Sound Check is the Globe’s weekly guide to concerts, tunes, and trends rooted in Boston and beyond. This column covers Feb. 27-March 5.
For years, the Massachusetts punk label Bridge Nine Records sustained itself by hawking a quintessential Boston commodity: hatred of the New York Yankees.
Enamel pins, bumper stickers, T-shirts – if the words “Yankees suck” could fit on an accessory, label founder Chris Wrenn would sell it outside of Fenway Park on game days in the early aughts. As his inventory grew to include other pro-Red Sox, anti-Yankees slogans, so did the label’s income. A night of appealing to Sox fans’ pride (or angst) could earn up to $2,000 — far more money than the pittance he had received from his prior job at Tower Records.
“It wasn’t so much to rile up the rivalry — it was to help put bands in the studio,” Wrenn says via phone, naming Boston signees like Death Before Dishonor and Have Heart. “I think the average Boston sports fan didn’t realize their involvement in funding all these albums back then.”
Wrenn didn’t invent the “‘Yankees suck’ economy,” as he calls it in his new book, “Fenway Punk: How a Boston Indie Label Scored Big on Baseball’s Greatest Rivalry.” But he did enter the market when local animosity towards the New York team had reached a fever pitch, leading up to the 2004 season that would ultimately break the Red Sox’s 86-year championship drought.
“Fenway Punk” braids Bridge Nine’s story into the larger context of the Red Sox’s comeback, explaining how the team’s struggle to “reverse the curse” indirectly funded tours, music video shoots, and studio sessions for artists on Bridge Nine’s roster. Wrenn will discuss the book Tuesday at Brookline Booksmith, with additional appearances scheduled at the Square Root in Roslindale (March 30), Harvard Book Store in Cambridge (April 9), and Lala Books in Lowell (May 2).
Wrenn’s tale of two underdogs will likely draw diverse groups of readers. “Fenway Punk” doesn’t fit neatly under “sports” or “music,” and is instead best described as a classic “only in Boston” story.
“In a lot of other parts of the country, if you’re a punk, you don’t really play up the fact that you like sports, if you do,” Wrenn says.
In Greater Boston, though, Wrenn explains, sports and punk rock culture overlap organically. Quincy punks Dropkick Murphys are associated with the Red Sox and Fenway just as much as the ballpark’s traditional eighth inning anthem, “Sweet Caroline.” The late Al Barile, frontman of pivotal Boston hardcore group SS Decontrol, covered one of his guitars in Bruins stickers as a nod to his lifelong love of the hockey team. In his own experience, Wrenn has met locals who wear their “Have Heart” shirts with just as much pride as their “Believe in Boston” apparel, one of the more positive designs that Wrenn developed over the years.
The main narrative of “Fenway Punk” ends in the fall of 2004, almost 10 years into Wrenn’s journey at the helm of Bridge Nine Records. The Red Sox have since taken home three more championship trophies, and Wrenn’s record label — currently based in Beverly — has released music from over 100 artists, including national acts like War on Women, Agnostic Front, and New Found Glory.
A new generation of “Yankees suck” vendors has taken over Wrenn’s old turf outside of Fenway, although he continues to sell sports merchandise through the online store for his apparel brand, now named Sully’s. Per the stats in “Fenway Punk,” Wrenn has used “hundreds of thousands of dollars” from merchandise sales to support Bridge Nine’s artists, and his “believe in Boston” slogan has “become the mantra of every sports team in the city,” he writes.
“I could have written this book in 2007,” he says. “But the reality is, I think what’s made it more interesting was what happened since [then].”
GIG GUIDE
Appearances from two modern country stars bookend the week: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit perform at the Boch Center Wang Theatre Friday and Saturday, and newer face Bailey Zimmerman wraps the week at TD Garden Thursday. Isbell will be promoting his latest album, “Foxes in the Snow,” while Zimmerman makes his Garden debut with material from last August’s LP, “Different Night Same Rodeo.”
Also at the Boch Center, Van Morrison will perform locally for the first time since 2023, holding court at the Wang Theatre Tuesday and Wednesday. The Northern Irish singer (and former Cambridge resident) released his 48th studio album, “Somebody Tried to Sell Me a Bridge,” last month.
Now that Christian McBride has moved on from his role as artistic director of the Newport Jazz Festival, he’s stepping out with his new(ish) band, Ursa Major. The jazz bass great performs four consecutive shows at Scullers this weekend, with early and late shows slated for both Friday and Saturday.
R&B singer Mariah The Scientist, who last year cooked up the album “Hearts Sold Separately” and two tunes with now-fiancé Young Thug, heads to MGM Music Hall at Fenway Saturday.
In Cambridge, the Sinclair hosts a sundry rock block, spanning Ratboys’ country-adjacent alternative (Saturday), Spiritual Cramp’s plucky twist on post-punk (Tuesday), and metal from Boston’s own Nailed Shut MA (Thursday).
Cat Power – a.k.a. singer/songwriter Chan Marshall – toasts the 20th anniversary of her LP “The Greatest” at Roadrunner on Wednesday by playing the album in its entirety. As an extra treat, Marshall has released a “Redux” EP that accompanies the original record, complete with a stripped-down cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U.”
And for some post-blizzard comfort, check out Passim’s early and late “Masters of Hawaiian Music” showcases on Sunday, which will feature traditional Hawaiian instruments and songs — as well as some originals — from performers George Kahumoku Jr., Led Kaapana, and Sonny Lim.
NOW SPINNING
NOVA ONE, “i can’t remember your face.” Songs like “i can’t remember your face” remind us why NOVA ONE were one of the local standouts of last year’s Newport Folk Festival. The all-lowercase title of the Providence project’s new single aligns with the casual quality of their dream-pop, which grasps at gradually dissolving memories. “I can’t remember your face/But I remember how you made me feel,” coos project leader Roz Raskin.
BONUS TRACK
Perhaps you remember the 2005 song “Boston,” the popular single about moving eastward that put California band Augustana on the pop-rock map, and framed our city as an ideal location for anyone struck with wanderlust. At the time, the song’s ubiquity on the radio made it a rather tedious listen, but 20 years later, perhaps “Boston” is due for a reassessment. On Thursday, Augustana frontman Dan Layus performs alongside a string quartet at City Winery — just in case you need a new version of the hit song to loop in your head.
Victoria Wasylak can be reached at victoria.wasylak@globe.com.