If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Michelle Mei "Dial Tone," the latest single from Los Angeles via Singapore artist Linying, is the perfect style of pop song for those that bristle from pop. The song is a delightfully chill track that combines Adult Contemporary with alt-R&B. Pop music tends to skew to a younger crowd, but "Dial Tone" feels like it's a grown up song while still sounding cool. The song combines ethereal vocals with chilled out beats in a way I don't think anyone can resist. Modern music seems to be doing away with the rigid genre restrictions that have dominated music for decades, and "Dial Tone" is a perfect example of how great music can be without them. Linying says of her latest single and video: “Lenne and I are both from Singapore — we’d moved to LA at different times and hadn’t really kept in touch, but I have always admired her work greatly. I remember a personal photo series she did many years ago titled 'A337'  that depicted a traditio...

Photo by Connor Turque Burlington, VT's Robber Robber are going to blow you away with this one. The band describes their new single as "steamed punk," and I'm not totally sure what that means, but "Dial Tone" is a killer song. It starts off as this jerky post-punk style song, with an underlying menace just waiting to explode. And "Dial Tone" definitely explodes. It has a Sonic Youth and Nirvana style eruption, and is the best example of loud/quiet/loud we've heard this year. If feedback squalls are your idea of beauty, Robber Robber have you covered on this one. Despite everything I've just written, at no point does "Dial Tone" sound like a 90's throwback. Instead, this is an updated version of that sound. Singer/guitarist Nina Cates says of the band's latest single: “It’s kind of a voyeuristic perspective of everyone scrambling around to see each other and connect but also never feeling quite like you’re keeping pace with...