The Dogmatics

When punk started exploding in the late ‘70s, all the major labels had their main offices in New York City, but their A&R teams kept their ears very closely tuned to what was happening some 200 miles to the northeast in Boston. And by the time 1981 arrived, The Dogmatics were one of the most label-worthy acts because they were playing “garage punk” before that genre even had a name, their sound was specific to the Boston area, and all their original material showcased their power, passion and pride.

FORMATION, EARLY APPEARANCES, “GIMME THE SHAKES”

Guitar-playing twins Pete and Paul O’Halloran and bassist Jerry Lehane spent eight years together at school, starting with first grade at St. Matthews Catholic School in Dorchester. Lehane formed a band called The Savage Beasties in his mid-teens, but one of the members moved to Thayer Street in Boston’s South End. Soon after that, the twins moved to a loft on the same street and joined Lehane and drummer Dan Shannon to form what became The Dogmatics (originally called The Guttersnipes).

The band played their first show at Cantones in Boston in 1981, doing an opening slot on a Tuesday night for which they weren’t paid. In 1982, Shannon left the band to go to college, replaced by 18-year-old Tommy Long, who grew up in Quincy’s Squantum neighborhood. “The Dogs,” as they were commonly known, recorded their first single, “Gimme the Shakes” (b/w their cover of the Eddie Cochran classic “20 Flight Rock”) in 1984, self-releasing it what they called Cat Records. The tune was put into heavy rotation on local college stations including Harvard’s WHRB, MIT’s WMBR and Emerson’s WERS.

THAYER STREET, EVERYBODY DOES IT

In 1985, The Dogmatics signed with Homestead Records, which released their debut disc, Thayer Street; it remains one of the label’s best-selling LPs to this day. The album had an immediate impact, making the cover of The College Music Journal, and that success allowed them to land opening spots with popular regional and national acts including The Replacements, Los Lobos, The Bangles, The Del Fuegos, Scruffy the Cat, Dinosaur Jr., Hoodoo Gurus, Long Ryders, Forgotten Rebels, Young Fresh Fellows, Dash Riprock, Lyres and The Neats.

They recorded their second LP, Everybody Does It, in the summer of 1985 but it didn’t see the light of day – after administrative delay after delay – until  June 1986. The album’s two singles, “Teenager on Drugs” and “Teenage Girls,” also appeared on Steve “Mr. Beautiful” Barry’s Rock Turns to Stone compilation in 1988.  Also in 1986, keyboardist John Goetchius joined the band, leaving after just a year to join The Cherry Popping Daddies (and later The Mighty Mighty Bosstones).

PAUL O’HALLORAN’S DEATH, LATER APPEARANCES

On October 23, 1986, Paul O’Halloran died in a motorcycle accident, but the band performed lived a number of times after that, with Paul and Pete’s brother Jimmy or Johnny on bass and vocals. In June 2011, they appeared at the Paradise Rock Club with The Neats, Last Stand, Band 19 and Classic Ruins; in July 2012 they played at Johnny D’s in Somerville with The Flies, The Bristols, Hired Men, Piranha Brothers, Sourpuss, White Dynamite, Lenny Lashley, New Frustrations and The Lucky 88’s; and in March 2015 they performed at T.T. the Bear’s Place with Jennie Dee & The Deelinquents, The Other Girls, The Hired Men and The Gypsy Moths.

In  November 2017, the band did a set that included “Another Saturday Night,” “Pussy Whipped,” “Thayer Street,” “Drinking By The Pool,” “Good Looking Girls” and “Sister Serena” at the re-release party for Live At The Rat Volume II, held 41 years after the original album came out. They contributed their song “Saturday Night Again” to the LP after recording it live in the Rat suite at the Hotel Commonwealth in Kenmore Square (located on the former venue’s exact spot). The band’s Chuck Berry-meets-New York Dolls, Nick Lowe-meets-Eddie Cochran and Stiff Little Fingers-meet-The Clash sound was still intact and vital as ever. “Our sound hasn’t really changed,” drummer Long said at the time, “but the musicianship has gotten better, and the songs are effortless to play.”

DOCUMENTARY, NOWHERESVILLE

Though they continued making occasional live appearances in the 2000s, the group didn’t return to the studio for 39 years between their second and third albums. As confirmation that they maintained a passionate fan base well into the 21st century, however, the 90-minute film The Dogmatics: A Dogumentary premiered at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge in April 2023 as part of the Boston Independent Film Festival. “For those of us who grew up in the ‘80s, this critic included, The Dogmatics: A Dogumentary is a vibrant and alive blast filled to the brim with kick-ass garage rock, a rock ‘n’ roll spirit, and an emotional core that keeps you rooting for these guys from beginning to end,” wrote Richard Propes on the website The Independent Critic. “If you never knew a thing about The Dogmatics, you’ll find yourself rushing to find out more after watching this low-key but dazzling doc with tremendous archival footage, engaging interview, and spirited music to keep you rockin’ all night long.”

In July 2025, less than two years after the documentary premiered, Boston-based Rum Bar Records released the band’s long-awaited third album, Nowheresville. In a glowing review posted on the rock blog Faster and Louder, Lord Rutledge said the 10-track disc sounds simultaneously old and new. “It sounds distinctively like The Dogmatics while still allowing for the kind of maturity and growth you’d expect from a band after four decades,” he wrote. “Some of these songs sound like they could have been written back in the ’80s [while] others come off as very much belonging to the garage rock scene of today…. You don’t need to be a fan of The Dogmatics’ beloved ’80s output (or to have even heard it) to appreciate what a great album Nowheresville is.”

FUN DOGMATICS FACTS

• The Paul O’Halloran-penned song “It Sure Don’t Feel Like XMas Time” was included on the Midnite XMas Mess1984 compilation.
• In 1998, Shredder/Vagrant released The Dogmatics’ two LPs along with some previously unreleased material.
• The Mighty Mighty Bosstones recorded “It Sure Don’t Feel Like XMas Time” in 2005 for the Mercury Records compilation Home for the Holidays.
• Dogmatics tunes have been covered by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, New Orleans pranksters Dash Riprock, The Pussy Willows, Heap and Swedish garage-punk kings The Locomotions. Pete O’ Halloran has said that he likes the Swedish band’s version of “Saturday Night Again” since “they do a boisterous version of it.” Jerry said he likes The Bosstones’ version of ‘It Sure Don’t Feel Like XMas Time” since they do “a very heartfelt version.”
• The Dogs recorded the Richie Parsons (Unnatural Axe) song “Summertime” for the Unnatural Axe tribute album Ruling the World from the Backseat (2008, Lawless Records). They later backed Parsons for the tune at the Live at the Rat Volume II record release party in November 2017; that version appears on the album.
• The Dogs contributed their song “Black Plastic Shoes” to The Reducers tribute album Rave On in 2012.
• Jerry is famous crime-fiction writer Dennis Lehane’s cousin. “Dennis has seen us play,” he says. “He also wrote a little-known film called Neighborhoods and our song ‘Sister Serena’ is on the soundtrack.”

 (by A.J. Wachtel)