If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Chris O'Keeffe One great thing about the Boston music scene is how often musicians we already know and love team up with other musicians we know and love. The latest such project is OK Bella, which features Angela Lee of Radio Compass and Steve R. Lord who has spent time in Dirty Bangs, Aaron and the Lord, Bodega Girls, and many more. Based on their new single, "After Hours," Ok Bella doesn't sound like anything we would expect from these two. It's much more of a dark, yet poppy electronic track than garage or indie rock. "After Hours" is like a DIY version of New Wave that is filled with some unexpected rock guitar. If I need to make a comparison, I'd say it's a blend of The Human League, early Sonic Youth, and Tanya Donelly's solo work. Right now we only have one song, but it's enough to make us looking forward to hearing more. You can listen to "After Hours" below. For more on OK Bella, check out the artist on Instag...

I'll use just about any excuse I can find to go hang out in Salem, MA, especially in the Fall. Looks like I'll be clearing my calendar to head up there in mid-September for Moon Over Salem. Formerly Hope Fest, Moon Over Salem is going to be taking over six venues (Bit-Bar, Gulu Gulu, CHAGALL PAC, Cinema Salem, Koto, and Ames Hall) from 1:00 pm to 11:00 pm for a full day of music. How great is the line up? It features Actor Observer, Oldsoul, One Fall, Radio Compass, Astral Bitch, dropbear, Molly O'Leary, The Freqs, and many, many more, including a few to be announced later this month, which includes a national headliner. Plus, it's September 14, which is just late enough to truly be Fall without Salem becoming too crazy (although it will still be pretty crazy, even in September!) September has quietly become the best month for music festivals of the year in New England, but you're going to want to drop everything for this one. Moon Over Salem takes over downtown Sal...

Photo by Joey Phoenix Hailing from Salem, MA, Radio Compass just released a brand new single, "California." "California" has one of the more interesting sounds we've heard recently. There's some mid-90's power pop, some modern garage rock, a little bit of 80's New Wave, and some straight up pop in the song. Plus, there's a post-punk beat to the song, helping to give it a completely unique feel. None of these sounds dominate "California" at all. It's a sugary, breezy track that feels much more like summer than October. (But if they're a Salem band they're probably dreaming of summer at this point in the month.)  Angela Lee (lead vocals/guitar) says of the new single: "California is a song about trusting your path, being open to endless possibilities, burning bright and owning your shine (and periodic chaos) and refusing to allow others to dull it" You can watch the lyric video for "California" below. The s...

Boston's Radio Compass have a new single that sounds like Boston in the mid-90's, which is pretty much my musical sweet spot. "Stay High" is this wonderful slice of fuzzy power pop. It's almost impossibly upbeat and just filled with killer harmonies with a punk edge. Plus, the guitars just have that crunch you rarely hear this many years later. It's the kind of song that's going to just cram itself into your skull for many, many days, so be prepared for that. This is just a ridiculously fun song that is far more than just a press on my personal nostalgia button, and I just wish I had discovered Radio Compass earlier than now. Frontwomxn Angela Lee says of the band's new album: " Aloha is genre-bending and doesn’t follow the typical rules of how to record an album, what a band looks like or means, how I typically write for that matter. Without a doubt it’s a very personal album to me (and probably very relatable to many), an imperfectly perfect mu...