This Radiant Boy

Historically, Philadelphia has been better known for R&B, jazz and hip-hop than for rock, and that trend continued in the '90s and early 2000s thanks to the national success of artists like <a href="spotify:artist:78xUyw6FkVZrRAtziFdtdu">the Roots</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6AVLthptCPhfrxlHadOBJD">Jill Scott</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4d3yvTptO48nOYTPBcPFZC">Eve</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0tCtGc5vt29zFZp6KXzN50">Beanie Sigel</a>. But while Philly tends to have an R&B/hip-hop/jazz image nationally, those who actually live there realize that Philly has a tremendous amount of rock activity as well -- and one of the countless alternative pop/rock bands that emerged on the Philly scene in the late '90s was This Radiant Boy, a melodic yet hard-rocking outfit that is led by vocalist/songwriter/guitarist Michael C. Guggino. Under Guggino's leadership, This Radiant Boy plays power pop and guitar pop for a post-<a href="spotify:artist:6olE6TJLqED3rqDCT0FyPh">Nirvana</a>, post-'80s environment. Their work draws on a variety of influences from different eras; <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a>, the '60s British Invasion and '60s psychedelic rock are influences, but so are <a href="spotify:artist:6olE6TJLqED3rqDCT0FyPh">Nirvana</a>, grunge, punk, R.E.M. and <a href="spotify:artist:2DaxqgrOhkeH0fpeiQq2f4">Oasis</a>. And Philly has been a perfect place for the group's indie rock and college rock leanings because it is a major college town; A city that has so many students from the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University and Wharton is bound to produce a lot of indie rockers.

In 1997, Guggino formed the original lineup of This Radiant Boy, whose intriguing name was inspired by a British ghost story; according to the legend, anyone who sees the Radiant Boy is destined to experience tremendous joy and elation followed by a horrible, painful death. The band's original 1997 lineup united Guggino with guitarist Brian Burgoyne, bassist Marcello Defeo and drummer Costas Nakassis, but Burgoyne and Nakassis didn't stay very long -- and in 1997 and 1998, This Radiant Boy was quite a revolving door when it came to guitarists and drummers. The lineup became a lot more stable in 1999, when guitarist Dan Verechia and drummer Brian "Bucky" Lang came on-board; Guggino hoped they would stick around for awhile, and sure enough, Verechia and Lang were still a part of his band five years later. From 2000-2003, bassists were the only unstable part of This Radiant Boy; Richie Hass replaced Defeo in 2000, and after Hass' departure, This Radiant Boy went through various bassists (including Justin Verechia) before settling on Adam Herndon in 2003 -- which was also the year in which Hass returned to the band as a keyboardist (not a bassist) and Guggino hired Jamie Lynn Udinson as a second vocalist. The arrival of Udinson (who has functioned as both a lead and background singer) marked the end of This Radiant Boy's all-male lineup and added a new male singer/female singer element to Guggino's band. This Radiant Boy's first full-length album, Proud to Be a Chemist, was recorded in late 2000 and early 2001 and released on Ides of March/Revelation Records (an independent label that was owned by guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:1iP4QHfaqAitGrpWHQLcuW">Matt Fox</a> of the band <a href="spotify:artist:4AlPDOBuB1s7NuIPo4veZu">Shai Hulud</a>). In 2004, This Radiant Boy followed up that disc with Shakedown at the Russian Disco, a five-song EP that was released on the Extracurricular label. ~ Alex Henderson, Rovi