian on guitar, Alex Stern on guitar and vocals, Matt Giorgio at trumpet and Chris Wright on trombone.
"We've gone through about 15 members in the last few years," Stern said. One especially tumultuous time, that almost sank the band entirely, was after graduation in 2002 when many former band-mates went off to college.
"A lot of good musicians left because they had to go to college," Stern said. Particularly hard was when one of the band's guitar players, a core member of the group, left for school in Baltimore.
But Stern added that the current make-up of the band is pretty set in stone.
"Distance is no threat to this band," he said. "We're [moving ahead] at a pretty steady pace."
The former BHS students are all attending local colleges and get together every weekend to practice at Kessler's house on Eliot Street. O'Neill is entering his second year at Northeastern University, Eliot will be a sophomore at Emerson College, and Kessler and Stern are both students at the Berklee College of Music, and will enter their sophomore and senior years respectively.
"Brookline is really home base for us," said O'Neill. "Our heart is still in Brookline."
Stern added that "Brookline has been very good to us." The band has played a number of engagements in Brookline, including Senior Day last year at Emerson Park.
Even the band's name - "Mass." is short for Massachusetts - has a local flair, and Kessler praised the music department at BHS as being instrumental in their growth.
When they were just starting out, and rising through the grades at BHS, they became something of a school-wide phenomenon. They were well known for playing at all of the school's contests, such as the "Battle of the Bands," and other events.
'It was ridiculously fun," Eliot said. "All the little freshmen were like [our fans]. It was great."
O'Neill added that other students, especially younger ones, were often surprised to see a student band that was so well put together.
"The music program was really supportive of us," he said. "All the teachers were very supportive."
Since graduating, Stern, the band's self-proclaimed manager, has arranged gigs in many of the local bars and clubs, but, as Eliot noted, "not the FleetCenter." Though Stern is still in charge of booking jobs, the band's new label, Primary Voltage Records, has been helpful in selling albums and getting more press coverage.
The band's first full-length album, entitled "Waiting for the Day," was just released under the Primary Voltage label. Musically, the band is happy with it, and the progress it has made.
"I like all our newest songs the best," said Stern, who writes most of the lyrics. "My favorites are the reggae ones. We just did a better job recording those. We were a band that was ready to record reggae songs."
And geographically, they've been branching out from their safe zone in the greater Boston area. On Aug. 17, Mass. Hysteria will head south for a week-long whirlwind through Washington, D.C., North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and Georgia. They will play seven cities in as many nights.
On stage, the band's dynamic smacks of kids just having a good time. Their music is complex and syncopated, foregoing the simple chords, infantile beat and "I hate my father" lyrics of so many young bands, but on stage they are a little reserved. During their Aug. 2 concert at the House of Blues in Cambridge, there was no rock star-like showboating on stage, no yelling or silly antics, just a solid band tha - The Brookline Tab [CNC Newspapers]

SYRACUSE NEW TIMES

The passive, drifty tunes from emo trio The Hero Pattern segued like water into the smoky, reggae/two-tone of Boston's Mass Hysteria. Frontwoman Rachel Eliot lent the octet a striking No Doubt flavor, coming across like a humbler, less fashion-retarded Gwen Stefani. Still, Mass Hysteria's style leans more toward the late Moon Ska Records than it does to MTV.
- Syracuse New Times

Mass Hysteria -- Waiting For the Day (Primary Voltage)

This Boston band is not your average traditional ska/reggae band their style melds ska with a number of other types of music such as rock n roll. There is also a heavy Latin style found in a lot of their songs which is found in the power of the rhythm section. The album opens up with "Please Please Please" the song starts off with a interesting 10 second guitar part and then the rest of the rhythm section kicks in. This catchy number features dualing vocals of Alex Stern (rhythm guitar, vocals) and Rachel Eliot (alto sax, vocals). Their voices work good alone and together, creating finely tuned harmonies. "Overboard" opens up with a powerful horn line supplied by Rachel, Matt Giorgio (trumpet), Chris Wright (trombone), and Sam (alto sax, also lead vocals/backing vocals). Jeffrey Pierce from Westbound Train plays keyboards on this album and this case he demonstrates his stuff on this mid tempo number. The next track MH busts out old school reggae during "Tension" and Jake (lead guitar) and Alex play some interesting guitar parts on this track. The bass definately blazes in this song thanks to some excellent playing done by Danny O'Neil. Also the heavy hand percussion on the track is done by Damien Ariaga. Mass Hysteria is really hard to classify in some cases you could call them a traditional ska band but they have a lot of interesting breakdowns and bridges that are in the same vein of the Rolling Stones. Their singing style is also very interesting their harmonies are really strong. Rachael, who does most of the singing, has a very powerful voice the only band that comes even close to somewhat catergorizing her style would be a more reggae influenced Radiation Kings.
MH busts out reggae riddim on "Lupercallia" which begins with some strong drum fills by Eli Kessler. Eli drives MH throughout this album he is a very powerful drummer and it shows throughout the album. He goes into all different styles and he shines on bridges where he can mix it up, but is able to lay the reggae beat perfectly. Alex busts out a smooth 60's styled guitar solo on this track as well. "I Beg, I Plead" has MH busting out the Latin rhythm the song has a very fast pasted rhythm to it as well. The dualing vocals on this track really make it stand out and this is my favorite track on the album. The keyboard play accented notes which follows the melody line and the harmonies on this song are amazing. "Close to Home" begins with hand drums and is greeted by the booming bassline. The vocals on this song have a very soulful sound to them another the lyrics seem to be a sad hopeless love song. Eli keeps the beat with some varied flavor of drum rolls and fills on the beginning of "MCW" which sounds amazing with Rachael and Alex's voices hovering above. The horns supply powerful moments in the song filling any open spaces in the song. They have a few min solos in this song. I must say the Matt and Chris are two of the most loudest horn players I have seen. After seeing them place twice each club full of people they did not need mics but they could blast a horn solo whenver and always played at the perfect volume.
The album ends on the slow grooving untitled number the horns play a slow melody below Rachel's powerful full voice. The lead guitar parts really stand out on this number a lot. I wish more bands would put a fraction into writing songs as much as it seems MH puts into theres. I think what I like most about this band is how varied their songs and their execution is great but I am amazed at their songwriting the most. So if you want to hear what Boston has to offer these days besides Westbound Train, then you need to hear this band.
- DCska.com

Ska has always seemed as a transient genre. With very few bands ever reaching a mass audience, the typical ska band has been frowned upon by critics and audiences as a muted or ‘joke’ style that only a few bands have ever truly succeeded in. Very rarely does an album combine a dazzling emphasis on reggae rhythms, tight vocals, jazzy turns and ska-core beats so well.

This female fronted band has a strong force of punchy verses laden with love inspired lyrics that bounce along poppy chords. The brass section delivers a dose of cheeky yet incredibly sharp sounds over the tight bass lines and jazz melodies. There is a feel that if bands such as No Doubt and British favourites Two Day Rule didn’t offer the same brilliance of vocal delivery as Mass. Hysteria, they’d break the U.K far sooner. Albeit, this is their first album and things are looking rosy for the American septet.

The album increases in composure the more you consume. Opening with the sensational trio of ‘Please, Please, Please’, ‘Overboard’ and ‘Tension’, the album quickly jumps into the mellow pace of the bands Jamaican influences. Rachel Eliot’s vocals are broad and exquisite at the same time, offering a range that is delivered superbly throughout the album. Holding songs on a cusp of the vocals is the focal point of the band, but the music is inspiring as the chilled grooves wash away the day’s tension.

Mass. Hysteria will surely be delighted with such a blissfully exquisite album and so will their fans. ‘If I Ran Away’ has everything the band is renowned for. It’s a spiralling and dynamic fusion of brass and bass flowing under the quality of vocals and progressive sound which is present throughout the album. ‘Lupercalia’ is a mellow and incredibly smooth song that entices the feel good factor of this album to emerge once again. Reminiscent of No Doubt’s early glory days, Mass. Hysteria play softer records that are incredibly chilled ska anthems for easy listening. Although not boasting a perfect album with songs like ‘Close To Home’ and ‘Picture Perfect’ weighing down the latter part of the record, it’s recovered by the strong presence of ‘I Beg, I Plead, and the superb final untitled track. Another low point is that the band seems to function on a similar plain throughout the course of the album. If they had shaken it up a bit more with a few rockier or poppier tracks it would have made for a more diverse record.

Mass. Hysteria may not have reached the bright lights of the major league just yet, but with a quality display of musicianship and catchy beats, they should not be far from it with this album. Each song is different from the last. This record is a plus point for the band in a fledging career. Fans of tropical, free-flowing ska will love this album.

Standout Tracks: ‘I Beg, I Plead’, ‘If I Ran Away’, ‘Lupercalia’ & ‘Please, Please, Please’
Added: March 27th 2004
Reviewer: Mike Facey
Score:
- State of Emergency E-Zine [UK]

Mass. Hysteria: Mistress and Men
By James Reed, Globe Correspondent :: June 4, 2004
The Boston Globe

Mass. Hysteria, a reggae/ska band based in Brookline, is a ll about the power of two; in this case, it’s the stunning difference of two years since the band’s debut, “Waiting for the Day.” On “Mistress and Men,” the eight-member group fine-tunes everything that was great about that first album: up-tempo reggae, a good balance between vocals and instruments, and impressive pacing. Singer Rachel Eliot, in particular, has come a long way. Her vocals sound confident and throaty, much like you’d expect if Gwen Stefani collided with Linda Perry. Don’t take the No Doubt comparison too seriously, though. Mass. Hysteria makes heartfelt ska and reggae true to the music’s 1960’s roots, while still putting their stamp on it with garage-rock guitar riffs and offbeat lyrics. (When’s the last time you heard a reggae song allude to Billie Holiday and Ernest Hemingway?) On “Smear Campaign,” a strong contender for alternative-rock radio, the band’s Berklee College of Music pedigree shines in the rock-tinged arrangements. And “Zombie in Memphis” is a fleeting juggernaut of stray trumpet blares and horror-flick screams. It’s the type of song that would suit a high school prom night from the 1950s… if it took place in a John Waters film.
- The Boston Globe