Blondshell - "Joiner"

Photo by Daniel Topete

We became smitten with the music of Blondshell (aka Sabrina Teteilbaum) last month when she released "Veronica Mars." This month sees the release of "Joiner." It's similar to her previous single, except without the fiery explosion at the end. "Joiner" is a mid tempo song that melds your standard singer/songwriter fare with more of a dreampop sound. It's filled with tons of fuzz and harmonies, and leans into a more modern pop sound at times without ever losing its rock edge. And then there's Teteilbaum's voice, which might just be the loveliest one to ever hit this level of slacker cool. While there have been a ton of 90's inspired artists lately, Blondshell is the first to bring that sound into the current century to this extent.

Blondshell says of her new song:

“I was listening to a lot of Britpop when I wrote this song. A lot of those bands like The Verve, Pulp, Suede, and Blur channelled dark subject matter, drugs, and all this dirty stuff, but with a fun acoustic guitar under it. I was listening to The Replacements, too. That’s what this song was inspired by sonically. I wanted it to feel like you’re watching HBO, where even though it’s heavy, it’s still a good time."

You can watch the video for "Joiner" below. Blondshell's self-titled debut album is due out April 7 on Partisan Records, and can be pre-saved here. For more on Blondshell, check out the artist's website.

Fucked Up - "Cicada"

Photo by Jeaninne Kaufer

So far the singles for Fucked Up's upcoming record have been more musically art rock with lead singer Damian Abraham's vocals continuing to be hardcore, but on "Cicada" guitarist Mike Haliechuk takes over vocals and the musical style shifts. Musically, "Cicada" is the most punk song we've heard on the album. It's not quite hardcore, but it's more along the lines of The Replacements or Guided By Voices. Fucked Up keep an edge to this song, which ends up being one of the better versions of melodic punk that we've heard in some time.

Mike Haliechuk says of the new song:

“‘Cicada’ is about what life is like after you lose people, and our responsibility to carry them forward into the future, using the things they taught us as a light. I like to imagine the sound of cicadas as a metaphor for our strange life in the subculture—we all just live these weird little hidden lives under the dirt, and then once in a generation, one of us gets to bust out of the dirt and intone their song so loud that it can be heard all over.”

You can watch the video for "Cicada" below. One Day, which was written and recorded in one day, will be out January 27 on Merge Records. The album can be pre-ordered here. For more on Fucked Up, check out the band's website. 

Fucked Up - Cicada (Official Music Video) from Merge Records on Vimeo.

Bailey Miller - "love is a dying"

"love is a dying," the latest single from Cincinnati's Bailey Miller, is a quiet and intimate folk song. It's as painfully bare and stripped down as it is beautiful. That is, until around the two minute mark when the guitar shifts to electric and has a chugging menace to its sound. The song just builds and builds from there into a wailing wall of sound that just plows you over. It's almost like seeing J Mascis shift from acoustic to electric at a live show, except slowly and over a period of a few minutes. What starts off as a really good song ends up being a revelation towards the end. 

You can listen to "love is a dying" below. The album love is a dying is due out February 10 on Whited Sepulchre Records. You can pre-order it over at Bandcamp. For more on Bailey Miller, check out the artist's website.

Live Shows: Jon Spencer + The HITmakers, Minibeast, & Muck and the Mires, The Middle East, Cambridge, MA 1/24/23

I'm a little bit of an obsessive Jon Spencer fan. I've seen Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Heavy Trash, and Jon Spencer + The HITmakers before, so I'm obviously going to try to see the man every time he comes through the area. With the release of last year's excellent Spencer Gets It Lit, I've watched the band play multiple tours without coming to Boston, or anywhere else I could feasibly get to easily. When he finally announced a Boston show at The Middle East, I couldn't pass it up.

An added bonus were two local support bands I'd go see on their own anytime. Muck and the Mires were a perfect opener for Jon Spencer. They have this vintage garage rock sound that could be from anytime in the past six decades. It's the style started in hundreds of garages across America once The Beatles broke out that isn't exactly easy to tie down to a specific time since every generation has a handful of these bands. They're one of those bands that I would have sworn had started around 1982 or so, but they've only been round since 2001. In a city overflowing with killer garage rock/power pop bands, Muck and the Mires proved they're top tier. Songs like "I'm Your Man" and "Saturday Let Me Down Again" are just fun rock and roll songs, and they make for an even more fun night out.

Minibeast might have seemed like an odd choice as an opener, but Spencer has been known to lean into the weird and experimental side of rock and roll, and this band definitely fits that. Led by Peter Prescott (ex-Mission of Burma), the trio played a style of loud art rock that relies heavily on loops. Most art rock is of the chin stroking variety, and Minibeast certainly are that, but this is chin stroking music you can also rock out to. The loops were also used for show at times, with Prescott leaving the stage during a song to rock out and cheer in the audience. Keith Seidel is an absolute beast on drums and just attacked his kit in the most primal way for their entire set. This was music that makes you think and rock out, and that's a rare, rare thing.

Every single time I've seen Jon Spencer's various bands, it goes the same way. I'll be enjoying the first half of the show, but not truly swept up in it. It will be good, but not in that next level way I want. And then Spencer will start ranting in a very preacher-like way, usually about rock and roll, and then something shifts into that next level that I need. This was the kind of show where Spencer apologized for fighting a cold, and no one would have even guessed. (Of course, in this day and age it added a sense of danger I wasn't looking for, but I guess that's the way it is now). He had an intense energy and is one of the most compelling and underrated frontmen in music today, and seeing him live is a treat. The band closed out their main set with a triple shot of "Death Ray," "Just Wanna Die," and "Worm Town," and I can't think of any other artist that could make three songs about death such a celebration. When they came back for an encore, they seemed to tease Jon Spencer Blues Explosion classics "2 Kindsa Love" and "Bellbottoms," and no one certainly minded they didn't end up following up on that tease.

Anareta - "Locality"

We've all heard metal with strings before, but no one is doing it quite like Anareta. The New Orleans based band are combining classical music with intense metal for a sound called chamber-metal. "Locality" shows off their sound perfectly. While a lot of metal with strings can kind of sound like a novelty, Anareta doesn't feel that way. The strings accentuate the force of the song that would be a brutal and killer track even without the strings included. As with a lot of music that we cover, "Locality" won't be for everyone, but if it works for you this is going to hit you hard and attach itself to your soul.

Anareta says of the song:

"'Locality' was the first song to coalesce when we began crafting our sound in early 2018, so it feels exciting and appropriate that it is also the first single announcing the release of our debut album Fear Not. Through an evolving collaborative process, we combined our musical tastes to produce a sound both beautiful and harsh. The emotive qualities of this piece inspired us to draw lyric inspiration from Dante's Inferno. Referencing a translation of this work, we present a perspective that questions his descriptions of the first layer of hell; what is the difference between this chaos and a mosh pit?"

You can listen to "Locality" below. Fear Not is due out April 8. For more on Anareta, check out the band's Facebook and Instagram.

deathcrash - "Empty Heavy"

Photo by Kaye Song

London based slowcore band deathcrash have released a new single that might be perfect for music fans who can't quite get into slowcore. "Heavy Empty" starts out almost painfully quietly. It's propelled by whispered vocals and is almost folk adjacent in its instrumentation. But once it kicks in, the song just ignites. The loud part of the song comes in like a sledgehammer and just bludgeons your senses, which is even more forceful based on how quiet and bare the song started off. It reminds me of seeing Mogwai live back in the 90's, how they'd lull you with beauty before blasting your face off with noise.

Bassist Patrick Fitzgerald says of the song:

"'Empty heavy' is an intricately melancholic song that gives way to a direct and explosive ending. This is reflected by the different states of loss portrayed lyrically through the song."

You can watch the video for "Empty Heavy" below. Less is due out March 17 on untitled (recs). For more on deathcrash, check out the band's website.

Rachel Baiman - "Self Made Man"

Nashville based multi-instrumentalist Rachel Baiman's latest single is based on a John Hartford song. Baiman's version of "Self Made Man" is a banjo focused track that straddles the line between traditional folk and modern, mainstream folk. There are elements of more of a pop leaning folk/rock song, but the banjo just keeps the whole track rooted firmly in the world of folk. It's a song filled with equal amounts of twang and groove, and then there's Baiman's voice which doesn't quite sound like anyone else out there right now. Baiman has been a folk favorite here for a while, and this latest song just solidifies that even more strongly.

Rachel Baiman says of the new song:

“In 2019 John Hartford’s family released a posthumous collection of songs that he had never released. I was immediately enamored by a song fragment called ‘Self Made Man.’ The message of the song in conjunction with the whimsy of musical presentation spoke to me and I couldn’t get it out of my head. I decided to try and flesh out the song with additional verse lyrics, and a chorus and bridge melody.”

You can watch the video for "Self Made Man" below. Common Nation of Sorrow is due out March 31 on Signature Sounds Recordings. The album can be pre-ordered over at Bandcamp. For more on Rachel Baiman, check out the artist's website.

Loki's Folly - "Beaches and Peaches"

Hailing from South Minneapolis, Loki's Folly consists of three siblings: Annie (twenty one, vocals and guitar), Nissa (sixteen, drums and vocals), and Oskar (twelve, bass). Now that their ages are out of the way, Loki's Folly play this odd and unique style of indie rock. Their new single, "Beaches and Peaches," has this playful and quirky quality that isn't quite like anything you've heard before. I'm going to attribute how unique the song is to their ages. Not because they haven't learned how play music, but more because they haven't learned how not to play. It's such an odd but fun arrangement of music. If I have to compare Loki's Folly to anyone, I would say it's a mash up of Jonathan Richman, Beat Happening, and The Shaggs. 

You can listen to "Beaches and Peaches" below. Sisu is due out February 21 on Kitten Robot Records. For more on Loki's Folly, check out the band's website.

First Listen: New Releases for 20 January 2023

Artist: Teen Angst
Album: Barn Sour
Quick Thoughts: If you've spent any length of time here, you know how much we love our 90s alt-rock-style albums, and Teen Angst feels like it fits right into that slot. I really enjoyed this listen, which is a pretty strasightforward indie/alt record with some truly fun songs. In what is the first truly busy release week of 2023, it's worth your time.
Songs of Note: "Leaving Home," "Asleep"

Artist: abracadabra
Album: shapes & colors
Quick Thoughts: So I added this to my queue on a bit of a lark, and ended up with a really charming indie electronic record. It's quirky and different while still feeling familiar, and I pretty much loved the whole thing. You'll get the vibe on it pretty quickly, but if you know going in about how delightful this will be, you'll have a good time.
Songs of Note: "in a photo," "don't like u," "at the zoo"

Artist: Jadu Heart
Album: Derealized
Quick Thoughts: More fuzzy, electronic indie music, this time from a new-to-me band Jadu Heart. This duo, who straddle the line between synthy and shoegaze, demand your attention from the very start, and I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly this grew on me. If you're into the more slowcore-style walls of sound, this is worth your time.
Songs of Note: "Blame," "I Shimmer," "Webs"

Artist: Dave Rowntree
Album: Radio Songs
Quick Thoughts: Dave Rowntree, drummer for Blur, is better known in his individual capacity for his film and television scores. Radio Songs, his proper debut solo effort, is magnificent. It's a gorgeous, measured affair with meticulous instrumentation and some great production value. As someone unfamiliar with his film work, it definitely provides a score-like atmosphere from time to time, but a song like "London Bridge" stands on its own. It's not what you'd expect from Blur, but it is a favorite this week.
Songs of Note: "Devil's Island," "London Bridge," "Tape Measure"

Artist: The Bad Ends
Album: The Power and the Glory
Quick Thoughts: The Bad Ends are a supergroup of sorts from Athens, Georgia, and their biggest "claim to fame," as it were, is that it's the return of R.E.M.'s Bill Berry behind a drum kit, his first real band since leaving R.E.M. 25 years ago. It's a great power pop record in many regards, and a lot of the songs are winners as a result. If Dad College Rock was a thing, this would qualify? That's a compliment. It's a solid listen.
Songs of Note: "Ode to Jose," "Honestly," "New York Murder Suicide," "All Your Friends Are Dying," "The Ballad of Satan's Bride"

Artist: Ella Hooper
Album: Small Town Temple
Quick Thoughts: Ella Hooper locks down my favorite roots/folkish record of the week. It's a great listen on its own accord, but songs like "Grow Wild" and "Oh My Goddess!" stand on their merits as solid songs. In a busier than recently seen week, make some time for this one.
Songs of Note: "Grow Wild," "Words Like These," "The Basics and Stuff," "Oh My Goddess!"

Of note:

* The C.I.A. - Surgery Channel (A lot of great moments.)
* July Talk - Remember Never Before (Also has some great moments.)
* Zach & Maggie - The Elephant in the Room (Theatrical(?) folk.)
* Ryuichi Sakamoto - 12
* Siv Jakobsen - Gardening
* Bianca Scout - The Heart of the Anchoress
* Nighttime - Keeper is the Heart
* 99LETTERS - Makafushigi
* Lauds - Imitation Life
* Ghost Woman - Anne If
* John Cale - MERCY
* Lapsley - Cautionary Tales of Youth
* Ladytron - Time's Arrow
* Rian Treanor and Ocen James - Saccades
* Nuria Graham - Cyclamen
* The Shang Hi Los - Aces Eights and Heartbreaks
* Fran - Leaving
* Agar Agar - Player Non Player
* Gemma Ray - Gemma Ray and the Death Bell Gang
* The Murder Capital - Gigi's Recovery

EPs:

* Danny Arakaki - Tumble in Shade
* Biig Piig - Bubblegum

Also out:

* Mojo Sapiens - Empire of Dust
* Bobbie Lovesong - On the Wind
* Megadose - Heating Up
* Orchestra Gold - Medicine
* Guided By Voices - La La Land

Reminders - "International Dial Tone"

Photo by Sheer Pink Photography

Hailing from Isle of Wight, Reminders have just released one of the most fantastically British pop punk songs in recent memory. While most of the music you associate with as pop punk has that bratty Southern California sound no matter where the band is from, "International Dial Tone" sounds completely British. It's a song that sounds much more like a mixture of Buzzcocks and early Arctic Monkeys than Sum 41 or Blink 182. It has just enough of a punk edge to stand above most other songs in the genre but still pop enough to have mainstream appeal.

You can listen to "International Dial Tone" below. The single is out now via Venn Records in the UK and Wiretap Records in the US. For more on Reminders, check out the band on Facebook and Instagram.

Fruit Bats - "Rushin' River Valley"

Photo by Chantal Anderson

Eric D. Johnson is back with new music from Fruit Bats. The latest single, "Rushin' River Valley," is a perfect sun swept, laid back, California sounding, 70's AM radio style song. It's hardly a throwback, though, as the song sounds like a completely modern version of those sounds. Despite how laid back the song's vibes are, it's still an up tempo track. "Rushin' River Valley" is just about as mainstream as folk/rock gets, but when it's done as perfectly as Fruit Bats do it, I can't imagine even the biggest music snobs could find anything to complain about.

Eric D. Johnson says of the new song:

“This song is about true love, and the question of whether we are fated to be together or if it's all just universal chaos tossing us around. It's also about ghosts and bad dreams and trying to move forward and climbing over a mountain and hoping to glimpse the other side.”

You can listen to "Rushin' River Valley" below. A River Running to Your Heart is due out April 14 on Merge Records. The album can be pre-ordered here. For more on Fruit Bats, check out the artist's website. Upcoming tour dates are below the song.

4/12 – Indianapolis, IN – Hi-Fi
4/13 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
4/14 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
4/15 – Maquoketa, IA – Codfish Hollow
4/16 – Madison, WI – Majestic Theatre
4/18 – Toronto, ON, Canada – Phoenix Theatre
4/19 – Philadelphia, PA – Brooklyn Bowl
4/20 – New York, NY – Webster Hall
4/21 – Boston, MA – Royale
4/22 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
4/25 – Carrboro, NC – Cat's Cradle
4/27 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl
4/28 – Scaly Mountain, NC – Bear Shadow +
4/29 – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse
4/30 – Jacksonville, FL – Intuition Ale Works
5/10 – San Diego, CA – Belly Up Tavern
5/11 – Los Angeles, CA – The Theatre at Ace Hotel
5/12 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
5/13 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
5/14 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
5/17 – Austin, TX – Mohawk
5/19 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
5/20 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Commonwealth Room
5/21 – Bozeman, MT – The Elm
5/24 – Boise, ID – Treefort Music Hall
5/25 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall
5/26 – Seattle, WA – Showbox Market
5/27 – Vancouver, BC, Canada – Commodore Ballroom
 
+ w/ Spoon

Le Tigre Announce Tour

Photo by Leeta Harding

We don't usually cover tour announcements here at If It's Too Loud..., so you know that when we do it's a BIG DEAL. Le Tigre announcing a full tour is huge. Consisting of Kathleen Hanna, JD Samson, and Johanna Fateman, the band formed in 1999 and ran until 2005. Le Tigre have always been a party and dance band, and have been known as music "for the party after the protest." The trio first reunited for the This Ain't No Picnic festival in August of last year, and fans have been hopeful that a larger reunion would happen. And it is! Add this to the fact that Bikini Kill is also touring this year, and that means that some of us might get to see Kathleen Hanna live twice in a three month period. Tickets go on sale Friday at noon Eastern, 9:00 am Pacific. You can find tickets links here, and tour dates below! For more info on Le Tigre, check out the band's website.

5/27: Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer

6/1: Barcelona, Spain @ Primavera Sound Barcelona 2023

6/3: London, UK @ Troxy

6/5: Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall

6/6: Glasgow, Scotland @ Barrowland Ballroom

6/8: Madrid, Spain @ Primavera Sound Madrid 2023

6/9: Porto, Portugal @ Nos Primavera Sound Porto 2023

6/11: Paris, France @ Le Trianon

6/14: Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso

6/16: Berlin, Germany @ Huxleys Neue Welt

6/17: Hamburg, Germany @ Markthalle

7/1: Oakland, CA @ Mosswood Meltdown Festival

7/3: Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom

7/6: Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre

7/7: Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater

7/9: Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre

7/15: Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed

7/17: Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre

7/18: Millvale, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre

7/19: Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage

7/21: Toronto, ON @ History

7/22: Montreal, QC @ L’Olympia

7/24: Boston, MA @ Royale

7/28: Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel

Tristen Covers Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Originally recorded by fan request in 2018 for her Patreon, Tristen has released her cover of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's "The Lee Shore" after the death of David Crosby. Tristen's may not be as traditional as CSNY's, but hers does stay quite faithful to the original. She injects a little more of a pop side into hers, but hardly in any detriment to the song. In fact, hers sounds a little more fleshed out than the original. It's a gorgeous version of a song that is an absolute must hear for fans of Tristen or CSNY, and it ended up being a lovely tribute to the late music icon.

You can listen to Tristen's version of "The Lee Shore" below. The song is currently available on her Bandcamp. For more on Tristen, check out the artist's website.

Monday Mix: The Music League Best of 2022

Ken and I are obsessed with Music League, which is basically the turntable.fm replacement I was waiting for. If you follow us on social media (cheap plug: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram), you had an opportunity to join us and celebrate 2022's music, and maybe discover some new tunes while you were at it.

So for Monday Mix, enjoy the top three songs from our 2022 prompts. Best heard on shuffle. Want to join the next If It's Too Loud competition? Follow us on the socials.

JVK - "Good Talk"

Photo via Instagram

I first discovered JVK back in August playing at News Cafe in Pawtucket, RI. The band had this unique mix of pop and straightforward alt-rock, and that sound shines on their new single. "Good Talk" has this odd almost country/blues/rock vibe to it, but much heavier on the rock side. It's this loud rock song that is just belted out and almost has that woman scorned feeling to it that your favorite country singers made careers off. It's a fun and angst ridden song that has a Dolly Parton meets Julie Rhodes meets Foo Fighters thing going on.

You can listen to "Good Talk" below. For more on JVK, check out the band on Facebook and Instagram.

Public Serpents - "Not Forever"

We don't get to dust off the term skacore very often, but we get to with the latest from Public Serpents. The New Jersey band have released "Not Forever," which recalls the glory days of the genre. Led by frontman Skwert (who was the drummer for Choking Victim), Public Serpents are decidedly ska, but ska isn't normally this abrasive. A horn section tends to turn anything into a party, and "Not Forever" is definitely party friendly. But there is also tons of the more discordant side of punk in this song, in the best possible way. This song is a lot of fun, and is going to appeal to ska heads and people who hate the genre equally.

You can watch the video for "Not Forever" below. The Bully Puppet is due out March 24 on SBAM Records. For more on Public Serpents, check out the band's website.

Forty Feet Tall - "We Can't Go Back to Normal"

If it wasn't for their press release, I would swear that Forty Feet Tall came from London and not Los Angeles. The band's latest single, "We Can't Go Back to Normal," is a blistering punk rock burst with some deep, deep roots in post punk. It's a fast paced and noisy political rant that "... explores the anxiety and angst that has built up during isolation from the pandemic coupled with the polarized political climate." Despite how angsty the song is, there is still a bounciness and some form of joy to it. It sounds almost like early Arctic Monkeys deciding to get heavy. It's a two and a half minute burst of jubilant anger, and you're going to want to check this one out.

You can listen to "We Can't Go Back to Normal" below. For more on Forty Feet Tall, check out the band on Facebook and Twitter.

Caroline Rose - "Miami"

Photo by Cristina Fisher

If you've been following Caroline Rose for any amount of time, you know that they're an amazing artist who changes up their sound quite frequently. Even knowing that, you're going to be amazed by their new single. "Miami" is a masterpiece of a song. Rose's upcoming album was inspired by a difficult break up and voicemails they received from their grandmother as she lost her mind. Because of this, Rose started thinking "... about all the ways memory shows up throughout our lives," which inspired her to use instruments that deteriorate over time such as wooden and string instruments, voices, and tape. 

"Miami" starts off with just Rose's vocals and acoustic guitar, simply enough. The song just builds and builds as it goes on, with a wailing guitar that seems to loop around itself before going back to acoustic. The song propels along like this throughout its four and a half minute length, constantly morphing while keeping the bare bones intact. It's a heartbreaking song that still comes across as positive and cheerful. I feel like I'm not doing "Miami" justice, but how can I do a song this perfect justice with just words?

You can watch the video for "Miami" below. The Art of Forgetting is due out March 24 on New West Records, and can be pre-ordered here. For more on Caroline Rose, check out the artist's website. Upcoming tour dates are below the video.

Fri. March 31 - Saratoga Springs, NY @ Arthur Zankel Music Center
Sat. April 1 - Montreal, QC @ Petit Campus
Tue. April 4 - Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground
Wed. April 5 - Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground
Thu. April 6 - Boston, MA @ Royale
Sat. April 8 - Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
Sun. April 9 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre
Tue. April 11 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
Wed. April 12 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall
Fri. April 14 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
Sat. April 15 - Richmond, VA @ Richmond Music Hall
Sun. April 16 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
Tue. April 18 - Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
Wed. April 19 - Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl
Fri. April 21 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
Sat. April 22 - Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom
Sun. April 23 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
Tue. April 25 - Denver, CO @ The Gothic Theatre
Fri. April 28 - Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
Sat. April 29 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
Wed. May 3 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
Fri. May 5 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre
Sat. May 6 - Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet’s
Wed. May 31 - Manchester, UK @ BOTW
Thu. June 1 - Dublin, IE @ Whelan’s
Sat. June 3 - Glasgow, UK @ Stereo
Sun. June 4 - Bristol, UK @ Exchange
Mon. June 5 - London, UK @ Heaven

Savoir Faire - "How It's Supposed to Feel"

Photo by Sarah Belclaire

Savoir Faire is very quickly becoming a favorite around here, and "How It's Supposed to Feel" will show you exactly why. The new single, written from the perspective of a front line worker during the pandemic, combines this jazzy and bluesy sound that is becoming Savoir Faire's trademark sound. And it's a great sound. What makes a song like "How It's Supposed to Feel" so special and unique is her take on traditional music forms. There's an interesting dreamlike feel to the song along with an unexpected indie rock edge despite how smooth the song may sound. This is a special artist that you're going to want to pay attention to.

You can listen to "How It's Supposed to Feel" below. For more on Savoir Faire, check out the artist's website. If you're in the Boston area, she's playing a can't miss show with Wyn Doran at The Burren in Somerville on January 21.

Wednesday - "Chosen to Deserve"

Photo by Zachary Chick

If you have yet to jump on the Wednesday bandwagon, "Chosen to Deserve" is the perfect spot to join the rest of us. This new single is a brilliant mixture of modern indie rock, mid 90's alt rock, and alt-country. Somehow the guitars are both jangly and twangy. It's this completely unique mid-tempo power ballad that does the loud/quiet/loud thing just enough to qualify. "Chosen to Deserve" is going to aggravate people who like music in boxes, since Wednesday keep the song firmly rooted in the worlds of both indie rock and country. I thought they were an odd choice (but an absolutely perfect one!) to open for Drive-By Truckers, but after hearing this song it makes perfect sense.

You can watch the video for "Chosen to Deserve" below. Rat Saw God is due out April 7 on Dead Oceans. The album can be pre-ordered here. For more on Wednesday, check out the band's website.