If It's Too Loud...

Photo courtesy of The Bug Club The Bug Club have a very specific sound in their latest single that I'm surprised hasn't been explored previously. "How to Be a Confidante" has a very Britpop sound to the song, but instead of the highly polished sound you normally associate with the genre, this one is a more garage rock and DIY sounding version. It gives the song a grittier sound even though it's still an upbeat and bouncy sounding track. There are the roots of punk within "How to Be a Confidante," also. It's rare to find a song that is this cheery while also being this edgy. The Bug Club have created a sound that we never realized how badly we needed to hear it. You can listen to "How to Be a Confidante" below. Very Human Features is due out June 13 on Sub Pop Records, and is available for pre-order here . For more on The Bug Club, check out the band on Instagram and Facebook . Upcoming tour dates are below the song. Tue. Apr. 29 - Brugge, ...

Photo by Xaviera Simmons TV on the Radio frontman Tunde Adebimpe is set to release his debut solo album, and released a new single from it. "God Knows" is a raw break up song that is a sort of R&B and soul song, just done in the way that only Adebimpe can do it. This is a modern indie rock song in the style of a classic doo wop single from the 1960's. It might take you or minute or so to acclimate yourself to the sound of "God Knows," since it's comprised of such familiar and classic elements but sounds quite different from how those pieces are usually assembled. Plus, Adebimpe is using what sounds to be country steel guitar in this one, but that somehow pulls everything together into a complete sound. Tunde Adebimpe says of his latest single: “Breaking up is hard to down dooby doo down do." You can listen to "God Knows" below. Thee Black Boltz is due out April 18 on Sub Pop Records, and is available to pre-order here . For more on Tunde A...

Photo by Lindsay Duncan In a perfect match, Canadian hardcore punk icons Fucked Up are set to release a 7" on Sub Pop. "Disabuse" is the most standard hardcore song we've heard from Fucked Up in a while. It's a nearly three minute epic song, hard and fast and loud. One of my favorite things about the band is how abrasive their music can be while also being mysteriously melodic. The majority of "Disabuse" is heavy and discordant, but there are some unexpected melodic moments, particularly a very non-hardcore guitar solo. Plus, the song is about vocalist Damian Abraham's daughter's experience with bullying. I'm personally hoping this is the first release in a long relationship between Fucked Up and Sub Pop. You can listen to "Disabuse" below. The 7" is due out March 14 on Sub Pop, and is available for pre-order here . For more on Fucked Up, check out the band's website .

Photo by Joe Hirsch We don't cover many reissued albums here at If It's Too Loud... but there are always exceptions. The Gits' entire catalog being reissued by Sub Pop is one of those exceptions. The legendary Seattle punk band ended in 1993 due to the tragic death of frontwoman Mia Zapata, but their legend has certainly lived on. Despite how many bands have come out in the past three decades sounding like the grunge and Seattle scene, no band has quite sounded like The Gits. They just had a ferocity that blended with an odd sense of melody no band has been able to match. They're one of those bands that truly deserves more attention than they have received, and I'm thrilled Sub Pop is reissuing their albums to help keep their music alive. Andy Kessler, Matt Dresdner, and Steve Moriarty of The Gits say about the new reissues: “It’s been more than thirty-one years since The Gits played our last show. We’re rereleasing The Gits catalog now for the people who loved our ...

Photo by Xaveria Simmons TV on the Radio frontman Tunde Adebimpe has signed with Sub Pop for his upcoming debut solo album, and has released a new single to prepare us for it. "Magnetic" is a dance song... of sorts. It sounds more like a lo-fi, DIY version of dance music, which isn't a sound typically associated with the genre. That, plus Adebimpe's vocals, give the song more of a punk feel in contradiction to the dance vibe of the song. "Magnetic" is an interesting one that demands multiple listens to make sure it has all properly soaked in. You can watch the video for "Magnetic" below. Tunde Adebimpe's debut solo album is expected in 2025 on Sub Pop Records. For more on the artist, check him out on Instagram .

Image courtesy of the artist It's kind of lazy music journalism to just copy and paste a band's description from a press release, but I can't think of a better description for The Bug Club than "... Modern-Lovers-meets-Nuggets garage rock, featuring B-52's call-and-response fun mixed with AC/DC power chord grunt." If that doesn't make you want to listen to "Lonsdale Slipons," I can't imagine what would. This song is a ridiculous amount of fun and blends art rock and fun in a way that they rarely are. Personally, I hear a little more Strokes style guitar than AC/DC, but regardless "Lonsdale Slippers" is going to insert itself into your brain and singing along to "These drugs are tasty as hell / I think I'll have another" for days to come. You can listen to "Lonsdale Slipons" below. On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System is due out August 30 on Sub Pop, and is available for pre-order here . For more on T...

Photo by John Falls We don't cover a lot of reissues here at If It's Too Loud..., but most bands aren't Velocity Girl. The 90's indie rockers reformed last year for the legendary D.C. club The Black Cat's thirtieth anniversary and have played a few other shows as well. Now, Sub Pop is reissuing their long out of print 1993 album Copacetic , and we can check out the remixed version of "Audrey's Eyes." I'm not one that's going to be able to tell you if this is a better mix or not, but "Audrey's Eyes" is absolute peak early/mid 90's indie rock as it moved away from grunge towards a more pop focused sound. Plus, the reissue contains singles, outtakes, and the band's 1993 Peel Session, and I'm all for hearing more from Copacetic era Velocity Girl! You can watch the video for "Audrey's Eyes" below. UltraCopacetic (Copacetic Remixed and Expanded) is due out August 16 on Sub Pop, and is available for pre-order he...

Photo courtesy The Bug Club Hailing from Wales, The Bug Club are the rare band that makes fast and noisy music that's actually fun. The band's latest single, "Quality Pints," is a blisteringly quick but upbeat and fun single. It might be punk, but it sounds much too fun to exactly fit that definition. Plus, it has a fairly silly sense of humor. Add to that a great guitar solo, and "Quality Pints" is a simply great song. The song clocks in at two minutes and eighteen seconds, but it somehow feels much longer. The Bug Club somehow condense an absolute epic into such a small package. You can listen to "Quality Pints" below. The single is out now via Sub Pop. For more on The Bug Club, check out the band on Instagram and Facebook . Fri. 10 May  - Wrexham, UK - FOCUS Wales Sat. 11 May - Birmingham, UK - The Castle & Falcon Sun. 12 May - Brighton, UK - Komedia (Matinee) Sun. 12 May - Brighton, UK - Komedia (Evening) Fri. 17 May - Clitheroe, UK - The ...

Photo by Ginger Fierstein We've been mesmerized by the singles we've heard from La Luz's upcoming album, but nothing has grabbed up quite like "I'll Go With You." The song is slow and hypnotic, almost painfully at times. Somehow La Luz let vocal harmonies drive the psychedelic nature of this song, even though it also leans heavily into doo wop and 60's girl groups. For those of us that grew up listening to a ton of oldies and then indie rock as we came of age, a song like "I'll Go With You" is just pure heaven. Plus, the song is equal parts beautiful and uplifting, but also surprisingly foreboding.  Lead singer Shana Cleveland says of the new single: "This song is heavily influenced by Yanti Bersaudara, a group of Indonesian sisters who released some of my very favorite music originally released in the mid 60s and early 70s. Lyrically, this song is a retelling of a dream I had one night when I had gone to bed with the melody of this song...

Photo by Ginger Fierstein The songs off La Luz's forthcoming album have a certain dystopian quality, and there's a reason for that. (Besides... you know... everything...) News of the Universe was written and recorded after songwriter/guitarist Shana Cleveland's breast cancer diagnosis two years after the birth of her son. That darkness is audible in the band's latest single. "Poppies" is a baroque pop meets indie rock song that has a dark, groovy quality to it. It's a moody track that still maintains a sense of hope and life. It's a beautiful track, despite how unsettling it can be at times. Shana Cleveland says of her band's newest single: "'Poppies' is about the surreal feeling of going through the horror and isolation of a cancer diagnosis and treatment and then suddenly being out in the bright world again, trying to make sense of it all, feeling like I’m walking through a waking dream, seeing the first wildflowers come out and feel...

Photo by Alex Carre There's been a killer post punk revival lately, and FACS have been on the forefront of it. As soon as their latest single, "North America Endless," starts, you just know it's FACS. The Chicago trio just has such a distinctive sound all to their own. This new single is everything we love about them. It's a dark and moody post punk song that's a slow burn, but is just dripping with intensity right from the start. "North America Endless" is a song dripping with catharsis. Even just listening to the song could change you, even if it's just a little bit. Vocalist/guitarist Brian Case says of the new single: “We had been talking a lot about how to incorporate melody in a new way with the material we were starting to write after  Still Life in Decay , and this was one of the first experiments with that. I had this inverted Polvo thing I had been playing around with that Jonathan married to a really nice Frippy sustained lead, and it ...

Photo by Wyndham Garrett La Luz, led by Shana Cleveland, have a new single out that is one of the more fun takes on indie rock that's out today. "Strange World" has a distinctly modern sound while throwing back to the world of oldies music. It's a very 1960's psychedelic influenced track without being a throwback. La Luz are also cramming plenty of girl group harmonies into the song to match the 1960's groovy vibes, but it doesn't sound like anything released during that era. It's rare for a band to lean so heavily on influences and past sounds while still creating something fresh and new, but they did so with "Strange World." Shana Cleveland says of her band's latest single: “It’s been a strange and difficult few years, and at moments, I have found myself rushing to move forward in time, to leave the present and escape to whatever is next. The best advice a friend gave me during a time when I was feeling particularly overwhelmed and batt...