If It's Too Loud...

Photo via Facebook "When You're Gone" might be the ideal song Cranberries for Savoir Faire to cover. The Boston singer-songwriter has always added a strong nostalgic sound to her music, and "When You're Gone" could be the most nostalgia drenched song in their catalog. While the original has a 60's meets 90's alt-rock sound, Savoir Faire reaches even further back. Her version has a 50's or possibly earlier sound. It's an indie rock song, sure, but it's more jazz and soul sounding than the original. Not many artists can take a 90's song and somehow change it up to make you nostalgic for an even earlier time, but that's the magic of Savoir Faire. On a Facebook post, Savoir Faire says of her latest cover: "This song started as a nostalgia cover, but ended up as so much more. By the time it was finished, I was in such a very different place as a person than when I started. "I dedicate this song to all of the beautiful people ...

There seems to be a bunch of Cranberries covers coming out these days, and the latest is from Blondshell. Sabrina Teitelbaum didn't choose to go with one of their megahits, but instead went with "Disappointment" off of 1994's No Need to Argue. It's the kind of song that I didn't know from the title alone, but once I started listening to Blondshell's cover, I recognized it immediately. However, the cover reworks the song into more of an indie rock goes pop power ballad than the original. Teitelbaum keeps the main structure of the song intact but goes off in her own direction while still staying true to the original. It's also somehow both more pop and edgier than The Cranberries' version. I'm always a fan of lesser known covers, and Blondshell does this one perfectly. Blondshell says of the cover: “I wanted to sing a song off of No Need To Argue , which is one of my favourite albums ever. Dolores’ voice carries so much emotion throughout the ent...

Trophy Wife (formerly of Allston, now based in Brooklyn) have released a cover of The Cranberries' immortal song "Linger." The cover stays remarkably close to the original. It's a much more stripped down version with singer McKenzie Iazetta, an acoustic guitar, and Christian providing some backing vocals. The cover has a certain intensity to it that The Cranberries' didn't. Dolores O'Riordan always had a plaintive, melancholy sound to her voice on "Linger," while Iazetta sounds more forlorn and desperate. This is a great version of a great song. You can listen to Trophy Wife's version of "Linger" below. The song is available as a download via Bandcamp . For more on Trophy Wife, check out the artist's website . Linger by Trophy Wife

Another fairly busy release week. Artist : SOAK Album : Grim Town Quick Description : New album from a talented singer-songwriter. Why You Should Listen : SOAK's debut was a highlight in 2015. Overall Thoughts : SOAK had one of those sneaky great debuts a number of years ago, and then I hadn’t heard anything for ages. Suddenly? New album, and it is somehow an improvement over an already great sound. Enhanvced production values, somewhat more complicated songs, this ends up being a high-quality listen and a favorite of the week. SOAK bubbled under for much of 2015-2016, and maybe this will be the one to propel her to proper heights. Recommendation : A must-listen this week. Artist : Starflyer 59 Album : Young in My Head Quick Description : Solid alt-rock from a longstanding act. Why You Should Listen : Starflyer 59 has enough longevity to make it worth a listen. Overall Thoughts : For all intents and purposes, I shouldn’t dig this as much as I dig this. Yes, Starf...

Forgotten Fridays is an occasional feature here at If It’s Too Loud... where we go back and find the lost records of our glory days. We played these on our college radio shows, put them on countless mix tapes, and then forgot they existed. Once a week we go back and remind you, and help decide if they were any good. Back in the album sales glory days of the 1990's, a record company would throw together some kid of compilation (soundtrack, tribute album, sampler, etc.) without any real regard to basing it on a genre of music. In fact, having as many genres as possible represented seems to have been preferred since the only way to get a copy of the band you loved doing this song was to buy the album. (For any youths reading, this was before illegal downloading, YouTube, purchasing a single mp3 for $.99.)  This thought process runs rampant in If I Were a Carpenter, a fairly random tribute album to The Carpenters released in 1994.   The best known song on here is Sonic Youth...