BIG RAV set to release debut album “Mess I’ve Made” August 1st (Photo Credit: Grace Herron)

Rodrigo Carvalho
29 de jul.
3 min de leitura

Boston based alternative rock band Big Rav is set to independently release their long-awaited debut album Mess I’ve Made Friday, August 1st. The band has also released the title track as its newest single: a relentless and frenetic yet introspective number that epitomizes the sound and themes of the album:

Mess I've Made

Big Rav will be playing their release show in support of the album Saturday, August 2nd at 7:00 PM at The Burren in Somerville, MA. Tickets are available for presale here.

No stranger to the Boston music scene, Big Rav has been filling local venues and porchfests for the past four years with their unique blend of in-your-face, pop punk inspired vocals, overdriven and melodic guitar riffs and solos, heavy, modal basslines, vintage synths, and foundational, never obvious grooves (think Paramore meets Rush). Self-deprecating title aside, the band is incredibly proud of this labor of love which came to be over a series of intermittent recording sessions with Sean McLaughlin of 37’ Productions coordinated between the individual members’ “real jobs” (a product manager, a developer, an engineer, and an accountant walk into a bar…) and the obligations that come with adulthood. In a sense, that is the true theme of the album - grappling with the phenomenon of growing up, and the infinite possibilities of life becoming casualty to responsibilities, relationship issues, and struggles with mental health. Throw in a wall of layered guitars, thick bass, bombastic drumming, and raw, expressive vocals, and you arrive at the essence of the huge “Big Rav” sound.

From the opening track Another Tomorrow, the album delves into the existential dread of the monotony and repetitiveness of a life fraught with depression and the fatigue of being a human, balancing the precariousness of wanting to live life to its fullest against the desire of staying in. Hello Stranger continues this theme with the emotional toll of becoming unrecognizable to oneself before taking a short detour to the heavy and bluesy Alien - the closest thing to a love song on the album showcasing the band’s diverse sound and influences. Mess I’ve Made and What’s Underneath round out Side A with a return to similar themes of feeling trapped in a morass of one’s own making and unsatisfied perfectionism. Side B opens with a ray of sunshine in the pop anthem Let Me Have My Fun before turning attention back to the oftentimes messy adult relationships that become the root cause of these negative emotions in Hate to Break It and Blame Me. Closing out the album are Shards of Rain, an homage to the band’s prog rock roots that offers a sliver of hope of being able to break out of the vicious cycle and Selfishly, a deeply personal ballad that mourns and reconciles the death of friendship with the need to prioritize oneself and move on. All the while, the songs’ emotional and personal lyrics and themes are accompanied by powerful performances and a mindful pursuit of thoughtful, original songcraft. Mess I’ve Made stands to be a strong and characteristic debut effort by the up and coming group.