If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Sarah Linton Dale Crover, the drummer for The Melvins and Redd Kross, has released a cover of Neil Young's "Harvest Moon" and The Melvins' "The Bit." It may seem like an unusual choice, but Crover did play a young Neil Young in the video for "Harvest Moon," and co-wrote "The Bit" with Buzz Osborne. The "Harvest Moon" part of the track is shockingly faithful for someone from The Melvins. It's a note for note cover of the acoustic 1992 classic, lacking even the tiniest shred of his other bands' noise or volume. As the track transitions into "The Bit," the noise increases while still being a stripped down and acoustic track. It reminds me of King Buzzo's acoustic tours where he would include Melvins classics. This is a fun pairing of songs from a noise rock icon. Dale Crover says of his new single: "Years ago I played Young Neil Young in the video for Harvest Moon. It was quite a surreal experien...

Photo by Landon Nordeman Oneida are set to release their seventeenth (??!??!) album, and the second single is available to check out. "La Plage" is a bonkers burst of alt-rock energy. It's a jumble of shouting and "bastardized French." The guitars are just barreling towards you, and the whole ordeal is just barely in control. (If it's in control at all...) But, despite how discordant "La Plage" is, it also just straight up rocks. Music isn't usually both weird and a killer rock song, but Oneida break that mold. Somehow after seventeen albums, the New York band can still mesmerize their audience. Bobby Matador says of his band's new single: “That’s a tune that we just kind of embraced the chaos on. It has a specific form, but are we going to follow the form? Maybe some of us.” You can watch the video for "La Plage" below. Expensive Air is due out July 19 on Joyful Noise Recordings, and is available for pre-order here . For more on ...

Photo by Tim Bugbee To commemorate Indigenous Peoples' Day yesterday, Medicine Singers released a brand new single. The collective started by Eastern Medicine Singers and guitarist Yonatan Gat enlisted Lee Ranaldo on "Honor Song." The new song is dedicated to loved ones who have passed, particularly vocalist Arthur Red Medicine Crippen's wife Kathleen and frequent Medicine Singers collaborator jamie branch, who died two weeks before the song was recorded. "Honor Song" is an unbelievably powerful track, combining traditional Eastern Algonquin powwow music with jazz, psychedelic punk, and electronic music. Combining such a traditional form of music with newer more experimental ones could have gone very wrong, but Medicine Singers have created one of the most vital songs of the year with "Honor Song." Even if traditional powwow music doesn't sound like your typical thing, I implore you to take five minutes out of your day to listen to the entire s...

Photo by Nick Johnson For the second single off Marnie Stern's first album in years, Stern decided to get a little strange. Despite being a guitar heavy song, "Believing Is Seeing" isn't anything like what you'd expect from a guitar rocker. There's some interesting hip hop and pop elements, and there are some throwbacks to the blanket term of "alternative" that we used in the 90's for anything that wasn't pure pop. "Believing Is Seeing" may not be an easy track to categorize, but there is plenty of Stern's famous (and fantastic!) finger tapping guitar style for die hard fans to enjoy. Marnie Stern says of her new single: “‘Believing Is Seeing’ is about trying to build a world of music through different sounds, and how you can create your own cohesive universe through these sounds.” You can watch the video for "Believing Is Seeing" below. The Comeback Kid is due out November 3 on Joyful Noise Recordings, and is availabl...

Photo by Nick Johnson It's been a long time since Marnie Stern released a new album. As in ten years long of a time. During that timeframe, she's been the guitarist in The 8G Band for The Late Show with Seth Meyers  and has raised two kids. Now, the guitar legend is back with new music! "Plain Speak" shows off Stern's fingertap method of guitar playing, and is just the kind of oddball indie rock meets guitar hero song we want to hear from Marnie Stern. "Plain Speak" is a joyfully intense song perfect for those who have been wanting to hear new music from their hero for a decade, or for those just discovering the magic of Marnie Stern for the first time. Marnie Stern says of her new single: "‘Plain Speak’ keeps a positive attitude in the face of frustration. Keeping that hope alive is really the most difficult thing for me to do in life, so I try to do it as much as possible in my music. This song is a perfect example of that. Some of the lyrics are ...

Photo by Adam Harding It's virtually impossible to describe the music of Eerie Wanda without using the term "haunting." The Dutch/Croatian artist also known as Marina Tadic has released a new single, "Sister Take My Hand." The new song focuses on her vocals, which sound looped and recorded with effects. The song loops around itself with Tadic harmonizing with recordings of her vocals. Although definitely haunting, the song is more dreamlike and hazy than disturbing. If a song can be warmly haunting, "Sister Take My Hand" is that song. Marina Tadic says of the new single: "This is a song I wrote for my sister.  It's the first song I ever wrote using just my voice and was the last missing puzzle piece to the album." You can watch the video for "Sister Take My Hand" below. Internal Radio is due out September 23 on Joyful Noise Recordings. The album can be pre-ordered here . For more on Eerie Wanda, check out the artist's Facebo...

Photo by Oscar O'Shea There are a lot of Stooges covers out there. Most bands tend to focus on "I Wanna Be Your Dog," "Search and Destroy," "TV Eye," etc. This may be the first cover of "Ann" that I've ever heard. "Ann" is from The Stooges' 1969 self titled debut, and it kind of has that filler feel to it. It's a slow, plodding song that shows off Iggy Pop's Jim Morrison influence and then ends in a psychedelic freak out. In other words, it's perfect for Tropical Fuck Storm to cover. TSM deliver a surprisingly straightforward cover. It may be a little prettier and start off almost pop, but the psychedelic freak out has been replaced by this noise rock tantrum that feels destructive. This one is a ton of fun. You can watch the video for Tropical Fuck Storm's cover of "Ann" below. Moonburn , the new maxi-single cassette, will be out August 26 on Joyful Noise Recordings. Moonburn can be pre-ordered her...

Photo by Anna Tadic If you're an artist who goes by Eerie Wanda, you'd have to work pretty hard to make me not like you. Luckily, the musical project from Dutch/Croatian artist Marina Tadic would be beloved even without the great name. Her latest single, "Sail to the Silver Sun," is hard to nail down. It's a relatively minimalist song that contains elements of alt-pop, folk, indie rock, New Age, jazz, and probably some more that aren't jumping out at me. If this was the 90's, we could just slap the "alternative" label on is and just be done. It's probably best to just call "Sail to the Silver Sun" haunting. Tadic's vocals drone on in an almost upbeat manner, while the music is decidedly downbeat and also droning. It's a compelling song that helps push Eerie Wanda back to the forefront of our thoughts. You can watch the video for "Sail to the Silver Sun" below. Internal Radio is due out September 23 on Joyful Noise ...

Photo via Facebook Anything related to The Melvins is going to be fairly weird, and when it's a side project from the band's drummer... well, you expect it to be a little extra weird. Dale Crover's latest single is going to be a lot less weird than you'd expect. We're not talking about Foo Fighters or U2 levels of mainstream here, but "I Can't Help You There" is about as mainstream as Crover is going to get. It's a relatively straight up rock song through a Melvins smeared lens. You can watch the video for "I Can't Help You There" below. Rat-a-Tat-Tat! , the upcoming solo album from Dale Crover, will be out January 15 on Joyful Noise Recordings. You can pre-order a copy here . For more on Dale Crover, check out the artist on Facebook .

Photo via Facebook Dale Crover is the drummer for The Melvins, but is venturing out with an upcoming solo album. The first single for that album, "Tougher," is going to strongly appeal to fans of his other band. "Tougher" has the volume, sludgy guitars, and the discordance that his fans want, nay need. However, Crover isn't just mimicking the sound we expect from him. This new song has this odd 70's funk rock thing to it, almost like it's a bizarro song from Ram Jam or Rick Derringer, with some of the most killer bursts of noise rushing in out of seemingly nowhere. You can listen to "Tougher" below. Rat-A-Tat-Tat! , the upcoming album from Dale Crover, will be out January 15 on Joyful Noise Recordings. You can pre-order a copy of the album here . For more on Dale Crover, check out his website .

Photo by Chris Strong As we begin preparing ourselves for the final Joan of Arc album in December, we have a new single to contend with. "Something Kind" was written and is sung by Melina Ausikaitis, and starts off as a fairly mellow indie rock song with an intensely quietly simmering beneath. As Ausikaitis explains: “I've never been a fan of the Manfred Mann's Earth Band song ‘Blinded by the Light,’ even after I found out that the lyrics weren't revved up like a douche' like I thought. Same goes for Eric Burdon & War's ‘Spill the Wine.  I started writing ‘Something Kind’ in a light hearted jokey mood. But as I wrote I began getting angrier and angrier. I felt that the women in those songs were incidental. And that, at times in my life, I had been made to feel that way. ”  The way Ausikaitis explains the writing process is exactly how the song feels to listen to. It starts off relatively lighthearted, but then erupts into these bursts that seem to get ...