If It's Too Loud...

Artist : Lea Thomas Album : Cosmos Forever Quick Thoughts : The only flaw that exists in this album, in my opinion, is that it's too short. I don't know Lea Thomas's music at all, but this is the sort of slowcore folk stuff that scratches an extremely particular itch for me. While I highlight two great songs here, the whole seven track album is just stellar from beginning to end, and is quickly becoming a recent favorite. A mandatory listen this week. Songs of Note : "We Must Be In Love," "Bauhinia" Artist : Circus Trees Album : This makes me sad, and I miss you Quick Thoughts : Circus Trees is a sibling band from Massachusetts and this latest record is a massive step forward in their activity as a band. This feels raw and honest without going overboard, and the production hits well above its weight - "Alone" and "Negative Feedback" in particular kill it. So many songs on this absolutely blew my mind, and I can't w...

Doing Anything this Weekend? is a feature here at If It's Too Loud... where we feature some live shows in and on the far outskirts of the Boston area. Our main rules are that they have to be reasonably priced shows that you can attend last minute. They'll feature If It's Too Loud... approved bands, and we'll provide event links when possible. And since we're in outdoor music season, these events are weather permitting. If you're looking for last minute plans this weekend, we recommend: Friday August 23 Somergloom featuring Big Brave, Final Gasp, Spiritual Poison, Lesser Glow, Circus Trees, and Luci Dead Limb at Arts at the Armory, Somerville, MA Cold Expectations, The Gypsy Moths, and Girl with a Hawk at The Burren, Somerville, MA Gollylagging, Paper Lady, and Alexander at The Rockwell, Somerville, MA Muddy Ruckus, Julie Rhodes & The Electric Co., and Yonks at Alchemy, Providence, RI Oh the Humanity!, Eric and the Nothing, Scotty Saints and the True Believer...

Massachusetts' based sibling band Circus Trees have shared one last single with us before their album comes out, and it shows a little bit of a change of sound. "Trap Door" is a little more reserved than we're used to hearing from the band, but it still packs an emotional punch. The track starts off as a little more of a straightforward alt-rock song with some edges of punk. For Circus Trees, this one is almost a ballad, but it's a little too loud for that. It fits into the harder edged shoegaze sound that we've been all about lately, although it's more of a rock based dream pop song more than shoegaze. "Trap Door" stays restrained a little longer than you'll expect it to, but once the crescendo hits and Circus Trees let it all loose, it's like a freight train of sonic force careening out of your speakers. You can watch the video for "Trap Door" below. For more on Circus Trees, check out the band on  Instagram and Twitter .

Doing Anything this Weekend? is a feature here at If It's Too Loud... where we feature some live shows in and on the far outskirts of the Boston area. Our main rules are that they have to be reasonably priced shows that you can attend last minute. They'll feature If It's Too Loud... approved bands, and we'll provide event links when possible. And since we're in outdoor music season, these events are weather permitting. If you're looking for last minute plans this weekend, we recommend: Friday June 7 Tysk Tysk Task, Dog 8 Dog, and The Shirt and Shoes at The Overlook at Mill No. 5, Lowell, MA Swansea Sound, Jeanines, and Zowy at O'Brien's, Allston, MA Hand of the Tribe, Catching Hell, Circus Trees, and Cosmic Triumph at Thirsty First, Lowell, MA Saturday June 8 Forever Lager Fest featuring Pronoun, Valleyheart, Grace Givertz, Oldsoul, Cape Crush, Rusty Mullet, and Lee Zangari at Notch Brewing, Brighton, MA A Rock-n-Roll Benefit for Mark Erdody (Afternoon ...

Doing Anything this Weekend? is a feature here at If It's Too Loud... where we feature some live shows in and on the far outskirts of the Boston area. Our main rules are that they have to be reasonably priced shows that you can attend last minute. They'll feature If It's Too Loud... approved bands, and we'll provide event links when possible. And since we're in outdoor music season, these events are weather permitting. If you're looking for last minute plans this weekend, we recommend: Friday May 24 Jake Blount, Nic Gareiss, and Sammy Wetstein Trio at Epsilon Spires, Brattleboro, VT Scissorfight, Viqueen, and Condition at The Press Room, Portsmouth, NH Glacier, Circus Trees, and Lesotho at Koto Asian Fusion, Salem, MA Stephanie McKay and Cliff Notez at Uncommon Stage, Boston Common, Boston, MA Saturday May 25 Carissa Johnson, The Fatal Flaw, and The Callouts at Askew, Providence, RI Minibeast, Fugue State, and Shirese at Gallery X, New Bedford, MA Sunday May 26 ...

Doing Anything this Weekend? is a feature here at If It's Too Loud... where we feature some live shows in and on the far outskirts of the Boston area. Our main rules are that they have to be reasonably priced shows that you can attend last minute. They'll feature If It's Too Loud... approved bands, and we'll provide event links when possible. If you're looking for last minute plans this weekend, we recommend: Friday April 26 The Town and the City Festival, Lowell, MA      Tysk Tysk Task, One Fall, Subpunch, and Burp. at The Old Court     Frank Morey, Sofia Talvik, and Evan Goodrow at Gallery Z     Cuidado, Linnea's Garden, Muck and the Mires, and The Only Things at                   Smokehouse Tavern     Orbit and D-Tension & The Secrets at Warp & Weft Kid Gulliver and The Smallest Town Ensemble at Exhibit 'A' Brewing Company, Framingham, MA Screaming Dead, Gretchen Shae & The...

Doing Anything this Weekend? is a feature here at If It's Too Loud... where we feature some live shows in and on the far outskirts of the Boston area. Our main rules are that they have to be reasonably priced shows that you can attend last minute. They'll feature If It's Too Loud... approved bands, and we'll provide event links when possible. If you're looking for last minute plans this weekend, we recommend: March 29 Kate Clover and Brad Marino at The Middle East, Cambridge, MA CLAMB, Talk Chalk, and Honey Cassette at Faces Brewing, Malden, MA Bella's Bartok at The Word Barn, Exeter, NH Will Dailey, Aubrey Haddard, and Bethany Killian at Askew, Providence, RI March 30 Circus Trees, Pray for Sound, Sleep Jumper, and Vallory Falls at Taffeta, Lowell, MA Ex-Hyena, The Shallows, and CMB at Deep Cuts, Medford, MA Sexcoffee, Heather Rose In Clover, and Planet Bog at Askew, Providence, RI Lincoln Durham, The Devil's Twins, and Sophia Carreras at The Rockwell, Some...

Massachusetts based Circus Trees are "Three sisters, sad music." Their latest single, "Negative Feedback," doesn't have the same bombastic qualities of their previous release ("Save Yourself"), but it's every bit as effective. "Negative Feedback" is more introspective, especially at the start. Singer Finola McCarthy is projecting every emotion in the song in her vocals, and while this one might not get as loud as we're used to from Circus Trees, when there are bursts of noise it's somehow more effecting. Sometimes songwriting can get lost in the midst of loud/quiet/loud songs, but that's not the case with "Negative Feedback." You can watch the video for "Negative Feedback" below. Circus Trees have an album due in early 2024 on Five By Two Records. For more on the band, check them out on Instagram and Facebook .

Photo via Facebook We all have those bands that we can't figure out how they're not the biggest band around. Circus Trees are one of those for us. The Massachusetts based band of sisters just released a new single, "Save Yourself." It's a slow building song that starts off more like an indie rock/indie folk song along the lines of Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. And it would be a great song if it stayed in that style. But the song builds almost painfully slowly until it erupts into something that's almost shoegaze and almost a Sonic Youth style indie rocker, but it's far too melodic to be either of those. It's a beautiful and gigantic song with one of the most powerful crescendos in recent memory. Like I said, I have no idea how Circus Trees aren't one of the biggest bands in the Boston scene. In an Instagram post, Finola McCarthy says of the new song: "This is a song of self-loathing, exploring issues of love and trust with the people most cl...

Lately more and more clubs seem to be opening in the distant suburbs of Boston. The latest is The Overlook at Mill No. 5 in Lowell. Mill No. 5 is a refurbished mill building with condos, an arthouse theater, restaurants, shops, and now a brand new music venue. I always want to check out new venues as soon as possible, so luckily for me they brought in Tysk Tysk Task for a show right away. Subpunch opened the show, and this was my first experience with the Lowell band. The trio play a version of punk/emo that is more geared towards early, artier emo. Their music is more 90's alt rock than early 00's emo/pop punk. I got a very distinct Jawbreaker meets Dinosaur Jr with a little The Promise Ring sprinkled in sound from them. There is also a poetic element to their songs than you typically get. Songs like "Mouth Full" and "Witness Tree" are top shelf emo. Subpunch are a band we're going to be keeping an eye on. I discovered Circus Trees over the summer at Ni...

In its second year, Nice, a Fest took over The Rockwell and Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theater for three night (four if you count the "after party" on Sunday). I wasn't able to go for all three (or four), so I made it for just Saturday. And seeing how I couldn't pull off twelve hours of live music at my advanced age, I made it a late afternoon/early evening start time. So apologies to all the bands I didn't see! Here are my five favorites from Saturday at Nice, a Fest, in no particular order. Circus Trees This one came out of nowhere for me. Circus Trees are a band out of Marlborough, MA made up of three sisters. Saturday night they had a replacement drummer, and they announced that they would be playing sad music before they started, which, they did. But Circus Trees are hardly a mopey band. Sure, their songs do have mopey parts, but it's more like if shoegaze was really, really heavy as well as beautiful. Their quiet parts were shockingly lovely, but whe...