If It's Too Loud...

Boston's Derek Smith has released a song that doesn't quite fit in any genre. "Everyday" is a laid back song that is mostly indie rock, but it has a little too much folk in it to quite be truly indie. But the song isn't folk enough to be folk either. There's some twang to it, but not quite enough to be country. I'm even detecting hints of hippie leaning singer/songwriter in "Everyday." The song is distinctively lo-fi without being a bedroom style track. It's kind of like if G. Love got more into early Sebadoh than the blues. It's a chilled out and interesting hodgepodge of sounds that is well worth checking out. Derek Smith says of his upcoming album: "This record is very 'glass half empty'. I have that specific outlook on life. But I am not always a pessimistic person. I get into my mood and then I write. I don't think I know how to write a song in a good mood. But I asked myself how I could tell a story with songs witho...

The latest single from Boston's Mill Pond Falls is nostalgic for a very specific retro 90's sound. Back in the early to mid 90's, I hated country. This was back in the days when "Achy Breaky Heart" in all of its terrible glory just couldn't be avoided, so I hated anything that even remotely like country. Or so I thought. As much as I loved bands like Buffalo Tom, The Lemonheads, and Matthew Sweet, my teenage and college self just couldn't pick up on the heavy country influence those bands had. Now I listen to a lot of those songs and all I can hear is country. That's what "Gone," and its B-Side "Everyday" to a lesser extent, reminds me of. It's that glorious time back when all these alternative bands were playing their 120 Minutes  buzz clips for kids that would never have admitted liking country even though their idols were just oozing Americana. Mills Pond Falls play this blend of catchy, post-grunge alternative that has j...