The Night Owl EditionExtra
The Rare Occasions
American indie rock band from Boston
The Rare Occasions are an American indie rock band, formed in Somerville, Massachusetts in 2012. Current members are Brian McLaughlin, Jeremy Cohen and Luke Imbusch.
Lead guitarist Peter Stone left in 2018. The band's debut release was the Demo Recordings EP (2012).
In 2016, Futureproof was released as a fourth EP. "Notion", a song from the EP, went viral on TikTok in October 2021.
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The Rare Occasions
- what
- a band
- from
- Somerville
- since
- 2012
- on the air here
- 0 songs
- still after
- 3 songs
File card: The Rare Occasions
members: Brian McLaughlin, Jeremy Cohen, Luke Imbusch, Peter Stone
Facts from Wikidata and Discogs, free to use.
alternative rockindie rock
The Night Owl EditionExtra
History
In high school, McLaughlin and Imbusch joined a band called The Valar in Providence, Rhode Island. The Valar developed 2 EPs and 1 Album throughout its 3-year lifespan. That being "Valagueña", "The Project", and "The Adventures of a Septapus Named Wallace". The group disbanded in 2010 due to each member matriculating at different colleges, deeming it impractical to continue making music for most of the year. McLaughlin and Imbusch left the band, met Stone and Cohen at their respective colleges, and decided to add them to the band. Thus forming The Rare Occasions. McLaughlin came up with the name after the band went through an "identity crisis," eventually settling on "The Rare Occasions" instead of "The Custodians," which they previously...
The Static TimesExtra
Style
The Rare Occasions were described as a garage rock, indie rock, and indie pop band. The EP Futureproof introduced experimentation – string arrangements and woodwind instruments, suggested by Imbusch and vocal harmonies. 2021 album Big Whoop featured Wall of Sound guitars, electronic landscapes, and further orchestral arrangements; McLaughlin's lyrics are sometimes philosophical and often deal with existentialism.
Los Angeles-based indie rock band
From Discogs (free to use). Their entryLiner notes
The Rare Occasions, the records, oldest first
Into The Shallows
2018 album
- wanted
Through Moonshot Eyes
2024 album
Records from MusicBrainz; covers from the Cover Art Archive.
The Glitch Weekly2016
Notion
2021 single by the Rare Occasions
"Notion" is a song by American indie rock band The Rare Occasions, written by lead singer Brian McLaughlin. It was first released independently as part of their Futureproof EP on August 5, 2016.
The song went viral on TikTok and YouTube in October 2021, with a slowed version of the song being used in videos portraying nostalgia, also for reaching subscriber goals in which they just passed. The renewed popularity of the song led the band to re-release it as a single.
Meaning
The song is about religion, specifically not believing in it. The opening lines "Sure it's a calming notion, perpetual in motion, but I don't need the comfort of any lies" describe how religious texts calm people, though what it tells might not be true. In his 2016 review of the EP, Futureproof Mitch Mosk of Atwood Magazine wrote that the song makes one consider that "Life has its ups and its downs, but that isn't a reason to not live each day to our fullest potential."