The Murlocs - "Initiative"

Photo by Izzie Austin

When it came time to craft their new album, Australia's The Murlocs decided to create a country rock record along the lines of The Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Once you listen to their new single, you'll be able to judge if they did or not. "Initiative" is a cosmic country song that is truly cosmic. A lot of the genre adds in just a little psychedelia for flavoring, but The Murlocs dumped the whole thing into their little country rock song. It's a rambling song that just kind of meanders around. It's the kind of song that's trying to hold it together and come across as normal, but we all know what it's been up to.

Ambrose Kenny-Smith (vocals, guitar, harmonica) says of the new song:

“It’s about recognizing the need to start taking responsibility for your life instead of always living in the now and killing all your brain cells along the way. Not everyone wants the big family and the big house with the white picket fence. Everything happens for a reason and sometimes you need to take things more seriously and make a few power moves in life to find out what comes next in the crystal ball.”

You can watch the video for "Initiative" below. Calm Ya Farm is due out May 19 on ATO Records, and can be pre-ordered here. For more on The Murlocs, check out the band's website.

Grace Cummings Covers Fatboy Slim

I never quite got into Fatboy Slim, but I do love a good cover especially when it's done by an artist who can open for the likes of Ezra Furman, Viagra Boys, and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Grace Cummings delivers a fairly straightforward rendition of the 90's electronica classic "Praise You," although it is a more organic one. This cover is more of an organic rock/soul version while still keeping all the main elements of the original intact. While it's obviously a musically different version, you'll recognize it just from the music which doesn't always happen when a cover crosses genres like this. 

Grace Cummings says of the song:

“No matter what happens, I’ll never get sick of this song and it will never get sick of making me happy. I’d never try to out do Camille Yarborough or Fatboy Slim… there’s no point. But to combine the two into a soul groove was something kinda our own and hopefully joyful in its own right.”

You can watch the video for Grace Cummings' version of "Praise You" below. The single is currently available here via ATO Records. For more on Grace Cummings, check out the artist on Facebook and Instagram.

Margaret Glaspy - "My Body My Choice"

Photo by Josh Goleman

It's obvious what the latest song from Margaret Glaspy is about based on the title. "My Body My Choice" is a protest song written in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade. It's a bluesy song telling the stories of three women making the choices they have determined are right for themselves. It's the kind of song that can suck you in without you even realizing it's a protest song. You could easily hear this being played in a coffee shop and be grooving on it before noticing how vital and of the moment the song is.

Margaret Glaspy says of her new song:

“‘My Body My Choice,’ is a song of protest. Taking away resources from people who need abortions only leaves them with unsafe alternatives, and no one should be forced to experience that. It is absolutely necessary for any person who can give birth to consent to their own pregnancy. It feels absurd that we are still fighting this fight, but here we are. It’s your body, so it should be your choice.”

You can listen to "My Body My Choice" below. The song is available as a single via ATO Records with a portion of the proceeds going to The Brigid Alliance. For more on Margaret Glaspy, check out the artist's website.

Drive-By Truckers - "Welcome 2 Club XIII"

It's been a while since Drive-By Truckers released a fun single. Their recent singles have been overtly political. No complaints, as I've enjoyed them all, but sometimes you just want DBT to release a rock song. "Welcome 2 Club XIII" is DBT's ode to a club they used to play back in their Muscle Shoals days. My favorite songs of theirs tend to be very personal ones about their past, and "Welcome 2 Club XIII" fits that. It's a rollicking song that even almost edges into dance territory. This one is just meant to be a fun song, and considering how dark things have been lately, we can use it.

You can watch the video for "Welcome 2 Club XIII" below. Welcome 2 Club XIII, the album, is due out June 3 on ATO Records, and can be pre-ordered here. For more on Drive-By Truckers, check out the band's website.

My Morning Jacket - "Regularly Scheduled Programming"

Photo by Austin Nelson

My Morning Jacket are one of those bands I feel like I should be more into than I actually am. They're equal parts indie rock and folk with a little (ok, way more than a little) jam band thrown in. I even saw them at the Newport Folk Festival all the way back in 2012 and really, really enjoyed them. But for some reason, I've never truly jumped into their catalog.

In October, My Morning Jacket are releasing their first new album in over six years, so now may just be the time to get fully invested in them. "Regularly Scheduled Programming" is the kind of epic we expect from the band. It starts off mostly with Jim James' vocals, almost sounding like a hymn. Slowly the song builds into more of an epic, adding instruments and a choir, which just adds to the religious feel of the song. Eventually the song builds into a crescendo of psychedelia that sounds like Sonic Youth's later, more jammy period. Yeah... I feel like now is the time to finally join the My Morning Jacket fandom.

In a press release, Jim James says of the new song:

“This song really hits home for me after what we’ve gone through with the pandemic. But even before then, it felt like so many of us were trading real life for social media, trading our own stories for the storylines on TV, trading our consciousness for drugs. We need to help each other wake up to real love before it's too late."

You can watch the video for "Regularly Scheduled Programming" below. My Morning Jacket's self-titled album is due out October 22 on ATO Records. You can pre-order your copy here. For more on My Morning Jacket, check out the band's website.

Drive-By Truckers - "Thoughts and Prayers"

Photo by Andy Tennille

Given the more recent politically charged output from Drive-By Truckers, it's easy to guess the subject matter of their most recent single, "Thoughts and Prayers." It's a brutal look at school shootings and the inability of anyone to actually do anything about it besides offer thoughts and prayers. The footage used in the accompanying video is taken from what I assume is the National School Walkout with the song's lyrics written on the protest signs in the crowd. It's a quiet, reflective Patterson Hood song that fits square into what you'd expect from the Drive-By Truckers at this point, but a mid-tempo mellow rocker is an easier pill to digest and forces the listener to pay attention to the words. And just in case anyone misses the point, the last verse ends with "Stick it up your ass with your useless thoughts and prayers" repeated twice.

You can watch the video for "Thoughts and Prayers" below. The Unraveling, the new album from Drive-By Truckers, will be out January 31 on ATO Records. You can pre-order your copy here. For more on Drive-By Truckers, check out their website.

Drive-By Truckers - "Armageddon's Back in Town"

Photo by Andy Tennille

It doesn't feel like it's been three and a half years since Drive-By Truckers released American Band. It could be because they've been nearly constantly touring so it doesn't feel like that album cycle ever ended. Or it could be because the last three years have made that album feel even more current than ever. Well, get ready because they're about to release another album. The first single is "Armageddon's Back in Town," and this might be the first DBT song that we can truly call cowpunk. Sure, any song sung by Patterson Hood is going to sound country, but "Armageddon's Back in Town" is this epic rock song that sounds how we all feel right now: Angry, but tired of constantly being angry while knowing we need to stay angry. Which is exhausting. What really exemplifies this is the fact that the song is just shy of four minutes, but feels much longer. (In an epic/the song just feels huge way, not in an overlong way.)

You can watch the lyric video for "Armageddon's Back in Town" below. The Unraveling, the new album from Drive-By Truckers, will be out January 31 via ATO Records. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on Drive-By Truckers, check out their website.

Oh Pep! - "What's the Deal with David?"

Photo by Ebru Yildiz

Comparing Melbourne's Oh Pep! to Tegan and Sara is an obvious choice. Both are female duos that play similar styles of music, but for me it's a more personal connection.

The first time I discovered Tegan and Sara was when they opened for Ben Folds at Clark University in 2000 (?). The performance was just them, and I assumed they were more of a folk duo. Sure their songs were poppy, but folk pop. Later when I heard "Walking with a Ghost" I was surprised to find out that they were much more pop than folk.

That's where I stand with Oh Pep! I first discovered them at the Green River Festival in 2016. They were playing a more folk based pop sound. I expected this when I heard their new single, "What's the Deal with David?," but the new song is almost pure pop. As I'm not the pop guy of the blog, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I still enjoyed the song. It's upbeat and impossibly catchy, even for the grumpiest of middle aged indie rock fans to enjoy.

You can watch the video for "What's the Deal with David?" below. I Wasn't Only Thinking About You..., the second album from Oh Pep!, will be out October 26 on ATO Records. It can be pre-ordered here. For more on Oh Pep!, check them out on Facebook and Twitter. Current tour dates are below the video.

Nov 02 - Supersonic - Paris, France+
Nov 03 - Botanique - Brussels, Belgium+
Nov 04 - MTC - Cologne, Germany+
Nov 05 - Paradiso - Amsterdam, Netherlands+
Nov 07 - Molotow - Hamburg, Germany+
Nov 08 - Ideal Bar - Copenhagen, Denmark+
Nov 09 - Kantine am Berghain - Berlin, Germany+
Nov 11 - Chelsea Club - Vienna, Austria+
Nov 13 - Kranhalle - Munich, Germany+
Nov 14 - Mascotte - Zurich, Switzerland+
+with Middle Kids

Cordovas - "This Town's a Drag"

It's a Friday during the summer, which is the perfect time for a song like Cordovas's "This Town's a Drag." The song just captures a lazy summer country feel, but is probably a little too rock to truly be considered straight country. Plus, it's fairly funky, despite being a country song. It sort of reminds me of The Deslondes meets Deer Tick with soul. It also has a tiny bit of Wilco's noodling towards the end. In other words, most readers of If It's Too Loud... will end up digging this.

You can listen to "This Town's a Drag" below. That Santa Fe Channel, the new album from Cordovas, will be out August 10 on ATO Records. For more on Cordovas, check out their website.

Rayland Baxter - "Strange American Dream"

Photo by Shervin Lainez

Rayland Baxter seems to be one of those artists that is intent on changing up his sound with every new album. With his new song, "Strange American Dream," he's dropped most of his folk/Americana/country sound in favor of a more 90's singer/songwriter feel along the line of Ben Lee. In the past year or so, we've seen a bunch of our favorite folky artists experimenting with a more mainstream, sometimes even pop, sound, to varying levels of success. "Strange American Dream" is one of the better experiments. It still keeps enough of Baxter's folk charm. While it veers off in a different direction from Imaginary Man, it's not a complete change of direction. If you've been a fan of his, I can't imagine this knocking you off the bandwagon.

You can listen to "Strange American Dream" below. The latest album from Rayland Baxter, Wide Awake, will be out July 13 on ATO Records. For more on Rayland Baxter, check out his website.

Drive-By Truckers - "The Perilous Night"

Photo by Danny Clinch

Remember when we all thought American Band was as political and as political as Drive-By Truckers would get? Well, here's a new single, "The Perilous Night." With this song, Patterson Hood gets specific, mentioning Putin and Charlottesville explicitly, and with an accompanying lyric video showing anti-Trump imagery and videos of Russia. Apparently American Band was a warm up.

What's even more interesting is the actual song itself. Drive-By Truckers have always been Americana with punk tuned guitars, and that sound is almost completely absent. "The Perilous Night" sounds a lot more like the pop side of mid-90's alternative (think Gin Blossoms and Fountains of Wayne) mixed with soul, complete with an R&B chorus. It's an interesting choice to make their most commercially sounding single for their most abrasive and divisive topic. I can't imagine it wasn't done on purpose.

You can watch the lyric video for "The Perilous Night" below. It will be released on December 15 on a 7" along with an absolutely amazing version of "What It Means" that was recorded at the 2017 Newport Folk Festival. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on Drive-By Truckers, check out their website. 

Jim James Covers The Beach Boys

We're quite open with our love for cover songs here at If It's Too Loud..., and today we bring you one of the most obvious choices for a cover that we've ever brought you before. Jim James of My Morning Jacket was basically created to make complex, dense musical arrangements. He has an upcoming covers album coming out, and one of the more obvious choices is the first song we can currently listen to: His version of The Beach Boys' "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times." The song, originally off Pet Sounds, is a gorgeous, lush ballad, with instrumentation far more complex and involved than it seems on first listen. James' version of the song is an almost perfect recreation, with just a few slight changes here and there.

You can watch the video for Jim James' version of "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" below. It is off the album Tribute To 2, which is a sequel to Tribute To. The first in the series was an EP of The Beatles and George Harrison covers. Tribute To 2 will include covers of songs originally done by Sonny & Cher, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and more. It will be out December 8 on ATO Records. It can be pre-ordered here. For more on Jim James, check out his website.

Jessica Lea Mayfield - "Meadow"

Photo by Ebru Yildiz

September is a ridiculously stacked release month for music, but with each song the new album from Jessica Lea Mayfield speeds up our list of "most anticipated."

The latest song is "Meadow." While her entire album Sorry Is Gone is about empowerment and taking her life back, "Meadow" feels especially along this vein. Mayfield's voice comes across particularly breezy and vulnerable in this song, even for her. As the song progresses, it becomes a little more assured and powerful. The instruments become more forceful throughout the song, too. It's a great song that harkens back to the 90's alternative singer/songwriter movement that included Liz Phair and Elliott Smith.

You can watch the great video for "Meadow" below. And, seriously, it's a great video. Unfortunately, it's about 20 years too late to be in the MTV Buzz Bin. The newest album from Jessica Lea Mayfield, Sorry Is Gone, will be out September 29 on ATO Records. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on Mayfield, check out her Facebook and Twitter.

Jessica Lea Mayfield - "Sorry Is Gone"

Photo by Ebru Yildiz

With her earlier sound, Jessica Lea Mayfield combined 90's alternative with country (if I was into bad jokes I'd say that she put the alt in alt-country, but I'll spare you that one), and with 2014's Make My Head Sing... she wore her grunge influences on her sleeve and pushed the country into the background. She has a new song out, "Sorry Is Gone," that goes just slightly back towards her country roots. Sonically, it's a little closer to 2011's Tell Me, but with some killer early 90's indie guitar work. Despite the song's light sound, Mayfield says “The whole record is about me taking my life back, without really realizing it. I realized I’m the only person that is going to look out for me. I have to be my main person. No one else.” The album features notable guest musicians Seth Avett (who Mayfield collaborated on 2015's Elliott Smith covers album) and Steve Shelley formerly of Sonic Youth.

You can watch the video for "Sorry Is Gone" below. Jessica Lea Mayfield's new album, also called Sorry Is Gone, will be out September 29 on ATO Records. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on Jessica Lea Mayfield, check out her website.

Benjamin Booker - "Believe"

Photo by Ken Sears

Back in the 80s and 90s, an album would be announced, and you'd have one single released before the album. With the current music industry model, you get 2-4 singles released before the album is, since there is really no such thing as radio or video airplay anymore. The only challenge with this model is you can really burn yourself out on an album before it's even out yet.

I doubt that will happen with the upcoming album from Benjamin Booker. "Believe," the third single released for Witness, Booker goes full on soul. The proto-punk blues meets Nirvana sound of his 2014 self titled debut is gone on this track. This is pure neo-soul, and what's most shocking perfectly is how Booker's ragged voice fits both heavier rock songs and soul. The accompanying video was shot in Providence's Columbus Theater with an orchestra and gospel choir.

Benjamin Booker's new album, Witness, will be out June 2 on ATO Records. You can watch the video for "Believe" below. For more on Benjamin Booker, check out his website.

Benjamin Booker - "Right On You"

Photo by Ken Sears

It's not exactly fair to claim that an artist is sharing a new sound on their second album, but that's what I'm going to do with Benjamin Booker. His 2014 self-titled album was this brilliant blast of proto-punk mixed with Kurt Cobain and Delta blues. The first song we could hear from his upcoming second album, "Witness," mixed in some more soul and some hip hop elements (and featured Mavis Staples!) The second song, "Right On You," goes off in an even different direction. There are still some hints of Booker's classic sound mixed with some soul, but "Right On You" is a little more straightforward punk along the lines of X, while throwing a tiny bit of Sonic Youth noise in there. Once again, a very unexpected sound that makes perfect sense with Booker's progression as an artist.

You can listen to "Right On You" below. His new album, Witness, is due out on June 2 via ATO Records. You can pre-order the album through your chosen outlet here. For more on Benjamin Booker, check out his website.

Benjamin Booker featuring Mavis Staples - "Witness"

Photo by Ken Sears

The tease that Benjamin Booker gave us a few weeks back has come to fruition: We finally have a new song from Benjamin Booker.

"Witness" is very different from the songs on his self titled 2014 debut. At least with "Witness," the firey MC5 meets Nirvana hyped up rockabilly sound is replaced with soul. I'm sure that's more than partially due to Mavis Staples' guest starring for the chorus. Booker and Staples doing a song together is an absolute fantasy pairing for me. Booker is channeling James Brown on this song, with just the slightest hint of hip hop. Of course, that could be because early 90s rap borrowed quite heavily from James Brown and soul, but the sound just edges in for me. It's an interesting change in sound, while still keeping in step with Booker's roots.

Benjamin Booker's new album (I'm thrilled to be able to say that), which is also called Witness, is due June 2 on ATO Records. You can listen to "Witness" below. For more on Benjamin Booker, be sure to check out his website. He also does a fantastic interview with NPR about the song and album. You can find that here.

Hurray for the Riff Raff - "Hungry Ghost"

Photo by Sarrah Danziger

With the latest song off their upcoming album, The Navigator, Hurray for the Riff Raff move even further away from their folk/Americana roots. While "Rican Beach," the previous song they brought us from The Navigator, was a slightly harder, punk influenced roots song, "Hungry Ghost" is a pure pop song. Granted, it's not quite in the realm of Britney Spears or Kylie Minogue, but "Hungry Ghost" is the most mainstream thing Hurray for the Riff Raff have released to date. We're not talking about a huge about face like Lydia Loveless' Real was last year, but this is close. I'm going to reserve judgment until I listen to the song a few more times. I think we'll all need to move away from our expectations on what we want from a Hurray for the Riff Raff song before we can decide on "Hungry Ghost."

The Navigator will be released March 10 on ATO Records. You can watch the video for "Hungry Ghost" below. "Hungry Ghost" and "Rican Beach" are also available as part of the Hungry Ghost Tour EP which you can download for free via Noisetrade. The EP also features five of Hurray for the Riff Raff's older tracks. For more on Hurray for the Riff Raff, check out their website.

Chicano Batman - "Friendship (Is a Small Boat in a Storm)"

Photo by Josue Rivas

With a name like Chicano Batman, it would be easy to dismiss them as a novelty act. I'll admit that their name is the main reason I gave this song a shot. Plus, they all wear matching vintage suits and shirts, which can scream "gimmick." But "Friendship (Is a Small Boat in a Storm)" is this groove based chilled out soul song heavy on keys. There is a heavy Latin influence, which is surprisingly rare in soul music. Most soul tends to vary between slow ballads and fast tempo dance songs, while "Friendship (Is a Small Boat in a Storm)" sits right in the mid-tempo range. It's too slow to really dance to, but fast enough that you'll need to move. This song is just pure groove. Not many bands can pull off opening for Jack White, Alabama Shakes, and Gogol Bordello, but Chicano Batman have.

You can watch the video for "Friendship (Is a Small Boat in a Storm)" below. The new album from Chicano Batman, Freedom is Free, is due out March 3 on ATO Records. You can pre-order a copy on Chicano Batman's website.

Hurray for the Riff Raff - "Rican Beach"

Photo by Sarrah Danziger

Hurray for the Riff Raff has established themselves (herself?) as one of the top artists for a modern take on laid back traditional folk. Based on their new song, the upcoming album might be shattering that expectation. "Rican Beach" is a huge departure. The next album, The Navigator, is kind of a concept album that altogether tells the story of a street kid named Navita. The new song fully embraces a Latin sound and has this groove throughout with just the hint of a punk edge. It's not exactly as heavy as Downtown Boys, but in comparison to her previous work, this is as close as Alynda Segerra has come to full blown punk.

You can watch the lyric video for "Rican Beach" below. The new Hurray for the Riff Raff album, The Navigator, will be out March 10 on ATO Records. You can pre-order a copy at PledgeMusic. For more information on Hurray for the Riff Raff, check out their website.