The Cocktail Slippers - "Joyride"

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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 ‘Highway Star’ by Deep Purple, a feel-good on the road song with strong preferences in the 70s rock sound. Joyride is a sing-a-long tune about life on the road, internal band humor, endless highways and singing in the backseat."

You can listen to "Joyride" below. The album Joyride is due out August 28 on Wicked Cool Records, and is available for pre-order here. For more on The Cocktail Slippers, check out the band on Facebook and Instagram.

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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