By Sharon Oliver
Contributing Writer
BOSTON – In 1981, The Dogmatics were playing “garage punk” rock with a hint of rockabilly just when the genre took off and the live music scene in the city was arguably at its peak.
Twin brothers
The band was formed in Boston by bassist Paul O’Halloran with an original lineup that included his twin brother Peter, Jerry Lehane (cousin of crime fiction writer Dennis Lehane) and Dan Shannon, who was replaced by Thomas Lang a year later. Although all the major record labels had main offices in nearby New York City, their A&R teams kept a close eye on the burgeoning Boston music scene.
The band released a single in 1984 with “Gimme the Shakes” on the A-side and the Eddie Cochran classic “20 Flite Rock” on the B-side. Two albums followed – “Thayer Street” in 1985, and “Everybody Does It” on Homestead Records. They traveled across the country in a van and toured with well-known artists such as The Bangles, The Beastie Boys, The Fleshtones and The Replacements. Bands like The Mighty Mighty Bosstones covered a few of their songs.
The Paul O’Halloran-penned song “It Sure Don’t Feel Like XMas Time” was included on the Midnite XMas Mess 1984 compilation, a garage rock compilation by the New York based label Midnight Records. Two years later, tragedy would strike in a life changing way for The Dogmatics.
Death of founding member
On October 23, 1986, and after having just returned home from a Midwest and West Coast tour, Paul O’Halloran was struck and killed by a truck as he was in the process of fixing a flat tire on his motorcycle. And for several decades, the music practically stopped for the local icons.
A never-before-seen picture of Paul is posted on The Dogmatics’ Facebook page along with a caption which reads:
“…Getting back to the story, Peter came into rehearsal with unearthed pics, his brother Paul’s wallet and many other treasures from his parents’ home in Rocky Nook before we rehearsed. We laid everything out on the table and there’s so much to go through and it brought back incredible loving memories. So, we share this one picture with all of you that we have never ever seen before, and I recognize lots of friends in the front and I’m guessing it’s from the Rathskeller, probably 1985. Check out Bob Bishop with the Nervous Eaters shirt!”
Cindy Richard Garcia responded:
“Hard to believe it’s been FORTY years. My God. Where does the time go?”
Babs O’Brien wrote:
“Paul was a funny sweet guy. He is very missed.”
Cassandra Cohen recalled:
“Paul, and all of the Dogmatics, played at our wedding. June 1986. We all had blast!”
New material and film
In 2019, surviving band members teamed up with Rum Bar to release their first new material in over 30 years with O’Halloran’s older brother Jimmy on bass.
In 2023, O’Halloran family niece Jada Maxwell, local film director Rudy Childs and others completed a four-year documentary as a tribute to Paul. Titled “The Dogmatics: A Documentary (They Were Boston’s House Band),” the documentary won awards across film festivals throughout 2024 and was released in 2025 on Roku, Tubi and YouTube.
Faster and Louder posted: “What I admire about Dogmatics is that they’ve built a body of work in recent years (2019’s “She’s the One” EP and last year’s “Drop That Needle” EP) that stands on its own merits. Even if you’d never heard the group’s classic releases, you’d still consider them one of the best rock ‘n’ roll bands going just based on what they’ve put out there since reuniting.”
Devoted fans will be pleased to know that The Dogmatics are still going strong with a dogged determination to entertain. In 2025, the band released a full-length, 12-track album titled “Nowheresville” and are still playing concert gigs.
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