If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Bella Peterson Punk legend Laura Jane Grace has a new single out with her latest project, and if you've been a fan of her as a musician for any length of time, you're going to dig this one. Laura Jane Grace in the Trauma Tropes have released "Active Trauma," a song that is both a badass punk song and a pop song all at once. Grace is delivering her vocals with the edge and attitude that only she can over a killer alt-rock groove and guitar. Her wife and bandmate, Paris Campbell Grace, is providing both killer harmonies and gang vocals throughout, and this one is going to be irresistible even if you typically don't like punk. "Active Trauma" is going to work for fans of virtually any genre or subgenre of rock, and even some pop fans. You can listen to "Active Trauma" below. Adventure Club is due out July 18 on Polyvinyl, and is available to pre-order here . For more on Laura Jane Grace, check out the artist's website . Upcoming tour ...

Photo by Pinelopi Gerasimou Laura Jane Grace's latest musical project is Laura Jane Grace In The Trauma Tropes, which is a collaboration with her wife Paris Campbell Grace (vocals) and Greek musicians Jacopo "Jack" Fokas (bass) and Orestis Lagadinos (drums). The group formed while Grace was in Greece for a monthlong songwriting retreat through the Onassis Foundation. Their latest single, "Mine Me Mine," is a ninety-three second burst of some of the finest pop punk you've ever heard. It's a high energy and bouncy song railing against capitalism, so it's a territory Grace knows quite well. If you have a love of pop punk, particularly fast and political pop punk, "Mine Me Mine" is going to be a dream come true for you. This one is guaranteed to be stuck in your head for days to come, which you certainly won't be complaining about. You can listen to "Mine Me Mine" below. Adventure Club is due out July 18 on Polyvinyl, and is avail...

Photo by Bella Peterson March 11, 2020 was the night everything changed. Tom Hanks announced he tested positive for COVID. The NBA and NHL cancelled their seasons. Travel to Europe was banned. All of that happened while I was at an Against Me! show in Holyoke, which led me to abandon my spot near the front of the stage to the very back corner of the venue to get as far away from everyone as possible. It was obviously a bad experience, and I've wanted a do-over ever since. Sunday night, I finally got my chance when Laura Jane Grace played the Crystal Ballroom in Somerville. Playing as the newly christened Laura Jane Grace & the Mississippi Medicals, this is going to be a hard show to write about as it's going to be impossible to not overly gush about it to an embarrassing amount. Joined by drummer Mikey Erg and bassist Matt Patton, the trio took the stage with some of the most tremendous energy I've ever seen. Based on some of Grace's solo releases, I wasn't sure...

Photo by Bella Peterson The latest from Laura Jane Grace might be a perfect song. "Birds Talk Too" is a two minute punk rock song, complete with abundant gang vocals, particularly on the chorus. Grace is just spitting venom in her vocals, but in a positive way. As forceful as her lyrics are, they still come across as positive and joyful. Then there's her guitar playing, which has that bouncy, solo Paul Westerberg sound to it. "Birds Talk Too" is just simply a killer song, and an early contender for Song of 2024. Laura Jane Grace says of her latest single: ​“10 years ago I started getting tattooed by a Japanese tattoo artist named Gakkin.  I traveled all around the world getting the work done literally starting with my feet and ending with getting my head tattooed in Amsterdam in July of 2022. At the end of our session, Gakkin gifted me a hand-painted Gretsch guitar, covered in beautiful, intricate, swirling design. I took the guitar back to my hotel room and imm...

Photo by Travis Shinn At this point we'll check out anything Laura Jane Grace is involved in. Her solo music tends to live along the border of punk and folk depending on the mood. Grace's latest solo song, "Dysphoria Hoodie," lands more on the folk side of her repertoire. It's just Grace and her acoustic guitar for a song that's a little bit ramblin' and a little bit folk-punk. (Hey, it's Laura Jane Grace. Pretty much anything she does is going to have at least a little bit of a punk edge to it...) As usual, this is a great song showcasing one of the things Grace does best. Laura Jane Grace says of her new single: “This is a song about gender dysphoria and your favourite hooded sweatshirt.  Any trans person out there knows what a dysphoria hoodie is — it’s the hoodie you wear when feeling low and dysphoric and you don’t want the world reading your gender. Hide your body shape, hide your head, disappear as much as you can. Wrap yourself up in it like a ...

If you're wondering what Matt Skiba has been up to since Tom DeLonge rejoined Blink-182, that answer is Lektron. The former member of Alkaline Trio has formed an all-star punk rock supergroup for his new band, which also features Atom Willard (Rocket from the Crypt, Against Me!) on drums, bassist Hunter Burgan (AFI), and lead guitarist Randy Moore (Spiritworld, Dan Andriano & The Bygones). The quartet's new single has the pop punk with an edge sound you'd expect from this collection of musicians, but there's also a mixture of garage rock and heavier mainstream alt-rock throughout. The guitars have just a little unexpected crunch to them, and the song isn't exactly catchy but will still find a way to burrow into your skull. "Dirty Jacks" is the kind of song that both is and isn't what you expect before you start listening. You can listen to "Dirty Jacks" below. The single is available with the B-side "She's a War" via Asian M...

Photo by Megan Toenyes The new and highly awaited album from Lydia Loveless is due tomorrow, but we're getting to hear our most highly anticipated song from that album early! When we first heard about the album, we couldn't wait to hear "September" since it featured a guest appearance by Laura Jane Grace. The song is a gorgeous piano ballad, which isn't quite what I expected from the pairing of Loveless and Grace, but I can't argue with the result. A piano ballad always has the possibility of falling into the land of overly sappy, but Loveless and Grace avoid that. Just their vocals inject enough attitude, and lyrics like "Do you really wanna fuck with me" finish the job. Like many Loveless songs, it's beautiful on the surface, but the lyrics tell another story. You can watch the video for "September" below. Lydia Loveless explains the video:   “‘September’ is a song about the loneliness and ache of being a teenager. I wanted to d...