<\/p>\n
Worcester folk group the Big-League Collective, a frequent sight playing live on local stages, released their first studio single, \u201cSadness At The Drive In Theater,\u201d Oct. 3, teasing another one on the way later in the month.<\/p>\n The trio of Dave Haak, Pete L\u2019Esperance and A. Borus harmonize on the acoustic guitar intro about being \u201ctired of waiting, wasting around, done with my suburban dreams,\u201d and then a full band comes in, bass and chugging country drums and acoustic guitar and banjo.<\/p>\n \u201cBlowing smoke, but still I try, and yet here I am,\u201d they sing together, before a warm, twangy, reverbed guitar solo. \u201cThey say trying\u2019s such a waste of my time\/I just keep going, don\u2019t ask me why\/Now I\u2019m crawling on the cold, hard ground\/Why do I always feel so down?\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s no drive-in in the lyrics, but the small-town stagnation that Haak, L\u2019Esperance and Borus sing about is overarching, something that, when you feel it, you feel in basements and cars and deserted playgrounds alike.<\/p>\n \u201cSadness At The Drive In Theater\u201d is available on music streaming services.<\/em><\/p>\n Providence has a very lively queer nightlife scene that often cross-pollinates with Worcester\u2019s own, and if you want to check it out but can\u2019t fit the hour-long drive down 146 into your schedule, you might want to put on Providence DJ Dusknight\u2019s August EP \u201cHONCHO.\u201d<\/p>\n Dusknight, known offstage as artist and housing nonprofit director Julio Berroa, mixes together electronic music with queer roots from techno, originated by gay Black Detroiters, to hyperpop, a genre that carved out its own path largely because of one transgender producer (rest in peace, SOPHIE).<\/p>\n Even before you hit play, you can tell where \u201cHONCHO\u201d comes from and where it\u2019s going by its \u201890s-style cover art, which shows Berroa in soft focus lounging in a leather jacket with no shirt underneath, next to a neon burst of color labeled with the project\u2019s name.<\/p>\n This is one for the clubs, and not just any clubs, but the clubs where those pushed to the margins of society can find refuge, release and romance together on the dance floor.<\/p>\n The project starts with \u201cblowsteamer,\u201d which samples an air blower firing up and a car\u2019s open-door chime and picks up the pace fast, and then moves seamlessly into \u201cdontstopsohot,\u201d where a sample reminiscent of Charli xcx\u2019s \u201cClub Classics\u201d repeats \u201cdon\u2019t stop\u201d and \u201cso hot\u201d over a beat that, in the most fun way possible, sounds like laser tag.<\/p>\n On \u201cPAPIchulo,\u201d Dusknight adds a reggaeton beat into the mix, and the jingly percussion that comes in about halfway through is particularly fun to listen to. By the end of the track, it\u2019s joyful chaos, with sample over sample sandwiched in between pounding synths.<\/p>\n \u201cstrut,\u201d featuring AM., returns to hyperpop with a bang.<\/p>\n \u201cI keep up my body, you dream of my body\/And speak of my body, come heat up my body\/And beat up my body, come freak up my body\/Come eat up my body and come treat my body,\u201d multitracked voices whisper underneath sparkly \u201890s house keys.<\/p>\n Metallic percussion and wordless, gasping vocals come in on the breakdown, which has some words we can\u2019t print here but that, if you\u2019ve watched any kind of ballroom competition or if you paid attention to the vocal samples on Beyonce\u2019s \u201cRenaissance,\u201d you\u2019ve heard in the same context.<\/p>\n \u201cUNCUT\u201d is a roller-coaster ride of energy, starting with a whole bustling city of percussion and horns underneath another chopped-up vocal sample before plunging into a house beat and then returning with sampled samba drums before another drop that pulls everything together.<\/p>\n The EP closes out with its title track, which bounces and rolls along and finishes on an exhilarated note.<\/p>\nFuture club classics out of Providence<\/h2>\n