If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Miryam Weiss and J Kimball Boston's Jesus the Dinosaur has a new single out that meshes folk, pop, and rock into their own sound. "Empty Space" is a laid back track that is probably closest to folk pop. It's endlessly engaging, with just enough flourishes to keep it from being too pop, while still working for both a more mainstream audience and the music snobs. It's reminding me of a mix of Dawes and Cuddle Magic. "Empty Space" could be considered power pop, but with the power part scaled back. What's truly telling for this new single is that it feels much shorter than its two minute length. Each time I've listened I've been surprised that it's already over. Jesus the Dinosaur have made something special with this one. Tommy Ng says of his band's latest single: “The lyrics are about spending time alone, and doing your own thing. This is something I’ve always had to do to maintain my capacity for dealing with the world, and to...

Photo by Miryam Weiss and J Kimball One of the challenges with writing about music is when you hear a song that you know is great but have no idea how to explain why it's great. That's the case with the latest from Boston folk rockers Jesus the Dinosaur. "Sweet Nothing" is a great song. The first new music from the band since 2022 and the first with their current five-piece line up, the song starts off quite good. It's a fairly simple and straightforward folk rock song, not quite committing to either genre, but maybe a little more rock. As it goes on, it becomes both more rock and more folk, adding in vocal harmonies as the song gets bigger and bigger. "Sweet Nothing" isn't redefining the genre, but it's also not a traditional folk rock song. Jesus the Dinosaur's latest is both mainstream enough for wide appeal, but creative enough to keep music snobs thrilled for its entire run. Sometimes a band just nails a song, and we don't know exact...