The Northern Line stir up a stylish sense of euphoria with ‘Lightning Strikes’
The new Boston band takes us back to the indie dance floor with
an anthemic debut single out Friday, October 25
NOW PLAYING: Listen to ‘Lightning Strikes’ on Spotify
The Northern Line play The Jungle in Somerville on November 23
BOSTON, Mass. [October 25, 2024] – Way back in the halcyon days of the mid-’90s, the word around Camden across places like The Good Mixer, Blow Up, and Dingwalls was that bands would get signed and become famous before they ever even put music out. It capped a movement that began with the mod scene in the ‘60s and exploded into an over-saturated Cool Britannia frenzy. So what’s a new band on the other side of the Atlantic conceived three decades later to do? Shake off all that extracurricular static, don’t sweat the lurid promises of industry fame and fortune, and simply unveil a proper banger for the modern day.
That’s the plan for The Northern Line, the freshly minted Boston collective that unveils debut single “Lightning Strikes” on Friday, October 25. Raised on a steady diet of Britpop, baggy, Madchester, and modern alternative all filtered through an American lens, the quintet unabashedly urges everyone to raise a fist, bang a drum, and get on the indie dancefloor.
“‘Lightning Strikes’ is about moving past the struggle of life, the banality, the brow-beating of it all, and ‘When the lightning strikes…’ in your life, for that moment, you feel that joy,” says frontman Bilvox. “It’s about embracing those moments and living out loud. Buggering through the tricky bits of life and when the good things come to you, embrace them and celebrate them.”
With its members culled together from a selection of Boston bands, both past and present – Strangeways, The Daily Pravda, The Luxury, Looking Glass War, and others – The Northern Line has come together sharing a common musical vision and stylistic blueprint.
A plan first hatched by Bilvox (vocals and guitar) and Mike Ackley (keys) to revisit classic sounds of their youth – the former here in the United States and the latter in Manchester, England – has evolved into a mighty sonic dynamo, with Joshh Magee (bass), Matt Scheinman (guitar), and McG (drums and backing vocals) rounding out the cohesive and chemistry-driven five-piece.
The first beat drops with “Lightning Strikes,” an inaugural effort that ties together disparate scenes and statements from several decades gone by into one intoxicating cocktail of cool. The only thing that’s missing out of the gate is that ill-advised record deal brokered in a men’s room stall.
Ackley believes “Lightning Strikes” acts as an appropriate opening salvo for the band, and an invitation to go deeper as new music emerges – similar to how all those Britpop records in the mid-’90s exposed a new generation to all the mod, psych, and British Invasion that came before it.
“This one is a nice intro that really showcases all the band,” Ackley notes. “It’s also a central point in the sound; we have slower, more anthemic tunes, tunes that are a little more rocking, but this one is core to our sound. Plus it’s a banger.”
Adds Bilvox: “I think ‘Lightning Strikes’ is a great representation of the fun energy of our music. Also, as we introduce ourselves to the world, this is a fist-pumping ear worm that forces itself into your room and makes you want to move. It kicks down the door and says ‘Hello!’ And I think it honors some favorite vibes of music we all celebrate, while creating a new space and sound to dive into. I think the vibe is a good indicator of things to come.”
“Lightning Strikes” was written and produced by The Northern Line as a collective unit after Bilvox brought in the lyrics and a handful of chords via an early acoustic demo. The rhythm section of Magee and McG – a duo whose name pairing just sounds iconic off the jump – changed the groove of the demo and made it danceable. Scheinman and Ackley added a “call and answer” relationship between the guitar and organ, allowing the track to bloom over its five-minute runtime without ever overstaying its welcome.
“I thought, ‘let’s try a mod bassline on this’ and McG worked it with me to make it more straightforward and danceable,” Magee notes. “As Bilvox says, ‘give it hips.’ This is an outstanding group of lads where any idea can be thrown against a wall to see if it sticks. Everyone’s open, friendly, honest, and has the same goals. The ship sails in one direction.
And that direction is forward.
“With this one, we also wanted each part to escalate in intensity throughout the song,” Scheinman reveals. “Each part adds to what came before… the tempo is danceable and the tune transcends a single era or sound while still sounding nostalgic.”
“Lightning Strikes” was engineered by McG and mastered by Nick Zampiello at New Alliance East in Somerville, MA, with recorded and mixed at Studio Lockland in the Massachusetts city of Framingham. As engineer, McG understands where to steer The Northern Line’s creative vessel, and which identifiable ports to hit on the way to the dance floor.
“Sonically, for this project, we’re looking to bridge the gap between modern vintage and vintage mod,” he confirms. “Draw a line from late '60s London, through late ‘80s Manchester, on to mid-90s American retro, and beyond! No matter where you are on that line, we want you to move, we want you to dance. Concretely, when recording the band, I took a naturalistic approach, trying to capture our best selves at this moment in time. When it came to the mix, touchstones for ‘Lightning Strikes’ include Revolver-era Beatles, Quadrophenia-era Who, and Odelay-era Beck.”
Part of the core identity of sound is Ackley’s Hammon organ. Known currently for his piercing basslines in Boston post-punk project Looking Glass War, Ackley was eager to shape a new kind of groove with The Northern Line.
“As McG says, some of our reference points were ‘60s mod, through to Madchester and early Britpop,” Ackley adds. “From a keys perspective, I think that right from the start we knew that we wanted Hammond to be a central part of the band’s sound and a huge reference point for me is The Charlatans, but also from a ‘Mod’ perspective – Northern Soul/Trojan records… think Nolan Porter, ‘Liquidator’ by Harry J All Stars, etc.”
Next up for The Northern Line is a series of live gigs, including a November 23 romp at The Jungle in Somerville. More new music is set for 2025, and from there, who knows what’s on the horizon. All that matters is the moment, as the song suggests, and the fact that five musicians with a shared creative passion have linked up to create a new sense of euphoria.
“I think our music is a celebration of many of the sounds that have influenced us and made us move and sing along with,” Bilvox concludes. “With this band, we are having fun, writing bangers and hooks, and the tunes reflect this. And I am all for it. As people hear this track and the other singles in the future, they will have as much fun as we do.”
It might even start a new scene.
The Northern Line is:
Bilvox: Vocals and guitar
Matthew Scheinman: Lead guitar
Joshh Magee: Bass
Mike Ackley: Keys
McG: Drums
‘Lightning Strikes’ production credits:
Lyrics by Bilvox
Music by The Northern Line
Engineered by McG
Produced by The Northern Line
Recorded and Mixed at Studio Lockland in Framingham, MA
Mastered by Nick Zampiello at New Alliance East in Somerville, MA
‘Lightning Strikes’ single artwork:
The Northern Line short bio:
The Northern Line’s sonic aesthetic is melded from the band members' common love of the hooks of Britpop, the textures and landscape of shoegaze, and the rhythms of Manchester — all polished up and brought into the moment by modern pop sensibilities.
Based out of Boston with a sound that reflects the world, The Northern Line produce music that takes you on a musical journey through sonic textures, soaring vocals, and hypnotic and grooving rhythms that guide the way.
The Northern Line urge everyone to raise a fist, bang a drum, and get on the indie dancefloor. Debut single “Lightning Strikes” crashes the streams on Friday, October 25.
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