If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Grace Inspace The latest from Grace Inspace is fairly hard to define as it doesn't fit snugly into one, or even two, genres. "Emergency Contact" is mostly a pop song, but it has a much rougher edge than the vast majority of pop songs out there. It's laid back and dance friendly while also being fairly intense. It's also dark and gritty, and would have been considered much more alternative than pop back in the day. Grace Inspace delivers her vocals with a detached coolness while still injecting them with raw emotion. "Emergency Contact" may be hard to define, unless you want to classify it as a great song. Grace Inspace says of her latest single: "'Emergency Contact' is the story of a lifelong people pleaser reaching her breaking point.  It’s a moment of self-realization—when anger, long suppressed, finally spills over and becomes the spark for change. In the chorus, I sing about storing resentment in 'our heavy hair,' a meta...

Photo by Chris Bryce I first discovered Parlor Greens earlier this year when they were touring with Thee Sinseers and The Altons. I quickly became a fan, and promised myself I'd share their music with you all next time they released anything new. The instrumental soul/funk trio have a new single out, a take on William Bells' "Every Day Will Be Like a Holiday." Sure, it's a Christmas song, but it's a sly Christmas song that could slip by you if you're unfamiliar with the original. Parlor Greens' version is led by the organ of Adam Scone, and it's a killer mellow take on a holiday classic. Even if it's not yet Thanksgiving, go ahead and give this one a few spins. You can listen to Parlor Greens' version of "Every Day Will Be Like a Holiday" below. The 7" single will be out December 12 on Colemine Records with a B-side of "Auld Lang Syne," and is available for pre-order here . For more on Parlor Greens, check out the b...

I'm not going to pretend I'm a My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult superfan. I'm more of a casual fan of the electronic industrial band, but they are a band I've been listening to for roughly three decades now. Lately I've been trying to see bands I've never seen before, and Tuesday night's show at the Paradise worked with my schedule, so I decided to make the trek into the city to finally check out these legends for myself. Even legends have technical issues sometimes, which is what happened when frontman Groovie Mann's microphone didn't work for the entirety of the opening song, "Room on the Moon." The audience took it in stride until it was fixed, and it certainly didn't affect anyone's enjoyment of the show. My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult have been doing it since the 80's, and they have a diehard fanbase that thrilled with every dark industrial song. It's easy to forget just how great their catalog is, with songs like ...

Photo by Auzzy Newfable Mariachi El Bronx, the mariachi alter ego of Los Angeles punk band The Bronx, is back with their first new music in ten years. "Forgive or Forget" is exactly what you expect it to be, even if you're unfamiliar with the project. It's a surprisingly earnest and faithful to the genre song, but with maybe just the slightest punk edge to it. If you love punk like The Bronx, or if you love mariachi music, you're going to love "Forgive or Forget." This is just great music that is both beautiful and fun. The first thirty seconds of "Forgive or Forget" will completely win you over and make you a brand new superfan. Lead vocalist Matt Caughthran says the song is about someone  “... who’s completely disheveled and a little washed out, looking back on their life in a way that's kind of hazy. There's a little bit of hope there, but it's pretty dark.” You can listen to "Forgive or Forget" below. Mariachi El Bronx...

Photo by Gloria Pasotti Italy's Bee Bee Sea have a new single out that's a bit confounding. "You" is a garage psych song that lands half way between being midtempo and being a ripper. It's also incredibly catchy despite being fuzzed out and dissonant. What Bee Bee Sea have given us is a fun and noisy minute and a half burst of music perfect for any fans of modern garage rock. It takes the sheen of the early 00's garage rock revival and scuffs it up with a layer of DIY.  Bee Bee Sea says of their latest single: "'You' was born almost by accident, during a rehearsal session. After writing one too many four-minute songs with intricate structures, we challenged ourselves to do the opposite: something short, fast, and straight to the point. So we set a timer for 1 minute and 37 seconds and decided to play without saying a word, except for the key. The rule was simple: we had to come up with a song before the alarm went off. Said and done — by the end o...

There are some shows you just can't miss. Considering I didn't do too many Halloween things before Halloween, once I heard that spooky surf rockers Messer Chups were playing Alchemy in Providence, I simply had to go. First of all, they're from Saint Petersburg, Russia, so they don't tour in the US too often. Second... how am I supposed to resist spooky surf rock? Messer Chups were exactly as advertised. Surf rock with a sci-fi and horror twist was everything I wanted it to be. Surf rock and vintage sci-fi and horror always have a little bit of a kitschy quality to them, and that's what I was hoping for Sunday night. The vast majority of the songs were instrumental, so I'm not exactly sure which ones were played, but with song titles in their repertoire such as "Electric Zombierella," "Dracula Hates Photoshoots," and "Rockin' Zombie," how could you go wrong? It was definitely a crowd-pleasing set, with most of the audience gleefu...

Photo by Noa Francis We're highly anticipating the new album from runo plum due out this Friday, so we're thrilled to have one last single to check out before it's released. "Alley Cat" is a perfect mixture of folk and indie rock. It's starts out as more of a DIY folk song as indie rock elements slowly work their way into the song. It has a very gentle build and seems to evolve at its own pace as a simple and slightly rough song becomes a fully fleshed out and lush composition. "Alley Cat" is going to appeal to fans of boygenius or any of its parts. It takes a special artist to make a song about social anxiety so compelling, and that's exactly what runo plum is. You can watch the video for "Alley Cat" below. patching is due out November 14 on Winspear, and is available for pre-order here . For more on runo plum, check out the artist's website . Upcoming tour dates are below the video and include a February 8 date at Sonia in Cambrid...

Photo by Liza Orozco I know that November 4 is far too early to be sharing Christmas music, but Melissa Carper has a Christmas album coming out later this month, and the first single off of the album isn't completely obviously a holiday song. "Made with Love" is straight out of Carper's vintage country sound, with just the slightest hints of it being a holiday song audible. It's not jingle bells, but there is something fairly Christmas-y in how "Made with Love" sounds, and it's more about how grandma's apple strudel and handmade sweaters are better than storebought.  You can watch the very Christmas-y video for "Made with Love" below. A Very Carper Christmas is due out November 28 on Soundly Music, and is available for pre-order here . For more on Melissa Carper, check out the artist's website .

Photo by Jimi Giannatti Alt-rock/emo vets Jimmy Eat World are about to issue a collection of their recent digital only singles on vinyl, and have a new single we can check out. "Failure" isn't exactly what you imagine when you think of Jimmy Eat World. This one is a midtempo ballad that possibly crosses the line into power ballad territory. It sounds more like mid 90's post grunge alt-rock than early 00's emo. The fuzz starts pretty much immediately in "Failure" and never quite goes away. Jimmy Eat World sound much more '96 than '01 on their latest. Regardless, "Failure" is a great song sure to appeal to their longtime fans, even the lapsed ones. Jim Adkins says of his band's upcoming EP: “By 2021, it felt like distancing restrictions were finally easing and we could get back on the road. Our  Surviving  album had barely been released before we were performing live again and reconnecting with fans. Coming out of the pandemic, it did...

Photo by Presley Ann Flames of Durga are a Joshua Tree based band have a new single out dedicated to their late father. "Spirit Guide" is a monster of a song and not your typical tribute song for a departed family member. This one is a big, big rock song that shows off the band's influences such as The Kills, Black Sabbath, and L7. Twin sisters Beah and Cecilia Romero's emotions are palpable in "Spirit Guide," and this one is best to listen to as loudly as possible. Knowing the backstory of the song adds to the listening experience, but it also works just to crank up and rock out. Guitarist/vocalist Beah Romero says of her band's new single: “‘Spirit Guide’ was written when my sister and I were going through a very challenging time.  Its lyrics call out to a higher power in a humble, prayerful way—centered on surrendering to divine timing. Little did we know our most difficult year yet was ahead, with the passing of our father, Michael White Feather Rome...

As much as I love Halloween, I didn't end up doing a lot of Halloween things this year (except for watching more horror movies than normal). For some reason, most of my holiday activities seem to be happening in November. This included Sapling's Halloween Hangover show at Electric Haze in Worcester with Miracle Blood, The Freqs, and Nicholas Burgess. Plus, it was a matinee, and who doesn't want to check out a rock show and be home for dinner? Opening up the show was Nicholas Burgess, playing as a duo with a second guitarist. His set was the most Halloweeny by far, with songs about Frankenstein and his new single written for the occasion, "The Day After Halloween." It was my first time seeing Burgess perform live after discovering his more spooky music, and it was as fun as I expected. He was also decidedly the most mellow artist of the afternoon, which was a good way to ease everyone into a daylight rock show, especially as the crowd was still wandering in off the...

Australian surf/punk/garage legends The Chevelles are celebrating their thirty-fifth year, and have a new single out. "Caveman" is a raw and catchy song that incorporates all three genres equally. There's a sense of menace to the song, but in an especially fun way. How can you not have fun with a song that includes the classic "Oogaga, oogaga, oogaga" reference? As soon as the guitar kicks in for "Caveman," you'll know you're going to love this one. This is classic garage rock at its absolute finest, with only production quality (and the blistering guitar solo) revealing that it's a modern track. Bassist/co-founder Jeff Halley says of the band's longevity: “We’re louder, older, meaner … and still having fun.” You can listen to "Caveman" below. The single is out now on Wicked Cool Records. For more on The Chevelles, check out the band's website .

Photo by Isaac Brown We adored Genesis Owusu's 2023 album Struggler , and now the Ghanian-Australian artist is back with a new single. While being incredibly dance friendly "Death Cult Zombie" isn't the same dance music from his previous album. Instead, this new track is more of a grime meets ska meets rock song. It has a fairly serious subject matter that you can guess from the song's title, but this one is a bunch of fun, which you can assume from my description. "Death Cult Zombie" goes just as undeniably hard as it is a blast to listen to. Let's hope this is the beginning of a bunch of new music and a tour that makes its way to the US, since missing Owusu at Boston Calling and The Sinclair is one of my biggest musical regrets of the past few years. Genesis Owusu says of his latest single: “For most people, the shaking up of what they consider to be true is too scary and inconvenient. Once you’ve picked your truth, you live by it staunchly despite...

Photo by Izzie Austin BBE Music is releasing a Talking Heads tribute album early next year, and have made WITCH's (aka We Intend to Cause Havoc) version of "Once in a Lifetime" available to hear now. The Zamrock pioneers' version is an almost complete reworking of the art rock legends' original. It takes about thirty seconds for the music to truly reflect the original, which is just before the lyrics kick in. Of course, it wouldn't exactly be fitting to have a note-for-note cover of a Talking Heads song based on how revolutionary they were and still are. Plus, who would want a WITCH song that doesn't sound like WITCH? This is taking an art rock/punk classic and filtering it through a psychedelic Zamrock lens, and the results are as amazing as that sounds. You can listen to WITCH's cover of "Once in a Lifetime" below. Naive Melodies is due out January 23 on BBE Music, and is available for pre-order here . For more on WITCH, check out the band...