The Rare Occasions Head into the Spotlight

If you were to ask Brian McLaughlin, lead singer of the Rare Occasions, whether his band would win the WBRU Rock Hunt, the answer would be something like “optimistically unsure.” He previously entered the competition twice: once in his high school band dubbed “The Valar” and once before with the Rare Occasions. McLaughlin finally found redemption with a victory in 2014 for the Rare Occasions.

For a band that only released their first EP in 2013, the Rare Occasions have received an astronomical amount of success that includes winning the John Lennon Songwriting Contest for “Dysphoric.” Not only has the band amassed a following locally in both Boston and Providence, but across the country with performances at festivals like SXSW and CMJ.

These opportunities brought the band out of the clubs and into the spotlight, from playing at Lupo’s to opening for bands like Guster and Dirty Heads. “It encouraged us to be better songwriters and better performers,” said McLaughlin, who grew up in Barrington with bandmate Luke Imbusch [drums]. Both McLaughlin and Imbusch immersed themselves in the Providence music scene as teens, but truly became devoted during undergraduate school in Boston — Imbusch at Berklee and McLaughlin at Tufts.

“I picked a school near Boston because I want to have access to a big city — a music scene,” said McLaughlin.

At their respective schools, the two met fellow band members Peter Stone [lead guitar] and Jeremy Cohen [bass] and from there they formed the Rare Occasions and began playing shows in the area, including Providence. “Providence is more communal [than Boston],” McLaughlin explained, “more like everybody knows each other.”

The Rare Occasions have been active in the community since 2012, even before releasing their first EP, Applefork (2013), a very solid debut EP with an eclectic mix of pieces that kept me entertained through multiple listenings. Overall, the EP provided a foundation for the core sound of the Rare Occasions, but more was needed to get an accurate portrayal of their overarching tone. The following year proved pivotal for the band as they released their extremely well-received EP, Feelers and emerged victorious as the new WBRU Rock Hunt champions.

Since winning the Rock Hunt, the band has focused on orienting their style into a specific genre rather than mirroring past approaches, which have included EPs with a variety of stylings, from acoustic to garage rock. McLaughlin said, “We kind of have been exploring more. I think each time we put out something new, we try to one-up ourselves. If we just put the same process into each release, we kind of would stay stagnant.”

In rising to this challenge, the band has announced they will release a series of singles starting this summer, each with a different theme, and gauge a direction based on audience reception. “I usually start out writing a melody and chords,” said McLaughlin. “I think the other guys in the band are much more imaginative when it comes to arrangement, so I bring them a rough skeleton of a song and they make it 10 times better.”

With this change in direction has come the newfound obligation of filling venues as a headliner, especially locally at AS220, which McLaughlin says is his favorite local venue because “it’s all ages and they don’t allow you to play covers, and that kind of encourages originality.”

I was lucky enough to catch a recent performance at AS220. I unfortunately missed the first band (Forget, Forget), but I made it just in time for the second opener, Western Education, who hypnotized me with their intricacy and a lead singer who was as enigmatic as the pieces he performed. Jetty performed next, who McLaughlin claims to have met at the Rock Hunt. Jetty struck me as a blend of Dispatch with Passion Pit and a good helping of STS9, making me a fan immediately.

When it came time for the Rare Occasions, they opened with an outstanding performance of “Fell Through” and I immediately knew this band had something to prove past their sound on their EPs. As a follow-up, the band performed a totally new song: “Mistakes.” The track had me oddly curious to see where the flow of singles will lead. What followed was a passionate set that had me on my toes the whole way as the band blistered through their pieces like tissue, making their EP counterparts seem limp by comparison.

The future of the Rare Occasions seems pretty safe, with intricate but boisterous pieces that can support their charismatic stage presence. The path of Rare Occasions reminds me of the underdog success story everybody loves to hear about, and now they are adept musicians. McLaughlin advised upcoming musicians to, “Play out often, play shows as much as you can, and a caveat to that, don’t just play one town over and over again. Go back and forth, drive up 95 to Boston and drive back down to Providence.”

If I were you kids, I’d take this advise and bring it to the bank.

Edit: Song title is “The Valar”, which hopefully refers to the deities of Middle Earth, as opposed to our original spelling, “The Valor”, which is something that the Valar surely must have had when they entered the mortal world to combat evil.

Edit: It previously stated that the Rare Occasions relocated to PVD, when in actuality they still live in the greater Boston area, but commute down to play shows in RI.