If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Pooneh Ghana Austin's Annabelle Chairlegs is back with a new song, also from the sessions that produced her excellent Ty Segall produced album Waking Up. Of all the songs we've heard from Chairlegs, "Beef Witted" sounds the most like the album's producers. It's a fuzz-heavy burst of garage psych, and when we say fuzz-heavy, we mean that. There's a thick layer of feedback coating nearly the entire song, and there's a Stooges style slinkiness to the whole endeavor. Our adoration of Annabelle Chairlegs grows with each and every song we hear from the artist, and "Beef Witted" is no exception. It only shows how great Waking Up is if this was left off the original album. Bandleader Lindsey Mackin says of her new single: “I worked with my great aunt at a Scottish butcher shop, and I always remembered her saying 'he’s got beef for brains' in her thick Scottish accent. I wrote this song about a past lover that I would consider Beef Wi...

Photo by Chloe Aftel This year saw feminist punk legends heavens to betsy reunite for their first concert in more than thirty years, and now they're back with new (to us) music! "ain't never goin' back" is a previously unheard song from a demo recorded in February 1992, and will be a part of a new release due in October. This is from a demo tape, so it's raw, but that's kind of what we want from this era of indie rock, and from heavens to betsy. For fans that have been waiting over thirty years to hear anything new from the Corin Tucker and Tracy Sawyer project, "ain't never goin' back" is going to be a delight. And it's a reminder of just how great heavens to betsy were, and are, since they'll be playing more shows this fall! Tracy Sawyer says of her band's upcoming release: “I wasn't sure if I would ever revisit heavens to betsy, and then when we started talking more about it, and feeling how relevant the subjects are to...

There are a lot of days that feature a ton of live music in the Boston area, and choices need to be made. That's usually tough, but this Saturday, August 22, choosing is going to be virtually impossible with these five separate festivals happening around the Boston area! Let's hope the forecast clears up, because Saturday could end up being legendary! JP Porchfest, Sam Adams Brewery, Jamaica Plain, 12:00-6:00 I'm sure there are other great shows happening as part of JP Porchfest on Saturday, but I'm going to focus on the Meraki Main Stage at Sam Adams Brewery. It's a Boston hip hop showcase, featuring STL GLD, Oompa, Cakeswagg, Tori Tori, Lik Meraki, and Nahli. We're huge fans of the first four listed (we admittedly aren't familiar with Lik Meraki or Nahli), but this line up is absolutely bonkers and could easily sell out most venues throughout town. And Saturday you could see them all for free! Wildflower Festival, Keyes Field Stage, Milford, NH 12:00-9:00 ...

Photo by Georgia Mitropoulos Stef Chura's first single in seven years was an all-star affair, so her follow up is a much more stripped down song. "Lovesick" is a piano ballad, consisting mostly of Chura's vocals and piano. That doesn't mean that this new song is any less captivating than "Danny." The song is three minutes of pure bliss, allowing you to focus completely on Chura's vocals and lyrics. Chura's vocals have never been as emotive as they are on "Lovesick," and we can't get enough of this wonderfully simple song. While "Danny" was what we needed and expected from a Stef Chura comeback, "Lovesick" shows that she has some surprises in store for her upcoming album. Stef Chura says of her latest single: “It’s about desiring love and the journey to being lovable. It’s also about a toxic love and how it can feel addictive to want to be with someone who’s bad for you. I knew that this person made me feel bad ye...

Photo by Conor Shepherd We thought we knew what to expect from Wishy after hearing "Lovesick" back in June. However, the band has a new single out that defies the dream pop meets bubblegrunge sound we expected. "Sensational" is a groovy track. Sure, the song still fits in the indie rock category, but with a strong funk aspect to it. Wishy keep the dreamy feeling in their latest song, just a dreamy song you can easily dance to. The song reminds me of an indie rock version of early Michael Jackson mixed with "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and Soup Dragons' "Divine Thing." "Sensational" is a fun one, and it's great to see a young band show off so much range in their sound. You can watch the video for "Sensational" below. Nature's Pill is due out October 2 on Winspear, and is available for pre-order here . For more on Wishy, check out the band on Instagram . Upcoming tour dates are below the video and inclu...

Photo by Jackson James Squirrel Flower has a highly anticipated album due out this Friday, and she has a new single out to keep us satiated for the next two days. "Cleveland" shows off Squirrel Flower's more indie rock side. It's filled with fuzzed out guitars, with the slightest hints of twang for her folk/Americana side. The song is a slowed down track filled with sounds that will remind you of your favorite 90's indie rockers without sounding like a throwback. It's taking the genre from its glory days into the current era, and "Cleveland" is a breathtakingly amazing song. When you hear people complain that they don't make guitar rock any more, play "Cleveland" for them. Ella Williams (aka Squirrel Flower) says of her new single: "'Cleveland' is a song about choosing the city over the crush, about domesticity, about the strange magnetism of the city on Lake Erie, about the promise of the rust belt as a future site for cli...

Photo by Reese Layton Blondshell's latest single is the closer for her album, and it's the perfect type of closing song. "Fur Elise" fits in that indie rock meets pop sound that is all the rage these days (and one we can't seem to get enough of). It's a mid-tempo track that is epic in scope. It's not exactly loud/quiet/loud, but it's adjacent to that beloved musical trope. It gets a little faster as it goes on, and leans into the rock side of her sound a bit more than Blondshell usually does. Our favorite albums all seem to end on songs that are a little bit huge and a little bit intimate, and leave the listener both satisfied and wanting a little more. "Fur Elise" is one of those, and keeps on morphing into a more compelling song again and again. Blondshell has sneakily become one of the best artists of her generation, and this upcoming album is expected to be huge. Sabrina Teitelbaum (aka Blondshell) says of her latest single: "You...