Welcome to Nowheresville: The Dogmatics Ride Again

I was eight in 1981. Somewhere in a blocky Eastern European flat, probably pretending to be a robot or spacing out to cartoons. Meanwhile, halfway across the world, The Dogmatics were plugging into amps that hummed like faulty streetlights and getting ready to rattle Boston’s bones.

Flash forward 43 years. It’s 2025, and those same bones are rattling again – not from memory, but from Nowheresville, a brand-new album from a band that knows exactly where it comes from and doesn’t care how long it’s been.

Boston’s Loudest Family Tradition

The Dogmatics never chased industry approval. They built their name on sweat, grit, and the kind of garage rock that left calluses on your eardrums. When Paul O’Halloran passed in ‘86, it didn’t end the story. It just carved a pause into it, a quiet space held in his name.

This record carries him like a tattoo under the sleeve – starting with the title, taken from a song he and Jerry Lehane never got to finish. It lived as a dusty live bootleg until now, when the band finally gave it a heartbeat in the studio.

And here they are: Jerry, Peter, Jimmy, Tom, and James Young – the latter bringing mandolin, melody, and enough folk sensibility to shake the attic dust off this whole second act.

No Categories. Just Songs That Show Up

Nowheresville isn’t worried about sticking to genre lanes. You’ll find punchy garage rock on You’ve Got What I Want, back-alley punk on With A Scarlet Letter, and even some bluegrass fingerprints on Con Job.

The melodies hit quick, the lyrics are direct, and the production is massive. No Likes No Comments reads like a screen-age anthem someone wrote from the porch instead of a phone. Rainy Nights arrives with guest voices, vintage chord changes, and just enough shimmer to feel like you’re standing in the rain with your jacket open. The thing that threads it all together? Familiarity. These songs feel like they know you already.

From the Loft to the Bar to the Festival Stage

Some of these tracks were born decades ago – like You’ve Got What I Want, written after an Outlets gig at The Channel in the early ‘80s. Others, like Library Girl or I Can’t Get Over You, came alive in the band’s modern rebirth, after linking up with Rum Bar Records in 2019.

Every tune carries a story, but none of them lean on nostalgia. They’re grounded in the now – and played by musicians who’ve logged the miles and still know how to tear up a small room.

James Young’s presence reshapes the Dogmatics‘ gravity just enough to make room for new colours. His vocals, his father’s lyrics on Con Job, and his design work all pull the band forward, while honouring every brick laid before.

The Dogmatics: A Dogumentary – Boston’s House Band, Finally on Film

Before Nowheresville hit the speakers, The Dogmatics: A Dogumentary hit the screen. Directed by Rudy Childs and stitched together over four years by family and friends, this film it’s a love letter. A tribute to the late Paul O’Halloran and the chaotic beauty of the early ‘80s Boston scene.

This is garage rock caught on 8mm, soaked in basement sweat, and narrated by the very people who lived it – with enough beer, broken strings, and real heart to make even the cynics crack a grin.

Streaming now on YouTube, Roku, and Tubi (free with ads), or grab the DVD on Amazon if you want to hold a little piece of it. It’s loud, it’s scrappy, and it’s real – just like the band it follows. Call it Garage Rock 101, or better yet, just press play.

Waltham Is the Place. July 26 Is the Date.

To launch the record, they’ve set up something bigger than a gig – an eight-band blowout at the French-American Victory Club in Waltham. Cheap drinks. Fair cover. Free parking. Real floors that have probably seen a hundred weddings and more than a few band fights.

You’ll find Black Cheers, Last Stand, Tom Baker & the Double Down, and a few other familiar faces on the bill. But the soul of the day belongs to The Dogmatics. They’ve always played like family. This time, they bring the whole block.

The Dogmatics Nowheresville – One Track’s Not Enough

There’s a rare warmth in this record. The kind that comes from people who’ve carried each other longer than they’ve carried their instruments. Nowheresville just arrives, fully formed, like a call from a friend you haven’t seen in years. You pick up, smile, and turn it up loud.

STREAM & FOLLOW THE DOGMATICS:
🔗 Spotify
🔗 Bandcamp
🔗 Instagram
🔗 Facebook
🔗 Official Website