We recently had the tremendous opportunity to check out the debut single “Lightning Strikes” from new Boston band The Northern Line. You can listen to “Lightning Strikes” on Spotify Here, Apple Music Here and on Bandcamp Here

Boston’s newest band The Northern Line is all that is cool and right about music , they have brilliantly unearthed a sound that is deeply rooted in the past but also serves as a refreshing beacon to the present and future. The debut single “Lightning Strikes “ has an energy that is simply electrifying.

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.” 

We couldn’t agree more Bilvox, we are all about celebrating amazing music here at The Whole Kameese. And…. “Lighting Strikes” is most definitely celebration worthy.

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.  

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.    

We are all in on The Northern Line and their blazing debut single “Lightning Strikes”