Kier Byrnes & The Kettle Burners - Moonshine & Other Spirits

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The 2025 winners of Americana Artist of the Year at the Boston Music Awards are back with a new EP. Last Friday saw Kier Byrnes & The Kettle Burners release Moonshine & Other Spirits, a collection of three original songs and two covers. The songs that make up the EP are a perfect mixture of rock and country/folk without ever truly choosing one over the other. The opening track, "My Baby's Happy," features Elisa Smith and sounds like the Rolling Stones' experimentations into country while keeping their bluesier sound. "Impossible" sounds like if The Clash went country. The other original track, "Make Me Wanna Dance (Moonshine Shuffle)," gets closer to rockabilly than Kier Byrnes & The Kettle Burners have been before. For the covers, the band has gone with "Goin' Down in Style" from Robery Earl Kean and "Whitehouse Road" from Tyler Childers. Any time is a great time to jump on the Kier Byrnes & The Kettle Burners' bandwagon, but the release of Moonshine & Other Spirits is a particularly great one.

You can listen to Moonshine & Other Spirits below. The EP is available now via Bandcamp. For more on Kier Byrnes & The Kettle Burners, check out the band's website.

On Repeat...

Liam Kazar - "Shoes Too Tight"

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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. ...
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Izzy Heltai - "Father"

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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 .
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J Mascis - "See You At the Movies"

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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....
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