Cusp - "Follow Along"

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Photo by Kim Christoffel

Chicago's Cusp have a new single out, and this is the type of song I would have become completely obsessed with in college in the 90's. "Follow Along" is an absolutely killer indie rock song with the slightest pop leaning. It has this buzzsaw guitar that immediately grabs your attention. The noise is significantly softened by the rest of the song, especially singer/guitarist Jen Bender's vocals, which land somewhere in between 90's slacker and melodic. Instead of the standard loud/quiet/loud format (which is somewhat present), Cusp go with more of a melodic/noisy/melodic breakdown. "Follow Along" is a truly fun and noisy song that is exactly what we tend to love here at If It's Too Loud...

Jen Bender says of her band's latest single and video:

 “‘Follow Along’ is a caricature of the age old question - ‘If your friends jumped off a cliff, would you jump too?’ Chaos may ensue if you get too swept up in what everyone else is doing. We approached our friends Jamie Lipman and Kira Fahmy with the idea to do a video for this song and they immediately understood the themes and energy. Jamie gave us a 20-minute, Detroiters-style presentation about the vision for the shoot and the rest is history. He has been quoted as saying he is the only one ‘willing to put his life on the line’ to play the magician."

You can watch the video for "Follow Along" below. What I Want Doesn't Want Me Back is due out October 17 on Exploding In Sound, and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp. For more on Cusp, check out the band on Instagram.

On Repeat...

The New Limits - "Normal Day"

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Photo via Facebook According to their Bandcamp profile, The New Limits are a "Boston ska band with a taste for rocksteady, reggae, soul, and rock n roll." They just released a single that shows off their sound perfectly. "Normal Day" is a laid back ska song dripping with soul. You know that joke that goes around every few months saying that ska is the sound that plays in a twelve year old's head when they get an extra mozzarella stick? The New Limits are the grown up version of that sound. This is ska/rocksteady for adults. It's ultra chilled out music with some of the best horns in the city. Even if you haven't listened to ska since your youth, you need to check out "Normal Day." This might help re-open the entire genre to you. The New Limits say of their latest single: " What is normal, anyway? Some of us just want a nine-to-five. Others cry at the thought. 'Normal Day' has nothing to do with quarantine and lots to do with figuri...
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Brennen Leigh - "Dumpster Diving"

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Photo by Lyza Renee Brennen Leigh has quickly become a favorite of ours, with her take on a classic country sound with a slight sense of humor. Her latest single, "Dumpster Diving," which she describes as a "trashy little tune," is everything we love about the musician. It's a vintage style country song that comes in at a punk like one minute, forty-eight seconds. With a chorus of "Dumpster diving, this ain't gonna last / Dumpster diving, 'cause baby you like trash..." how can you possibly resist. Leigh's latest gives us a decades old sound with modern sensibilities and her fantastic voice that's tailor made for this genre of music. It's almost like a collaboration between Loretta Lynn and Shel Silverstein, and who doesn't want to hear that? You can hear "Dumpster Diving" below. Don't You Ever Give Up On Love  is due out October 3 on Signature Sounds, and is available for pre-order here . For more on Brennen Leigh,...
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The Beths - "Mother, Pray for Me"

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Photo by Annabel Kean For their latest single, New Zealand's The Beths have released "Mother, Pray for Me." This is a heartbreaking ballad consisting of Elizabeth Stokes' vocals and guitar with just the slightest hint of organ. It's a deeply personal song for Stokes, made obvious with how intimately the song comes across. It truly feels almost confessional, and it's quite simply beautiful. The Beths are most known for huge little indie rock gems perfect for bopping along to, but "Mother, Pray for Me" is quite the opposite. Stokes' vocals and lyrics are right up front on this one, and I can't imagine it any other way. Elizabeth Stokes says of her latest single: “I cried the whole time writing it. It's not really about my mother, it's about me — what I hope our relationship is, what I think it is, what it maybe actually is, and what I can or can't expect out of it.   “My mother is a first gen Indonesian immigrant, and very Catholic....
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