If It's Too Loud...

Last year's show from The Cocktail Slippers at Midway Cafe was one of my 2025 musical highlights, and now the Norwegian band are back with a new single and a new singer. Sandra Szabo (aka Flame) joined the band earlier this year, and the band just released "Joyride." The line up change hasn't affected the band's sound, with the new song being a huge, arena ready garage rock meets glam track. The song sounds somewhat restrained, and it slinks along at a medium speed. This is just rock and roll for the sake of being fun, and that's exactly why we love The Cocktail Slippers. "Joyride" is a straight up rock song with enough of a pop injection to make it incredibly catchy. If you love rock and roll, you probably already love The Cocktail Slippers. Guitarist Stine Bendiksen (aka Rocket Queen) says of the band's new single: “' Joyride' is, not unlike songs such as ‘Highway to Hell’ by AC/DC, ‘We’re an American Band’ by Grand Funk Railroad and ‘H...

The Unlucky Shots are a western Massachusetts based band that was formerly known as The Lucky Shots, but recently found out they shared that name with another band. If you recently renamed your band The Unlucky Shots, Friday the 13th is a perfect day to release an EP, so today we see the release of Line Up . This new release is a four song collection of melodic and oddly catchy indie rock songs. The songs land somewhere in between modern indie rock and the early to mid 90's mainstream alt-rock of bands like Gin Blossoms and Toad the Wet Sprocket. The songs have the slightest hint of country, but you'll notice the strong groove before that. What's great about the songs on Line Up is how close they are to being mainstream alt-rockers, but The Unlucky Shots keep everything just slightly off-kilter enough to keep things interesting and underground. In fact, the deeper you get into the EP, the weirder it gets. (They are from western Massachusetts, after all...) You can listen to...

Photo by Dan Kendall Hailing from Stockholm are Les Big Byrd, who are described as "Swedish psychedelic rock giants." The band's latest single, "Hö kvind," shows off the band's heavier side. It's a swirling psychedelic song that doesn't neatly fit into any specific era of psychedelic rock. It's a monster of a seven minute track that sounds like it might include some electronic elements, and for a song this heavy it's quite dance friendly. Despite the volume of the song, there is a surprising hippe vibe to the song. It's at about the four minute mark that "H ö kvind" truly takes off, with epic guitar solos/feedback, and a sound that will leave many jaws on the floor. Les Big Byrd have something unique and special with their latest. Jocke  Å hlund says of his band's latest single: "A woolly fuzzed out riff drives a relentless freight train groove as deranged analog synths and feedbacking tape echo distorts the perspective...

Photo by Brandon McClain Last year I was lucky enough to see Mei Semones at The Red Room @ Cafe 939 in Boston, with opener John Roseboro. The pair have teamed up on a new single, "Tooth Fairy." This new single fits in perfectly with everything we've come to love from Semones. It's mainly rooted in jazz, with elements of folk and also the singer-songwriter genre. As much of a jazz song as "Tooth Fairy" is, it could also sneak by music fans who simply can't get into the genre. Semones is adept at weaving styles like folk and jazz into a pop song, which is how many people are going to register this song. Adding John Roseboro to the mix heightens the entire experience, and we're hoping to hear more from the pair down the road. Mei Semones says of her latest single: “This song is about a day I was meeting John Roseboro at his friends’ bookstore. I got off the train in Greenpoint and we happened to have been on the same train, and we ran into each other on...

Los Angeles brother jazz duo Black Nile have released a new single off their upcoming album. "Danielle" starts off as a slow, mellow traditional jazz number. Slowly the song morphs into more of a free or experimental track. It's an absolutely beautiful track, made even more so as it transitions between styles and sounds. From the two singles we've heard so far, Black Nile are masters of combining classic jazz with a more modern sound, and moving the genre into a new era. A song like "Danielle" might adapt elements of other musical styles, it still maintains its status as a pure jazz song. Songwriter Aaron Shaw says of his band's latest single: "'Danielle' is about the love of my life! I wrote this song and had this as an initial voice memo while I was going through chemo, and every time I thought about this melody, I thought about her. During the creation of this project, this melody circled around in my mind. This song means a lot to me. It...

This might seem like a surprising choice, but it's also one that makes perfect sense and worlds wonderfully well. Experimental music legends Bonner Kramer (fka Kramer) and Thurston Moore have released the latest single off their upcoming collaborative album, and it's a cover of Joy Division's "Insight." Based on the instruments involved, it's obviously going to be a reimagining of the song. Gone are the synths of the original, and in its place are more traditional rock instruments. It keeps the quiet and more laid back vibe of Joy Division's classic, just with some extra feedback and noise. That being said, Kramer and Moore's "Insight" is still a laid back version of the song, and is pretty close to Sonic Youth's later, more jammy albums. If you think you're going to enjoy this cover, you definitely will. Bonner Kramer says of the new single: "I clearly remember what I felt when I first heard track four of  Unknown Pleasures . It...

Photo by Cedric Pilard Soul-jazz-funk organ supergroup Parlor Greens have released the title track off their upcoming album. "Emeralds" is the latest from the trio of Adam Scone, Jimmy James, and Tim Carman. It's an endlessly funky instrumental jam that proves that with the right musicians, you don't need lyrics or vocals. The song lands squarely in the center of the three genres, and could easily be attributed to any of them. Everyone truly has the chance to shine on "Emeralds," with organ and guitar both getting time in the spotlight and the drums holding it all together for the full three and a half minutes. Parlors Greens are simply one of the best doing it today. You can listen to "Emeralds" below. The album Emeralds is due out April 10 on Colemine Records, and is available for pre-order here . For more on Parlor Greens, check out the artist's website . Upcoming tour dates are below the song. Mar. 18 - Santa Cruz, CA - Moe's Alley Mar....

After hearing the first single off Touch Girl Apple Blossom's upcoming album, I declared that it was going to be a strong contender for album of the year. Now that we've heard a second single, I stand by that statement. "Vacation" is just dripping with 90's jangle pop goodness. The upcoming album will be released on K Records, and if that means something to you, you're going to adore this track. It's bright and sunny with enough of a melancholy hint to keep it from getting too sugary. It's also the perfect song for the false spring we're experiencing in New England currently. "Vacation" is highly addictive, and it's been on a possibly endless repeat since I first hit play. Touch Girl Apple Blossom are 90's influenced indie rock at its finest. You can watch the video for "Vacation" below. Graceful is due out May 15 on K Records, and is available for pre-order here . For more on Touch Girl Apple Blossom, check out the band...

Photo by Alexa Viscius runo plum just released the excellent patching back in November, but now the singer-songwriter is already back with new music. "butterflies" is a quiet song that's a little folky by default. As it goes on, the song gets a little twangy, but also starts edging a little into indie rock. The song is a natural extension of patching even while showing plum growing as an artist. If you're a fan of the quieter side of Blondshell or any of Boygenius' members, "butterflies" is going to work for you. It's an intimate and personal song while still sounding lush and fully fleshed out. runo plum says of her latest single: "You might assume it's about the giddy feelings of having nervous butterflies when you have a crush, and I suppose it is, but it's more so about those feelings being crushed, and not knowing what to do with those feelings. It’s a really tender song I wrote during the period when I wrote ‘patching.’" You c...

Photo by Moni Haworth Kim Gordon's recent solo work has been more on the electronic/trap side of things, so her latest single is an almost complete departure. "PLAY ME" is much more laid back and has an underground hip hop feel to it. It sounds like the soundtrack to my high school summers, which isn't something I'd expect from Kim Gordon. While her recent singles have at least been hip hop adjacent, "PLAY ME" still comes off as surprising. This is a wonderfully chill song, and it's great that Gordon can continue to surprise us all this deep into her career. You can watch the video for "PLAY ME" below. The album PLAY ME is due out March 13 on Matador Records, and is available for pre-order here . For more on Kim Gordon, check out the artist's website . Upcoming tour dates are below the video. April 2 - Sid The Cat - Los Angeles, CA April 11 - Rewire Festival - Den Haag, NL April 12 - Variations Festival - Nantes, France April 14 - O2 Sh...

Photo by Richard McCaffrey For their ninth studio album, Deer Tick have decided to make a very Providence album. Coin-O-Matic will tell hidden stories from Rhode Island, and the first single from the album is "Mary Singletary." Deer Tick have always swung between folk and rock, sometimes in the same album and sometimes in the same song. This new song is more of a rocker, although there are plenty of roots within the track. While 2023's Emotional Contracts felt like a band swinging for the fences and making hits, "Mary Singletary" feels more like a band making a song they want to make. It's a straightforward rock song with some serious mainstream possibilities, but this is a band making a song the way they want to, and this one is particularly great. John McCauley says of the band's latest single: “Most of the stories on the album are from my parents’ generation and the generation before that, when the idea of a Catholic and a Protestant getting together ...

Photo by Matt Bass Miracle Blood have always blurred the lines between punk and metal, and have been nominated in both at the Boston Music Awards without changing their sound. Their latest single, "Blazing Entrails," is a fast and loud just over two minute burst of sonic noise. For this one, the volume matches the subject matter deals with the anxiety we all live with every single moment of our lives in 2026. Sometimes you need a song that reflects the craziness of modern life, and Miracle Blood do just that. This song is pure metal meets punk chaos (although I'd put this one more in the metal category), with singer/guitarist Andrew Wong's carnival baker vocals fitting the subject matter and chaos perfectly. Andrew Wong says of his band's latest single: “Just like the title says, this song is about how we’re all walking around with our guts on fire right now. It is about the existential anxiety that permeates our lives every day.  The world feels very unstable. It...