If It's Too Loud...

Last fall Brooklyn's Rosa Bordallo (formerly known as Manett) released the fantastic Reef Walker. As was the case with many artists, she released a new single on 4/20. "33" is a collaboration with Duane Lauginiger, the producer of Reef Walker  and a member of Birds, another one of our favorite Brooklyn musical artists. "33" is mesmerizing. Bordallo's vocals and Lauginiger's guitars take equal turns in the spotlight and are both required to tell the tale of the song. Her vocals draw you deeper and deeper into the song, while his guitar is what hypnotizes you. It's a mixture of folk singer/songwriter and psychedelia you don't see nearly enough.  You can listen to "33" below. The song is available now via Rosa Bordallo's Bandcamp. For more on Rosa Bordallo, check out her Facebook . 33 by Rosa Bordallo & Duane Lauginiger

Photo by Devon Bristol Shaw Arriving just a little too late for Halloween is the latest song from Brooklyn's BIRDS, "Most Ghost." "Most Ghost" continues the band's knack for deftly merging classic psychedelia and 90's indie rock. It's starts off with guitar feedback that turns into perfect slacker guitar riffs. The song builds so slowly that you might not even notice. Somehow the guitar solo at the bridge (which feels similar to the Pixies' "Velouria") ends up being the most quiet part of the song. It all closes up with some Mission of Burma style looping, while still being a chill, psychedelic and intense indie rock song and the same time. You can listen to "Most Ghost" over at What Youth . The song is being released as a split 7" with Stuyedeyed on Greenway Records. You can get your copy here . The two bands are also going on a tour together. Dates for that are below (although I don't believe there is a Boston...

And here's the rest! Artist : The Sweetback Sisters Album : King of Killing Time Quick Description : Why You Should Listen : Overall Thoughts : The Sweetback Sisters are probably going to be compared to The Secret Sisters a lot, even though their genres are not mixed in quite the same way. At the core, the idea is similar with an act giving great tribute to a sound of the past, and The Sweetback Sisters dutifully deliver. I have no issues with this album at all except that it feels somewhat light as opposed to truly having a lot of gravity. And there’s nothing wrong with light on a whole, which is probably why I enjoyed this the way I did. I’ll keep coming back to it, for sure. Recommendation : A fun listen this week. Artist : Lukas Nelson and the Promise of the Real Album : Lukas Nelson and the Promise of the Real Quick Description : Pure, unadulterated country rock. Why You Should Listen : You like Jason Isbell and the like. Overall Thoughts : Lukas Nelson was ...

Those of us that love indie rock far above 60's hippie stuff might get scared of a lot of the press surrounding Everything All At Once , the latest album from Brooklyn's BIRDS. Sure, the album has a lot of psychedelic elements, but based on reviews you'd think they were a jam band. Instead, BIRDS are psychedelic the way Built to Spill are psychedelic. To further the Built to Spill comparison, they're a splendid mix of earlier, poppier Built to Spill and later, 10+ minute epic song Built to Spill. The album opener, "See it All," might be the best example with it's swirling guitars, almost military style drumming, and slacker vocals. "Scatter" pulls a bit away from the Built to Spill comparisons and feels like a melding of The Strokes and Superdrag. "Get Away" might be my favorite track, and is what the early 00's garage rock boom would have sounded like if any of the bands came from southern California. You can listen to "Ge...