Ian Adams

Photo: Terence Burke

(January 14th, 2008)

This is what’s great about living in Rock City — you can pop into O’Briens, everyone’s favorite Allston dive, and catch a bit of indie music history in the making. On this icy Monday night we get cheap Tequila, a mere $3 dollar cover and some friggin’ awesome low rock. Okay, maybe the Tequila shouldn’t be quite this cheap. That stuff’ll kill you.

Ian Adams (Rock City Crimewave, 8 Ball Shifter) has been lording over Boston’s skull-crushing sleaze-a-billy rock scene since he was barely legal. Now the dark prince of Lower Allston has donned another crown — solo artist. Ian, aka EEE, is gearing up for his first solo release due out on Midriff Records. The word on the street is that the Midriff team is working magic with Ian’s low key acoustic meanderings, but so far all that’s out is a few Myspace rough mixes and live cuts, so you gotta wait, dude.

Tonight’s live line-up is intriguingly sparse — it’s just Ian on guitar, and Crimewave drummer AJ at a really pared-down kit. I can’t wait to hear what this is going to be like — these guys are usually face-melters, after all. They’re playing first, so the room is just starting to fill when they launch into the first song, “Upsidedown Stars.” And it’s a total surprise. It’s the kind of cool song that starts off with what ends up being the chorus — that means the sort of audience members who sing along with the choruses can join right in with Ian’s vocals. “You’ve got upside down stars in your eyes,” it begins earnestly, then tells a tale riddled with corpses and risky goings-on. Chances are the song isn’t even about anything, but the lyrics do pack a punch anyway. Particularly compelling, in a Violent Femmes kind of way, is the verse:

I do believe we are the last of our kind
Our drunken blood is the devil’s own wine
I smash the headlights out ‘cuz I like driving blind

They follow“Upsidedown Stars” with “Stay Up Late,” a self-deprecating, romantic crooner. By the time the guys launch into the more up tempo “End of a Rope” with its chunky, swamp-a-billy stomp, I realize that I am ALL ABOUT Ian Adams and his big wet kiss of a solo project. It’s just plain old awesome low rock. With simple-yet-aggressive guitar lines and a plaintive, effective vocal approach I’m getting hit with a torrent of possible influences. In the vocals I hear equal parts Neil Young (think Barstool Blues) and Violent Femmes’ Gordon Gano. There’s a certain bratty punk quality reminiscent of The Clash, and a certain too-cool-for-school swagger of Lou Reed. This is rock stripped bare; anything confessional is quite raw, and anything anthemic is quite personal.

Ian ends the set with the most unexpected cover song. It’s Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab.” By now the cozy dive’s audience has tripled in number, so this dynamic duo get the full-on fist-pumping sing-along. Even from me. Yes, I stood in O’Briens and yelled along to an Amy Winehouse song, and dammit, I’ll do it again!