Mean Creek

"There’s something about Mean Creek’s seductively unapologetic pop punk that makes you nostalgic for the rock and roll you listened to as a kid, the songs that made up the soundtrack to warm summer days spent with friends listening to tunes on the back porch or the front stoop of your childhood home. Their gritty sound harks back to bands of decades past, filled with chord progressions and guitar riffs that would be at home on albums by Sugar, Big Star, Bruce Springsteen or even, on occasion, Nick Cave." - IFC

"Mean Creek’s music contains zero bull shit, zero gimmicks, and zero bad songs. Feeding off the acclaim of 2012's Youth Companion, Mean Creek’s first release of 2013 is an excellent tease. The three song demo tape (Limited run of 100) for Record Store Day has two new originals and a fabulous cover of The Replacements “Left Of The Dial”. If these demo’s are any indication, it’s looking like Youth Companion may have been the real tease, as Mean Creek’s ceiling continues to rise." - The Unexcused

"...an innovative midway between garage and grunge, and shows exciting things for the near future of the band..." - Allston Pudding - Allston Pudding

“Perhaps the most anticipated Boston record this fall, Youth Companion delivers on the passionate heart-on-sleeve promise the quartet offer each night on stage.” -The Boston Phoenix - Boston Phoenix

"...However, this night was unique in that an unknown band stole the show. That band was Mean Creek." It's EXTREMELY rare for an unknown opener to have the impact that this four-piece outfit from Boston had on me, but I will not soon forget their set. Their sound is that warm center connecting late 80's post-punk with early 90's alt-pop; the grungy aggro-pop of The Replacements, early Gin Blossoms, and The Lemonheads. Lead vocalist Chris Keene weaves in and out of early goth-punk Robert Smith warble to the earnest class of The Arcade Fire's Win Butler. Lead guitarist and auxiliary vocalist Aurore Ounjian channels Juliana Hatfield in her prime and delivers licks that range from jarring Pixies-esque to the haunting tones is early Interpol all with the emotive pop sensibility of The Cranberries or a Mark Mulcahy project. And her vocals range from perfectly sweet harmonies to a Black Francis wail. Add to that an impressive rhythm section in bassist Erik Wormwood and drummer Mikey Holland and you have all the elements of, not only, an incendiary performance, but, also, the kind of band that NEEDS to exist. This is a band, that if they continue to follow the trajectory they are currently on, that I hope for success--almost selfishly--because I want to hear their music for years to come. I think you will too. Look for them online. Buy some. Listen. Share. Both you and they will be glad you did.
- Metro Jacksonville by: Paul Chapman

“Young & Wild’ is a song that is both romantic and reminiscent. And it calls on the grandeur of Springsteen and the rebellion of the Replacements. Here’s to hoping they’re no longer the Northeast’s best kept secret.” - FILTER Magazine - FILTER

"Boston's indie-rock outfit, Mean Creek, really knows how to pump up the epicness in their music as shown in their new single, "The Comedian". Coming out on a two song 7", "The Comedian" single showcases the raw power behind their musical capabilities while singer Chris Keene's vocals sound like a pleading holler." - FILTER MAGAZINE - FILTER MAGAZINE

“Youth Companion is indeed the perfect soundtrack to your nostalgic youth, covering almost every facet of growing up and discovering who you are. It starts with naiveté, longing and learning, but ends with the same heartache and bitterness many of us experience at some point towards the end of our innocence.” - Gabrielle Ahern, CMJ - CMJ

"Mean Creek commence a sharp blend of country-core." - Michael Marotta, SPIN MAGAZINE - SPIN MAGAZINE

“Last month we debuted the first single from Boston indie rock quintet Mean Creek. Now the upstart group have an official video to share with you all for the '90s-esque "Light Into Dark." In the slick montage, shots of the band playing live are interspersed alongside meticulous birthday cake making from vocalist/guitarist Chris Keene. I won't spoil the ending but I'll say this: it gets a tad messy. Baking has never been cooler.”
- Under The Radar Magazine - UNDER THE RADAR MAGAZINE

"Mean Creek's Chris Keene and Aurore Ounjian hail from Boston so the fact that they graft boy / girl vocals over music that would have easily fit on the 4AD record label is hardly surprising. And it's when the group is in "epic" mode that they are most successful. Their new album The Sky (or the Underground) is full of tunes that fill that category. When the vocal breakers hit the shores on "Face of the Earth" we want to body surf between those lines. And when the album's highlight, the questing "Beg & Plead" soars and then dives amidst layers of seaweed (and we mean that both metaphorically and in reference to the band of the same name) the caterwauling guitars dive right back upward along Keene and Ounjian's intertwined pleas. It's nice to hear a band reaching upward without resorting to overwrought cliches." - CHICAGOIST - CHICAGOIST.COM

"An understated, lyrically complex, genre filled triumph."
- Peter Cornish-Barlow, LIVE4EVER.UK.COM - LIVE 4 EVER (UK)

WEEKLY DIG
"It's tough to catch your breath after listening to Mean Creek. The band's first release since 2009's The Sky (Or the Underground), this small offering delivers a taste of what's to come, and it promises to be awash with powerful vocals, swirling guitars and hard-driving rhythms. "The Comedian" builds from a slowly picked intro into a heavy, distorted chorus. Lead singer Chris Keene's vocals are edgy, like a barely harnessed scream that can't wait to get out. B-side "Liar/Thief" is an anthem, with spacey verses and reverb-soaked vocals driving the song toward a true chorus. Mean Creek put the focus on their rich lyrical canvas and strong inter-band dynamics, as they swell and flow through these tracks as a coherent group. It's less mean than it is complex, contemplative and immensely well produced."
- Dan Rys - WEEKLY DIG

MY OLD KENTUCKY BLOG
"The feedback-drenched breaks and monolithic chorus are sure to have fans of My Morning Jacket doing somersaults. If there’s more where The Comedian came from, folks as far away as Contoocook are liable to be singing the praises of Mean Creek before long."
- MY OLD KENTUCKY BLOG

THE BOSTON PHOENIX
VOTED "BEST BOSTON ACT" BY THE PHOENIX READERS IN THEIR 2010 BEST MUSIC POLL
"Mean Creek flood small rooms with a sound large enough to drown stadiums: monumental, rolling guitars, a driving, subterranean rhythm section, and a visceral impact like a shot to the gut. Their new tracks are their most involving to date. It is that Cobain-evoking scream on "The Comedian" and the discordant guitar dive in the solo from "Liar/Thief" that place Mean Creek among their grungier forebears of decades past while reserving for them a relevant spot among the new."
- P. Nick Curran - THE BOSTON PHOENIX - "Best Boston Act"

"Mean Creek is not merely a great Boston Band; they're a really great band period. Everyone outside the 617 should be warned Boston has birthed it's next prodigious band. Be prepared."
- Jay Sweet, PASTE MAGAZINE - PASTE MAGAZINE (1) - "Sweet Talk"

Mean Creek - "Best Of What's Next" Interview/Feature - PASTE MAGAZINE (2) - "Best Of What's Next"

“The Sky (or the Underground)’’ is destined to be one of the best releases of the year. It’s an album of pathos and heartbreak, of big questions about life and mortality that go largely unanswered and unresolved. The title track, for instance, can be heard as a meditation on the order of things both natural and cosmic; hope and futility bundled into a four-minute format."
- Jonathan Perry, THE BOSTON GLOBE
- THE BOSTON GLOBE

"One of the big 10 bands you must hear right now!" - Paul Robicheau, Improper Bostonian - Improper Bostonian

Winner for "New Act of the Year" @ 2009 Boston Music Awards - Boston Music Awards

"A melodic tour de force" - The Boston Herald - The Boston Herald

"Let’s hope the rest of the country discovers what those crowds in Boston already know: Mean Creek is the genuine article."
- Matthew Fiander, POPMATTERS.COM - POPMATTERS.COM