Hot Molasses Floods Boston, Benefits Environment
Boston bands rock Molasses Disaster benefit on 91st anniversary
BOSTON, MA. – JANUARY 20, 2010 – Local band, Hot Molasses, is making waves with its music and its politics. Named after an environmental disaster that killed 21 people in Boston’s North End, the Molasses Flood of 1919, Hot Molasses does more than empty sloganeering. With the release of its Molassachusetts EP on No-Source Netlabel, this band puts its money where its mouth is.
Hot Molasses is partnering with the Roxbury non-profit Alternatives for Community & Environment (ACE) for a benefit show and EP release party on January 20, 2010 at the Middle East Upstairs in Central Square, Cambridge. They’ll be joined by local artists Young and Old, Self Assembly, and Boston Molasses Disaster.
“It’s tough for one band to make waves with its music or its message,” says Andrew Cohen, Hot Molasses bandleader. “We have to organize to make a difference, especially in tough economic times. That’s why we partner with like-minded bands and groups like ACE that build community power.”
Through youth development, community organizing, and legal assistance, ACE builds the power of lower income communities and communities of color to address environmental inequalities. In the 15 years since their founding, ACE has improved air quality and lives by working to convert diesel vehicles to cleaner alternatives, helping residents defeat the construction of fossil fuel power plants, and organizing towards a vision of sustainable neighborhoods with green jobs and opportunities.
“This event brings together two great things – local music and local activism,” says Khalida Smalls, ACE’s Organizing Director, “Ninety-one years after the molasses flood, lower income communities in Massachusetts still face environmental injustices like polluting facilities and unequal public transit service. We’re really thankful to the bands for raising awareness about these issues.”
An “Ameri-pop” tour-de-force, Hot Molasses’ Molassachusetts EP delivers driving, intricate melodies layered with guitars and keyboards. The EP’s five songs range in style from lilting country to punky power pop and tackle diverse subjects such as local sports heroes, relationship mishaps, and addiction. The EP will be released on the local No-Source Netlabel on January 11th.
“Despite the seriousness of the good cause, we’re really all about fun and dancing,” remarks Cohen. “All of Boston should be at this show; you’ll get terror, tunes, and a history lesson—The Decemberists have nothing on us.”
Hot Molasses (EP RELEASE), Young and Old, Self Assembly, and Boston Molasses Disaster play at 9pm on Wednesday, January 20th at the Middle East Upstairs in Central Square, 480 Mass Ave, Cambridge. Admission: $10.
For more information, visit www.myspace.com/hotmolasses, http://no-source.info/netlabel/artists_hm.htm, and www.ace-ej.org.