If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Jordan Beckham For the latest single from their collaboration, Michael Christmas, Chris Crack, and Girl Talk have released an absolute party. "Garfield Hated Mondays But Didn't Have a Job" is a lot of fun, and has the sound (and title) that I associate mostly with Michael Christmas. It has a very golden age of hip hop sound, and comes across as both ultra mainstream and underground hip hop. To me, it sounds like a collaboration between De La Soul and Will Smith, but much hipper than that sounds. It has that perfect mixture of laid back and dance friendly, and I simply cannot stress how much fun this song is. Get in your car and crank this one up, and you'll understand just how perfect "Garfield Hated Mondays But Didn't Have a Job" is. Michael Christmas says of the new single: “I’m singing my ass off on this record. Christmas Ruffins on this one. Transcendental vocal abilities between me and Crack man. Felt like Mike Jack singing ‘Who’s Loving Yo...

Photo by Tom Beard While "Kit Kat Club" is purely Irish folk punk, something about it seems like a slight departure for The Mary Wallopers. The song has a sense of early, classic country music, along with some very early rock 'n' roll. That would probably be rockabilly, but I can't quite let myself commit to that genre for "Kit Kat Club." It's also surprisingly theatrical, giving The Mary Wallopers a much bigger sound than they normally have. Considering the previous singles from their upcoming album have all been vastly different, we're even more excited about the release than we normally would be. Paddywhackery is showing some huge, mainstream possibilities for The Mary Wallopers in the very near future. Andrew and Charles Hendy say of their band's latest single: “It’s mainly about the fact that people would call us 'paddywhackery' because we are too Irish or whatever, but it’s all very fucking hip to be Irish the last couple of yea...

For his latest single, Garret Vandermolen enlisted Chris Walsh (Speedfossil, The I Want You) on drums and Anthony Kaczynski (Fireking, Figures on a Beach, The Magnetic Fields) on B3 organ. The result is "Take It Back," a song that's a little harder than we're used to from Vandermolen but still has all of the power pop sensibilities we've come to expect. The song rocks while being perfectly catchy. Garage rock meets power pop tends to be one of my favorite musical genres, so "Take It Back" is definitely going to work for me. It's as fuzzy as it is melodic, and it's impossible not to get won over by the organ on this new song. Garret Vandermolen says of his latest single: “Songwriting is such a varied process for me.     Sometimes the song just spills out in minutes, sometimes it takes you on a journey to a completely different place from where you started.    ' Take It Back' would be an example of the latter.    It started out on a capo’d ...

Photo courtesy Smitt E. Smitty Smitt E. Smitty is originally from Detroit and now resides in Boston, and his latest single with The Fezztones is an ode to his two cities. "Motor City Yankee" might be the most straightforward garage rock song of his we've covered. Of course, that's relative, so this new song still has plenty of Smitty's trademark unique take on garage rock. It's a loud rock song that references Alice Cooper, MC5, and Mission of Burma. It has the power of Detroit rock and roll with the clever side of Boston's more indie rock side. "Motor City Yankee" is a fun rock song, and sometimes that's what it's all about. Smitt E. Smitty says of his latest single: “Many people in both the Detroit and Boston music community know of me, but they don’t really KNOW me. I thought this would be a great way to get under the hood, and really show everyone what drives me. Both cities are part of my DNA. I decided a song referencing that fact w...