Already Dead travel a tale of two cities on ‘The Spirit of Massachusetts Avenue’
Massachusetts punk band takes it to the streets for a confrontational and incendiary new single out Friday, May 31 ahead of the video drop June 12
NOW PLAYING: Listen to ‘The Spirit of Massachusetts Avenue’ on Spotify
Already Dead’s new album ‘Something Like A War’ out in July 2024
BOSTON, MA [May 31, 2024] – A journey down Massachusetts Avenue is a startling showcase of New England’s societal and cultural spectrum. The 16-mile stretch of roadway, which connects the posh suburb of Lexington with the gritty urban landscape of Dorchester, contains an eye-opening level of disparity amongst its citizens, particularly on both sides of the bridge crossing the Charles River. On the Cambridge side, the scenic campuses of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology represent wealth and prosperity; and on the Boston side, down past the Back Bay entry point and the busy Berklee College of Music ahead of South End brownstones, an economic downturn grows with each passing side street, leading towards hospitals and rehab centers and into the infamous homeless encampment known as “Mass and Cass,” a cross-section of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard in Lower Roxbury.
Every city in America has a Massachusetts Avenue.
This corridor that unifies two very different parts of life is the subject of “The Spirit of Massachusetts Avenue,” an abrasive powderkeg of a new single from Boston punk band Already Dead. The expletive-laced single crashes the streams on Friday, May 31, ahead of the Berto Media music video set to debut on Wednesday, June 12. “The Spirit of Massachusetts Avenue” is the first lethal dose of Already Dead’s forthcoming sophomore album, Something Like A War, out in July, kicking down the door on a very vocal summer ahead for the band.
Like many who travel up and down “Mass. Ave.,” as it’s known by locals, Already Dead’s vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter Dan Cummings was struck by the differences from one part of the city versus the other while the union pipefitter was working a Cambridge job in 2017.
“The song is an observation that just one road can be two separate worlds caused by social structures and allocations of resources,” Cummings says. “And it delivers a very deliberate ‘fuck you’ to those who have the power to change things in one of these worlds for the better, but choose not to.”
Seven years ago, Cummings was working on-site at the SOMA Project, located on the MIT campus near Kendall Square. Still an apprentice at the time, he would travel twice a week to night school in Boston, traveling down Mass Ave to his union hall in Dorchester. There, he witnessed how quickly worlds can change.
“It was a straight shot down Massachusetts Avenue,” Cummings admits. “That drive became part of my routine, and I became familiar with the surroundings – you can’t help but notice the major transition as you head down this one road. so I’d just see that progression from the nice MIT campus, past the Back Bay and down past all those brownstone buildings – millions and millions of dollars as I’m sure we all know. And then the blatant transition once you get past the Boston Medical Center.”
The “Mass and Cass” section of Boston has been in the headlines for the past several years, but city leaders and officials have been slow to find solutions for the problems that exist in plain sight. As Cummings rages in the track: “No answers here but I question how we can celebrate one, leave the other down and out.”
Cummings, alongside bandmates guitarist Brandon Bartlett, who chips in with his own confrontational vocals on the track; drummer Nick Cali; and new recruit bassist Brian Ferrazzani (Bartlett has shifted from bass to guitar in this new configuration), blitz across the song’s tireless three-minute runtime with one first in the air and the other with a middle finger extended skyward.
“An answer to these problems is a complicated one and at this point is probably a generational fix – which means it ain’t happening overnight and can probably only be measured in years,” Cummings adds. “But if this needs to be our next ‘Big Dig’ then so be it, and I support it. We have to make sure those who allocate resources and funding for the city and state have their moral compasses aligned properly. Because it is their job to work for the citizens.”
That sentiment rages loud and clear on “The Spirit of Massachusetts,” which opens with a pre-recorded sample harkening back to the state’s old tourism ad, which has since been mocked by Family Guy. The track came together over its incendiary guitar riff, and Cummings admits it took a while to get the lyrics right – especially in trying to capture a widespread issue in one succinct punk song.
But “The Spirit of Massachusetts” also represents a new era for the band, which has earned a reputation around New England for its working class ethos and union-led identity. In 2022, Already Dead dropped debut album My Collar Is Blue, catching the attention of local press and radio and earning a Boston Music Award nomination in the Punk Artist of the Year category, eventually losing out to Big D and the Kids Table.
Last year, the band dropped a trio of singles: A fiery hip-hop crossover collab with BOS The Rapper called “Don’t Wake Me”; a punk cover of the “Bread and Roses” protest song, ultimately performing in live in the city of Lawrence over Labor Day weekend for their long-standing Bread and Roses Festival; and a spirited ode to financial insecurity titled “Landlord,” which WBUR, Boston’s NPR affiliate, dubbed “a protest song for the modern labor movement.”
Now, “The Spirit of Massachusetts,” recorded just off Mass. Ave. at the Bridge Sound and Stage in Cambridge, furthers the Already Dead message and continues to solidify a punk-fueled legacy of speaking up for those who need to be defended. The track was engineered and mixed by Jimmy Corbett; produced by Already Dead and Jimmy Corbett; and mastered by Stephen Pettyjohn at Ethereal Mastering. The music video from longtime collaborator Roberto Terrones at Berto Media, who also directed the “Landlord” visual and other Already Dead videos, finds the band out in the streets, boots on the ground, delivering the message directly to the people.
It’s all part of who Already Dead is as a creative collective, highlighting growing issues in a world that feels increasingly unjust. Every city in America has a Massachusetts Avenue. And every city needs a band like Already Dead.
“From my own personal experience, I became interested in socio economic and political issues through bands,” Cummings concludes. “Bands and performers have a unique position of really reaching younger generations who are exploring and searching for their personal views. A powerful song can resonate a lot more than a paragraph from a textbook.”
Already Dead is:
Daniel Cummings – Guitar and vocals
Brandon Bartlett – Guitar
Brian Ferrazzani – Bass
Nick Cali - Drums
‘The Spirit of Massachusetts Avenue’ single artwork:
Artwork by Mark Saffie @ Saffie Design
‘The Spirit of Massachusetts Avenue’ production credits:
Words and music by Already Dead
Performed by Already Dead
Recorded at the Bridge Sound and Stage in Cambridge, MA
Engineered and mixed by Jimmy Corbett
Produced by Already Dead and Jimmy Corbett
Mastered by Stephen Pettyjohn at Ethereal Mastering
Music video by Roberto Terrones at Berto Media
Artwork by Mark Saffie @ Saffie Design
***
‘The Spirit of Massachusetts Avenue’ from above:
Already Dead short bio:
The sound of punk has changed, and so have the bands that define the genre. But some attitudes remain steady, and one of the more vocal and proactive groups to hit the scene is Already Dead, a three-piece band hailing from Massachusetts. Led by songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist Dan Cummings, Already Dead is composed of blue collar musicians (rounded out by bassist Brandon Bartlett and drummer Nick Cali) that unequivocally support the middle class and the true builders and visionaries of every city and town. Before forming Already Dead, its members were raised on punk, ska, and hardcore bands, and mix in other influences across a spectrum of genres to create a sound that’s entirely their own.
Already Dead crashed the scene in Summer 2022 with debut single “Stability,” which instantly caught attention in their native New England. Debut album My Collar is Blue, recorded at The Bridge Sound and Stage in Cambridge, followed in October, and the seven-song sampler platter of punk helped earn Already Dead a nomination for Punk Artist of the Year at the 2022 Boston Music Awards.
Unable to rest or sit still for very long, new music quickly followed in 2023: A genre-bending collaboration with BOS The Rapper titled “Don’t Wake Me”; a punk rendition of the “Bread & Roses” protest song for Labor Day, complete with a live performance at the Bread & Roses festival in Lawrence; and acoustic rager “Landlord”, an impassioned rally to highlight our society’s collective financial instability. New album Something Like A War arrives with a fury in Summer 2024, led by first single “The Spirit of Massachusetts” in May.
Cummings has also been a vocal presence on the front lines of labor movements, performing his music in solidarity for the working class and speaking openly about the rights of blue-collar citizens to the media and on radio. With growing support in their backyard and beyond, Already Dead has been featured on WBUR, Boston’s NPR Station, as well as Dying Scene, New Noise Magazine, If It’s Too Loud, Rock & Roll Fables, Worcester Magazine, The Struggling Artist Podcast, That’s Good Enough For Me, Hump Day News, and elsewhere across the digital media landscape.
Call it punk, call it whatever you want. It’s Already Dead.
Media praise for Already Dead:
“Already Dead's 'Landlord' is a protest song for the modern labor movement.” _WBUR, Boston’s NPR
“‘Landlord’ furthers Already Dead’s growing legacy as New England’s independent punk rock voice for the working class.” _Jammerzine
“[‘Don’t Wake Me’] showcases hip-hop smarts, punk snarl, and dynamic synths and riffs blending together and creating a dynamic aural experience.” _New Noise Magazine
“Had the band’s name been Dropkick Murphys, I might just have believed it.” _WoNoBlog
“It’s a ferocious, Pogues-style take on the song [‘Bread & Roses’], and its sentiment certainly resonates.” _Worcester Magazine
“Three- or four-chord progressions and chainsaw stompboxes rule the day on the bouncy, uptempo punk thriller. The trio romps n’ rolls their truth like a well-oiled machine. No fussy solos or curlicues to the sound – all killer, no filler.” _Hump Day News
“We’re fired up to bring you Already Dead doing their take on an old classic. The song is called ‘Bread And Roses’, and in its original format, it’s a 100+ year old hymn and poem dedicated to the women and children striking for better working conditions in the old mill city of Lawrence, Massachusetts. Eugene Debs himself referred to the ‘Bread & Roses Strike’ as ‘the most decisive and far-reaching ever won by organized labor’ at the time. This version is Already Dead’s punked up version, which is especially fitting given the band’s roots in Massachusetts’ blue collar trade unions.” _Dying Scene
“Boston’s Already Dead is the best kind of aural enigma. They’re along the lines of Against Me! or Dropkick Murphys with their anthem crafting ability and then you throw in a little bit of the more melodic NYHC of the ’90s à la Life Of Agony’s classic ‘River Runs Red’ plus some Bad Religion, some hip-hop, some ska, and some country twang and you have a local outfit that absolutely sounds like NO ONE in the scene today.” _Rock And Roll Fables
“‘Stability’ is a fast and bouncily furious song with some killer shout-along choruses and that blue collar edge that only New England pop punk bands can truly pull off. It has all the anger a song needs to be punk, but it doesn't forget that you're supposed to have fun, too.” _If It’s Too Loud
“No wall-of-Already-Dead-dynamite electricity this time. Dan Cummings picked up his acoustic guitar and wrote this bone-chilling cry out about living on the edge of drowning or surviving. Imagine British leftist/political activist and terrific veteran songsmith Billy Bragg raising his voice or equally politically driven folk legend Woody Guthrie killing fascists again with his wooden guitar. Landlord‘s profound emotions go from hope to despair and back, and Cummings‘ anxious vocals send shivers down your spine. All-out top performance.” _Turn Up The Volume
"If you are feeling nostalgic for VFW Hall shows and punk rock of the late 1990's then you are going to love this. It's totally in the vein of Big Wig, Rise Against, Bouncing Souls, although a little more polished even though the recording maintains all of the aesthetics of the analog age. Another BMN editor thought maybe a heavier Frank Turner or a good mix of Off With Their Heads and Hot Water Music. Big fun group vocals make this something you'd want to check out live!” _Blood Makes Noise
“Boston has a great history of blue collar punk, and the latest is Already Dead. The band has a new single out called ‘My Collar is Blue.’ This new song might go a little more pop punk than what you may typically consider working class Boston punk, but there is still a lot more edge here than you would typically find in a pop punk song. I suppose this would be the definition of melodic punk. Already Dead inject just the tiniest bit of a Celtic sound on this new one, and maybe just the slightest hint of a country twang. There is still some killer gang vocals and choruses on "My Collar is Blue," so even punk purists won't be able to avoid singing along.” _If It’s Too Loud
“It should be noted we have never met Dan Cummings or anyone else from Already Dead , However, we too have a strong belief in fighting for what is right and just . So we are in full support of Already Dead and believe that their version of ‘Bread and Roses’ is pure punk rock perfection.”_The Whole Kameese
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