If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Ken Sears Once I checked out Will Butler + Sister Squares' self-titled album last month, I knew I wanted to see them live. Luckily for me, their tour hit up the Boston area at Deep Cuts in Medford, a newer venue I've been meaning to check out. Sometimes things just align perfectly. Will Butler + Sister Squares occupy an interesting little niche of music. It's hipster indie rock that demands that you dance. It has this impossibly cool vibe that is going to appeal to an audience that wants to stand and stroke their chin while contemplating the music, as well as someone that wants to dance at a show. As soon as the band opened with "Arrow of Time," you knew both types of fans would be happy. Not many artists can pull off that style of music, and somehow no reaction in the audience seemed out of place. You had people barely bopping their heads next to people having a full on dance party, and neither looked out of place. Will Butler is a captivating indie fron...

Artist : Lydia Loveless Album : Nothing's Gonna Stand in My Way Again Quick Thoughts : We love Lydia Loveless here, and their gradual shift toward a more adult-alternative sound from the more twangy early work felt invevitable until this new album landed, which both feels like a great combination of the new and old while also remaining true to their evolution as an artist. There are so many good songs here, with that now-classic and unmistakable voice to go with some great songwriting. One of the best of the week. Songs of Note : "Poor Boy," "Feel," "Toothache," "Do the Right Thing" Artist : Jenny Owen Youngs Album : Avalanche Quick Thoughts : On one hand, it's been a decade since the last proper Jenny Owen Youngs album, although that is misleading given the amount of music she's made for her Buffy the Vampire Slayer podcast, plus the whole getting married and moving to Maine thing. So here's Avalanche , which is both ex...

Photo by Alexa Viscius Will Butler's latest musical project is going by the name Will Butler + Sister Squares, and it's one of the more fascinating projects we've heard in a while. Their latest single, "Stop Talking," has a little bit of the indie sleaze thing going for it, just minus the sleaze. It's a clean and smooth sounding dance track even if it's a little too mellow for much dancing, and it has a Pulp meets David Bowie vibe (which is never a bad thing) with some Polyphonic Spree thrown in. It's an organic blend of dance music that stays rooted to rock music despite being very pop adjacent. Will Butler says of the new single: “This is one of the ‘dream songs’ on the record. Emotion in dreams; dreams in reality; tired and confused. ‘Stop talking; there’s nothing to say’; not sure if it functions as a dismissal ‘Stop!’, or as a sign of love ‘You don’t have to say it; I already know’; I think, like a lot of communication between people who love each...

Someday I'll have time to do more than just new releases. With that said, here are some new releases! Will Butler - Policy : Will Butler is a guitarist for Arcade Fire, and this is, technically, his debut album, but it's really more a collection of songs he did for a project with The Guardian . It's not a coherent piece on a whole in that regard, but the sum of its parts is pretty good, with some decent songs interspersed within. Definitely a must for Arcade Fire fans, not a waste of time for the rest of us. Fences - Lesser Oceans : I looked this one up mostly due to the fact that I liked their first album, especially "Girls With Accents." This second album, well, I don't know. It's a little all over the place, there's a Macklemore guest spot, and there's not really a song that jumps out at me here. I'm not really sure, but this might be something to skip. Joe Pug - Windfall : It's always fun when Ken sends albums over that I wa...