If It's Too Loud...

Durham, NC's Personality Cult started off as the solo project of Ben Carr back in 2018 but have morphed into a full band. Their latest single, "Careful," is a completely unhinged version of noise punk and garage rock. It starts off like a shot and just barrels straight at the listener, almost daring you to not flinch. As noisy and as fast paced as "Careful" is, it's also surprisingly catchy. It's kind of like if you took the pop friendly garage rock of The Hives and played them a bunch of Lightning Bolt. The song is reined in by Personality Cult... just barely. It sounds like they could have lost control of it at any time, but somehow kept it mostly contained. Ben Carr says of his band's upcoming album: “I really fell in love with working in the studio on this record. The freedom of time in a space where we had unlimited flexibility to work has changed the way I do things and what's important to me while recording” You can listen to "Careful...

Just when I think I can't possibly like Scrunchies (the Minnesota band made up of members of Baby Guts, Kitten Forever, and Bruise Violet), they go and release a song like "Parallel." I'll let vocalist/guitarist Laura Larson explain how the song came together: "We wanted 'Parallel' to be like 'Squirrel Song' by Shellac, and have these jarring, uneven measures to the verses. I was also very interested in having Danielle do this Kim Gordon-esque deadpan call-and-response vocal delivery in the bridge, almost as a juxtaposition to the song's loose theme of both self-imposed and external hope + idealism vs turbulence + obstruction of being a woman making art during late stage capitalism." Besides being inspired by Shellac and Kim Gordon, I'm getting some major early Sleater-Kinney vibes from this one. It doesn't quite have the aggression of some of their other recent singles, but when a song is going to be this straight up great no one...

Photo by Nanne Sorvold Scrunchies (the Minneapolis supergroup of sorts featuring Laura Larson of Baby Guts and Danielle Cusack of Kitten Forever and Bruise Violet) have just released a new single off their upcoming album. While "No Home Planet" reminded me of bands like Green River and Tad, "Absolute Maximum" sounds more like Nirvana (particularly "Stay Away") if they had spent more time in Olympia than Seattle. This is a huge rock song that combines the best of both grunge and riot grrrl. Every so often a song comes around that you wonder if it's been made especially for you. "Absolute Maximum" is one of those for me. You can watch the video for "Absolute Maximum" below. Feral Coast is due out April 1 on Dirtap Records and State Champion Records (for cassette). You can pre-order a copy here . For more on Scrunchies, check out the band's Bandcamp and Instagram .

At one point it seemed like we were bringing you new music from Minneapolis every other day, but it's been a while since a Minneapolis band came to our attention. Maybe they were just saving up to bring us Scrunchies. Scrunchies are a Twin Citied supergroup that was founded by Laura Larson of Kitten Forever (one of my personal favorites!) and Danielle Cusack of Bruise Violet. The two met from appreciation of each other's bands and through playing together in a Buzzcocks cover band called Buzzcunts, which also featured Clara Sayler of Babes in Toyland. In 2019 bassist Matt Catore of Condominiums joined to flesh out their current line up. The band's new single, "No Home Planet," perfectly nails a punk sweet spot for me. It's fast and loud and brash, but also has this unmistakable catchiness to it. It's rare to find punk this heavy that's still fun, but Scrunchies pull it off expertly. There's also the fuzz of early Seattle grunge. (I've oddly bee...

Madison, WI's The Hussy first formed as a duo in 2008 with Bobby (NOBUNNY, Cave Curse) and Heather Hussy (Proud Parents). No idea if they're actually related or if this is like The Ramones, The Queers, or Screeching Weasel. In 2015 they added a third member, Tyler Fassnacht (Fire Heads, Proud Parents). Their press release calls them "trash punk," but judging by their latest single "Sorry," I hear a lot more fuzzed out power pop and just plain ol' rock 'n' roll than anything trashy or punk. When a band does fuzzed out power pop this perfectly, that isn't a bad thing at all. "Sorry" also includes a few flute solos, so prepare yourself for those. You can listen to "Sorry" below. Looming , the new album from The Hussy, will be out September 27 on Dirtnap Records. You can pre-order the album here . For more on The Hussy, check them out on Facebook and Bandcamp . Current tour dates are below the song. 09/13 - Minneapoli...

Photo via Facebook Milwaukee, WI isn't exactly known as a beacon for feminist punk, but sometimes, that's exactly the point. Fox Face have their debut album coming out next month, and right now we can hear a song from that album. "Clever Girl" is everything you want in a riot grrrl style punk song. It's loud and perfectly obnoxious, but with just enough of a hint of melody to be oddly catchy. It reminds me mostly of older Sleater-Kinney but with a smidge of L7's thrash. It's a throwback sound, of sorts, but somehow it doesn't sound like 90's nostalgia. Maybe it's the political climate of this country, but Fox Fire is what we need right now. You can listen to "Clever Girl" below. Fox Fire's debut album, Spoil + Destroy , will be out November 3 on Dirtnap Records. For more on Fox Fire, check them out on Facebook . Oct 14 - Mickeys Tavern, Madison " Turkeyfest " w/ Fire Heads,  Blaha ,  The  Smells Oct 31 -  W...