Emily (my fellow New Englander on the Start-Track team) covered Costumes’ “Kal Vilmer” not too long ago, and while we were both excited to feature another Massachusetts-based band on the blog, I failed to realize that they were from Athol. Where is Athol, you ask? Let me show you on a trusty map of this great Commonwealth:
That little red outlined area? That’s Athol, a town of about 12,000 people in the middle of the Massachusettsan wilderness, closer to the notorious Last Ditch bar in Greenfield than it is to PJ Ryan’s pub in Somerville. (Ignore that I recently viewed PJ Ryan’s; I needed to figure out how to get to Trivia Night.)
People outside of Athol might not think much of the cultural richness of the town. But because of its distance from the entertainment centers of Boston and Worcester (and its proximity to the college towns of Amherst and Northampton), the town has a lot of skilled artist and musicians within its limits. Hence the existence of Costumes, born in 2024 from the minds of Patrick Salone (vox/guitar/etc.), Oscar Smith (drums), and Lee Gaines (bass). And if Athol produces musicians with expertise in all genres, Costumes checks off the post-hardcore box, blowing the shingles off the old Central Massachusetts houses with their blazing tunes.
Six songs make up their new EP Disintegrate, including the lead track “Kal Vilmer” which we’ve already covered. The band recorded the album in Keene, New Hampshire, a city forty minutes due north of Athol and just as scenic and gorgeous and ripe for melting faces. The distortion on Patrick’s guitar is fire enough to set the usual autumn leaf peepers aflame, but the guitar tone is still clear enough to let you hear the excellent harmonies, chord progressions, and riffs in tunes like “Beyond the Headlights”. Oscar and Lee make a great rhythm section, partnering with Patrick to keep a beat that makes even the trees of Massachusetts bang their heads – er – branches.
A lot of the songs on Disintegrate refer to the dissolution of relationships, as on “Whiskey Song”, a ballad perfect for back rooms of bars full of dejected and rejected hearts getting absolutely sloshed to fill the screaming holes in their souls. While whiskey’s not my go-to beverage, I imagine a peaty and smoky scent rising up from a crowd full of throats shouting along with the chorus of this track: “Staying up late killing my brain cells / You know what I hate / Making the same old fucking mistakes.”
But not all the songs on Disintegrate need words to channel their disdain: The title track is a three-minute pure post-hardcore instrumental, fit for opening up a pit and just letting everything out in the middle of the dance floor. Again, this absolute outburst of emotion is happening in places you would associate with quiet and quaint. What a fool you would be to do so! These places run with pain and anger as hot and red as their trees in the thick of October.
Costumes channels those feelings well, showcasing that not all little New England towns are just about apple cider donuts, Revolutionary War history, and bodies of water outsiders mistake for Walden Pond. No, these New England towns are full of flavors that taste stronger and sounds that ring louder, because you wouldn’t expect them. Perhaps their name feeds into this idea: On the outside, Athol looks like a cozy little town, but look deeper and you see the grit, the sweat, and the tears between every brick. You never know what a town – or a person – holds deep inside.
Take a listen to “Whiskey Song” from Disintegrate below.
Written by Will Sisskind
