Best of Boston

2017 Best Band

Pile

It’s the songful lilt of Rick Maguire’s voice that exhilarates the oft-agitated melodies on his band’s latest, A Hairshirt of Purpose. Pile isn’t new on the scene, but the post-hardcore quartet’s sixth release, its third on the Boston-born label Exploding in Sound, is their most cohesive: Maguire’s drawl and octave yawps soar over a cacophony of compulsively listenable tunes.