You Can Be a Wesley and You: Another Assessment by Joe DiFazio

Once upon a time I was in Allston following the bassist of You Can be a Wesley and his friends. They decided hopping a fence was better than going around a street. He got my jeans ripped and he got me drunk on Gin, which I later puked out with an alarming amount of blood.

I was not ready for their fun, but you should be. You Can Be A Wesley is an indie-pop gem bred at BU and on the streets of Allston.

The twee pop essence of the music is given backbone by Nick Curran’s bass that he sometimes punches through a distortion pedal. He takes his cue from bands like the Pixies and Joy Division. Winston McDonald too finds influence in these indie pioneers. The music swells and calms because of his lead guitar which goes anywhere from sharp riffs to gentle finger picking. Dan Goldberg’s steady drumming provides the backdrop for everything going on up front. He too drags the music from the gentle to frantic with soft steady light high-hat and snare based beats that transition through tight fills into crashy cymbals and loud snare pops. Saara the lead singer plays a driving rhythm guitar with power chords galore. Her singing is a unique combination of sweet and sad. She exudes a wistful kind of sexy. Winston jumps in to sing when the songs climb in to sing-a-long choruses that make you want to scream with them. These guys are indie-pop with a serious spine. They are the kind of band that if you throw things at them they will throw and spit right back.

Over the summer the band released their album Heard Like Us (on vinyl and CD). If you want to be happy in a sad sort of way, this is an album for you. You Can Be Wesley is yet another gem in the rough of the Boston music scene. Lucky for you, you can catch them Friday at WTBU day at BU Central.

You Can Be A Wesley @ T.T. The Bear's Place 5/1

The Boston music scene, as we all know, is varied, yet often quite insulated. The bands we know well are the ones that no one else in the country has ever heard of, save for through the somewhat indiscriminate outlets of Boston blogs.

However, the adorable band You Can Be a Wesley proved their deserving of national recognition when they opened for Now, Now Every Children at T. T. The Bear’s Place last Friday.

Each song distinct in its own right, yet still sticking to the band’s adorably earnest theme, the set was a refreshing wake-up that brought a remarkable crowd for a second-opener. Several super-fans repeatedly screamed their allegiance to lead singer/guitarist Saara Untracht-Oakner, and another presented a drunkenly earnest interpretive dance in the band’s honor. In fact, all in the venue seemed to be at least bobbing their heads.

Though the sound system was unsurprisingly imbalanced and the snare that drummer Dan Goldenberg was working with was of a quality reminiscent of my third-grade marching band, the obvious musical gifts of all four members shone through any technical difficulties (…not to mention that it’s been awhile since this critic has seen a genuinely talented instrumental break that couldn’t classify as mediocre musical masturbation). SXSW 2010, PITCHFORK, PLEASE TAKE NOTE. The next big, unabashedly indie-adorable thing is coming out of Boston.

Here, readers, is what you missed, in pictures:







-Devon Maloney
(all photos by the author)