If It's Too Loud...

I've long considered Chris Brokaw to be one of the most underrated musicians out there today. Besides his solo work, he's been a member of Codeine, Come, The New Year, Consonant, The Lemonheads, Thurston Moore's band, Martha's Vineyard Ferries, and more. His 2021 solo album Puritan was my #8 album of that year, so obviously I try to get out to see him play live as much as possible. As soon as he announced that he was playing shows as Chris Brokaw Rock Band with his Consonant bandmate (and member of the legendary Mission of Burma) Clint Conley on bass, I knew I could not miss that. Playing songs mostly from Puritan , Chris Brokaw Rock Band played with an incredible tightness usually not seen in bands that have only played a small handful of shows together. I could be wrong, but this could also have been Clint Conley's third or fourth time on stage since Mission of Burma ended in 2015. (Aside from the music, it was great to see much a legend playing again, and my fing...

I somehow missed Mclusky the first time around, which doesn't make any sense to me since I was very active in finding new music in the early 2000's. I only recently discovered them thanks to Jeff, and they were always one of those bands that I just had to accept the fact that I missed out on. But, somehow the band reunited in 2014. So when a show at The Sinclair in Cambridge was announced for last Friday, I jumped at the chance to go despite feeling like an imposter fan. And what a show it was. I doubt there were any casual Mclusky fans at the show on Friday night, but if there were they are now diehards. Opening with "Fuck this Band" (which is literally the perfect choice, both because it's hilarious and helped ease the crowd into the show before the explosion of "Dethink to Survive"), Mclusky instantly had the crowd enraptured by their show. Quite often reunion shows can be very obvious cash grabs, with the band having no real interest in playing the m...

Forgotten Fridays is an occasional feature here at If It’s Too Loud... where we go back and find the lost records of our glory days. We played these on our college radio shows, put them on countless mix tapes, and then forgot they existed. We go back and remind you of their existence, and help decide if they were any good. I think it's been a little over a year since I've done a Forgotten Friday, but recently I re-discovered Consonant, and I simply couldn't resist bringing them back to all of our attentions. We throw the term "supergroup" around quite liberally here, but check out the line-up for Consonant. Formed in 2001, this marked Clint Conley's return to making music since the dissolution of Mission of Burma in 1983. Also included is Chris Brokaw (Come, The Lemonheads), Winston Braman (Fuzzy), and Matt Kadane (Bedhead). That pedigree alone should get Consonant a lot more attention, not to mention that this helped inspire Mission of Burma's brilliant r...

Minibeast is the current project from Peter Prescott, formerly of Mission of Burma. The Providence based band has a new album coming out on April 1, and one of the songs they've made available to listen to is "Exclusive." If you're familiar with Prescott's work with Mission of Burma or Volcano Suns, chances are you're going to dig this song. "Exclusive" has a lot of the noise and clunky guitars of his previous bands, but there is also an jazz-like groove throughout the song. The song surprisingly stops just shy of being mainstream, but definitely stops short. While it may be rooted in classic Burma, Minibeast are a completely different project, but still ones fans will love. You can listen to "Exclusive" below. On Ice is due out April 1 and can be pre-ordered through Bandcamp . For more on Minibeast, check out the band's website . On Ice by Minibeast

Trinary System is Roger Miller's current musical project, started just as Mission of Burma was winding back down. Their latest release, "Just Like That," was originally intended to be included on the band's Amplify the Amplifiers EP, but was deemed too "straight-forward." Only a band like Trinary System could decide "Just Like That" is too straight-forward. "Just Like That" is a weird little song, but in the world of Trinary System, it's practically a top 40 song. It's a groovy kind of song that sounds almost like a post punk legend decided to make a jam band song that a college crowd could enjoy and came out with this instead. You can listen to "Just Like That" below. The song is currently available via Trinary System's Bandcamp . For more on Trinary System, check out the band's website . Just Like That by Trinary System

Trinary System, aka Roger Miller's current musical project post Mission of Burma, has released a new single. "Remember Easter Island" isn't like anything that his previous band put out, but there is still plenty here for Mission of Burma fans to like. First of all, "Remember Easter Island" is fairly funky. It's not a funk song by any means, but it grooves much more than you'd expect. Trinary System do remain fully in the alt-rock/post punk world, and this song keeps that sound. It's noisy, and without a clear chorus. Plus, I wouldn't exactly call it catchy. But "Remember Easter Island" keeps the political aspect of Miller's work alive, with lines like "If you don't believe in science, then please don't use the light switch" and "Remember Trayvon Martin." Not to mention that all proceeds of the single to go The Bail Project - Louisville and the credits include the line "Recorded separately durin...

It's been far too long since we've brought you new music from Providence's Minibeast, featuring Peter Prescott (ex Mission of Burma and Volcano Suns). If you're unfamiliar with Minibeast but know Prescott's previous bands, you'll have an idea what Minibeast sounds like. Their latest single, "Crawling On My belly Through A Tunnel Towards The Dawn" is a nearly ten minute odyssey of a track. The instrumental trudges along, seemingly without any real direction or destination in mind, propelled by whining, forlorn sounding guitars. The drums have the unenviable task of holding everything together, which they do, but barely. You can listen to "Crawling On My belly Through A Tunnel Towards The Dawn" below. The song is currently available via Minibeast's Bandcamp. For more on Minibeast, check out their website . Crawling On My belly Through A Tunnel Towards The Dawn by Minibeast

Photo via Facebook Minibeast are set to release two new albums in the near future, and have offered up a new song as a preview. For those not in the know, Minibeast is the new project from Peter Prescott of Mission of Burma. (The band's Facebook profile lists him as formerly of Mission of Burma, further cementing that Burma is no more, which I refuse to accept.) "Town Cryer" is perfect for Mission of Burma fans. It has that disjointed almost tribal beat that we've come to love, and coming in at eight minutes and forty seconds, it feels like an experimental post punk jam session. With the spoken/shouted lyrics is thunderously noisy guitars, this song might be heralding an upcoming album of the year candidate. You can listen to "Town Cryer" below. ISM Vols. 1 & 2 , the upcoming albums from Minibeast, can be pre-ordered via Kickstarter . The release seems imminent. For more on Minibeast, check them out on Facebook .

Things have been very, very quiet on the Mission of Burma front lately, but members have been involved with other projects. Trinary System is Roger Miller's current project. Obviously we have to compare their latest song, "When the Dust Settles," to Mission of Burma, so here goes! "When the Dust Settles" is decidedly more mellow than Miller's typical work with Mission of Burma. It's not a complete change in direction from Burma, but more of an extension. Instead of the punk edge we're used to, Trinary System is almost psychedelic and harmonious. It's significantly less dissonant, but most things are. I'd almost go as far as calling it groovy, but it stops just short of that. You can watch the video for "When the Dust Settles" below. LIGHTS IN THE CENTER OF YOUR HEAD , the new album from Trinary System, is due out on June 1 via Feeding Tube Records. For more on Trinary System, check out their website .

Peterborough, NH is a surprisingly fun little town in south central part of New Hampshire. One of the things that makes it cool is the annual music festival The Thing in the Spring. Every single year it's shocking how diverse and huge the artists they get are. 2019 is no exception. Running June 5-9, they're bringing such artists as indie rock/electronica artist Dirty Projectors (performing solo), shoegaze/post-rockers Bardo Pond, folk artists Suzzy Roche and Lucy Wainwright Roche, Ryley Walker, Boston legend Thalia Zedek Band, actor/comedian turned singer Noel Wells, blog favorite The Huntress & The Holder of Hands, experimental rockers Sunburned Hand of the Man, Trinary System (featuring Mission of Burma's Roger Miller), and many more. Shows happen over multiple venues, including the UU Church and a free show on the roof of the Toadstool Bookshop to close out the weekend. For more information on The Thing in the Spring, check out their website . You can get a weeke...

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.

Photo by Ken Sears After realizing I haven't seen Mission of Burma since 2004, and since I don't want to shell out the prices to see them open for Foo Fighters at Fenway Park next month, I had no other option but to road trip up to Portsmouth, NH on a Wednesday night. Luckily, there was also a brand new music venue to check out when I got there.  3S Artspace has been open for about three months. It's a combination restaurant/gallery/performance space. Seeing a show at a "performance space" is always a bit iffy, but these guys seem to have it together. The diamond shape of the space and the chairs lining the walls gave off a bit of a rec center vibe, but once the show started that was all forgotten. Great sound, great lighting, and an air conditioned room made this one of my new favorite venues. Their calendar tells me I'll be heading up to Portsmouth more often than not from now on. Photo by Ken Sears Guerilla Toss opened the show, and I wasn...

Post-punk gods Mission of Burma are gearing up for a West Coast tour later this week, and they just posted a video of them rehearsing a brand new song, "Panic is Not an Option." It's a four minute aggressive blast that sounds like it could have fit right in with Burma's early material. In other words, it's yet another great song by a fantastic band. I don't think there's another reunited band that took that much time off, then came back for a few reunion shows, stuck around to record, and just keeps releasing such quality material. For more information on Mission of Burma, including tour dates in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, and Bumbershoot, head over to their website . You can also watch the rehearsal video for "Panic is Not an Option" below, which hopefully will end up on a new album sooner than later.