Hallelujah the Hills

Hallelujah the Hillsides arose through the ashes of Boston’s past due lamented the Stairways. When the Stairways collapsed by the end of 2005, business lead vocalist/songwriter Ryan Walsh and drummer Eric Meyer announced the forming of their new music group. Called after Adolphus Mekas’ 1963 cult humor, Hallelujah the Hillsides settled on a short lineup of Walsh and Meyer, David Bentley (cello, acoustic guitar), Joe Marrett (bass), and Matt Dark brown (synth, samples, acoustic guitar, melodica). Trumpeter Brian Rutledge became a member of a few weeks later on, and Elio DeLuca changed Dark brown on keyboards in early 2007. Incorporating components of Led by Voices’ lo-fi power pop, the woozy marching music group music of Natural Milk Hotel, as well as the off-kilter warblings of David Byrne, Hallelujah the Hillsides’ concert events quickly earned accolades through the Boston Phoenix and Salon.com. That ramshackle democracy could be heard for the band’s debut recording, Collective Psychosis Begone, released on Misra Information in June 2007.