First Listen: New Releases for 23 October

Ran completely out of time this week, so some quick hits:

Top Releases:

* clipping. - Visions of Bodies Being Burned (Puts basically any other recent rap release to shame.) * Zilched - DOOMPOP (A great, shoegazey, alt-rocky record. A favorite this week.)
* Ben Harper - Winter is For Lovers (Gorgeous instrumental acoustic guitar work.)
* Raye Zaragoza - Woman in Color (Solid country music from a voice with plenty to say.)
* No Thank You - Embroidered Foliage (Great alt-rock, major step up from their debut.)
* Sir Chloe - Party Favors

Of note:

* The Mountain Goats - Getting Into Knives (Very adult-alternative of them.)
* Felix Hatfield - False God
* Girlhood - Girlhood
* Ela Minus - Acts of Rebellion
* Loma - Don't Shy Away
* Leah Barley - Bring Out Your Dead
* Ruby Mack - Devil Told Me
* Ivan & Alyosha - Ivan & Alyosha
* Cherry Pickles - The Juice That's Worth the Squeeze
* Juanita Stein - Snapshot
* Laura Veirs - My Echo
* Isabelle Stillman - Heartrender
* Steep Canyon Rangers - Arm in Arm
* Yaeji - What We Drew
* Kelley McRae - This Side of Night
* Faithless - All Blessed
* Jeff Tweedy - Love is the King
* This is the Kit - Off Off On
* Adrianne Lenker - Songs
* Gorillaz - Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez
* Sam Prekop - Comma
* Out of Place Artefacts - Vril and Rodhad Presents Out of Place Artefacts

EPs:

* Molly Payton - Porcupine
* Desert Blonde - Live Slow Die Old
* Poppy - Music to Scream To
* Olafur Arnalds - Loom
* Winona Oak - SHE
* Anna of the North - Believe
* Nosaj Thing - No Mind

Also out:

* Bruce Springsteen - Letter to You
* Junglepussy - Jp4
* The Dandy Warhols - Tafelmuzik Means More When You're Alone
* Tchami - Year Zero
* Ghostemane - Anti-Icon
* Yung Gravy - Gasanova
* The Bouncing Souls - Volume 2
* Fuzz - III

Citrus Clouds - "Whoa"

Citrus Clouds have long been our favorite shoegaze/dream pop artists coming out of Phoenix, AZ, and their latest single helps solidify that. Maybe it's just that I'm writing this in the middle of a streak of drearily rainy New England late October days, but "Whoa" is hitting my mood perfectly. It has the kind of dark vibe that gives you hope it will one day be over. Plus, as with any truly great shoegaze song, droning guitars are front and center, slowly and slowly building into one of the most gloriously lovely noise crescendos I've heard in a long, long time.

You can listen to "Whoa" below. The song is available as a single on Citrus Clouds's Bandcamp. For more on Citrus Clouds, check them out on Facebook.

Seba Kaapstad - "Konke"

Multi-national neo-soul/jazz collective Seba Kaapstad are back with a new single off their upcoming album. "Konke" translates to "everything," and the song "Konke" is a celebration of everything. It features Zoe Modiga and Ndumiso Manana singing about the simple and not-so-simple things they want, which hits harder in the time of COVID. It's this incredible blend of soul, R&B, hip hop, and jazz that truly shows off every style and every genre. Just when you think the song is leaning more towards any style, it shifts ever so slightly into another while staying the course of the song.

You can watch the video for "Konke" below. Konke, the upcoming album from Seba Kaapstad, will be out November 13 on Mello Music Group. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on Seba Kaapstad, check out the band's website.

Descendents - Suffrage

Remember earlier this month when we brought you RebUke, a three song EP of anti-Trump protest songs from Milo Aukerman recorded on ukulele because he wanted to get those songs out faster than he could with the Descendents? Well... we now have two of those three songs recorded with the band! Suffrage is a new two song single from the Descendents that includes the two songs "On You" and "Hindsight 2020." This time the anger in Milo's lyrics and vocals is matched by the music. The Descendents have never truly been an overtly political band, but on Suffrage they go all out with politics. There's no questioning what they mean with lyrics like "#MAGA MAGA / What a fucking joke."

You can watch the lyric video for "On You" below. Suffrage is available now via Epitaph Records here. For more on the Descendents, check out their website/Tumblr.

October and The Eyes - "Playing God"

Photo by Alexander Schipper

New Zealand born and London based artist October and The Eyes may only be twenty three, but she's been producing and recording her own music since she was twelve. Her musical style is a self-proclaimed "collage rock," which is why her latest single is so hard to pin down. With influences like David Bowie, Bauhaus, Siouxsie Sioux, and Suicide, "Playing God" is a glorious mess of a cluster of noises. The song is definitely a pop song, but it's a nearly impossibly noisy one. It's a burst of celebration, but with an edge that is front and center. It's not rock, it's not pop, it's just October and The Eyes.

October explains the new song:

“‘Playing God’ is about the innate human desire for power and control but also our ability to cry ‘poor little ole me’ when it all gets too much. We’ve seen it time and time again throughout the history of man, and perhaps it feels even more relevant now than ever witnessing the powers that be struggle with the moral handling of a global pandemic. It’s also hugely laced with irony, humour and contradictions - I’ll be the first to admit my lust for control, yet I’m also ready to laugh at myself (at my own expense) at how farcical our trivial desires for such things seem in the grand scheme of life.”

You can watch the video for "Playing God" below. Dogs and Gods, the debut EP from October and The Eyes, will be out November 20 on KRO Records. You can pre-order the EP here. For more on October and The Eyes, check out the artists' Twitter and Instagram.

Divided Heaven featuring Lydia Loveless - "They Poisoned Our Fathers"

Photo via Facebook

Note to all musicians: If you're looking to get written about here at If It's Too Loud..., it certainly helps to bring in Lydia Loveless to guest on your song. Divided Heaven, aka Jeff Berman, has released a protest song and brought in Lydia Loveless for additional vocals. The song lands on the more pop side of the current Americana sound, but Berman brings a unique feel to the genre. It could be the venom in his voice, or maybe just his voice itself, but "They Poisoned Our Fathers" sounds like a more rootsy Placebo.

Jeff Berman explains the meaning behind the new song:

"Touring during the trump years has been telling. I’ve had countless conversations with people who share their grief and abhorrence that a fascist president has emboldened the worst traits of many of our fathers, brothers, uncles, neighbors, and coworkers. 'They Poisoned Our Fathers' is meant to serve as a personal statement of resistance: resistance against trump, his poisoned minions and the spineless politicians enabling it all."

You can listen to "They Poisoned Our Fathers" below. The song is currently available as a single via Bandcamp. For more on Divided Heaven, check out the artist's website.

Miynt - "Give me palm trees and inner peace"

Photo via Miynt

Stockholm's Miynt has a new single out that is truly hard to define. "Give me palm trees and inner peace" is a guitar driven pop song that is a little too pop to be rock and a little too rock to be pop. Plus, it definitely has too many weird little moments to truly be either. It almost sounds like a twisted version of artists like Liz Phair and Veruca Salt, but through an odd little filter. There's a strong mid 90's power pop feel to "Give me palm trees and inner peace," but a current, lo-fi version of that.

You can watch the video for "Give me palm trees and inner peace" below. The song is available as an AA-side single with "Lovesong" via B3SCI Records. You can find the single available here. For more on Miynt, check out the artist's Facebook.

Ras Kass featuring Masta Ace - "CULTURE.VULTURE."

Photo via Facebook

If you're like me and miss old school hip hop, you're going to want to check out the latest from Ras Kass. First of all, it features legendary rapper Masta Ace. When you include Masta Ace on a song, you get immediate old school cred. And then there's the song itself. "CULTURE.VULTURE." is pure old school. The song sounds modern while keeping a classic vibe. Sure, there is still the R&B style chorus, but it's a more of an early 90's R&B chorus so it's not overdone at all. 

Rass Kass says of "CULTURE.VULTURE.": "[Producer Hi-Tek] came with the straight primal drums!  Ace's flow is liquid and Sapp hook smoothes it out on some Old School, Cold Crush harmony routine vibe. We do this shit for the Culture!"

You can watch the video for "CULTURE.VULTURE." below. I'm Not Clearing Shxt, the upcoming album from Ras Kass, will be out November 6. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on Ras Kass, check out his Facebook and Twitter.

The Huntress and Holder of Hands - "Doctrine"

We've been posting a lot of political music lately, but it's nearly impossible when so many artists we love keep releasing great political music. The latest is Rhode Island's The Huntress and Holder of Hands's new single. "Doctrine" is an intense slow burn of a song. MorganEve Swain's song feels like it's going to explode, but never quite does. It's just filled with a brooding, festering tension and anger throughout. While it does build, there is never quite that indie rock noise explosion you would expect, even though "Doctrine" leans much more heavily on the folk side of music than indie rock, while still having that noise lurking underneath, which is what we truly love about most of The Huntress and Holder of Hands's music.

You can listen to "Doctrine" below. The song is available as a standalone single on The Huntress and Holder of Hands's Bandcamp. For more on The Huntress and Holder of Hands, check out the artist's website.

Monday Mix: If It's Too Loud... Halloween 2020 Playlist!

If you've been reading If It's Too Loud... for a while, you know that Halloween is my favorite holiday, and that I tend to go overboard with the Halloween playlist every year. Since this is pretty much all we have for Halloween this year, it's a monster (o pun intended) seventy one song, nearly four hour playlist! I've been making it since literally last November, adding songs as I stumbled across them. There are songs from longtime blog favorites (Speedy Ortiz, Wussy, Melvins, The Gravel Pit, Against Me!), newly discovered favorites (Heather Valley, Comet Pond, Tysk Tysk Task, Gino & The Goons), some classics (Bruce Springsteen, Jello Biafra, Dusty Springfield, Alice Cooper, Siouxsie and the Banshees), and more! Whatever you're doing Saturday night (or this entire week) to celebrate, you're gonna to find some spookiness to love here!