If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Jillian Clark Mightmare, Sarah Shook's dark pop/indie rock project, has a new single we can check out. As with previous singles, "Enemy" is a complete change of musical direction that we're used to from Sarah Shook & The Disarmers. This is a dark and brooding song that somehow still ends up being more than a little bit pop. There's an interesting 90's alt-rock goes goth and modern alt-pop vibe with "Enemy." We've been huge fans of the Disarmers and everything they've put out, and while this is completely different it's great to see an artist like Sarah Shook branch out into an entirely new sound, especially when it's this great. Sarah Shook says of their new song: “When I started working on ‘Enemy’ I was thinking about how people can be so vindictive during breakups and how pointless it is. It got me wondering if a breakup somehow triggers something deeper in us psychologically, like a fundamental fear of being forgotten ...

Artist : Blushing Album : Possessions Quick Thoughts : Dear god this is good. We love a good shoegazey effort and Blushing brings us the best one we've heard in some time. This is fresh and fuzzy in all the right ways, and has so many solid songs that it's hard to select just a handful. Overall, a highlight of the week without question, and definitely worth your time if you're into this sort of shoegaze. Songs of Note : "Sour Punch," "Surround (With Love)" Artist : Basement Revolver Album : Embody Quick Thoughts : I'm a big Basement Revolver fan and this new album continues them along the same great alt rock lines they've headed down as of late. It's difficult for me to hear a song like "Be Okay" and not wonder why this act isn't huge. On a whole, a solid listen in a busy week - while I feel like every shoegaze act decided to release in February, all of them are awesome. Songs of Note : "Be Okay," "Blackh...

Photo via Facebook As much as we've heard from Sarah Shook over the last few years, we've never heard her stripped down like this before. She's currently writing for a new album, and she's made an acoustic demo available for us to preview. "Stone Door" is a gorgeous song, which is a way I never thought I'd describe a Sarah Shook song. Her voice keeps that same sound we've always loved from her, but she's singing far more beautifully than we've heard her sing before. The country-punk is missing from this song, and instead it's a straight up country song. Just hearing Shook with a guitar is a completely new sound, and one that has us as intrigued as we are thrilled to hear a new record. You can watch the lyric video for "Stone Door" below. To keep track of what Sarah Shook is up to with her upcoming album, be sure to follow her on Facebook and Twitter .

Photo by Chris Sikich I'm quickly becoming a fan of the no opener/twenty song setlist trend. This past Monday night saw Sarah Shook & The Disarmers taking the stage at Atwood's Tavern (which is becoming their de facto Boston area home base) shortly after 9:30 pm and playing nineteen songs. Pretty perfect way to see a band these days. This was my third time seeing Sarah Shook & The Disarmers live since discovering them since May 2018, and the second time I saw them at Atwood's. It was a diehard crowd that came out on a Monday night. We've seen these songs performed live before, and we'll see them again. Sarah Shook & The Disarmers put on an amazing show with their blend of country, rock, and punk. While the songs from their last two albums definitely lean more heavily on the rock side of things, they broke out two new songs ("Night Rumour" and "Black Angels") that came across much more rock than I would have expected. "Black...

Last year Sarah Shook & The Disarmers's Sidelong  was my #2 album of the year. This year, their album Years  is my #3 album. It says a lot for one artist to land in my top 3 two years in a row, but such is my love of Sarah Shook & The Disarmers. Years  is a tiny bit more polished than it's predecessor, but ever so slightly. No one out there is doing country punk better than this group nowadays. It's such a raw sound that hearkens back to classic country without being a throwback at all. Normally when a band cleans up their sound and gets a little less raw I'll be that guy and whine and complain. Sure, I missed the rawness of Sidelong on my first listen of Years . But that didn't last long at all. Shook is an amazing songwriter, and with Years that is what shines through. Sarah Shook & The Disarmers are one of the rare bands I root for being as huge as they can be. True country fans will love this, but unfortunately most country fans want to hear songs ...

I love Halloween, but even I think I may have gone a bit too far on this year's If It's Too Loud... Halloween playlist. Starting on November 1, 2017, I started a playlist and tossed just about any song I thought would be good for a Halloween playlist on it. What we end up with is a forty five song, nearly three hour playlist. Just about every style of music we cover is included on this. You get indie rock legends (Luna, Buffalo Tom, Lee Ranaldo), heavier artists (The Jesus Lizard, Clutch, Faith No More), Americana/roots (Sarah Shook & The Disarmers, Lucero, Murder By Death), current indie rockers (Caroline Rose, Melkbelly, A Place to Bury Strangers), some hip hop (Mr. Lif, Cypress Hill), and a whole lot more. It's perfect for this weekend's Halloween parties (which is why we aren't waiting until Monday) and to listen to while you hand out candy on Wednesday. Enjoy!

We're obviously huge fans of Sarah Shook & The Disarmers here at If It's Too Loud..., and I've been gushing about Gorman Bechard's Lydia Loveless documentary for the past two years. Once I saw that his new documentary about Sarah Shook & The Disarmers was having its world premiere at the Boston Independent Film Festival, I knew I had to clear out my plans to check it out.  It's going to be pretty easy to draw comparisons to Who is Lydia Loveless? and What it Takes: film en douze tableaux  as it is to compare Lydia Loveless and Sarah Shook & The Disarmers, so let's get that out of the way now. Both are directed by Gorman Bechard. Both are about bands fronted by a female with mostly older male band members. Both play a version of alt country heavily infused with rock and punk. Both are on Bloodshot Records. The main difference between these films is structure and subject matter. Who is Lydia Loveless? had three acts: The first focused on Lydia hers...

Photo via Facebook It feels like I've been obsessed with Sarah Shook & The Disarmers for years now, even though it's been just over a year. I unfortunately was unable to make their one Northeast trip for Sidelong , so when I saw that they were playing at the end of April, I knew I had to make it, despite it being another Month of Too Many Shows. Luckily, they are completely worth staying up far too late on a Sunday night. Sarah Shook & The Disarmers play the kind of country punk that translates much better live than on record, and, considering how much I've loved Sidelong  and the just released Years , that is saying quite a bit for their live show. It's nearly impossible to pick a few highlights for the songs they played live. "The Bottle Never Lets Me Down," "Fuck Up," "The Nail," etc were all just as equally great as the last song they played. Despite not being much of a touring band before signing to Bloodshot Records, Sar...

23 new releases plus Wrestling Christmas equals a quick hit version this week. Album of the Week : * Jodee Lewis - Buzzard's Bluff : This is some high-quality roots music from someone who has been under the radar far too long. Maybe her best effort yet. Top Listens : * No Thank You - All It Takes to Ruin It All : Don’t let the super independent-looking cover fool you, this is a solid surprise of an album with some great songwriting and many sneaky moments. * Winter - Ethereality : A solid, sometimes dreamy, always fuzzy alt-rock effort. One of the best of the week. * Eels - The Deconstruction : Eels have been up and down as of late, but this is easily Everett’s best and most accessible effort since Souljacker . * Hop Along - Bark Your Head Off, Dog : Hop Along does their indie rock thing really well, and this is surprisingly infectious. You will be singing some of these songs later. * Sarah Shook and the Disarmers - Years : We love Sarah Shook here, and this album to...

Photo by John Gessner We're less than two weeks from the release of the new album from Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, and we can check out a new single, "New Ways to Fail." "New Ways to Fail" is everything we want in a Sarah Shook & the Disarmers song. It's just about as country as can be, in that old fashioned outlaw country way. It's a little bit less punk sounding than some of her songs on Sidelong  but only in the musical way. With a chorus that starts with  "Cause I need this shit like I need another hole in my head," she's got the attitude of punk, and isn't punk really more of an attitude? You can listen to "New Ways to Fail" below. Years , the new album from Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, will be out April 6 on Bloodshot Records. You can pre-order your copy here . For more information on the band, check out their website . Tour dates are below the song. 4/6 Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle w/ Spider B...

Sarah Shook & the Disarmers's Sidelong was my #2 album of 2017. Since they just released an album last year, I assumed we'd have longer to wait for a follow up. Turns out Sidelong  was released in 2015 and last year was a reissue (Whoops!), so we have a follow up coming out soon. Right now we can hear the first song from the new album, "Good As Gold." If you liked Sidelong , you're going to like "Good As Gold." It's more of the rock n roll country punk that we loved from the previous album. "Good As Gold" is decidedly more mellow than most of our favorites from Sidelong , and it's definitely more melodic. It's showing a definite growth in songwriting, and has us even more curious than we were before. Plus, it's a great way to ease your more mainstream friends into Sarah Shook & the Disarmers. You can watch the lyric video for "Good As Gold" below. Sarah Shook & the Disarmers's new album, Years , w...

Sarah Shook & The Disarmers hit such a sweet spot for me. Their latest album, Sidelong , is a collection of fun, dark, whiskey soaked country punk tunes. If the definition of outlaw country is too rock n roll for country and too country for rock n roll, Sidelong spits in both genres' faces and does whatever they feel like. You'll get enough twang to satisfy your country itch along with enough attitude to chase away the hokeyness the classic country twang can bring along. That's what is so great about Sarah Shook & The Disarmers: Most bands go too far into the classic country thing and become almost cartoonish copies of what classic country is supposed to be. This band goes that far, but play music far too badass for that foolishness. Songs of note: "Keep the Home Fires Burnin'," "The Nail," and "Fuck Up."

A crazy week, so two weeks it is! Album of the Week : Artist : Sarah Shook and the Disarmers Album : Sidelong Quick Description : Rootsy rock. Why You Should Listen : You like the sound of Lydia Loveless with a little more grit. Overall Thoughts : When I started listening to this album, a rootsy barnburner of a record, I was curious as to how long I might be able to tolerate Sarah Shook’s vocal warble. By the end, I was wondering why I cared at all to start, as the value of this album is in the entire package – Shook’s unique vocal presentation, the excellent musicianship, and the killer songwriting. When the only negative thing anyone can say about an album is “the vocals might have to grow on you” in a genre that’s dominated by often-obnoxious twang, you know it’s something you need to spend some real time with. I truly loved this album in a way I didn’t expect. Recommendation : An easy choice for album of the week. Artist : R. Ring Album : Ignite the Rest Quick Desc...