If It's Too Loud...

When I first heard about The Town & City Festival happening in Lowell, MA, I assumed it would be limited to local Lowell area bands, and maybe a Boston band or two with Lowell ties. "A Fall Celebration of Music and Art in Lowell" just gives off a local vibe. When the line up was announced yesterday, to say I was pleasantly surprised would be a huge understatement. There are some local artists playing (Arlen, D-Tension) but there are some huge favorites of ours, also. Playing are "new" favorites like Kingsley Flood and Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys. But somehow the festival are legends Edo G, Damon and Naomi, and Kristin Hersh (!?!?!?!?!!!). And they are throwing in a bunch of artists that we always see listed and mean to check out but never quite get around to it (Abbie Barrett, Analog Heart, Frank Morey, Oldsoul). Of course, there are more to be announced, but you can check out the current line up on the poster to the left. The Town and The C...

It's been just over two years since we've shared anything from Lowell, MA's Arlen with you. Just last week, they shared the first song off their upcoming album. According to a Facebook post, the band was actively trying to put out a better album than their last. Judging by "Rescue Me," they might have pulled it off. "Rescue Me" is an absolute epic while still being grounded in the pop side of alternative rock. Arlen knows that melody isn't always a bad thing, and "Rescue Me" ties Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness  era Smashing Pumpkins into Placebo. Not to mention there's a killer guitar solo towards the end of the song that the band never even hinted at in their previous songs.  The new album from Arlen, Negatives , is due out in the next month or so. You can listen to "Rescue Me" below. For more information on all things Arlen, you can check them out on Bandcamp and Facebook . Rescue Me by Arlen

Lowell, MA is the kind of dying mill town New England is kinda famous for. It's best known as the birthplace of Jack Kerouac, but also had an HBO documentary called High on Crack Street: Lost Lives of Lowell  back in 1995. It's also the hometown of boxer Mickey Ward (as played by Mark Wahlberg in The Fighter ) and comedian/podcaster Matt Mira . The city is this bizarre blend of working class with a drug problem and artist haven. From this mill town comes Arlen. Right now Arlen has a three song demo that came out earlier this year, plus they just released the first song of their forthcoming EP. "Gloria" is a post-punk masterpiece, combining Fugazi and Jawbreaker with Joy Division. Somehow that is a sentence I've never typed before even though it is one of the best combinations I can imagine. The song clocks in at just under 3 minutes, but somehow crams one of the most epic songs I've heard all year into that short time. Right now, "Gloria" is av...