If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Omari Spears I've been loving Perennial's current sound, which combines their art/noise punk with a more 1960's/mod sound. The New England band is about to combine a bunch of their recent releases into "A" is for Abstract: The Complete Art History , and have released a new single for the project. "Baby, Are You Abstract?" is a two minute burst of highly dance friendly dance punk through a 1960's lens. It's a highly fun song heavy on keys with a Nuggets  vibe. 60's retro seems to be a theme for us this week, but Perennial are doing it in such a unique way. "Baby, Are You Abstract?" is one of the most fun and joyous songs of the week, while also being noisy and loud. You can listen to "Baby, Are You Abstract?" below. "A" is for Abstract: The Complete Art History  is due out June 6 on Ernest Jenning Record Co., and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp . For more on Perennial, be sure to check out the...

In what is an absolute dream of a cover, "modernist punks" Perennial have covered The Kinks' iconic "All Day and All of the Night." The song fits perfectly into the new sound Perennial have naturally carved out for themselves. It's still a loud and rambunctious art punk song, but the original was also one back in its day. Perennial due the truly masterful cover option here where they stay completely true to the original while adding their own spin on it so it's more than a note for note cover song. This is a fun and joy filled cover, which any cover of "All Day and All of the Night" should be. This is one of those songs that I was immediately filled with glee when I saw it existed, and hearing it did not disappoint me at all. You can listen to Perennial's cover of "All Day and All of the Night" below. Perennial '65 is due out April 4, and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp . For more on the band, check them out on Ins...

Perennial have been embracing their 1960's influences more and more with every release, and their latest single pushes that sound even more. "Perennial '65" is an absolute joy to listen to. Calling their sound "mod punk," it makes perfect sense when listening to this new song. It has all of the joy and fun of 60's British invasion and garage rock classics fused with their breakneck noise punk sound. It goes between something you can do The Twist to and a burst more pogo worthy. For someone equally obsessed with Nuggets compilations and noise rock, "Perennial '65" is a dream come true. You can listen to "Perennial '65" below. Perennial '65 , the EP, is due out April 4 on Ernest Jenning Record Co., and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp . For more on Perennial, check out the artist on Instagram . Perennial '65 by Perennial

I've been a huge fan of Perennial's joyous noise punk for years now. They're one of those bands that I can't quite remember how I discovered them, but I was instantly smitten. This year saw the release of Art History , which changed up Perennial's sound a bit. It's still a raucous version of noise punk, but it's a bit more toned down and melodic. If you follow the band on social media it makes sense since they regularly post what they're listening to, which is a lot of the time oldies. And by oldies, I mean Motown and British Invasion classics. That sound is all over songs like "Up-tight" and "How the Ivy Crawls." Art History sounds like a mixture of Refused and The Kinks, which kind of feels like they geared this album towards me personally. It's nice to know there are at least a few other people out there obsessed with these sounds, and I have to thank Perennial for combining genres I didn't even realize I needed mixed toget...

Doing Anything this Weekend? is a feature here at If It's Too Loud... where we feature some live shows in and on the far outskirts of the Boston area. Our main rules are that they have to be reasonably priced shows that you can attend last minute. They'll feature If It's Too Loud... approved bands, and we'll provide event links when possible. And since we're in outdoor music season, these events are weather permitting. If you're looking for last minute plans this weekend, we recommend: Friday September 20 John Hovorka, Crow Follow, and Connor Storms & His Bouquet at The Burren, Somerville, MA Whitehall and TIFFY at Barewolf Brewing, Amesbury, MA Daughter of the Vine, Minibeast, and Ruff.Feechers at Myrtle, East Providence, RI Kimaya Diggs and Avery Joi at The Iron Horse, Northampton, MA Jolie Holland at The Word Barn, Exeter, NH Nervous Eaters, Robin Lane, and Tiger Bomb at The Middle East, Cambridge, MA Divine Sweater and Benet at The Drake, Amherst, MA Ans...

Doing Anything this Weekend? is a feature here at If It's Too Loud... where we feature some live shows in and on the far outskirts of the Boston area. Our main rules are that they have to be reasonably priced shows that you can attend last minute. They'll feature If It's Too Loud... approved bands, and we'll provide event links when possible. And since we're in outdoor music season, these events are weather permitting. If you're looking for last minute plans this weekend, we recommend: August 9 Tysk Tysk Task, Grub Lord, Hell Beach, and 2000s at The Press Room, Portsmouth, NH The Devil's Twins, The Anti Queens, and Oh the Humanity! at Deep Cuts, Medford, MA The Wolff Sisters and Ali McGuirk at The Cut, Gloucester, MA Barrence Whitfield and Sal Baglio's Giant Rock and Roll Show at The Bull Run, Shirley, MA Annabel and Perennial at Faces Brewing Co., Medford, MA Snowbeasts, Ex-Hyena, and SWRM at Myrtle, East Providence, RI The Promised End, In the Meantime...

Photo by Omari Spears Perennial continue their move to a more melodic sound with their latest single. "How the Ivy Crawls" is still everything we've always loved about the joyous noise punk of Perennial, with all of the (somewhat) unexpected 1960's influenced sound they've been playing with lately. This new song is a rambunctious blast of mod meets garage rock indie punk, and if that doesn't appeal to you I can't imagine what would. It's happily furious keyboards, guitar, and drums put together in a way that's going to make you want to either pogo or bust out your favorite dance moves you learned from a Frankie and Annette beach movie. "How the Ivy Crawls" is some of the most fun you'll have listening to music this year. You can listen to "How the Ivy Crawls" below. Art History is due out June 7 and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp . For more on Perennial, check out the band on  Instagram and Twitter . Art Histor...

I never thought I'd ever refer to a song from Perennial as groovy, but the noise punks have done that with "Up-tight." The noise punks have thrown themselves into their oldies influences fully on their new single. It's still punk and noisy, but it's filled with keys straight from your favorite 60's garage rock songs. Of course, it's still Perennial, so this hardly sounds like anything from that decade. It's more like the music from then reflected through a Perennial prism. "Up-tight" is going to inspire a dance party the next time you see Perennial play live, and you're going to need to be a part of that. You can listen to "Up-tight" below. Art History is due out June 7 on Safe Suburban Home Records, and is available for pre-order on Bandcamp . For more on Perennial, check out the band on Instagram and Twitter . Art History by Perennial

Doing Anything this Weekend? is a feature here at If It's Too Loud... where we feature some live shows in and on the far outskirts of the Boston area. Our main rules are that they have to be reasonably priced shows that you can attend last minute. They'll feature If It's Too Loud... approved bands, and we'll provide event links when possible. If you're looking for last minute plans this weekend, we recommend: April 19 Rock & Roll Rumble Semifinals featuring Other Brother Darryl, Roser, Looking Glass War, and The Ghouls at Sonia, Cambridge, MA Linnea's Garden, Church and Puppets, and Sorry Mister at Koto, Salem, MA Bodega, Boston Cream, and Big Bliss at The Rockwell, Somerville, MA The Collect Pond, Perennial, Battlemode at Lizard Lounge, Cambridge, MA Monchella featuring Tysk Tysk Task, Neck Dive, Roaches, and The P.A.'s at Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA  April 20 Hard in the 'Head II featuring The FU's, Cuidado, The Modern Faces, and Cou...

Photo by Omari Spears I've been into the artsy, noise punk sound of Perennial since stumbling on "Perennial in a Haunted House" back in 2021. They've always had this exuberant, joyful take on just-barely-in-control punk that appeals to me on a primal level. For their latest single, they're mixing it up quite a bit. "Action Painting" is still the high energy noise punk we've come to love, but this time Perennial is letting their oldies influence take over. As fast and as noisy as this new single is, it's also highly dance friendly and borderline pop at times. This is by far the most melodic we've seen Perennial without losing any of what has made us fans. "Action Painting" is kind of like if The Kinks suddenly decided to invent noise punk. You can watch the video for "Action Painting" below. Art History is due out June 7 on Earnest Jenning Record Co., and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp . For more on Perennial, ...

Doing Anything this Weekend? is a feature here at If It's Too Loud... where we feature some live shows in and on the far outskirts of the Boston area. Our main rules are that they have to be reasonably priced shows that you can attend last minute. They'll feature If It's Too Loud... approved bands, and we'll provide event links when possible. If you're looking for last minute plans this weekend, we recommend: Friday March 1 theWorst, Grub Lord, and Psych Ward Disco at The Stone Church Music Club, Newmarker, NH Padded Waltz, Linnea's Garden, and Cars Go West at JJ's Tavern, Florence, MA Tree, Inverter, Old North End, and Samara at The Shaskeen Pub, Manchester, NH Olivia Dolphin, Imposters, Salem Wolves, and Eric & The Nothing at The Parlour, Providence, RI Perennial, Trophy Wife, and Bubble Scary at The Stone Church, Brattleboro, VT Speedfossil, Modern Day Idols, Tad Overbaugh and the Late Arrivals at The Square Root, Roslindale, MA Saturday March 2 theWo...

Just how punk are Perennial? The band (somewhat) surprise dropped a new EP yesterday that clocks in at four songs in under five minutes. Lemon On Plastic  is everything we love about the band. The four songs all speed straight forward at full speed in a joyous burst of noise punk. Perennial did tweak their sound on this release, which results in these songs being quite a bit melodic than previous releases. (That is, except for the electronic noise of "Impressionism" and "Expressionism.") "Art History" and "Minimalism" have this fantastic The Kinks and The Beach Boys go noise punk sound. "Minimalism" in particular is like a noisy, bizarro world beach party gone haywire. The songs on Lemon On Plastic  alternate between the singles and the experiments while making us desperate to hear more of the direction Perennial is going in. You can listen to "Minimalism" below. Lemon On Plastic  is available now via Bandcamp . For more on Pe...

Deep Thoughts is a record store in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston that has hosted a Grateful Dead night on Fridays in their used book basement, and recently started to have more indie rock shows every so often. It's a great space, albeit one with Dead logos all over the place and the distraction of wanting to look at books everywhere. This past Thursday, they hosted three bands with little in common besides all three being trios: Perennial, Miracle Blood, and Muzzins. It ended up being a perfect mixture of styles for the night. Muzzins opened the evening with their completely unique blend of electronic music, hip hop, jazz, indie rock, punk, and whatever else they feel like throwing in that day. This is the fifth or so time I've seen Muzzins in the past year, and it's always a completely different show. The songs may be the same, but since they are mostly improvised, it's always a different interpretation. "Smoke This" (I think that's the song ti...

For their upcoming release, Perennial are revisiting some of the songs off The Symmetry of Autumn Leaves and updating them to fit their more 2023 sound. The latest we can check out is "Hippolyta!" The original is definitely a personal favorite of theirs, so I was curious to hear what an updated version would sound like. Turns out the reconfigured "Hippolyta!" sounds a lot like the original. It's still the furious noise punk we love about Perennial, just slightly softened a bit. It's a little more polished, like what you'd expect from a band six years later on in their existence. It still has the DIY punk vibe of the original, so no worries there. Perennial are in the midst of an interesting experiment of updating classics, and we can't wait to hear the full result. You can listen to the new version of "Hippolyta!" below. The Leaves of Autumn Symmetry is due out September 1, and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp . For more on Peren...

"Dissolver" isn't exactly a new song in the world of Perennial, but this version certainly is. Since releasing The Symmetry of Autumn Leaves back in 2017, the New England band's sound has morphed, and the songs on the album have come to sound different from the recorded versions. Because of that, Perennial have reworked five songs from their debut album, and the first one we can hear is "Dissolver." As much as I love the original version, this current one does sound much more like 2023 Perennial. This new version is somehow more raw and more melodic than the original did, but if you know Perennial, that checks out perfectly. I'm not typically a huge fan of bands redoing their own songs, but I'm fully on board for this one.  Guitarist Chad Jewett says of the reworked songs: “Our process was to first capture the energetic heartbeat of each of these songs, and then to immediately look for ways to make them more compelling as headphone experiences.  We r...

Photo by Omari Spears I stumbled upon Perennial in late 2021 and instantly became a die hard fan. The trio play this highly energetic and fun version of noise punk that connected with me within the first few seconds of hearing them, and that has increased more and more each time I've listened. I ended up chatting with the members briefly after their set at Firehouse back in January, which led to getting to send them a handful of questions I was dying to know the answers to. We got to ask Chad Jewett (vocals, electric guitar, etc.) about the band's style (musical and clothing), oldies influences, Halloween, and their upcoming album! So many of your songs seem to have a bit of a spooky/Halloween theme to their titles ("Perennial In a Haunted House," "In the Midnight Hour," "The Skeleton Dance"). Is this on purpose, and if so, are you big Halloween people? We all love Halloween; in particular we really enjoy the campier “pop art” version of Halloween:...

Last year I discovered a new appreciation for DIY venues. As more and more small venues close in and around Boston, these are becoming an absolutely vital space to see smaller bands. I've known about Worcester's Firehouse for a while now, but haven't had a chance to get out to see a show there. I've also been meaning to see Perennial for over a year now, but haven't had a chance despite how often they play in the area. Wednesday night everything finally aligned and I got a chance to do both. Perennial opened the show and just set the tone for the evening. Their very specific version of punk rock that is loud, and noisy, and just a fucking blast was everything I wanted it to be live and then some. This is a band that absolutely loves what they do, and that joy was contagious. Vocalists Chelsey Hahn and Chad Jewett had a seemingly impossible amount of energy as they jumped and danced around as much as their instruments would allow them to. They even threw in a cover o...

Connecticut's Perennial are making punk rock that seems to be catered to me. In the Midnight Hour is impossibly fast and heavy punk rock, but it doesn't have that badass, kick-your-teeth-in sound that the genre is known for. Instead, songs like "The Skeleton Dance" and "Perennial in a Haunted House" have this bizarre indie rock aesthetic. It's a little nerdy and noisy, but most of all fun. It's nearly unheard of for music to be this loud and aggressive and still be just a blast to listen to. This isn't angry loud punk... this is fun loud punk. Plus, Perennial just groove and have some of the catchiest "Yeah yeah"s and "Yeah yeah yeah"s you'll ever hear. A song like "Lauren Bacall in Blue" even has a jazz breakdown in the middle of the song's chaos. The song is twelve songs long with the longest being 2:33, and comes in at approximately twenty one minutes... it doesn't get more indie punk than that. Songs ...

Photo by Omari Spears I don't think there's a punk band in 2022 as exciting as Perennial. The Connecticut band just released the title track off their upcoming album. "In the Midnight Hour" is a lightning speed burst of minute and a half long punk. It's fast, and heavy, and discordant, but also mysteriously melodic. It's not quite noisy enough for noise punk, but it's definitely not standard sounding punk. It resides right in the middle of both, dancing its way towards both. If I'm going to make a comparison to other bands, "In the Midnight Hour" has the excitement and energy of a band like Lightning Bolt with the attitude and groove of Downtown Boys. It's impossible for me not to become smitten with a band like Perennial.  You can listen to "In the Midnight Hour" below. The album In the Midnight Hour is due out February 1 and can be pre-ordered via Bandcamp . For more on Perennial, check out the band's Instagram and Twitte...

Photo by Omari Spears Connecticut's Perennial have released a new song off their upcoming album, and if you're into noisy punk, you need to check this one out. "Tooth Plus Claw" is a loud, driving punk song. It has just enough structure and melody to not be considered noise punk, but just barely. It has the ferocity of a band like Lightning Bolt, but it's something you can sing (ok, scream) along to. Despite the ferocity and volume, Perennial are a fun band. This is loud in your face punk rock that actually has some song structure, as loose as it might be. You can listen to "Tooth Plus Claw" below. In the Midnight Hour is due out January 1 and can be pre-ordered via Bandcamp . For more on Perennial, check out the band's Facebook and Twitter . In The Midnight Hour by Perennial