EXPLORE RECORD SHOPS IN MASSACHUSETTS

Massachusetts ran Boston rock from Aerosmith and the Cars through the Pixies and the Lemonheads, built American hardcore at the Rat in Kenmore Square with SSD, DYS, and Gang Green, raised the Roxbury R&B dynasty that produced New Edition and Bell Biv DeVoe, and Western Mass anchored an indie college-rock circuit with Dinosaur Jr coming out of Amherst in 1984 and Northampton growing into a Pioneer Valley indie hub through the 1990s. Newbury Comics opened in Boston in 1978 and grew into New England’s iconic chain with 12 Massachusetts locations alone. Looney Tunes in Allston has run under Pat McGrath for 44 years, Stereo Jack’s brought its 1982-era jazz and blues focus to Somerville’s Ball Square in 2022, Armageddon Shop has held Cambridge’s Harvard Square since September 2000, and Cheapo Records still anchors Central Square. Planet Records keeps Mount Auburn Street stocked, Deep Thoughts relocated to Northampton in November 2024, Mystery Train runs sister shops in Amherst and Gloucester, and Music Research Library brought its jazz, soul, and import specialty to Beacon Hill from Providence. Take 90 west from Boston through Worcester to the Berkshires, ride 95 north to Newburyport, swing the Cape on 6, and see what the Bay State has been keeping in the bins.

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BEYOND MASSACHUSETTS: VINYL JOURNEYS FROM THE BAY STATE

As the record winds down in the Bay State, every shop you flipped through today is just one stop on the wider New England map. The Atlantic, the Connecticut River, and 95 keep music moving from Cape Cod to the Berkshires, and Massachusetts’s five bordering states put the rest of the indie network within an easy weekend reach.

Vermont Record Stores: Roll northwest into Vermont, where Buch Spieler has held Montpelier since 1973 as the state’s oldest record shop, Pure Pop runs Burlington’s subterranean dig, Exile On Main Street in Barre holds 85,000 LPs and 100,000-plus 45s, and Higher Ground keeps the live scene running.

New Hampshire Record Stores: Head north into New Hampshire, where Bull Moose continues its New England chain into the Granite State, Aerosmith’s Sunapee origin story sits in the lakes region, and the Manchester, Nashua, Salem, and West Lebanon Newbury Comics locations carry the chain’s New Hampshire side.

Connecticut Record Stores: Drop south into Connecticut, where Merle’s Record Rack has run since 1962, Johnny’s in Darien celebrated 50 years in 2025, Mystic Disc holds Mystic’s Vinyl Me Please best-in-CT title, and Toad’s Place on York Street has hosted secret shows since 1975.

Rhode Island Record Stores: Cross southeast into Rhode Island, where Providence’s Armageddon Shop runs punk and metal hard, Olneyville and the West End shops carry the city’s noise-rock lineage, and Newport’s record stores live within walking distance of the jazz and folk festival grounds.

New York Record Stores: Travel west to New York, where Manhattan’s Generation Records and A1 Records anchor the East Village dig, Brooklyn’s Academy and Captured Tracks Shop fuel the borough’s indie pulse, and Upstate college towns from Ithaca to Hudson hold the back issues no one else carries.

Maine Record Stores: Swing northeast to Maine, where Bull Moose’s eight-store chain runs from Bangor down to Biddeford, Enterprise Records holds Portland’s LP-only specialty since 1987, and Strange Maine has been operating since 2003 with no phone and no social media on principle.

At Record Store Directory, every state line is an invitation to keep exploring. Share your finds, connect with fellow collectors, and chase down that next unforgettable album, because the perfect record is always closer than you think.

Happy hunting, and we’ll see you in the next stack!

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Massachusetts RSD FAQ

How many record stores are in Massachusetts?
Massachusetts has 88 active record stores spread across 64 distinct towns. Boston proper holds six shops, Cambridge adds five, and Northampton, Somerville, Lowell, and Natick each carry three. The southern shops in Norfolk County and Cape Cod sit a short drive from Rhode Island, the Pioneer Valley shops in Northampton and Amherst run down I-91 into Connecticut, and the Berkshires shops in Stockbridge, North Adams, and Great Barrington sit just over the line from New York‘s Hudson Valley.
Tell me about Newbury Comics.
Newbury Comics is Massachusetts’s iconic indie chain, founded in Boston in 1978 by Mike Dreese and John Brusger and still headquartered in the state. With twelve Massachusetts locations – the Newbury Street flagship and Faneuil Hall in Boston proper, plus Cambridge, Braintree, Burlington, Hyannis, Kingston, North Dartmouth, Natick, Northampton, Norwood, and Peabody – Newbury Comics has the deepest single-state retail footprint of any indie record-and-pop-culture chain in the country. Its full New England footprint extends into Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut as well.
What are the best record stores in Boston and Cambridge?
Boston and Cambridge together carry eleven shops in the urban core. In Boston proper, the Newbury Comics Newbury Street flagship anchors Back Bay since the chain’s 1978 founding. Nuggets in Kenmore Square has been the city’s used and indie anchor for over 45 years. Good Taste Records handles the contemporary indie trade, and Music Research Library on Joy Street is the jazz, soul, library-music, and imports specialist (relocated from Providence). In Cambridge, Armageddon Shop on Eliot Street has been a hardcore and punk specialist since September 2000 (sister to the Providence Rhode Island store). Cheapo Records on Mass Ave is a longstanding Central Square fixture, and Planet Records on Mt. Auburn Street rounds out the Cambridge cluster. Across the river in Allston, Looney Tunes Records on Harvard Avenue has been run by Pat McGrath for 44 years.
What are the best record stores in Somerville and the inner-ring suburbs?
Somerville and the inner Boston suburbs carry their own dense cluster. Stereo Jack’s Records in Somerville’s Ball Square is the jazz and blues specialist (established 1982, relocated from Cambridge in 2022 under new owner Wayne Rogers). High Energy Vintage and Vinyl Index round out the Somerville scene. In Brookline, Village Vinyl & Hi Fi and Counter Intuitive Records serve the Coolidge Corner crowd. In Jamaica Plain, Tres Gatos pairs a record shop with a bookstore and tapas bar, and in Melrose, Green Street Grooves (formerly Somerville Grooves before its fall 2023 move) anchors the north-of-Boston circuit.
What about Western Massachusetts and the Pioneer Valley?
Western Massachusetts has a serious indie record-store scene. Northampton holds three shops including the relocated Deep Thoughts Record Shop (which moved from Jamaica Plain Boston to 5 Market Street Northampton in November 2024), Turn It Up!, and a Newbury Comics location. In Amherst, Mystery Train Records serves the Five Colleges. Up in Turners Falls, Breakdown Records moved from Ithaca New York to Western Mass in June 2019. Out in the Berkshires, 7 Arts Music in Stockbridge (at The Mews on Main Street), Belltower Records in North Adams, and Rob’s Records & Audio in Great Barrington round out the western edge of the state.
What about Cape Cod, the South Shore, and the North Shore?
Cape Cod carries two shops including Spinnaker Records in Hyannis (alongside the Hyannis Newbury Comics at Cape Cod Mall) and Stardust Alley Vinyl Records in West Dennis. On the South Shore, Vinyl Lunatic Records in Plymouth and Strawberries Records @ Tech Hifi in Hanson (which revived the historic Strawberries name as a vinyl section inside a Tech Hifi audio shop in April 2021) cover the southern Boston suburbs. Up on the North Shore, the Newbury Comics Peabody Northshore Mall location handles the mall trade.
Does Massachusetts participate in Record Store Day?
Yes, and Massachusetts is the home turf of Newbury Comics, which since its 1978 founding has been a major participant in the annual Record Store Day drop every April across all 12 of its Massachusetts locations. Nuggets in Kenmore Square, Stereo Jack’s Records in Somerville, Armageddon Shop in Cambridge, Looney Tunes Records in Allston, and Deep Thoughts Record Shop in Northampton are typical in-state RSD destinations. Check the official Record Store Day store locator each spring for the current Massachusetts participant list.
Where can you find rare and collectible vinyl in Massachusetts?
Nuggets in Boston’s Kenmore Square has been pulling estate collections for over 45 years and holds one of New England’s deepest used walls. Stereo Jack’s Records in Somerville is the jazz and blues specialist since 1982. Music Research Library in Boston handles jazz, soul, library music, and imports for the deeper collector trade. Armageddon Shop in Cambridge is the national reference for hardcore and punk rarities, and RRRecords in Lowell carries the foundational noise and experimental catalog through its own longstanding label arm.