Press

2009 Boston Music Awards Nominee – Pop Act of the Year

http://www.boston.com/ae/music/packages/bma/2009nominees/

Weekly Dig Cover Story

INDIE PRIDE: Two of our Finest Rock Purveyors Top the Bill

http://weeklydig.com/arts-entertainment/music/201006/indie-pride-0

With MEandJOANCOLLINS and Mrs. Danvers on the roster for Pride this year, two of Boston’s favorite indie bands will take the stage and take pride in the fact that they’re active, proud members of both Boston’s LGBT and independent music scenes.” Hilary Hughes

Boston Phoenix Feature

High Drama: The glam amalgam of MEandJOANCOLLINS

http://thephoenix.com/Boston/Music/81615-High-drama

“gracefully glam…a foot planted in British pop culture, MEandJOANCOLLINS’s inaugural album, Love. Trust. Faith. Lust., even sounds like the title of a ’80s prime-time soap opera. And like any worthwhile soap, it’s chock-a-block with visceral sleaze, occasional uproariousness, and heart-on-sleeve vulnerability” Barry Thompson

2009 Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll Nominee – Best New Act

http://thephoenix.com/BMP/Boston/2009/NewAct/

Boston Phoenix and WFNX Featured MP3 Download

http://thephoenix.com/BLOGS/onthedownload/archive/2009/10/08/mp3-of-the-week-meandjoancollins-quot-i-masturbate-a-little-too-much-quot.aspx

http://wfnx.com/shows/onthedownload/archive/2009/10/08/mp3-of-the-week-meandjoancollins-quot-i-masturbate-a-little-too-much-quot.aspx

Weekly Dig Album Review

http://test.weeklydig.com/%5Bcatpath%5D/200904/local-pick-0

On this slickly designed, full-length debut, MEandJOANCOLLINS prove they’re more than just a hard-to-type and cheeky moniker: They’re a full-blown rock & roll spectacle. But in this three-ring circus, the starring role goes to the dual lead vocals of the now-married Bo Barringer and Jen Grygiel. It’s particularly clear in the three re-recorded songs from their EP, like “(I Masturbate) A Little Too Much.” The parity is more clear and the sexual tension is more pronounced. We can’t remember a glam-rock sound that included two vocalists as such, so their updated big sound just seems that much more newfangled. They break from the form just enough as well—like in the dreamy “Typical Asshole.” Love gives more ammo to a Boston band already locked and loaded. Brent T. Ingram

Weekly Dig

“MEandJOANCOLLINS spit the kind of bravado-oozing, glam inflected Britpoppy rawk you’d expect to have spawned in London circa 1995, only it’s coming from four Cambridge(that’s Mass) rockers circa right now.”

“We can’t remember a glam-rock sound that included two vocalists as such, so their updated big sound just seems that much more newfangled ….a full-blown rock & roll spectacle”

30th WBCN Rock N’ Roll Rumble

http://www.wbcn.com/pages/1757139.php

Boston Globe

“…a group that sounds like a mix of Debbie Harry and David Bowie.” Meredith Goldstein

Boston Metro

http://www.metrobostonnews.com/us/article/2008/06/06/04/1037-66/index.xml

“MEandJOANCOLLINS sounds kinda like a garage band that would have surely been monumental in the ‘80s, and you’d never have expected such strutting, clap-along music to emerge from Cambridge.”

Northeast Performer

“…a loud, well-dressed quintet from Cambridge…a high-energy combination of garage and glam rock…” Brett Cromwell

The Noise-Boston Cover Story

http://www.thenoise-boston.com/content/view/139/10/

The Noise-Boston

“catchy, riff-laden Bowie/Stones school of dynamic him-and-her harmony vocals…clever lyrics and superior production values…sophisticated melodicism with traces of Beatles… epic instrumental and vocal theatrics… exciting and dynamic…full of good feelings and hope”
Francis DiMenno

Tea Party Boston Interview

http://www.teapartyboston.com/2009/09/meandjoancollins/

cheapthrillsboston.blogspot.com

http://cheapthrillsboston.blogspot.com/2010/05/fri-514-comedy-rock-film-dance.html

“I think Me&JC is one of the best bands in town — if not the best. They’ve got everything going that should make them stars (whatever that means at his point).” Rob V

thelimitsofscience.wordpress.com

http://thelimitsofscience.wordpress.com/2009/06/18/meandjoancollins/

“Love. Trust. Faith. Lust., the band’s debut album, is one of the best discs of 2009 – local, national, or anywhere. Standout tracks include the unbelievably catchy “That’s Not What Want,” modern breakup classic “Crime of the Century (So Far…),” breezy pop gem “Typical Asshole,” and brooding set closer “Strangest Thing.” Those tracks get an A+; the rest of the album gets an A. Their sound is an accessible mix of garage, glam, and British popular music (Bowie, T. Rex, Pulp, the Velvets, the Zombies, Spoon, Of Montreal – you get the idea) with hand claps, sleazy boy/girl vocals, and face-melting riffage courtesy of Barringer (his guitar work is featured even more heavily in the band’s excellent new material – a looser, more expansive crop of tunes, many written by Grygiel).”

Adequacy.net

http://www.adequacy.net/2009/05/meandjoancollins-love-trust-faith-lust/

“Like the finest glam rock of yore, the Cambridge, MA outfit MEandJOANCOLLINS specialize in a sweaty fusion of sexual perversion and hard rockin’ bombast. But unlike the genre’s forefathers (T. Rex, Roxy Music) this indie-minded foursome steers clear of any campy theatricality and fantastical preoccupations with grandeur. The group’s debut LP shows more grit than you might expect from a band that readily admits to the influence of David Bowie and Marc Bolan….achieves an impressive balance of indie tenderness, garage rock cacophony, and punk rock …And with their roots firmly planted in the glam and indie scenes, the unpretentious music of Love. Trust. Faith. Lust. might just be the remedy for the self-serious hipster who needs to lighten up a bit…” Adam Costa


Boston Band Crush: Mike’s Semi-Annual Crushiest Of Boston

http://www.bostonbandcrush.com/2009/06/mikes-semi-annual-crushiest-of-boston.html

My favorite thing about MEandJOANCOLLINS is that every time I listen to this album or see them perform live, I have a completely different sense of what it is that they’re doing. Sometimes I let the reviews and the bios convince me that they are essentially a neo-glam effort, but if I open my mind a bit, I hear a fun-time party band mixed with post-rock washes and amusing lyrical turns and twists. Ignoring for a moment, the wonderful male/female gender-dominance interplay, the band makes me wonder what they’ve got spinning on their turntables…is it Bowie or Elvis Costello? Mark Bolan or Jonathan Richman? Sweet or Crowded House?
Michael Epstein

Ryan’s Smashing Life

Review of Grygiel’s Dirty 30 Show
http://www.rslblog.com/2009/06/we-were-there-meandjoancollins.html

“That’s Why This Band is a “Best of” – Bo Barringer (guitar and vocals), Jen Grygiel (guitar and vocals), Jim Collins (bass), and Matt Graber (drums—The Self-Employed Assassins regular stood in mind-blowingly for Jason Marchionna) turned the Great Scott into something of a Bacchanalia. This was partly due to Grygiel’s 30th birthday being that very day (presumably the same Sharpie marker used on the inflatable dolls is what turned Grygiel into a human birthday card with signatures abounding).”

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“Sometimes you go to a show and nothing out of the ordinary happens, sometimes you go to a show and wake up with Jen Grygiel ‘s name scrawled on your chest.” Richard Bouchard