Seriously, we've been waiting a long time for this :P Thanks, Mr. Strom.

CHEATER PINT, GHOULS NIGHT OUT, THE TAKEBACK
Abbey Lounge, Somerville, MA
11/17/07
The Takeback (your standard earnest Irish punk rock act) have the Abbey packed early in the evening with (apparently) friends and relations. The band is okay—they deliver on effort and energy, but the material is straight-faced and routine. I get the impression this stuff is intended as relevant and full of depth, so I suppose I'm the wrong audience. I'm the goof who's looking for art, personality or humor. Still, they are trying, so the least I can do is be polite and acknowledge that fact.

Some of the crowd here for The Takeback must have started their serious drinking around noon, and that's bad news for Ghouls Night Out. Let's consider what we've got here: three cute defenseless girls alone on stage…and a room full of drunken yahoos (masculine variety). Amazingly, by only one guy proves problematic screwing with the mic stands, lolling backwards on stage and looking up Myra's skirt. He's pissing me off…mostly because I didn't think of doing it first. Asshole. Amidst GNO's usual spooky surf rock-a-go-go, Abbey regular Dave points out a truism I'd managed to overlook, lo these many months: that drummer Lily is really hot. How did I miss this before? Excuses: (1) You can't see the drummer way in the back and (2) Myra's pretty distracting. Apologies to Lily are in order! Either for not confirming her awesomeness in past reviews, or for greatly embarrassing her in print like this. Ladies' choice.

Cheater Pint gets underway—they don't even finish the first song and I'm already regretting that I've never crossed paths with this band before now. Been missing out on an excellent band. They are like the great Boston rock of old—Robin Lane or Private Lightning only with more gusto. I dunno about art, but there's huge helpings of humor and personality here. Lauran Pint's vocals are powerhouse but never to the point that they eclipse the material or the rest of the band. That's whatcha call craft. The whole band has it—they play like a seasoned star act. (Frank Strom)