The Unlucky Shots - Line Up

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The Unlucky Shots are a western Massachusetts based band that was formerly known as The Lucky Shots, but recently found out they shared that name with another band. If you recently renamed your band The Unlucky Shots, Friday the 13th is a perfect day to release an EP, so today we see the release of Line Up. This new release is a four song collection of melodic and oddly catchy indie rock songs. The songs land somewhere in between modern indie rock and the early to mid 90's mainstream alt-rock of bands like Gin Blossoms and Toad the Wet Sprocket. The songs have the slightest hint of country, but you'll notice the strong groove before that. What's great about the songs on Line Up is how close they are to being mainstream alt-rockers, but The Unlucky Shots keep everything just slightly off-kilter enough to keep things interesting and underground. In fact, the deeper you get into the EP, the weirder it gets. (They are from western Massachusetts, after all...)

You can listen to Line Up below. For more on The Unlucky Shots, check out the band's website. They'll be playing Luthier's Co-Op in Easthampton, MA on March 20, and March 27 at Progression Brewing as part of the Back Porch Festival.

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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