If It's Too Loud...

Greater Boston's favorite uke-wielding busker Travels With Brindle is back with a new Kickstarter, this time for an EP tribute to Sparks and their breakthrough(?) album No. 1 in Heaven . The crowdfunding effort for the album, No. 1 in Heaven Starring Travels With Brindle , is a $5,000 effort appropriately titled “The Travels With Brindle Crowdfunding Effort for No. 1 in Heaven Starring Travels With Brindle ,” and brings with it a Robert Benchley attitude with a Sparksian twist. Says Chelsea: “The Travels With Brindle Crowdfunding Effort for No. 1 in Heaven Starring Travels With Brindle ” is a tribute record of sorts for [Sparks], a band often compared to sounds of furniture being thrown downstairs, dishes and spoons being clattered together, and sometimes even actual physical violence. Such activities are offensive to me, either in print or in the sung word, so you will not catch me or my ukulele putting on acts like that. This is instead a labor both of love and art. You ca...

Somehow Peter Prescott of Mission of Burma and Volcano Suns has another band that I never knew about. Minibeast already released an album that I completely missed back in 2012, and they are currently at work on the follow up, Free Will. Based on a track from the upcoming album, "High Sea," Minibeast shares some common sonic ground with Mission of Burma, but with an added emphasis on the groovy side of things. It's basically the noise and dissonance of Burma but heard through a 60s surf groove, as if Frankie and Annette were punks. You can listen to "High Sea" below. Minibeast currently have a Kickstarter to help fund the final production of Free Will. You can get more information on that here . It should be out sometime in June.

Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys are set to release their third proper album in late winter/early spring, and have just released a video for a track, "Where's Your Ghost." "Where's Your Ghost" isn't one of the Army of Toys' most bombastic songs, and is pretty quiet, at least at the beginning. It very slowly builds into a slightly more raucous song, but still, by Army of Toys' standards, pretty mellow. "Where's Your Ghost" seems more about atmosphere, and the result is this creepy, desperate sounding track that might end up haunting you as an earworm. You can download "Where's Your Ghost" right now from Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys' Bandcamp . For their third album, Come Black Magic , the band has started a Kickstarter to help with funding and promotion. You can find the usual things, such as digital and physical copies of the album and your choice of a cover song, but since it's ...

Gorman Bechard, director of such critically acclaimed rock documentaries as " Color Me Obsessed, a Film About the Replacements," has found his newest subject: Lydia Loveless. I'm personally thrilled to find more about one of my favorite 2014 musical discoveries, and I'm also excited by such an esteemed director focusing his attention on such fantastic newer artist. Titled "Who Is Lydia Loveless,"  the film seeks to answer just that, delving into her early upbringing, life on the road, being married to a bandmate, dealing with sexism in the music industry, and if she's rock 'n' roll, country, or punk. The project is currently in the Kickstarter phase, so they're looking for our help. There are the more standard rewards (an advance copy of the film, signed vinyl, handwritten lyrics) and the more unique (a chance to be right up front for the filming of the live performances to be used in the film, interviewing Lydia Loveless and Gorman Bechard...

Yes, you actually read that correctly. The Juliana Hatfield Three, who only released one album ( Become What You Are ) all the way back in 1993 are reuniting to record a brand new album. I never thought I'd see the day when Juliana Hatfield, Dean Fisher, and Todd Phillips recorded together under the old name, but here it is. They just started a Facebook page yesterday, and now have a PledgeMusic campaign to fund the new album. There are the typical levels ($10 for an Access Pass and digital download, $25 for Access Pass and signed CD) but they have some really cool extras, such as vintage Juliana Hatfield Three t-shirts (2 left as of this writing!), 1993 glossy publicity photo, alternate album cover art for Become What You Are , a tourbook from their 1993 tour with Grant Lee Buffalo (only 1!!!!), a Skype guitar tutorial, and more! You know you want to... Go here for The Juliana Hatfield Three's PledgeMusic page. It also looks like they'll be touring in March, so keep...

There's already been an excellent documentary about Daniel Johnston (2005's The Devil and Daniel Johnston ), and now we're getting a short film starring Daniel Jonhston. Directed by Gabriel Sunday, Hi, How Are You will be "...  a musical tale of an aging artist encountering psychedelic dreams, nightmares, and characters from his past." What's getting the most attention on the interwebs have been the celebrity backers. Frat rapper Mac Miller coughed up $10,000 for an executive producer credit. Lana Del Rey (she of insane internet overhype followed by insane internet hate over a mediocre at worst SNL appearance) also donated huge. Johnston has always had huge supporters in the world of music, and it's actually great to see a younger generation embrace him so strongly. For more information on the film, head on over to the Kickstarter page .

Ten years ago, Boston rapper/producer/ex-WFNX dj D-Tension had a conversation with Aaron Perrino of The Sheila Divine and Dear Leader , and came up with the idea for Secret Project. Secret Project  is an album produced by D-Tension featuring vocals from many Boston area indie rockers. The idea is about to become a reality, with the video for the first single, "Can You Stand It," being released. With vocals by Ad Frank, it's a synth and keytar heavy song with a cool, fun groove. It definitely makes me want to hear more, especially since the rest of the album includes tracks featuring Aaron Perrino, Alex Stern of Big D & the Kids Table , Kevin Stevenson of The Shods , Stephie Coplan , and more. There's also a Kickstarter to help finish the album which also contributes to the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Definitely check it out!

Photo by  Shervin Lainez Brooklyn based neo-shoegaze band Field Mouse is using Kickstarter to fund their debut album. As of this writing, there are only a few days left and they have just beat out their goal, but it's still worth helping to fund it. As with most decent crowdsourced campaigns, it's more of a preorder than a donation. $10 will get you a digital download of the album, $25 will get you a cd, digital download, and copies of the demos. It even goes up to some more premium packages, like a $1000 dinner date package which gets you dinner with the band (they pay) before a show and a ton of available merch. If you plan on picking up this album (as anyone who likes their shoegaze with a groove to it will), please consider donating this week. You can find Field Mouse's Kickstarter here , and check out their website here .

I never would have thought of the possibility of a Mojo Nixon documentary, but now that one is on its way, I can't think of anything else. The politically charged and always hilarious hillbilly punk cult icon, who sang such classics as "Tie My Pecker to My Leg" and "Debbie Gibson is Pregnant With My Two Headed Love Child" will be the subject of The Mojo Manifesto  in 2014. Freedom Records & Films released a two-minute teaser for the film. Right now there is a website for the film with the promise of a Kickstarter to come shortly. To keep updated on the progress of this project, "like" them on Facebook  and follow them on Twitter . Make sure to check out the preview at the official website for The Mojo Manifesto , and for more info on Mojo, check out his website .

Two Kickstarters for musical endeavors that may be of interest: A staple of early-1990s college radio as well as a staple of my mixtapes/CDs/Spotify playlists to this day, Toad the Wet Sprocket have been doing reunion tours for the last couple years, and have finally recorded a new album. They're running a Kickstarter to help push it out the door. I've heard at least one of the new songs live, and it felt like classic Toad to me, so the fact that we're getting new music from them over 15 years after they were done seemingly for good is getting Junior High Jeff ridiculously excited. I've already backed it, hopefully the new album measures up. Sofia Talvik is a Swedish singer-songwriter who specializes in folk and Americana-style music. Back in 2008 or so, when Amie Street was a thing, I tripped up on her release of her newest album at the time, Jonestown , and I instantly fell in love with the whole thing. I quickly sought out her back catalog, and I'...