The Allstonians

The Allstonians started as The Visitors in Boston in the late 1970s, with Peter Greenberg on vocals, Peter Shea and Chris Doherty on guitars, Dave Aronson on bass, and Bill Pierce on drums. They changed their name to The Allstonians in 1979, after the neighborhood where they played a lot of local shows. Their sound was fast and loud, with Greenberg's strained voice over distorted guitars, pulling from bands like The Ramones and The Clash but feeling more local and immediate.

In 1980, they put out their debut EP 'Answering Machine', and the title track became a staple in Boston punk circles. Songs like 'Big Empty Stein' and 'Brighton Memories' from around that time carried a similar raw energy, with lyrics that touched on alienation and everyday frustrations without much polish. They built a following through constant gigging at clubs in the area, but never broke far beyond that scene.

The band dealt with lineup changes and internal tensions, which kept them from gaining wider traction. They didn't release much more recorded material, and their activity tapered off by the mid-1980s. For a while, they were just one of those groups that defined a certain time and place in Boston's punk history, remembered for a handful of songs and a lot of loud nights.