Earlier this year I was lucky enough to see shame and it might have been one of the best shows I've seen in years. I'm thrilled we already have new music from the South London band, and especially since it's such a sonic shift for them. "Fingers of Steel" is much more melodic than anything off 2021's Drunk Tank Pink while still sounding like what we love about shame. It's a new style of post punk that's less aggressive and more sonically pleasing although it's also more discordant than they typically get. Everything about "Fingers of Steel" seems just slightly off and out of tune, but that's kind of what makes the song great. It's so close to being a mainstream straight up modern rock song, but shame just could never quite do that so you get another wonderfully unique song like this one.
You can watch the video for "Fingers of Steel" below. Food for Worms is due out February 24 on Dead Oceans, which can be pre-ordered here. For more on shame, check out the band on Facebook and Twitter. Upcoming tour dates are below the video.
Wed. Mar. 1 - Dublin, IE @ Button Factory Fri. Mar. 3 - Glasgow, UK @ SWG3 Sat. Mar. 4 - Newcastle, UK @ Boiler Shop Sun. Mar. 5 - Leeds, UK @ Stylus Tue. Mar. 7 - Sheffield, UK @ Leadmill Wed. Mar. 8 - Liverpool, UK @ Invisible Wind Factory Thu. Mar. 9 - Bristol, UK @ SWX Sat. Mar. 11 - Manchester, UK @ New Century Hall Sun. Mar. 12 - Cardiff, UK @ Tramshed Tue. Mar. 14 - Nantes, FR @ Stereolux Wed. Mar. 15 - Paris, FR @ Cabaret Sauvage Thu. Mar. 16 - Bordeaux, FR @ Rock School Barbey Sat. Mar. 18 - Lisbon, PT @ LAV Sun. Mar. 19 - Madrid, ES @ Nazca Mon. Mar. 20 - Barcelona, ES @ La 2 de Apolo Wed. Mar. 22 - Nimes, FR @ Paloma Thu. Mar. 23 - Milan, IT @ Magnolia Fri. Mar. 24 - Zurich, CH @ Plaza Sun. Mar. 26 - Munich, DE @ Technikum Mon. Mar. 27 - Berlin, DE @ Astra Tue. Mar. 28 - Hamburg, DE @ Markthalle Thu. Mar. 30 - Oslo, NO @ Vulkan Fri. Mar. 31 - Stockholm, SE @ Debaser Sat. Apr. 1 - Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA Mon. Apr. 3 - Brussels, BE @ AB Tue. Apr. 4 - Cologne, DE @ Floria Thu. Apr. 6 - Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg Fri. Apr. 28 - London, UK @ Brixton Academy Wed. May 10 - Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall Fri. May 12 - Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar Sat. May 13 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer Sun. May 14 - Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw Tue. May 16 - Boston, MA @ The Sinclair Thu. May 18 - Montréal, QC @ Foufounes Électriques Fri. May 19 - Ottawa, ON @ Club SAW Sat. May 20 - Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace Mon. May 22 - Kalamazoo, MI @ Bell’s Eccentric Cafe Wed. May 24 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall Fri. May 26 - St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway Sat. May 27 - Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck Sun. May 28 - Fayetteville, AR @ George’s Majestic Lounge Tue. May 30 - Dallas,TX @ Granada Theater Fri. Jun. 2 - Austin, TX @ The Scoot Inn Sat. Jun. 3 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall Sun. Jun. 4 - New Orleans, LA @ Toulouse Theatre
Photo by Alexa Viscius This may be Liam Kazar's debut single, but the Chicago based musician already has an impressive resume, having worked with Jeff Tweedy, Chance the Rapper, Steve Gunn, Daniel Johnston, and others. "Shoes Too Tight" features childhood friend Spencer Tweedy on drums, Lane Beckstrom on bass, and Ohmme on vocals. It's an absurdly fun and groovy little song that is a party waiting to happen. What he gives us here is a timeless song that could truly have been released any time since the 1960's (ok... maybe not the 80's...) There are elements of classic rock, 60's crooners and R&B, indie rock, modern Americana... it's really just packed with everything in a cohesive song that maintains the vibe the entire way through. You can watch the video for "Shoes Too Tight" below. For more on Liam Kazar, check him out on Instagram and Twitter . He's also raising money on his Bandcamp for Constellation and The Hungry Brain. ...
Photo by Joanna Chattman I've been referring to Northampton, MA based Izzy Heltai's music as mainstream modern folk with just enough of a unique spin to keep it appealing to music snobs, too. His latest single, "Father," might be the perfect example of that. It's a quiet, deeply personal song that starts off painfully sparse but ever so slowly builds and builds as it goes on. It walks that line between accessible/mainstream and indie expertly. You can watch the video for "Father" below. Father , the upcoming debut album from Izzy Heltai, will be out October 9. You can pre-order a copy here . For more on Izzy Heltai, check out the artist's website .
Photo via Instagram Any time J Mascis releases new music will always be a big deal at If It's Too Loud... November will see the release of Elastic Days , his new solo album. Judging by the first single, "See You At the Movies," Elastic Days will be exactly what we expect and want in a Mascis solo album. The first single is much prettier than Dinosaur Jr is. Mascis's solo work tends to be calmer and almost folky. "See You At the Movies" is exactly that, and is even almost orchestral in some places. You add in some of Mascis's guitar solos (a more tame version than Dino Jr's thunderous ones), and you've got a classic Mascis solo track. It's a typically great song, but at this point I'd like to see Mascis mix things up a bit. You can listen to "See You At the Movies" below. Elastic Days will be out November 9 on Sub Pop Records. There are some pretty reasonable pre-order bundles available, including a CD and t-shirt for $24....
