If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Kaylee Vaughn Artists like Schaefer Llana are teaching me that mainstream can be a good thing. Her latest single, "Wednesday Is Green," is a perfect example of mainstream folk. It's a little folk pop, but only because it's so infectious. The melody of this song is going to get stuck in your head before you memorize any of the words, and I don't believe there's anyone who likes any form of Americana that won't love "Wednesday Is Green." Llana's vocals have this simple quality that ends up being the song's secret weapon. This is the perfect song for lovers of folk artists that fill stadiums and indie folk snobs. Llana is just that great of an artist. Schaefer Llana says her latest single  “... started when I was sitting by a river out in the Mississippi country. Everything was green – the water, the weed, and the turtles. Years later, I added to the song in Texas and Florida, and it ultimately became about embracing solitude and be...

Photo by Calm Elliott-Armstrong Toronto's Bad Waitress are a punk band, but not in the traditional sense. Their latest single, "Loving Kind," injects a whole lot of metal into a punk base. Punk doesn't usually sound this huge, but Bad Waitress pull it off. There is also a lot of noise throughout the song, and the chorus is a monster. There's something very 90's about this song, kind of like it's a odd amalgam of punk, very early nu-metal, and noise rock. The last minute of the track is intense, and just bursts out into pure chaos. If you're into bands like L7 and Die Spitz, you're going to like Bad Waitress. Crank "Loving Kind" up, roll the windows down, and get ready to have your face melted. You can watch the video for "Loving Kind" below. In the Hollow is due out October 30, and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp . For more on Bad Waitress, check out the band on Instagram and Facebook .

August 6, 2007 was the last time Beastie Boys played Boston. I was there, in the very last row of the Bank of America Pavilion, and it was an amazing show. We all know what happened after that, and I thought those songs were lost forever. When I saw that Mike D was showing up at his sons' band's shows, and then started playing solo shows, I was hopeful, but didn't know what that meant. Last Friday saw the release of Mike D's first solo album, the really great Thank You , and he returned to Boston for a show at Royale. Unsurprisingly, Mike D 5D focused on their just released album Sunday night. That doesn't mean that Mike D's previous band was ignored. There was plenty for those that had never heard the songs on Thank You , or were there only for Beastie Boys classics. Opening with "Hello Brooklyn," they also played "Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun," "Remote Control," and a one song encore of "So What'cha Want." The ne...