Let’s face it: With some bills, you just can’t go wrong, and putting four of Worcester’s favorite local bands together is a pretty good way to ring out the year a little early. Huck, the Curtain Society, Thinner and the Bee’s Knees. From lovely, moody pieces such as The Curtain Society’s “Every Corner of the Room” to textured and energetic songs such as Huck’s “Mendelbrot Set”; from the twangy soulfulness of the Bee’s Knees’ “Saturday Sigh” to the straight-up grind of Thinner’s rocker, “945,” these are four bands that consistently put forward vibrant, contemporary-sounding indie rock, and prove over and over again why they’re some of the region’s favorites. Huck, the Curtain Society, Thinner and the Bee’s Knees perform at 9 p.m. Friday at Ralph’s Chadwick Square Diner, 148 Grove St., Worcester. (508) 753-9543. (Victor D. Infante)

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The Curtain Society’s song Marigold Girl is being used in the Absolut Boston campaign and featured in the “What Is Your Favorite Boston Movie” segment on Facebook.

It is with sadness and respect that we mourn the passing of Jim Carroll, a great writer, storyteller, poet, musician and New Yorker.

Carroll was a great inspiration to The Curtain Society from the very first day. His books and music were a major part of the backdrop to which our earliest music was created.

We are very proud to have later been able to share the stage with him to perform some of the music that meant so much to us all these years. The experience was indescribable and has been a personal highlight for all of us.

Jim was an incredible storyteller. You would ask him a simple question like “how’s the book coming” and 45 minutes later, after hearing the most outlandish story with the most unlikely names dropped, you would be no closer to the answer but that wasn’t the point.

We are sad to hear of his passing but we are grateful for the body of work and great moments that he has left us with.

In his own words-

When the city drops into the night, before the darkness is one moment of light. That’s when everything seems clear. The other side seems so near.

Nov 19, 2005
The Middle East, Cambridge MA

Worcester band adapts sound for a Chameleon
By Michael Marotta / Hotline | Monday, July 20, 2009

Mark Burgess was simply looking for advice on nice Boston hotels. What the member of influential ’80s alternative rock band the Chameleons UK ended up with was an unexpected live gig tomorrow night at Hennessy’s near Faneuil Hall.

The British post-punk singer had plans to be in Maine later this week, but could find only direct flights into Boston from his home in Manchester, England. So he went online to research the Hub. When he noticed the Chameleons UK were among the top friends on the Hennessy’s Upstairs Rock Club MySpace [website] profile, he sent the club a message asking where to spend the night.

“I told him, ‘I’ll put you up in a hotel room if you play a show,”’ said Hennessy’s booking agent and longtime Chameleons UK fan, Sean Flynn .

Burgess agreed. He asked Flynn to round up some local musicians to jam. The lineup for what could be the coolest gig of the summer consists of Worcester-based indie band the Curtain Society backing Burgess for a set of Chameleons UK songs, with opening sets from synthpoppers Lifestyle, Shawn Saindon and Ryan Dolan of Maine’s Hiss & Chambers, and both Aaron Perrino of Dear Leader and the Daily Pravdas’ David Jackel .

The Curtain Society, which often plays Chameleons UK songs in their sets and even released the band’s most recognizable hit, “Swamp Thing,” as a B-side in 1996, jumped at the chance to play with one of their idols.

“It’s always seemed like a miracle that we would even get to see Mark or the Chameleons play live, since I started getting into them after they had broken up already,” said Curtain Society singer/guitarist, Roger Lavallee . “Now to think that we would be playing these songs with Mark is just beyond a dream come true.”

Playing moody, modern rock in a genre that included the Cure and Echo & the Bunnymen, the Chameleons UK had a fruitful run from 1981 to 1987 (with a brief reunion in 2000). Their influence is prominent (see Interpol, Editors) and their legacy has been lasting.

Lavallee first heard the Chameleons when a local fanzine compared his band to theirs in 1989. He bought a used cassette of 1986’s “Strange Times” and fell in love with the British band’s sweeping guitar work, anthemic songs and the haunting urgency in Burgess’ voice.

“What started as a curiosity because of their being mentioned in a review turned into a feeling of musical kinship that’s lasted all this time,” Lavallee said. “(We’re) a little nervous, but it feels like a moment that we’ve been leading up to for 20 years.”

Mark Burgess, at Hennessy’s Upstairs Rock Club, 25 Union St., Tuesday. Tickets: $10; 617-742-2121.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/music/general/view.bg?articleid=1185904

Related show

• Artist: The Curtain Society
• Date: Tuesday, July 21st 2009
• Time: 10:00pm
• City: The Curtain Society in Boston, MA
• Venue: Hennesey’s
• Country: US
• Admission: $10.00
• Age restrictions: No minors
• Notes: Backing up Mark Burgess from The Chameleons
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

The Curtain Society is pleased to have won a first place in the Turtle Boy Music Award poll from Worcester Magazine in the category of Pop Act. Thank you all for voting and your support.

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The Curtain Society’s ‘Inertia‘ and ‘Life is Long, Still‘ have been re-released digitally on iTunes, E-Music, Yahoo! Music, Rhapsody and Napster among many others. These were the first two full length CDs by The Curtain Society.

Originally they were released in the mid ’90s on the now defuct Washington DC label ‘Bedazzled Records’ and through the beauty of the internet they are available again.

“Chemical” by The Curtain Society was featured on Tuesday August 7 on the CBS daytime drama The Young and the Restless.

you can hear “Chemical” on “Every Corner of the Room” by The Curtain Society available online everwhere and here.

The Curtain Society is nominated in this years Worcester Magazine, Turtle Boy Music Awards. If you would like to cast your vote for TCS you can visit this link
thanks!

The Curtain Society’s “Every Corner of the Room” has been in the the top 5 on the local Boston radio charts for the past three months, as seen in The Noise.

The Noise Top 30 Chart for July
Stations reporting: WAAF, WMBR, WMFO, WTCC, WZBC

1. Mission of Burma – The Obliterati
2. Mittens – Fools on a Holiday
3. Damone – Out Here All Night
4. The Curtain Society – Every Corner of the Room
5. Neptune – Patterns
6. Chas Mtn – Hugs
7. The Snowleopards – “Stuck in the Middle”
8. Adja the Turkish Queen – Adja the Turkish Queen
9. Hanneke Cassel – Silver
10. Ryan Lee Crosby & the Mindless – There is No Music
11. Francine – Airshow
12. Scamper – The Boulevards EP
13. The Silver Lining – Well-Dressed Blues
14. Baby Ray – Low Rises
15. Clawjob – Space Crackers
16. Mr. Lif – Mo Mega
17. The Motion Sick – Her Brilliant Fifteen
18. Ponies in the Surf – Ponies on Fire
19. Pop Gun – Trigger
20. Seekonk – Pinkwood
21. Corin Ashley – Songs From the Brill Bedroom
22. The Blizzard of ’78 – Where All Life Hangs
23. Cocked and Loaded – Ding Dong Doom Baby
24. Gene Dante & the Future Starlets – Gene Dante & the Future Starlets
25. The Glass Set – The Glass Set
26. Harris – The Light is Seeping Through the Cracks
27. Matt & Shannon Heaton – Blue Skies Above
28. Hilken Mancini and Chris Coburn – Hilken Mancini and Chris Coburn
29. The Spoilers – Under the Knife
30. The Weisstronauts – featuring “Perky”

The Curtain Society Winner of the Alternative/Indie Rock category

The Curtain Society is arguably one of the best-known bands on the local scene. With a new disc out, the trio — Roger Lavallee, Ron Mominee and Duncan Arsenault are playing some dates to promote Every Corner of the Room soon (including Friday night at Tammany and next weekend at Ralph’s).

Roger Lavallee photo: Sean McNamara

A talk with Roger Lavallee, the band’s frontman:

I know you guys prefer to shun labels, but your aesthetic definitely has some beautiful shoegazer-esque influence. Besides My Bloody Valentine, do you have any particular favorite albums in that genre?

I think one might be surprised at the diversity of what we actually listen to in The Curtain Society, as opposed to what we might sound like. I personally will admit that I was pretty smitten with Swervedriver’s Mezcal Head, Pale Saints’ In Ribbons and Catherine Wheel’s Ferment CDs back in 1992. That was a really long time ago. Now I just listen to Kelly Clarkson all day.

Compare your songwriting process to what’s going on in Iraq right now.

It takes forever to get things done, and there’s no sign of it ending soon. That, and we can’t afford armor plating for our vehicles.

So, what does your band name mean?

For us to know and you to ask.

Define the experience of living in Worcester in one word. No, two words. Three.

I’m from Fitchburg. There’s three.

www.worcestermagazine.com