If It's Too Loud...

Hailing from Baltimore, Natural Velvet just released a video for their song "Guarantee." The song lands somewhere in between the art rock/No Wave sound of the late 80's and a more modern punk sound. To me, it sounds like a mixture of Geffen era Sonic Youth and the more pop inflected punk of Mannequin Pussy. The song has a certain dark sound to it offset by Corynne Ostermann's vocals, which swing between a more pop style and a punk howl. If you want punk you can dance to and miss Sonic Youth's guitar sounds, you're going to want to check out "Guarantee." And head back into last year's Cruel Optimism to tide you over until Natural Velvet release new music. You can watch the video for "Guarantee" below. Cruel Optimism is available via Bandcamp . For more on Natural Velvet, check out the band's website .

Photo by Missy Malouf Baltimore's Natural Velvet have this entire vibe that is going to be hard to resist. The band's latest single, "I Keep You Honest," has this incredible blend of pop music inspired by some of the 1980's most iconic alternative bands. The song has shades of bands like The Cure and Siouxsie & the Banshees but in a more upbeat kind of way. An absolute highlight of the song is singer Corynne Ostermann's vocals. Her voice blends in with the music in such a way that lyrics don't feel as important as the sound and inflections. Everything blends together in this exquisite and lush mixture, except for the punching drums that help keep everything more interesting. This is a beautiful and fun song you're going to have on repeat listens for the rest of the week. You can watch the video for "I Keep You Honest" below. Cruel Optimism is due out March 3. The EP can be pre-ordered through Bandcamp . For more on Natural Velvet, check o...