The Sound of Our Town: A History of Boston Rock and Roll The Sound of Our Town

Boston has had its celebrity bands, including Aerosmith, The Cars, J. Geils, and even the band Boston. They're all here in this anecdotal, illustrated history.

But what makes The Sound of Our Town such a great read-and what gives Boston its distinctive "sound"-are tales of the local bands who played not in the "Gahden" or even at the legendary Boston Tea Party of late 60s fame and legend, but at The Rat, Club 47, the Lizard Lounge, and all the other clubs, boites, and dives Brett Milano has been haunting since he first arrived in the city as a college student smitten with rock.

Michael Patrick MacDonald, author of All Souls and Easter Rising, a memoir about the Boston punk-rock scene of the 1970s, writes: "In The Sound of Our Town, Brett Milano takes us on a raucous subterranean passage below the cobblestones of historic Boston a city known more for its colonial past and Puritan values. He shines a spotlight on a vibrant, rebellious rock 'n roll subculture that is as much a part of our social and cultural history as the rebel Samuel Adams."

Observing the scene in 2007, Milano noted, "Three decades from now, somebody will likely be getting all warm and fuzzy about the days when you could see the Konks, the Dents, Andrea Gillis, Muck & the Mires, the Downbeat 5, the Coffin Lids, Bang Camaro, Ad Frank, Dirty Ticket, the World's Greatest Sinners, Hooray for Earth, Temper, the Tampoffs, Red Invasion, and the Pug Uglies on a regular basis." Chances are, Milano has heard every one of them.