The Bludlows
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The Bludlows

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"Radio Stats"

Thanks for spinning The Bludlows!

Number 5 on WUVT, Blacksburg VA
Number 8 on KBEACH, Long Beach CA
Number 8 on KVCH, San Jose CA
Number 14 on WMUL, Huntington WVA
Number 17 on 3wk, St Louis internet radio
Number 18 on WFPC, rindge NH
Number 27 on WCLH, Wilkes Barre PA

Heavy-Medium rotation on:
WNTI, Hackettstown NJ
WSHL, North Easton MA
WSJU, Jamaica NY
WXUT, Toledo OH
WZMB, Greenville NC
KHNS, Haines AK
WARY, Valhalla NY
WASU, Boone NC
WLHS, Liberty Township OH
WHSN, Bangor ME
WSCW, Worcester MA
WGLS, Glassboro NJ
KMSC, Moorhead MN
WRFM, Blue Bell PA

In rotation on:
CIBL, Montreal PQ
WDCR, Hanover NH
WECX, St. Petersburg FL
WEIU, Charleston IL
WMHD, Terre Haute IN
WMUA, Amherst MA
WMTS, Murfreesboro TN
WPUB, New York NY
WRFL, Lexington KY
WRFT, Ambler PA
WRPW, Pleasantville NY
WRRG, River Grove IL
WRSU, New Brunswick NJ
WSMU, N. Dartmouth MA
WTSR, Ewing NJ
WUSB, Stony Brook NY
WWSP, Stevens Point WI
WHPK, Chicago IL
KXUL, Monroe LA
CISM, Montreal PQ
KFAI, Minneapolis MN
KBUX, Columbus OH
WUMS, University MS
KRVS, Lafayette LA
KIDE, Hoopa CA
KDHX, St Louis MO
KTCV, Kennewick WA
KAOS, Olympia WA
KGRK / KULT, Cedar Falls IA
KMSC, Moorhead MN
KUMM, Morris MN
KUNI, Cedar Falls IA
KVNF, Paonia CO
WERU, East Orland ME
WVUA, Tuscaloosa AL
WSWI, Evansville IN - Miscellaneous


"THE YEAR IN REVIEW"

Risk-takers hit all the right notes

The best
1. "American Idiot," Green Day
2. "A Ghost Is Born," Wilco
3. "Smile," Brian Wilson
4. "Sonic Nurse," Sonic Youth
5. "The Clarence Greenwood Recordings," Citizen Cope
6. "Escondida," Jolie Holland
7. "Pawn Shoppe Heart," The Von Bondies
8. "Album of the Year," the Good Life
9. "No Be an Arsonist," the Bludlows: Some days you just need to hear
sloppy, yelling, punk comedians that are as much Neil Young as they are
straight stoner rock. This is real garage rock with enough heart not to try
emulating anyone else. It's loose, it's good, and any band that does a song
about a loser called "(Expletive) Larry" has to be good. And it has easily
the best album cover of the year.

http://www.contracostatimes.com - TONY HICKS: MUSIC CRITIC


"The Bludlows' No Be an Arsonist: Reviewed"

The Bludlows
No Be An Arsonist
1,000,000 x No

Getting a bit tired of gloss and sheen? Want some past-referencing fare without the candy store kids vibe? Boston's Bludlows dish up a 70's Stones via Dream Syndicate sound that's lo-tech, loose (even sloppy), and real, and they throw in a few hard and fast punk gems as well. It's the sound of a couple of guys getting pissed, in both senses of the word, and letting the guitars and vocals rip.

The opening track, "Ben Franklin" features chaotic guitar reminiscent of Roger McGuinn's solo in "Eight Miles High" but with a decidedly trashier feel. The whole song threatens to fall apart at any moment, but in a good way. "Little Tania" is tighter and cleaner, though the fade-in is a bit disconcerting. "Hate You Cause You're Beautiful" is one of my favorite songs of the year, and the best realized song on the album. D. Hardwick weaves a simple guitar riff into an aching exploration of the characters involved, his somewhat Jaggeresque vocals nailing the complex emotions and confusion of love/hate relationships. "Baghdad" reminds me of the goofing around R.E.M. did in the early days, the kind of stuff that ended up on Dead Letter Office. The experimental "Knots" morphs into "Carmen Rojas Blues," pedal steel layered over a ballad of unrequited love. After this, the album takes on a faster rock feel, with "dumbamericans.com" and "Back to the Grind" bringing back mid-80's noisy punk. I wouldn't call these guys emo by any stretch, but emotion is key on this album.

Although, with two songs about big, scary bullies, you gotta think maybe they're hanging out in the wrong neighborhoods.

Jen Grover
http://www.toneandgroove.com - Tone and Groove


"The Bludlows Void & Action Interview"

Interview by VOID & ACTION! / March 20, 2005

THE BLUDLOWS
D. Hardwick: guitar, vocals
Andrew Burstein: guitar
Jerome Berkeley: drums
David Curtiss: pedal steel guitar on the Carmen Rojas Blues

1. Hello! WhatÕs up Boston? You are from Boston, right?
D. Hardwick: Originally south of Boston. The last few years I've probably spent more time traveling than living here though. I spent a lot of time in the South actually.
Andrew: Brookline, next town over.
2. Please give us a history of The Bludlows.
Andrew: Long ago D. Hardwick and I started playing guitars. We are now in the dissipation and litigation phase.
D. Hardwick: The band began in 1998 - we have played with different musicians since then, depending on the sound we are going for. There's horns and different guitarists on the next record.
I write the songs, bounce them off Andy and/or Mike, then bring put something together with a drummer. The soul of the band is really the rhythm and beats and how we play off each other.
3. Speaking your first album called "No Be An Arsonist", could you explain the concept behind that title?
Andrew: Fire is bad.
D. Hardwick: Yes - it was a sign in a building I used to live in the North End of Boston. The Italian family that owned it wrote in pidgeon English "fire kills and destroys - please, no be an arsonist."
They were very sensitive about fires there. One time me and this girl went on the roof and fooled around and she left her has pipe up there and the land lady discovered it and got concerned. She was afraid there was going to be a fire, and afraid we would fall off the roof - which we almost did, actually.
Later I found out that somebody HAD fallen off the roof - they were terrified it would happen again.
But yeah, there was just this writing on the wall downstairs - so just thought, what the fuck. And besides that, it is really good advice - no BE an arsonist - ever!!
4. I really think this album has the great sound of post-alternative music. Where do you think that sound came from?
Andrew: Thanks! It came from the genius of D. Hardwick's raging id.
D. Hardwick: I really don't know - we can't stand a lot of music on the radio today, and everything with us is about the moment and playing the song right now. In other words, we never play the same song the same way twice. So much of today's music is lifeless because it's all pre-configured, and everyone's one playing what they think they should rather than what's there. Playing what's there - and playing the song in the moment - that's what we're all about.
5. Who are some artists or bands that inspire you in making this album?
Andrew: Link Wray, Mickey Baker, Hubert Sumlin, but I'm not really on this album, other than helping with the sessions. I'm all over the next one.
D. Hardwick: You're on this one too - you sing back-ups on Carmen Rojas blues, and Hate You Cause You're Beautiful, and Fuckin Larry - among others. Yes, Andy played a lot of guitar on the next one - we like the two guitar thing. You can hear a snatch of the next record by going to our website www.bludlows.com . There's a bonus track called "Until Lately" which is a cover of a song by the legendary Dream Syndicate.
We like anyone that plays hard and never gives up on the song: the Butthole Surfers, Chrome, Stooges, Stones, Beatles, Hank Williams, George Jones, and Jerome likes jazz.
Jerome: At the time of making the recordings it was Bad Brains, Rolling Stones, Max Roach, Elvin Jones, Funkadelic, Albert Ayler, Gang Starr, Last Poets, Campbell Brothers, Blind Willie Johnson, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Charles Mingus.
6. This CD was recorded with famed producer Andrew Schneider at New Alliance Studios, so how did you hook up with him?
Andrew: Andrew and I were in Slughog
9. What do you think about todayÕs the Boston music scene?
Curtiss(who plays pedal steel guitar on the Carmen Rojas Blues): I like the Tamp-offs, Turpentine Brothers and I still like to see Jeff Connolly -a.k.a. Monoman - when he plays out.
Curtiss' girlfriend Amy: I hear Jeff Connolly is big in Japan.
D. Hardwick: Actually Connolly's band DMZ did a show a couple of years back here - and it sounded really good. They definitely know how to play.
And of course Mission of Burma usually sound terrific, too. They are humble guys who blow most bands literally half their age away without a shred of attitude. They're just the real deal, that's all. They were one of the originals so they have no reason to pose.
10. Andrew, you belong to some bands simultaneously now. Please explain it.
Andrew: I play drums in The Rosenbergs from NYC and guitar in Suit of Hair.
D. Hardwick: There's really no explanation for this outrageous behavior. I will say, though, that Andy is a terrific song-writer who has written great songs in Suit of Hair. In fact, when we play out, we play some of those songs.


7. What impression do you have of his work?
D. Hardwick: I haven't heard any of it, other than what he did for us - VOID & ACTION!


"Bludlows, The: Review"

--------------------Bludlows, The - No Be An Arsonist, CD

Last night? Damn. The Bludlows don't remember.

Something about getting jacked on PBR, throwing limbs and things at their guitars and recording a CD of Sticky Fingers-style burnouts.

Oh, then there was the one guy who played a pedal steel on one song that was just so, like, beautiful.

– Punk Planet
- Punk Planet


"No, You've Never Heard of Them, But Maybe It's Time You Did"

No, You've Never Heard of Them, But Maybe It's Time You Did
An interview with Bludlows frontman D. Hardwick, by Jen Grover

Way underground in Boston, far below the crack of Red Sox bats, resides a band called the Bludlows. I'd be really surprised if you've heard of them. They probably would be, too. But they are getting some college radio and internet radio play of their debut album No Be An Arsonist, and a new album, Looking for Porn in Vatican City is slated for release next spring. Intrigued by what I heard, a sound referencing both 70's Stones and noisy 80's gritty pop, but still distinctly contemporary, I contacted D. Hardwick, he of the killer voice and chaotic guitar licks.

D.- You are very kind to say killer voice. Yes, I played guitar and sang on the whole thing. I feel good about most of the singing, but a lot of this stuff we almost made up on the spot. It was just a case of drinking a pint of Captain Morgan's and letting it rip. But "Hate You 'Cause You're Beautiful", "Carmen Rojas", and "Little Tania"- I knew these words coming in. Andy sings back-up vocals with me. Many of the times it's just the two of us practicing, guitar on guitar, and coming up with stuff. The drummer, Jerome, is a percussive genius, who sort of comes and goes as he pleases. We've played with other drummers but he's the best so far. We have yet to do a record where I knew all the words coming into the studio, but that is next . There is a ton of material and only part of it has been recorded.

Jen- You guys are still flying well under the radar. How long have you been together?

D.- We've played together in the Bludlows since 1998. Andy and I were in a band together before that, Jane Noel. We got some decent press and got to open for Foghat but they told us not to stand too close to their guitars - we played an all covers set for the classic rock crowd.

Jen- What were some of the covers you played?

D.- "Street-Fighting Man", "Jumping Jack Flash", and Zeppelin's "Bring it on Home."

No Be an Arsonist took a long time to complete, everyone works other jobs and we needed to raise the money to do this the way we wanted to, so it has been an ongoing process. We have stretches where we play quite a bit and times where we don't do anything at all. Andy and I play together regularly and are coming up with new stuff all the time. Our second CD is already done and should be released within a few months. It is called Looking for Porn in Vatican City and Andy, who does our art and website, promises the graphic will be killer.

Jen- Any tours planned?

D.- Nothing planned but, hell yeah, we want to tour. The circumstances need to be right, we'll know when it's right.

Jen- Where did the name The Bludlows come from?

D.- That's a good question. There's a recovering gambling alcoholic named Mark who is a personal friend who claims he invented the name, but, in fact, he did not. It is a combination of our parents' names and it kind of reminds us of the Ramones. I think it sounds a little mean, and we wanted something that captured our sound. We had this whole motif in mind where we would all be Bludlows, like Hardwick Bludlow and Bob Andy Bludlow, sort of like the Ramones. Then there was the myth of the Bludlows, and how they were almost drowned in a river by their parents, but escaped to the other side and started their own family and band, it was this whole narrative that we came up with once when we were high. Actually that sounds a lot cooler, come to think of it.

Jen- I hear a lot of Dream Syndicate in your music, and in fact, you cover "Until Lately" on your upcoming second release. I also hear a lot of 70's Stones, and a hint of Death of Samantha. Were those bands big influences on you?

D.- It's a real compliment to be mentioned with those artists. We all grew up on the Stones, like everyone, and like the rhythmic approach, and energy of that band. It's almost cool to like them again, but in the days of punk, no one could admit that, it was all hard core. You just naturally trashed those artists for being pretentious and silly. We like punk rock and really all styles, Jerome is very much into jazz and has eclectic tastes, Andy is into country like Hank Williams, George Jones, and classic oldies radio. I am a huge Butthole Surfers fan, especially back in their heyday, they epitomize intensity.

Jen- The Surfers were really the tripped out edge of the post punk scene, disturbing and hilarious at the same time. Gibby Haynes has some new stuff out under the name Gibby Haynes and his Problem, and what I've heard is pretty good, but I wouldn't have known who it was. Have you heard any of it?

D.- I think I heard one song. Even when they are doing dweeby kind of dance music it still has an edge and it is insane, and funny. I wish I had their sense of humor!

Our goal is just to be in the moment with whatever we are playing. If we are not playing the song in the moment, practice stops; if we are, it - Tone and Groove


"A Tale of Two Records"

A tale of two records
Orlando CityBeat
Posted January 11, 2005
ARTIST: The Bludlows
ALBUM: No Be An Arsonist (1,000,000 x No Records)

3.5 stars
Don't feel bad if you've never heard of this Boston band because hardly anyone in Boston has either. But from deep inside the muddy bowels of the garage rock underground come The Bludlows with a debut album that, despite its shortcomings, is a genuinely exciting record.

Bisected by two distinctive music regimes however, No Be An Arsonist can be a schizophrenic, and therefore somewhat disorienting, affair. The first half of the album is characterized by a primitive and skeletal interpretation of The Stones' bluesy rock, a thing that proves to be bittersweet. Without a doubt, the potential of the concept is enormous and sometimes yields inspired results. Examples include the skronky grit of "Little Tania" and the whiskey sweat of "Hate You 'Cause You're Beautiful." Of the leading hemisphere, the efficient and unassuming beauty of "Carmen Rojas Blues," with the sparse twang of its pedal steel, takes the honor.

When the songs lack a winning hook however, the simplicity of their structure and execution seems not so much excitingly raw as it is blandly boorish.

Interestingly enough, their unglued praxis takes on a different guise in the latter portion of the record. Here, the slipshod blues-rock gives way to the ragged blockheaded aggression of scuzz-punk. This leg is more consistent in quality because it's where the hooks are tighter and their virtues (e.g. looseness, grit and fury) are given full flight. Even in the company of slop-gems like "Back to the Grind" and "Hurt So Bad," the catchy but coarse rave-up of "The Hardest Song" earns the crown with the flat distortion of its loud guitars and meaty progressions. In fact, there are even some passing resemblances to our own blues-punk pride The Hex Tremors.

Part Rolling Stones, part Jon Spencer and part Johnny Thunders, No Be An Arsonist is hard evidence of a promising band with astronomical potential. If The Bludlows can tighten up a bit, and I mean the hooks and not the playing, then the garage underground may have its next big thing.
-- Bao Le-Huu, Orlando CityBeat Writer - Orlando City Beat


"From the Mail Bag"

From the mail bag
I've received a ton of unsolicited CDs in the mail lately. Here are three I can recommend:

The Bludlows, "No Be an Arsonist" 1,000,000 X No Records. Genius title. Genius cover art (the flip side sports a photograph of a McDonald's restaurant engulfed in flames). But the best part is this New England trio's sloppy, feverish punk-filtered Rolling Stones-like songs. This CD is hard to find. Check out www.bludlows.com.

Randy McMullen
http://www.contracostatimes.com - Contra Costa Times


"HAIKU QUICK SPINS"

HAIKU QUICK SPINS
By Whitey and TB Player

The Bludlows
No Be an Arsonist
(1,000,000XNO)
Super spaz rockout
Sorta like Jon Spencer with
Major head trauma

http://www.vueweekly.com - Vue Weekly


Discography

No Be an Arsonist (2004): check www.bludlows.com for streaming audio

Photos

Bio

The Bludlows are now one of the preeminent rock bands of the greater Boston, Massachusetts area. Founded in the late 1990s by D. Hardwick, their first album "No Be an Arsonist" rose to high acclaim as one among the top ten best albums of 2004. They are now in the process of recording a new album at Monster Island Records, "A False Allegiance to Milk Duds" with the new lineup of Todd of Acton, and JB Son of Paul.

Among their musical influences are such artists as The Rolling Stones, The Fall, Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, Tool, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Flies, The Ramones, and Nirvana.

What follows is a brief account of the defining moment of the Bludlows' troubled past:
While on a gold speculating expedition into the Sierra Nevadas, the Bludlows became stranded when an unexpected blizzard forced them to take shelter in a nearby cave. After nearly three weeks of isolation and near exhaustion from malnutrition, they reluctantly killed and ate their beloved pack mule Dora Mae. With renewed energy, the Bludlows left their cave dwelling in the hopes that they might locate civilization or at the very least friendly locals who could provide them with food and shelter. Fortunately, on their third day from the cave, they were rescued by a small community of the Washo, who kindly took them in, fed them venison and beer, and gave them directions to the nearby town of Deep Hole.

http://www.bludlows.com