If It's Too Loud...

Some shows are simply can't miss ones. When I first saw that Cape Crush were celebrating their excellent new album, Place Memory , at Deep Cuts with ONE FALL, Good June, and Hell Beach, I knew that would be a contender for bill of the year. All four bands are fantastic, and while all four play some version of pop punk/emo/melodic punk, they all do it differently enough to keep the night interesting. As high as my expectations for Friday night were, they were all blown away. Good June was the band I was least familiar with, and the only one I hasn't previously seen live. The emo rock band took the stage first, and set the bar for the evening high. This is emo with an alt-rock edge, and every song was catchier and more fun than the last. Every band seemed to have their own diehard fans right up front and singing all the words, and Good June were no exception. I simply can't emphasize enough how catchy every song in Good June's set was, and I've had multiple taking tur...

Last Friday, SkyTigers released their excellent new album Injustice for All. Wednesday night saw their album release show at Deep Cuts. Playing with them were two other bands I never would have expected to see play together, but it ended up working perfectly: Boston hardcore legends Tree and New Hampshire's favorite pop punks Hell Beach. Opening the show was Hell Beach. This was my first time seeing their new line up, without Megan Simon (Megan from Work) on keytar and vocalist Jordan Hill focusing solely on vocals. This new line up was every bit as killer as the previous one, and has an ever harder edge without keys. That being said, the songs are as catchy as ever, with fans right at the front of the stage shouting out to every word. As expected, Hell Beach were the most fun band on Wednesday night, and the extra edge to the songs ended up being unexpectedly welcome. They closed out the show with my personal favorite "Poison Mind," and I challenge anyone to find a punk ...

Friday saw the release of No Straight Line in the Universe , the first new album from The Grownup Noise since 2020's Lonely Days. It's a fantastic album, full of nostalgia filled songs that feel smart and clever. To celebrate the release, the band played a true all ages show at Deep Cuts with Happy Little Clouds and comedian Josh Gondelman. (How all ages was it? During Josh Gondelman's set, the entire front row was made up of elementary school children, causing him to adjust his set for language and subject matter.)  Focusing on the just released album, The Grownup Noise played a delightful set showcasing everything that makes the Boston band great. New songs like "We Become Roses" and "See You in the Hall" were captivating and upbeat. This is the rare band that can make energetic music that is this quiet. Twee is definitely the proper description, and The Grownup Noise take that sound and make a captivating set. Even though they don't play shows ver...

I was truly bummed out I had to miss last year's Snowgaze Fest, with it's wonderfully diverse line-up of shoegaze and shoegaze adjacent bands playing Deep Cuts in Medford. This year saw an equally diverse line-up, and I couldn't resist Friday night which featured Exit 18, Little Oso, Tysk Tysk Task, and Literally/Nobody! Literally/Nobody opened up the night, and I was excited to see them for the first time. We first discovered them back in May, and were won over by their "shoegaze, dream pop and post-hardcore" sound. That sound worked out even better live, and I was blown away by their noisy and poppy sound. I had described their EP as Jawbreaker meets Slowdive, and I'm doubling down on that one for their live show. The songs were fuzzy and a little discordant, while being some of the catchiest ones of the night. Next up was Tysk Tysk Task. While the Lowell band has more of an indie grunge sound, they're also awash with fuzzed out shoegaze guitars, particu...

Last year on November 15, I was at Deep Cuts in Medford for the fifth anniversary of Hallelujah the Hills' album I'm You. What should have been a celebratory occasion was somewhat somber as everyone in the audience was still trying to figure out if we should be having fun at that point in history. This year on November 15, I was at Deep Cuts in Medford for Hallelujah the Hills' twentieth anniversary, and this year we were able to celebrate properly.  It's a crazy feeling to me that one of my "new" bands has been around for twenty years, but I haven't been around for all of Hallelujah the Hills' two decades. I got into them around 2014's Have You Ever Done Something Evil? Because of that, I wasn't all that familiar with much of their set, which strongly focused on their earlier songs. Some songs, such as 2012's "Nightengale Lightning," I don't believe I've ever seen performed live. This was definitely a night for long term ...

Sometimes it takes a show to realize you missed a great album release. Tuesday, I went to see Living Hour and Paper Lady, and realized both bands recently put out great albums that I completely missed. Plus, I got to discover the brand new band Wedding Gift! Wedding Gift opened the show, and if I heard Paper Lady correctly, it was only their third ever show. The brand new Boston band made their live debut three months ago, and they are showing incredible promise. They have a great sound that is equally as melodic as it is noisy and jarring. They played fuzzed out music with pounding drums, and it kinda sorta was dream pop, but a messier and louder version. Looking forward to hearing what they do next! Living Hour (who we last covered way back in 2018) was up next, all the way from Winnipeg. They released Internal Drone Infinity , an excellent album that we missed back in October. They combine shoegaze with dream pop into a glorious, swirling noise, with tons of lovely crescendos, and k...

One thing I love about seeing newer bands multiple times is watching their sound evolve. The first time I saw Lovina Falls live was their 2024 appearance at the Rock and Roll Rumble, where they showcased a more baroque pop sound. I've seen them a few times since then, and each time they've adopted a more rock based or dream pop sound. Friday night they played Deep Cuts for a release party for the excellent "Light and Low" single. I had to head out to Medford to see where their evolution is currently taking them. Opening the show was Roser, a band I know from some local compilations but I don't believe I've formally covered before. They're a Lowell based band that plays a sound that combines the bounciness of pop punk with the haze of dream pop. At some points they were more one genre than the other, and others their sound was a combination of both. It was a set that was fun but with just a hint of darkness to the music to keep things interesting. Lowell ba...

When I first saw Model/Actriz in late 2023, I was completely unaware of them and was completely blown away by their live show. Their energy and performance was unmatched, and they instantly went on my "must see" list. Monday night they played Deep Cuts, which is my current favorite venue. Obviously, I needed to attend. Even knowing what to expect from a Model/Actriz live show, I was still dumbfounded by just how great they were. Monday night was a non-stop thrill ride of killer song after killer song one right after the other. Songs ranged from rave style bangers that inspired manic dancing in the crowd to industrial ragers that got the pit going hard... although to be fair both were happening for most songs. Vocalist Cole Haden might be the greatest frontperson in music today, and worked the crowd into an absolute frenzy. It's nearly impossible to keep your eyes off of him, and his energy was only matched by the audience. The packed house reacted wildly to every single s...

I've been meaning to see Foxtails live since I heard them in a Music League round a little over two years ago. Even though they play the Boston area fairly frequently, it has just never quite worked out. Luckily, everything aligned Saturday night, and I finally got to check them out. Also, Tysk Tysk Task was opening the show, and I'll obviously head out any time I can see them. The first band on stage was Tysk Tysk Task, a longtime favorite here at If It's Too Loud... It also happened to be drummer Matt Graber's last show with the band, so I'm glad to have gotten the chance to make this one. The band has firmly settled into their indie grunge meets shoegaze sound and it continues to evolve even with more familiar songs. A song like "Colors" has truly found new life with this style and is still slightly changed each time I've seen them, going on roughly three years now. Longtime closer "Flies" was replaced by the new song "Toadstool,...

FACS are one of the most solid bands around these days. Their version of stripped down post-punk mixed with a little psychedelia translates perfectly to a live show. I saw them maybe six years or so ago at ONCE in Somerville, and I've been dying to see them again. It hadn't worked out, but luckily when they came back to the Boston area on Friday, I finally had the chance to see them again. FACS took the stage Friday night and proceeded to melt the entire audience's faces off for their entire set. Their sound is experimental and not at all mainstream, but oddly accessible. Focusing on the just released (and excellent) Wish Defense , the trio have mastered the art of letting the music speak for them. Little to no stage banter, FACS focused on their music. "When You Say," the set's opening track, set the mood for their set perfectly. Another personal highlight was their new album title track, "Wish Defense," which was epic live. The music was dark and m...

January is a dead zone for live music in Boston. Everyone is still recovering/broke from Christmas and New Year's, the college kids aren't back in town, and it's cold and miserable. The only good thing about the month is that local bands have a time to shine, and Saturday night there were at least four shows I was debating going to. The one that won out featured two bands I have seen before but knew I wanted to see again: Kooked Out and The Ghouls. Opening the night was a band I was completely unfamiliar with: River Sang Wild. The Boston based trio play a style of blues-based alt-rock that seemed pretty standard at first, but got better and better as their set went on. It seemed like the rest of the crowd agreed with me, as each break between songs was greeted with a stronger applause each time. They're a solid live band that has somehow escaped my attention despite having a strong social media following. My only complaint of their set is that just as I went from "...

I loved Hallelujah the Hills' 2019 album I'm You. It was my #6 album of the year, and looking back, I listen to it a lot more frequently than the albums that I ranked higher. Friday was the fifth anniversary of the release of that album, and to celebrate, they decided to play the album from start to finish at Deep Cuts. Obviously, I could not miss this one. sidebody opened the show, and I was excited to see them. Their album full time job  was released earlier this year, and it's great. One of the obvious comparisons for their art rock style is Talking Heads. Seeing as the four members of sidebody took the stage wearing oversized grey suit jackets, it's a hard comparison not to make. Like Talking Heads, sidebody make New Wave inspired art rock that is fun and makes you want to dance. All four members take turns with vocals and swapped instruments liberally. Songs like "he's dead" and "quantumly entangled" were a complete blast live, and while the...

I have been absolutely loving Tormentas Malsanas  since it was released back in June. The latest from Las Nubes is a strong contender to make my Top 10 albums of 2024. When I saw they were playing Deep Cuts (which is quickly becoming a favorite place to see a show) with Ladrones, I knew I needed to be there. Ladrones are a band I'm somewhat familiar with, but their live show comes highly recommended. I wasn't as familiar with Davila 666 or Gossip Collar, but I'm always up for seeing new bands. Gossip Collar opened the show. The Boston band have flown under my radar, but we're now going to be fully on #TeamGossipCollar. Musically, they're a unique mix of darkwave, post-punk, and late 70's/early 80's punk. I personally thought of Mission of Burma, The Cramps, and Joy Division during their set. And it was an amazing set. The band played with an unmatched intensity, and brought a light show with them not typically seen from a Boston band. The swirling and manic ...

Some triple bills are just impossible to resist. When Miracle Blood announced they would be holding their album release show at Deep Cuts, I knew I had to make it. Mostly because Miracle Blood are a fantastic band and great live, but Sapling and BEDTIMEMAGIC were also playing the show. I try to see Sapling every chance I get, and I've been meaning to see BEDTIMEMAGIC for a while. BEDTIMEMAGIC opened the show wearing matching pug singlets. I don't believe I knew they were a duo, but they made some of the biggest racket I've ever seen two people make. Both members (Nicholas on bass and Morgan on drums) shared vocal duties. Their sound was like a mixture of art/noise rock and hardcore. It was loud, it was impossible to ignore, and it was great. The floor of Deep Cuts rumbled during their entire set. BEDTIMEMAGIC aren't going to be accessible for everyone, but for those of us who enjoy this sort of thing, we're going to become enamored. I've seen Sapling live a dece...

I normally don't like when there's a four band bill with all four bands being the same genre. Friday night at Deep Cuts was a shoegaze bill to the point that the majority of the crowd were wearing shirts for Ride, My Bloody Valentine, etc. However, all four bands played such varied styles of shoegaze that at no point did the evening feel repetitive. First up was Bella Steele. The Boston band play a heavier, more sludgy version of shoegaze. Some might consider it more sludge metal than shoegaze, but I'm going to still call them shoegaze. I was completely unfamiliar with Bella Steele before they took the stage, and I became a fan almost instantly. They were impossible to ignore and commanded attention. Luckily, they were great and quickly converted the crowd that was mostly there for a lighter, poppier version of the genre. It was one of those times that a local opener had an entire crowd talking about them for pretty much an entire break between bands.  Bodywash played next,...

Sometimes things just work out. When the dream double bill of Hallelujah the Hills and Colleen Green was announced for Deep Cuts, I already had plans to go to another show that evening. I was disappointed, but having to shows I want to go to in one night is nothing new. However, when I got to the venue for my original show, I realized that it had been cancelled last minute. I took that as a sign, and headed north to Deep Cuts! Leading up to Saturday night's show, Hallelujah the Hills has been boasting that it was going to be the best setlist they had ever put together. Not exactly humble, but after seeing the show, they might just have been right. It was a perfect mixture of songs off their upcoming fifty-two song DECK project and old favorites, strung together in a way to just build and build off each other. If there was a lull at any points during the set, they were planned to give everyone just a tiny break in between highlights. At one point they played "Superglued to You...

Sometimes shows are announced that you know you can't miss. The venue is one of your new favorites. Two bands are playing that you've wanted to see for a while but haven't gotten around to it yet. One of your local favorites is playing. And the fourth is a band that you've never heard of before but is oddly buzzy. Everything came together Friday night for Consumer, Tysk Tysk Task, Vivid Bloom, and Little Fuss at Deep Cuts in Medford. Little Fuss opened the show, and are one of the bands I've been meaning to see for a while. I wasn't well versed in their music, but last year they seemed to be everywhere, so I wanted to check them out. They play a 90's inspired version of indie pop. Their songs have all the fuzz of the 90's with a more modern sense of pop music. (It's the kind of sound that we never would have admitted was pop back then because we were all too snobby.) Little Fuss is just a fun live show and brought in some absolute die hard fans that ...

I'm not one of those people that absolutely has to do something on New Year's Eve, but I at least like to do something around New Year's Eve so I can pretend I'm still fun. This year I was presented with Rebuilder's ten year anniversary show, which also doubled as my last show of 2023. Seeing as they were celebrating their tenth anniversary as a band, Rebuilder decided to do the "Eras" thing and play songs from each of their releases in little segments by album/EP. They started off with a song from Dead Ellington (a band some of Rebuilder was in before Rebuilder) called "North Station" they used to play live to fill out a full setlist. From there it was just a greatest hits set from Rebuilder from "Everything That I Hate" and "Heroes to a Sun" off their first EP, through "Le Grande Fromage" from Rock & Roll in America to "Get Up" from Sounds of the Massachusetts Turnpike. They even played "Antarcti...

Photo by Ken Sears Once I checked out Will Butler + Sister Squares' self-titled album last month, I knew I wanted to see them live. Luckily for me, their tour hit up the Boston area at Deep Cuts in Medford, a newer venue I've been meaning to check out. Sometimes things just align perfectly. Will Butler + Sister Squares occupy an interesting little niche of music. It's hipster indie rock that demands that you dance. It has this impossibly cool vibe that is going to appeal to an audience that wants to stand and stroke their chin while contemplating the music, as well as someone that wants to dance at a show. As soon as the band opened with "Arrow of Time," you knew both types of fans would be happy. Not many artists can pull off that style of music, and somehow no reaction in the audience seemed out of place. You had people barely bopping their heads next to people having a full on dance party, and neither looked out of place. Will Butler is a captivating indie fron...