If It's Too Loud...

The second night of The Town and The City Festival was the traditional style for the festival with multiple bands playing venues all over downtown Lowell. For me, the night started out at Koto Asian Fusion, a relatively new music venue and a sister venue to Koto in Salem. The stage for the shows Friday night was in the main restaurant, which led to some awkward milling about before the music started. Up first was The Shallows, a Boston band I was unfamiliar with. They play a blend of gorgeous shoegaze inspired alt-rock that was for the most part laid back, and was the perfect way to ease people into an evening of music. Their set inspired some slow dancing to break out periodically, and it's easy to see why. The Shallows play shoegaze, but a version of the genre that is pop leaning, at least in that late 90's alt-rock leaning into pop way.  Lovina Falls played next. It was my third time seeing Valerie Forgione's baroque pop project live, and what strikes me is how different...

The Town and The City Festival is one of our favorite events of the year. Some of our favorite bands play every year, and wandering from venue to venue always reminds me of going to CMJ during my college radio years. Three nights of music can be tricky to navigate, so here are our recommendations of the must see artists for 2025! Thursday April 24 Lady Lamb (9:30 pm) and Ezra Furman (8:15 pm) Taffeta, 122 Western Ave at Western Ave Studios Lady Lamb and Ezra Furman are two of our absolute favorite artists at If It's Too Loud..., so we're thrilled to see them playing together. As The Town and The City Festival expands to three nights, this is the only Thursday night show, but it would be a huge deal no matter when it was. These are two of the most compelling alt-rock/indie singer-songwriters around these days, and two of the most engaging performers I've had the pleasure of seeing. Friday April 25 The Sheila Divine (10:00 pm) Taffeta, 122 Western Ave at Western Ave Studios I...

We'll pretty much bring you anything that The Sheila Divine releases, but when it's as great as their latest single is, it's an easy call. "Kim Deal or No Deal" is both "... a love song and a tribute to one of the greatest Massachusetts bands of all time." This one is a vintage alt-rock song that has some in common with classics from the Pixies, but this is pure vintage Sheila Divine. The pop hooks are strong on this song, and it's more loud/louder/loud than loud/quiet/loud. Of course, the spoken word parts are much more Pixies than The Sheila Divine, and there are some lines that recall classic Pixies songs. But this one is perfect for long time fans of Aaron Perrino's.  You can listen to "Kim Deal or No Deal" below. The song is currently available through Bandcamp . For more on The Sheila Divine, check out the band on Facebook and Twitter . The Sheila Divine will be playing Taffeta in Lowell on April 25 as part of The Town and The Ci...

We love The Town and The City Festival that takes over downtown Lowell annually, and this year's line up has been extra crazy great. Today they announced the individual show line ups, and there are choices to be made. Thursday is easy not only because there's one show, but because it features Lady Lamb, Ezra Furman, and Class President at Taffeta. After that, good luck deciding. Ken will probably be at Zorba Music Hall at 10:15 for The Sheila Divine, but that night also features performances from Jennifer Tefft & The Strange, Twisted Pine, Lovina Falls, The PA's, The Freqs, and many, many more. Saturday is just as crazy with Girl with a Hawk, The Chelsea Curve, Loudon Wainwright III, Hilken Mancini & Melissa Gibbs, Senseless Optimism, Gross Girls, The Ghouls, and many, many more. Good luck deciding! The Town and The City Festival runs April 24-26 all throughout downtown Lowell. Multi-day passes are on sale now. Individual show tickets go on sale this Friday, Februar...

The Town and The City Festival once again takes over downtown Lowell this year, and once again it keeps getting bigger and better. Expanding to three days over April 24 to 26, the festival starts on Thursday with Lady Lamb and Ezra Furman at Taffeta Music Hall. That's enough to get us there front and center, but there are also a ton of our friends and favorites playing the rest of the weekend! Playing this year are indie rock stalwarts The Sheila Divine, Maine/Boston lifers Heretix, bluegrass fusion favorites Twisted Pine, garage rockers The Chelsea Curve, genre busting singer-songwriter Senseless Optimism, Hilken Mancini & Melissa Gibbs, Lowell's new favorites The Ghouls, Lovina Falls, Girl with a Hawk, The Freqs, The PA's, Jennifer Tefft & The Strange, and many, many more! The Town and The City Festival runs April 24 to 26 all over downtown Lowell. Multi-day passes go on sale Friday January 17. For more information, check out the festival's website .

I've been a fan of The Sheila Divine for nearly thirty years now. Back in the Fall, Aaron Perrino announced that from then on all of his musical projects would now be under the Sheila Divine umbrella. That means that The Sheila Divine now includes songs from Dear Leader, Aaron & The Lord, etc. Once last Saturday's show at The Sinclair was announced, I obviously had to make it so see what the newfangled Sheila Divine would be. Taking the stage with six members (and four guitars), The Sheila Divine crushed their set. It was a perfect mixture of a band with something and nothing to prove. Opening with the gloriously moody "The Modern Log" off of 1999's classic New Parade , the band set the mood for the evening. It was a masterclass of a setlist, with the bigger hits from New Parade  ("Like a Criminal," "Hum," and "Automatic Buffalo") interspersed throughout the set, with new songs like "Lilydale" and a surprising number of ...

Doing Anything this Weekend? is a feature here at If It's Too Loud... where we feature some live shows in and on the far outskirts of the Boston area. Our main rules are that they have to be reasonably priced shows that you can attend last minute. They'll feature If It's Too Loud... approved bands, and we'll provide event links when possible. And since we're in outdoor music season, these events are weather permitting. If you're looking for last minute plans this weekend, we recommend: Friday August 16 Me in Capris, Sailor Down, John Galm, and Cape Crush at Deep Cuts, Medford, MA Worshipper, Zip-Tie Handcuffs, Mother Iron Horse, and dropbear at The Middle East, Cambridge, MA Savoir Faire at The Galactic Theater, Warren, RI Lions and Lavender, Tysk Tysk Task, Red Ledger, and The Fool's Agenda at Bit Bar, Salem, MA The Ghouls, MOLD, The P.A.'s, and Ralph n' Sean at Sparetime Recreation, Whitinsville, MA Saturday August 17 Save Ferris and Kings of the W...

Aaron Perrino (The Sheila Divine, Dear Leader, Aaron & the Lord) just released what he described as a "... fun non-christmas sounding christmas song." "Oh Children Go Where I Send Thee" is credited to Aaron & the Lord, and it's a dark sounding holiday song that grooves insanely hard. This is the kind of Christmas song most people you know are going to hate since it is so dark and doesn't sound like a holiday song at all. There is nary a jingle bell to be heard, but there are references to "666." But, for those of us with darker sensibilities who maybe do things like drive our families to Salem annually for a picture with Krampus and not Santa, "Oh Children Go Where I Send Thee" is perfect. You can listen to "Oh Children Go Where I Send Thee" below. The song is available via Aaron Perrino's Bandcamp . For more on Aaron & the Lord, check out the band on Facebook and Instagram . You'll have two opportunities to...

Poster by Daykamp Creative I'm not usually one for nostalgia shows. I try to have new experiences when I get out to see live music and would rather see a band I've never seen before than see a band I've been going to see since the 90's play the same songs in the same venue. However, there are always exceptions to this, and one of those is The Sheila Divine. I've been to two farewell shows for the band, but Aaron Perrino and company are still getting together to play a show here and there. Plus, this time they were joined by other Boston 90's/early 00's favorites Tugboat Annie and Vic Firecracker, so it was an impossible to miss night of music. Vic Firecracker are one of those bands I don't think of seen live before, but I don't know how I wouldn't have. They've been around the scene since 1995 and have been playing around steadily for the past few years. They played a set filled with noisy indie rock that combined the art rock of Mission of B...

This is an absolute dream project for me in just about every way. Aaron & The Lord is the new musical project from Aaron Perrino (The Sheila Divine, Dear Leader) and is a collaboration with Steven Lord (Dirty Bangs). The band's new single features Tanya Donelly (Throwing Muses, Belly, The Breeders) on vocals. The song was initially pitched to Donelly as a Lee Hazelwood/Nancy Sinatra style duet but quickly morphed. A post on The Sheila Divine's Facebook page compares it to the Cocteau Twins and Phil Spector's production, and that really nails it. It's two of my 90's Boston favorites singing a duet that combines New Wave and the Wall of Sound? I don't think I could be more in. You can listen to "This Love Ain't Dead" below. The song is currently available via Bandcamp . Aaron & The Lord don't seem to have a social media presence yet, so for now keep an eye on The Sheila Divine's Facebook . This Love Ain't Dead by Aaron & The L...

Aaron Perrino has been releasing a ridiculous amount of music during quarantine. The current (former?) Sheila Divine frontman was releasing a song a day for a while, usually as an homage to another artist. He was doing it so much, it was impossible for us to even know where to start bringing it to you. Now that he's slowed down, he's released a new Christmas song. I'm sure there are going to be a bunch of COVID-19 themed Christmas songs and merchandise this year, and I'm already sick of just thinking about it. But The Sheila Divine's "Corona Christmas" might be the only acceptable one. "Cornona Christmas" has one of the darkest senses of humor I've heard in decades. It's so dark that I'm not completely sure that it is meant to be taken as humorous. It's a bleak, bleak song, about a bleak, bleak topic. In a Facebook post, Aaron Perrino explains the song: " It's almost time for Christmas music so I figured I'd write on...