If It's Too Loud...

Artist : STL GLD Album : Good Music for Bad Kids Quick Thoughts : I get that Joyner Lucas gets all the regional rap love here, but at what point are we willing to admit that STL GLD is New England's best rap act? The beats are grimy and addictive, the lyricism unmatched, and the collective regularly punches above its weight. We love the act here, and Good Music is one of those records that show how deserving they are of a breakout. Songs of Note : "80's Babies," "Ayo Edebiri," 24KT," "Dances With Wolves," "The Get Up Kids," "Too Much," "The Clapper" Artist : Austra Album : Chin Up Buttercup Quick Thoughts : The opening line of "Math Equation" is probably the most brutal breakup lyric I've ever heard. It's a sad dance album in so many ways, as the cover clearly demonstrates, but as someone who has been a fan of Austra for ages now, this is one of her stronger albums. A really, really g...

Photo by Lindsey Topham Northampton, MA's Winterpills are set to release their first new album in nine years next week, and they have a new single out for us to check out. "How We Dance" gets a little more power-poppy than Winterpills typically get, but there are still enough roots in folk and Americana for it to still sound like them. It's always fun when a veteran band expands on their sound a bit, and it's nice to see their more rock based side after all of these years. Not that "How We Dance" is a hard rock song by any stretch, but compared to most of Winterpills' catalog, this one is a rager. We're definitely looking forward to hearing this one next time we make it out to see them! Phillip Price says of his band's latest single: “At first, I wasn't sure this song fit the band. It felt like a throwback to my power-pop days in the 90s. I dreamt the big guitar riff, sang it into my phone at 3am one night in April of this year. The song ...

Photo by Lyndsey Topham Somehow it's been nine years since Winterpills have released an album, but the western Massachusetts band have a new one set to be released next month. The first single from that album, "Lean in the Wind," is a perfect reintroduction to the band. It's gorgeous chamber pop that also reaches into the world of dream pop, and is slightly folk adjacent. As with virtually any song from Winterpills, the true magic comes from the vocal harmonies between Flora Reed and Phillip Price. Those combined with the jangly guitars leads to an almost dreamlike state felt while listening to "Lean in the Wind." Welcome back, Winterpills. We're thrilled to have you. Flora Reed says of her band's latest single: “Philip wrote the first line of this song years ago but never finished it. I picked it back up and it became a sort of reverie, remembering the worst days of COVID when you pined for your friends and family.” You can listen to "Lean in ...

Shakey Graves Photo by Ken Sears Here in New England, we're in the middle of a pretty terrible drought. We need rain desperately, and would take any rain that we can get. Unfortunately, rain finally came during this year's Green River Festival. Saturday was just cold and wet all day, while Sunday offered a short break before the downpour took over the day. Hooded sweatshirts aren't the usual clothing of choice at an outdoor music festival in July, but they dominated the weekend. The weather was so bad all hot air balloon rides were cancelled, which hasn't happened in decades, if ever. Luckily, the music was stellar enough to save the weekend. Here are some of the best things we saw. Leland Sundries Photo by Ken Sears Leland Sundries Leland Sundries' new album, Music for Outcasts , didn't connect with Jeff when it was released last month. To be honest, it didn't really work for me, either. I was surprised to find out that the songs work much ...

Now that we're just a month out, the Green River Festival has announced their schedule for 2016. It's a doozy of a line up, and with any all day festival with three stages, some major decisions will need to be made. Luckily for you, we're here to help you along and pick some of the must see acts of Green River 2016. (Note: We're only going to make it for Saturday and Sunday, so those are the two days we'll focus on.) Also, if past history with festivals are any indication, these plans could be completely scrapped once the music actually starts. Tickets are still available for the Green River Festival. You can get yours, and see the entire line up and schedule here . Lula Wiles The three members of Lula Wiles met at Maine Fiddle Camp, which apparently is a thing. They honed their talents at Berklee College of Music, and are now this beautiful traditional Americana group. While most Americana groups tend to be either a throw back or progressive, they really bridg...

What a strange week this one is. Album of the Week : Artist : Steven Page Album : Heal Thyself Pt I: Instinct Quick Description : Latest solo album from the ex-Barenaked Ladies singer/songwriter. Why You Should Listen : Page always has a knack for a good melody, and this album is full of them. Overall Thoughts : I'm not sure Page will ever be able to shake the hows of his split with BNL (a drug arrest, lawsuits on royalties, and so on), but while Page One from nearly six years ago made a pretty good effort, this album, which has a bunch of songs that bits and pieces of have been floating around for ages, is a pretty solid unit on a whole. Songs like "Manchild" and "Linda Ronstadt in the 70s" feel like classic Page, and the rest shows a continuing evolution. I expected to enjoy this, but I didn't think it would be quite this good, so it's definitely worth a spot in your rotation this week. Recommendation : Best release of the week, you're ...

As if the organizers of the Green River Festival weren't absurdly busy enough putting together one of the best line ups we've seen in years (Steve Earle! Lydia Loveless! J Mascis! Polaris!), they've announced a brand new one day mini-festival called Amourasaurus! Basically, they took a bunch of bands that they wanted for Green River but couldn't book, and booked them for August 30 instead. Amourasaurus will feature Lake Street Dive, JD McPherson, Parsonsfield, Winterpills, and And the Kids. It's perfect if you've already made plans for the weekend of July 10-12, or just want to keep the fun going.  The inaugural Amourasaurus will take place August 30 at Pines Theater at Look Park, Florence, MA. You can get more details and tickets here . Today is also the final day for Early Bird tickets for this year's Green River Festival . You know you're going to want to go, so you should just suck it up and buy them now.

Things are slower than last week, but that doesn't say too much. A lot of interesting releases this week: Sallie Ford - Slap Back : Blog favorite Sallie Ford puts out her first solo album this week, and it's actually a lot more straightforward than I personally expected. The blues/soul stuff that we've gotten used to with her Sound Outside albums is muted somewhat in this album and replaced with a more straightforward rock attitude that has a lot of interesting wrinkles to it. On first listen, I like it but I expected something different. A lot of this, much like her last album, might be a grower, and I'm more than happy to give it an opportunity. Winterpills - Echolalia : I knew I wanted to listen to this one when I saw it on the new release schedule, but I couldn't quite figure out why I remembered this band until I realized that their previous album was on constant rotation for me for quite a while. Echolalia is a covers album, and it wouldn't be im...