Originally published in Boston Heights issue #1

Bankrupt? Gum disease? Bad credit? If this is you…you need to see Darkbuster.

And so read an early show poster from the band who sings songs for the people. If you’ve never seen Darkbuster, you’re missing out on one of the best bands in Boston — a band that won the WBCN Rock ‘N Roll Rumble in 2000. About a year later, they called it quits for the time being and pursued other projects: Lenny, the vocalist/guitarist, formed a country-style outfit called Lenny and the Piss Poor Boys, bassist Gurley moved on to the McGunks, guitarist Smelly joined Mung, and former full-time, currently part-time drummer Rice joined Linus. Last summer, in conjunction with a DVD release entitled Drink and Fall Over, they played a sold-out reunion show at the Axis. As always, they played an entertaining and energetic set; a set full of catchy and often hilarious singalong punk songs.

To the delight of their fans, Darkbuster has returned to the Boston music scene. The local favorites took some time to write new songs after last year’s reunion shows, and have recently tried them out at three shows before they head into the studio to record a new album. One new song, which I believe is entitled “Grandma was a Nazi,” has officially been christened “the best song eva!” At an unannounced show on March 6, 2004 at Dee Dee’s in Quincy, they went ahead and played this song about 20 times. Few, if any, got sick of it. It’s that good. And short.

The quartet then went on to open up for the Dropkick Murphys during the annual St. Pat’s weekend at the Avalon and were well received. Anyone who knew the band was singing along to every song, and anyone who didn’t know them were walking around grabbing people by the collar and saying, “Who the eff is this band? They’re incredible!”

Then, on the drunkest day of the year, the drunkest band played at TT the Bear’s, a pretty drunk bar. By this show, much of the audience knew the new songs well enough to sing along. A song about the bassist’s cell phone number has quickly become a fan favorite. “Stand and Deliver,” a new song written for the troops, was preceded with the offer of free merchandise to anyone with a current military ID. They’ve also been sending CDs overseas to Iraq, so if your band has any to donate, visit their website at www.darkbuster.net for more information.