Sounds like old times
The Nervous Eaters rise from Boston's rock heyday
The Nervous Eaters aren’t a punk band. Let’s get that cleared up right away.
Part of the vanguard of Boston bands blowing minds and changing the direction of music at the Rat in the ’70s, the Eaters spent the last year making (arguably) the best music of its career. If you slept on 2022 LP “Monsters + Angels,” it’s a set of smart, tight, bright and dark songs that range from pop (power and indie) to rock (garage and indie).
“The Eaters have always been a rock ‘n’ roll band and I think that has to do with (singer/guitarist) Steve (Cataldo) being so deep,” bassist Brad Hallen told the Herald. “Besides all the r&b and British Invasion stuff — Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Animals, Dave Clark 5 — Steve has really got a solid handle on and a true love for Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williams, James Brown and on.”
This explains “Monsters + Angels” sweet stuff and its snarling tunes.
Being a great rock ‘n’ roll band is hard. But it’s harder still when you’ve lived through a golden age like Boston in the ’70s. This is what makes the new LP such a treasure.
It’s born of a love of craft that you can feel in Cataldo’s songwriting influences, peers and followers — “Hop Sing Said” rightly sounds like a triangulation of the Lou Reed, Cheap Trick and the Replacements; “Last Chance” finds a sonic space between the British Invasion, new wave and grunge that nobody knew was there.
What’s funny, and great, is that the current members of the Eaters didn’t live through that golden age in the same band. Cataldo is the only original member, but all the guys in this line up were part of that storied ’70s scene — Adam Sherman fronted Private Lightning, drummer David McLean logged time with Willie Alexander, and Hallen helped Pastiche win the 1980 Rock ‘n’ Roll Rumble at the Rat.
“In hindsight, the scene was incredibly vibrant and awesome,” Hallen said. “Boston was a pioneer in the (national) scene. It was Boston and New York. CBGBs and the Rat.”
Hallen has had an exceptionally long career playing on a couple hundred albums. Most recently he has backed up loads of blues aces including two years with Susan Tedeschi and a dozen with Duke Robillard. But it took him a while to connect professionally with Cataldo and the Eaters.
“Right before the pandemic, I gave Duke my notice and Steve called me two days after,” Hallen said. “He said his bass player had just left and asked if I had any students or if I knew anybody looking for a gig. I said, ‘Well, I’m free.’”
It seemed meant to be. Well, meant to be minus the pandemic. The new lineup got in one show before the shutdown. But it left plenty of time for writing and eventually rehearsing and recording. “Monsters + Angels” caught the ears of Little Steven, and the E Streeter and owner of Wicked Cool Records he flipped for it — “I can hear a bit of Bowie, Petty, the Kinks,” he said of the album (yes, we all can!).
Now signed to Wicked Cool, the band is already at work on a follow up.
“We’re in pre-production now and have studio time booked in April,” Hallen said. “It’s not completely set in stone but we’re hoping to cut about 15 tunes.”
Some will be digital singles, others will end up on the album.
After 40 plus years and more than a few incarnations, the band is taking off again, which is good timing considering it has never sounded better.
The Nervous Eaters play the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River on March 10. Tickets, details and more local tour dates at nervouseaters.net.