If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Steph Rinzler Welcome to My Blue Sky  was a highlight of the first half of this year, and Momma recently announced a deluxe edition of the album. One of the new songs on this re-release is "Cross Your Heart," which could have been one of the best songs on the initial release. It's a dreamy alt-rock track reminiscent of a lot of our favorite mid-90's artists. It's like a modern alt-pop influenced version of Veruca Salt or that dog, with a ton of guitar fuzz and vocal harmonies. As with most songs from Momma, "Cross Your Heart" is completely mesmerizing, and has such a sunny feel that's perfect for our never ending New England summer. The band says of their latest single: ​“This was one of the first songs we started working on in the writing process for  Welcome to My Blue Sky.  We actually were messing around with this one during soundchecks while we were still touring  Household Name . We always knew it had potential but we could never fully...

Artist : Momma Album : Welcome to My Blue Sky Quick Thoughts : Momma is one of the more polished indie acts out there right now, with Welcome to My Blue Sky offering the sort of breakthrough feel that a lot of bands try and strive for. I've been addicted to "Ohio All the Time" for a while now, and it's great to hear that the rest of the album features similarly sharp songwriting and production. Don't miss out on this one. Songs of Note : "I Want You (Fever)," "Stay All Summer," "Last Kiss," "Bottle Blonde," "Ohio All the Time" Artist : Sister Ray Album : Believer Quick Thoughts : I've enjoyed Sister Ray for a while, and the sort of darkish singer-songwriter stuff always grabs me. Believer , their second album, definitely feels like a refining of the sound that grabbed me early on, and songs like "Wings" and "Chance" are highly likely to grab you, as well. Give it a listen. Songs ...

Photo by Avery Norman With their latest single, Momma have shifted their alt-rock meets modern pop sound into more of the pop side. "Bottle Blonde" is almost a pure pop sound, or at least what they call alt-pop these days. The beats sound almost like they belong in more of a trip hop song bordering on mainstream pop. As with any song from Momma, this one is defined by the vocal harmonies of lead vocalists Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten. Without the harder edge of their typical alt-rock sound, the pair get to show off their vocal talents more readily on "Bottle Blonde." This one is even perfect for those of us that typically cringe away from any music that even hints at a pop sound. Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten say of their band's latest single: “We wrote this song as a letter to our past selves, when we were 23 and 24, stumbling through an extremely grueling tour that ended up taking a huge toll on our hearts and minds.  We both had bleached hair a...

Photo by Jaxon Whittington We adored Momma's 2022 album Household Name. The whole release had an amazing updated 90's alt-rock sound that hits multiple sweet spots of ours. Now the Brooklyn band is back with "I Want You (Fever)." If you liked their last album as much as we did, you're also going to love this new song. There's still that same 90's throwback sound in this new single, but Momma are adding in some extra dream pop elements. It's much faster than your typical dream pop song, and there are some more electronic elements added in. Last time we heard from Momma was 2023's standalone single "Bang Bang" which I compared to Veruca Salt meets Sneaker Pimps. If I'm going to play the comparison game with "I Want You (Fever)," I'm going to go with Belly meets Sneaker Pimps. Momma says about their latest single: “‘I Want You (Fever)’ is a song we wrote about wanting to be with someone who has a girlfriend, or someone who ...

Photo by Ashley Zhang If you loved the retro 90's sound of Momma's 2022 album Household Name  as much as we did, you're going to be thrilled to hear they already have a new single. "Bang Bang" is a sonic and lyrical departure for the band. It's still very 90's influenced, but there's more of an electronic element to the song than we've heard from the band previously. There's kind of a more mainstream trip hop meets alt-rock thing going on here, giving "Bang Bang" a Sneaker Pimps meets Veruca Salt sound. It's also just a pure sex song with zero entendres involved, so get your Liz Phair comparisons ready. It's great to hear a newer band freshen up their sound so boldly, and you're going to love this one. Allegra Weingarten says of her band's new song: “ We wanted to write something lyrically different than anything else we’d done – just super literal and crude .  We shared it with Aron and he sent us back a new version w...

Photo by Sophie Hur I first got my ticket to see Momma way back in April. Since then, September has been absolutely packed with killer shows. I'm not sure if it's just bands returning to Boston along with the college kids or a leftover tradition from hitting New England when they played New York for CMJ, but that's just the way it always is in Boston in September. I was questioning my choice since a lot of these shows were bands I already had an longer established fandom for. After seeing Momma play live, I definitely don't regret my decision. Earlier this week I saw Vanyaland compare Momma to Juliana Hatfield and The Smashing Pumpkins, and that might be the most fitting possible comparison. On the first night of their headlining tour, Momma displayed a stardom much bigger than they are currently. You just knew you were watching a band destined for great things. Songs like "Rockstar" and "Speeding 72" are already classics, especially with their fans....

Artist : Laura Veirs Album : Found Light Quick Thoughts : It's been a little while since the last album from Laura Veirs, and this latest effort provides more of the great indie songwriting Laura Veirs is so good at. This album retains some of the jagged edges we've come to expect while retaining the unique melodic structures that I fell for way back in the Carbon Glacier era. If you're a fan, you don't want to miss this. If you are new, this is as good a place as any to start out. Songs of Note : "Time Will Show You," "Winter Windows" Artist : The Deslondes Album : Ways & Means Quick Thoughts : Yes, we love The Deslondes here, and yes, this album is a great demonstration of why. This is great roots record with solid songwriting and it is both a serious effort and doesn't take itself too too seriously. The delivery of the whole package sets this apart, and I just found more and more to love during its runtime. Don't ignore thi...