If It's Too Loud...

Karly Hartzman of Wednesday Photo by Ken Sears Welcome to the third and final day of the Green River Festival, where if you weren't wearing a piece of Geese merchandise, one was provided for you. It was very obvious who most of the crowd at Green River were there to see (which led to the biggest attendance in Green River's forty years), and the big question was if the band of the moment would live up to the hype. Of course, there was a lot of music to be heard Sunday, and we took in as much as we could! Angela Autumn, Backporch Stage Angela Autumn was one of those artists I discovered while preparing for this year's Green River Festival, and I'm glad I did. She plays that style of Americana/roots music that comes right up against the mainstream while still having her own unique sound. Her songs are beautiful, but with an edge to them. Before Sunday afternoon, I had only heard a handful of songs of hers, and after Sunday afternoon, I'm more than a little obsessed. Au...

One of the themes of 2025 has been artists we've loved for a while breaking out, and none have done that quite like Wednesday. The indie rock meets country artists blurred those genre lines even further with Bleeds , and blew up with their April 2026 show at Royale moved to the much larger Roadrunner. When you listen to Bleeds , you'll know why. As someone who has always loved albums that swing wildly between genres while still sounding like a cohesive collection of songs, this latest is a dream come true. You go right from the loud and noisy "Reality TV Argument Bleeds" into the twang-filled "Townies." Wednesday are settling firmly into their sound on this one, and we're all well rewarded with this album. Alt-country and indie rock are arguably our favorite genres, and Bleeds mixes both of those sounds into one for a dozen songs unlike anyone else. The songs alternate between being perfect for moshing to heartfelt and earnest head nodders, and that'...

It's just starting to get uncomfortably cold here in New England, so we're already starting to look forward to warm temperatures. Plus, warm temperatures means festival season, and Green River Festival has given us something to look forward to in June! Their 2026 edition will take place June 19-21 at Franklin County Fairgrounds with another fantastic line up. The headliners will get the most attention, with the neotraditional country of Charley Crockett, indie rock veterans Spoon, and experimental rockers Geese. We're thrilled for the undercard of this one, with many favorites playing like The Beths, Kurt Vile & The Violators, Wednesday, Lucius, The War and Treaty, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Folk Bitch Trio, Ratboys, Sunny War, Lily Seabird, and Tre Burt! Plus, there's plenty for us to discover in the next eight months as we get ready for the festival! Three day passes for the 2026 Green River Festival are on sale now. For tickets and more information, check out the ...

Photo by Graham Tolbert We're fully into everything Wednesday puts out, and love seeing if their songs go more towards the indie rock side or alt-country side of their sound. Their latest, "Bitter Everyday," definitely fits into their indie rock side of theirs, with intensely whining guitars and a generous layer of fuzz over the entire shebang. It's a loud and noisy song, so if you love that sort of thing, this one is for you. Their more country side comes out more in the lyrics, and has quite a bit in common with the subject matter of their sometime tour mates Drive-By Truckers. In fact, sonically "Bitter Everyday" sounds a bit like Drive-By Truckers meets Built to Spill. Karly Hatzman says of her band's latest single: “‘Bitter Everyday’ is a song formed around my desperate desire to tell the story about how in 2019 this lady came up on our porch at like 3 in the morning when Jake and our friend Andrew were out there drinking and playing guitar. She ask...

Photo by Martina Gonzalez Bertello Wednesday have always skirted the line between alt-country and indie rock, and the North Carolina band blurs that line even more on their latest single. "Pick Up That Knife" starts off with twang in both Karly Hatzman's vocals and guitar. It's a little DIY sounding with a generous fuzz layered on, but it's still a country song. And then the noise erupts for a bit until the song morphs back into country, going back and forth a bit, without truly having a pattern. It's more quiet/loud/less loud/more quiet than the typical moud/quiet/loud. No one does the alt-country goes indie rock thing quite like Wednesday does, and "Pick Up That Knife" pushes the boundaries even more. Karly Hartzman says of her band's upcoming album: “ Bleeds  is the spiritual successor to  Rat Saw God,  and I think the quintessential ‘Wednesday Creek Rock’ album." You can watch the video for "Pick Up That Knife" below. Bleeds is...

Photo by Graham Tolbert If you've been here for a while, you probably know how obsessed we are with Wednesday. Maybe you've been wondering what the big deal with the North Carolina band is, and, if so, their latest single is the perfect introduction to why they are so great. "Wound Up Here (By Holdin On)" starts out more on the Americana side of things. It's not exactly alt-country, but Karly Hartzman's vocals will always have just enough twang to make things at least a little country. Slowly, the noise begins to take over the song, and what started out as a mellow (if a little noisy) track ends as a raging indie rock noise collision. This is all while still maintaining the roots of the song's original Americana base. Wednesday are one of those bands that deserve all their accolades, and possibly more. Karly Hartzman says of her band's upcoming new album: “ Bleeds  is the spiritual successor to  Rat Saw God,  and I think the quintessential ‘Wednesday C...

Photo by Graham Tolbert Rat Saw God was my #3 album of 2023, so I'm clearly going to be thrilled to hear new music from Wednesday. The North Carolina band's latest is "Elderberry Wine," which leans more into the Americana side of their indie rock meets Americana sound. There are a lot of bands combining those two genres these days, but no one quite does it as well as Wednesday. They seem to be able to move between and blur the two genres adeptly, and even an almost purely Americana song of theirs puts just enough indie rock fuzz to it to keep things interesting. "Elderberry Wine" also features some of the finest vocals we've heard from singer Karly Hartzman to date. As of right now this is a standalone single, but hopefully we'll be hearing more from Wednesday in the near future. Karly Hartzman says of the band's latest single: “‘Elderberry Wine’ is about the potential for sweet things in life (love, family, success) to become poison if not prepa...

Photo by Marlon Lenoble Cryogeyser are one of those bands that I've been meaning to bring to you for a while now, but they've been accidentally slipping through the cracks. That ends with their latest single, and not just because it features guest vocals from Karly Hartzman of Wednesday. "Mountain" is an absolute epic of a song. It's an indie rock power ballad that puts the emphasis on power. The song is heavy on the guitar fuzz and crunch and draws you in with that, but it's the vocals that refuse to let you go. This one oddly reminds me of early Weezer, but with a little extra oomph. Once you get a chance to hear the glory that is Cryogeyser, be sure to check out their other recently released songs and try not to hate me for not getting to them before now. Guitarist/vocalist Shawn Marom says about the band's latest single: “It’s about friendship, about having instead of longing. It’s a song about opening.” You can listen to "Mountain" below. Cr...