Local band The Chelsea Curve represents retro mod pop at Boston Calling

Hoards of pageant followers will descend on Harvard’s athletic fields this weekend for Boston Calling, which has been postponed for the previous two years. Some big-name, rock giants are headlining — 9 Inch Nails, The Strokes and Metallica — however a dozen regional and native acts can even be acting on their very own, new stage.

Some are younger and rising, however others symbolize an old-fashioned technology of Boston musicians who cannot cease rocking. Linda Pardee is considered one of them, and he or she joked that generally she will’t bear in mind her age.

“I am…um… 56, I feel? I neglect as a result of I do not really feel the age that I’m,” she mused. “I nonetheless really feel like a child as a result of I get to play my bass and rock out.”

Pardee picked up the bass as a Eighties excessive schooler in Malden. She was impressed by English mod bands, punk and rock teams together with The Jam, Stiff Little Fingers, Blondie and Chrissie Hynde.

“The Pretenders had been actually huge, and I cherished the best way that she sang,” she stated. You may hear that love in Pardee’s trio, The Chelsea Curve. She introduced it collectively in 2019, however because the ’80s, she’s jammed with a slew of native bands together with her first, Miles Dethmuffin (later referred to as Permafrost).

“I performed in a band referred to as Orbit. I performed somewhat stint with the 360’s, hopped aboard Helicopter Helicopter for a number of exhibits, only a bunch of bands,” Pardee stated operating down a partial listing. “I have been actually fortunate to play with a number of nice folks over time.”

Together with The Chelsea Curve’s guitarist Tim Gillis within the punk band Frigate. Now, together with seasoned drummer Ron Belanger, they’re making a retro, energy pop sound (and look) that harkens again to Boston’s golf equipment and pubs of yore.

Pardee landed on the band’s identify whereas listening to a site visitors report on the radio.

“The Chelsea Curve is part of the roadway in Chelsea, which I did not know. I had by no means heard that earlier than,” she stated. “And I believed it sounds actually cool. Sort of British. And so I believed perhaps I ought to identify my band that.”

The Chelsea Curve began gaining momentum in early 2020 on a tour with different female-fronted New England bands referred to as Whistlestop. Then the pandemic hit, and the music scene screeched to a halt.

With out having the ability to play reside, Pardee’s band began releasing one new track a month with assist from fellow longtime rocker Justine Covault’s unbiased label, Purple on Purple Data. “We referred to as it The Chelsea Curve Singles Scene, and it was a approach of perhaps protecting in folks’s faces,” she stated.

Pardee additionally invited mates to play their favourite cowl tunes in her storage and he or she posted the movies on Fb.

Finally, venues began reopening and The Chelsea Curve returned to doing what they actually love. I noticed them carry out a number of months in the past on the Notch Brewery in Brighton, and experiencing Pardee’s unrestrained, reside efficiency is fairly totally different than talking along with her throughout an interview. “I am sort of like Bat Lady. I am like shy librarian by day,” she stated, “after which who is aware of what occurs to me once I get on stage and simply rock out.”

Pardee stated her lyrics seize that duality with a number of contrasts like love and hate, bravery and worry. There’s additionally humor, like within the track “Drag,” which is about an octopus.

“I learn some article about how an octopus will simply punch out a fish for no cause. Only for the hell of it,” Pardee stated when she shared the track’s backstory. “That was loopy to me.”

A snippet of the lyrics: “I’m an everlasting optimist/ One thing like a freak and love octopus/ Eight arms to carry you/ Sufficient to knock you out.”

The Chelsea Curve lastly launched their debut album this previous March. It is referred to as “All The Issues,” which is becoming. The band is gigging once more, simply performed in London the place they had been welcomed with open arms, and now this weekend at Boston Calling.

“That Boston has a pageant of this magnitude is simply mind-blowing, and for us to be a part of it, I could not be prouder,” Pardee stated. “There are such a lot of nice bands in Boston, so to be chosen is simply fairly an honor — it is killing me.”

Pardee and her two bandmates will likely be sharing the stage with a whole lot of youthful, rising artists from all totally different genres. She feels honored to attach with the current whereas channeling the previous.

“We form of have our personal piece of Boston sound,” she stated. “So we’re completely happy to symbolize in that approach and to maintain it going.”

The Chelsea Curve takes the Tivoli Audio Orange Stage at Boston Calling on Friday at 2:55 p.m.