If It's Too Loud...

Photo courtesy Sunshine Riot For their latest single, Boston's Sunshine Riot are still maintaining their neo-grunge sound, but it's softened a wee bit. Frontman Jonny Orton is going full Cobain on the vocals of "Room to Moan," but musically the song comes across a little more reserved and almost pop based. To me, this song sounds like if Nirvana showed up for Unplugged with electric instruments but decided to play them quietly... except for Dave Grohl who is still gonna go all out. It's a harsh and reflective power ballad that still contains more than a little beauty. It's also the neo-grunge song that feels most like a grunge song. Part of the intense grunge vibes in "Room to Moan" are due to the subject matter. Jonny Orton explains: “There's a line in Soundgarden's ‘The Day I Tried to Live’, it goes ‘The lives we make / Never seem to get us anywhere but dead’. It always struck me. There is something gripping about that lyric – I think we al...

Photo courtesy Sunshine Riot A lot of music gets labeled grunge these days, and most of it is just 90's influenced alt-rock and not actual grunge. Boston's Sunshine Riot is actually grunge, or at least alt-grunge. Their new single, "So It Comes," has that growl mixed with fuzzy guitars that is truly required to be grunge. There is just a certain style of guitar fuzz required, and they nail it. Plus, Jonny Orton has more than a little of Kurt Cobain's snarl in his vocals. "So It Comes" is a little poppier than a lot of 90's grunge, but it does include some psychedelic elements which makes it more along the lines of The Gits or Mother Love Bone. This is the kind of song that is going to elicit some nostalgia even though it's brand new. Jonny Orton says of the new song: "It's a song about the human condition, and the speed with which a person can change from one mood to the next. There is this wonderful Buddhist saying that I heard recently...

Boston based alt-grunge band Sunshine Riot is back with new music just a few months after the release of last year's Sparkle Baby 2000. "Looking at the Past" is one of those songs that stands out based on how unique it sounds. Throughout its just short of four minutes running time, "Looking at the Past" morphs into a few different styles, although all seem to be rooted in grunge. It starts out as a kind of folk or country train song, then into a nearly Sex Pistols-esque punk song, then into an odd version of ska... all with a ton of grit and heaviness associated with grunge. Despite these changes, Sunshine Riot have made a cohesive song that doesn't sound like it's wildly swapping styles. Vocalist and guitarist Jonny Orton says of the new song: “The song sort of exists in two pieces. The first half, I think, is the internal narrative of a character who has taken a long time to change, I suppose for the better, and is reflecting on their past while attemp...

Earlier this year, Boston's Sunshine Riot released "Just Say So" which had that Song of the Summer vibe. Now that summer is winding down, they've released "Parole Board" which goes in a much different direction. "Parole Board" is still a mostly upbeat song, but there is a layer of grime and sadness covering the track. The song has a bit of a throwback vibe. It's not quite classic rock or oldies, but it does have a certain vintage sound to it. It's kind of like if you tried putting The Replacements in a freshly pressed suit. It's a little more palatable, but that punk edge is still seeping through. Vocalist/guitarist Jonny Orton says of the new song: “I suppose it's a story about a protagonist that grew up in small town, not-on-anyone's-radar America; the sort of place that all of us in the band grew up in. I think it's a song about the disenchantment people feel when the little town they called home gets taken over by cheap ...

Boston's Sunshine Riot have written one of the most earwormy songs of the year with "Just Say So." The alt-rock/grunge band have slowed things down a bit and are letting their Replacements influences fly high on this one. This is alternative rock from back in the days when it was college rock, and besides The Replacements, this one is going to make you think of other bands from the era like The Posies and Galaxie 500. "Just Say So" also brings in some of the killer power pop of a band like Cheap Trick, so there's more than a lot to love with this one. Vocalist/guitarist Jonny Orton says of the new song: "'Just Say So' is a song about writing songs. More specifically I think it's really about the healing power of music, trite as that may sound -- I believe in it. As we've gotten on in years as a band, I've come to appreciate just how therapeutic writing and playing songs is for all of us."  You can listen to "Just Say So...