If It's Too Loud...

Ripe Photo by Ken Sears This has been a weird year for music festivals, with many festivals cancelling and others announcing they're taking a hiatus next year. The New England festival scene can be pretty busy, and this year saw Back Cove Music & Arts Festival entering the fray and taking over Payson Park in Portland, ME. They had an absolutely stacked line up for their inaugural year, so I made the surprisingly quick trip up to Portland on Sunday to check it out. Here are my highlights in the order that they took place. Maine Academy of Modern Music I didn't expect much from bands made up of music students playing in front of a huge festival crowd. It sounded kind of gimmicky, but at the very least it would be a cool thing for kids to look back on. I planned on wandering around and getting my bearings, but was shocked by how sucked in I got. Representing the Maine Academy of Modern Music was a trio of bands: Prettiest Girl in the Morgue, Andromeda, and Fraternity Leave. Be...

A few weeks back I started seeing ads on social media for Back Cove Music & Arts Festival in Portland, ME. I always try to keep my expectations low when a new festival is announced, because more often than not the line up isn't in my taste (aka typically filled with jam bands). I was optimistic, but didn't expect much. Today the line up was announced, and it's kind of ridiculously great. Taking place August 2 and 3 in Payson Park, the festival features world renowned heavy hitters like Jack White, Lord Huron, Andre 3000, Turnpike Troubadours, and Lucy Dacus, as well as If It's Too Loud... favorites like Margo Price, Thee Sacred Souls, Madi Diaz, The Greeting Committee, local heroes Weakened Friends, and many more! This is a completely solid line up, and considering it's a festival boasting no overlapping sets, how could you go wrong? Maine is beautiful, and we're always looking for an excuse to get up there over the summer. What better reason is there than a...

Sometimes it's good to step out of your musical comfort zone a bit, and that's what I thought I was doing Wednesday night at The Sinclair with The Greeting Committee. The just released Everyone's Gone and I Know I'm the Cause is a little bit more poppy than I'm used to, but is still a great album. Once I got into the venue, I wasn't sure what to expect. First, the crowd was much younger and more mainstream than I'm used to. I was hardly the only attendee sporting some grey in my beard, but it was a young crowd. Plus, it was the type of crowd that was shouting along to the Chappell Roan songs in between bands, and doing the hand gesture/dances that apparently go along to the songs. Like I said, not my usual crowd for a show. But... then the music started and none of that mattered. The Greeting Committee and quite simply a stellar live band. They were kind of like a more energetic Alvvays or a less punk Mannequin Pussy. Singer Addison Sartino is one of the mos...

Artist : The Shacks Album : Big Crown Vaults Vol. 2 Quick Thoughts : "Wings" made some playlists for me a while back, and I didn't realize an album was dropping. Wow, it is good! A really solid listen from start to finish, with Isobel Campbell-esque vocals and a light touch to it that transcends the normal idea of indie twee. Produced by Leon Michels of El Michels Affair as part of the Big Crown Vaults series, I loved this a lot and it's worth your time. Songs of Note : "For Real," "Trip to Japan," "Wings," "Crimson & Clover," "Wind," "Drone" Artist : Your Old Droog Album : Movie Quick Thoughts : Everyone's so busy with the Kendrick/Drake feud and the return of Slim Shady that we've led Your Old Droog wallow in semi-obscurity. Movie is the latest in a line of albums that show he deserves to be part of the discussion, with an album that feels as much as an introduction to new listener...

Photo by Tyler Krippaehne The Greeting Committee are going to give you some serious 90's flashbacks, but not in the way you'll expect. The Kansas City band's latest single, "How It Goes," sounds like late 90's alt-rock just as it started flirting with pop, although we never would have admitted it then. The song is filled with jangly guitars and singer Addie Sartino delivering vocals that are just dripping with Gen-X ambivalence. This may sound like pop in 2024, but thirty years ago and this would have been on 120 Minutes and all over the Buzz Bin. "How It Goes" is a fun indie rock/pop song that kind of sounds like if The Strokes went power pop, or if Letters to Cleo kept making music after Go! The Greeting Committee say of their new single: “In typical TGC fashion, the song is met with vulnerable lyrics hiding behind shiny indie pop sonics. ‘How It Goes’ captures the frustration of feeling stuck in a cycle with your own flaws and faults.”  You can wa...