If It's Too Loud...

When Ken and I started this blog 15(!) years ago, we saw the name of it as a bit of a joke. Yes, at 35 and 30 respectively, we weren't too old for being obsessed with music and hitting All The Concerts yet, but we were more and more likely to be among the oldest people at the club, and probably five years late to the music blog heyday anyway. This month, however, Ken turned 50, and he did something we've talked about on and off for quite some time: booked a show. Three of his favorite artists, and, as it turned out, three artists I had never seen live before. Spoiler alert: it was great (and don't let my poor photography skills tell you otherwise). First up was Battlemode, a chiptune band. Last chiptune band I saw was probably as part of a LiveSexAct triple bill at the Middle East at some point in the early 2000s, so to say I'm not exactly up to date on chiptune is definitely true. The good news? Battlemode absolutely killed it. With one member doing his thin...

Wyn Doran has bounced around the regional musical scene for a few years, but it definitely feels like she found her footing with Wyn and the White Light. It feels weird as a guy to call something "witchy," but that's the vibe one gets from the "pomegranate-infused haunted-soul-rock" offered by the trio - it feels just as at home in the middle of a smoky bar as it would in the middle of the woods, with a torchy delivery and some truly gorgeous harmonies to spare. What stunned me the most about this is how complete it feels; you get the impression not only that the band is better than what "regional act" would indicate, but that they're doing something truly special that could turn into something huge. Songs like "Heal Me" were in constant rotation, and "Statue" shows the level of songwriting we're talking about here. I knew it was good, but I was delightfully surprised when this kept rising up my list for 20...

I first discovered Wyn Doran as a solo artist at a Sofar show in February 2020. Since then, things have changed significantly in just about every way, but I hadn't had a chance to see her play live again. Her releases (particularly her new album Luck recorded with her band The White Light) have gotten better and better, but the stars had not aligned to be able to see her again. Luckily, Sunday night it worked out and I headed to Warehouse XI in Somerville to see Wyn & The White Light's "Ghosts of the Past" show. On the surface, Sunday night's show was Halloween themed, with free tarot readings, ghost decorations throughout the venue, and Wyn & The White Light donning death related costumes for their set. However, the "Ghosts of the Past" theme was more about releasing the ghosts of your past than anything spoopy. For Doran, the evening was about releasing past traumas depicted in the album Luck , such as a stroke and a near death experience from ...

I've been following Wyn Doran ever since I saw her play live in February 2020, back in ye olden times. Her solo releases were quite good, and we covered and enjoyed them. But then she teamed up with Lucia Jean on bass and Heidi Tierney on drums to form Wyn & the White Light, and something just clicked. Her songs with Wyn & the White Light have been absolute revelations, and today sees the release of their debut album, Luck. Luck is an absolute force of an album. A song like "Heal Me" is epic in size. Doran is just pouring emotion into the song, and it's one of the most powerful songs you've heard in years. It starts off as a quiet, plaintive song, and then the drums start kicking in and you know everything is about to change. "Heal Me" brings you on an absolute journey while condensing folk and indie rock into one sound. Doran still has her more pop leaning side throughout Luck , but this is unlike any pop you've heard before. The album is a ...

Ok, we know we always use the word "haunting" to describe music from Wyn & the White Light, but it always seems to fit. On their latest single, "Statue," Wyn Doran gets weird. The song starts off with this uncomfortable sounding intro before mellowing out and turning into one of the more lovely alt-pop meets folk style songs we've covered in a while. The song is quite orchestral and impossibly endearing before getting back into its oddly discordant beginnings. And then "Statue" just delves deeper into this interesting and unique mixture of its dissonance mixed with the beauty it showed earlier. No wonder Doran refers to this song as her "anesthesia dream." You can listen to "Statue" below. Luck is due out on March 19. For more on Wyn & the White Light, be sure to check out the band on Facebook  and Instagram . They're also playing The Overlook at Mill No. 5 in Lowell on April 13 with Glad Valley and Savoir Faire.

Photo by Marion Earley For Wyn & the White Light's new single, Wyn Doran looked back on a near death experience the day after Christmas in her 20's that left her hospitalized until her birthday in early January. During a songwriting retreat with Ben Folds, Folds issued a "six lines" challenge, where writers only get six total lyrical lines to form an entire song structure. The resulting song, "Can the World Change," is a sparse and intimate song that shows Doran's raw emotions and focuses on her vocals. Referring to a song as haunting is a bit of a cliche, but "Can the World Change" is one of the more haunting songs we've heard in a long, long time. As powerful and affecting as the songs is, it also feels quite fragile.  You can listen to "Can the World Change" below. Luck is due out this winter. For more on Wyn & the White Light, check out the artist's website .

Photo by Mike Doran For their latest single, Wyn & the White Light seem to be getting back to Wyn Doran's singer-songwriter roots. "White Noise" has that folk meets pop sound we discovered of Doran's nearly four years ago, but with a little more blues than normal. And then the rock kicks in propelled by drums, and the song takes on a whole new life and sound. "White Noise" is about when Doran ended up ill in a hospital run "covid hotel" last year, and the song reflects the sense of isolation and confusion she felt. The song is equally brutal and beautiful in its sound, and shows a side of Wyn & the White Light we haven't quite seen before. You can listen to "White Noise" below. The band has teamed up with Barewolf Brewing in Amesbury, MA to celebrate the release of the song with a "White Noise" White IPA. You can celebrate both November 11 at Barewolf Brewing with a free all ages show starting at 7:00 pm. For more on...

Photo by Mike Doran We've been covering Wyn Doran's music for almost for years now, so we know what to expect when she releases a new song. Her music is this excellent blend of folk and pop without being even remotely folk-pop. That's what makes her latest single with Wyn & the White Light so thrilling. "Heal Me" starts off like how we would expect. It's a quiet yet intense song filled with heavy emotions, and it was perfect just like that. But then the song just builds and builds intensity until it becomes this completely epic song. The strings on the song are simply perfect and what keeps adding a sense of unease to the build of the song. It reminds me of The Huntress and Holder of Hands meets U2 in how it builds to this giant scope of a song, but still with a sense of darkness. If we haven't convinced you to jump on the Wyn bandwagon yet, "Heal Me" should convince you. Wyn Doran says of the new song: "‘Heal Me’ is how the album’s stor...

Photo via Facebook We've been waiting impatiently for an official song from Wyn & the White Light for what feels like forever at this point, but our lack of patience has finally paid off with the band's debut single. "How the West Was Won" starts off in a very Wyn Doran way with the line "There's a heartbeat in the floorboard," and then slowly takes off into a beautiful and engaging folk-pop/alt-rock song. For a song by Doran, it's shockingly uplifting (if you're new to her music, there is a typical melancholia with most of her songs). There might be more than a little darkness in the song, but the chorus nearly eradicates that. And then there's the screaming. It's almost like the kind of screaming you'd hear standing outside of a haunted house, but it adds to the song perfectly. Wyn & the White Light had us highly anticipating new music, and now we're more than intrigued to hear more! You can listen to "How the West ...

Photo via Facebook "hold on for another day," the latest single from Wyn Doran, was written years ago and recently came back to Doran. It's an absolutely gorgeous song that is a little bit folk and a little bit pop. The focus of the song is Doran's vocals, and she sounds amazing in "hold on for another day." You can feel every single emotion in her voice. Doran releasing emotional music, particularly music with a heaviness and sadness to it, isn't anything new. But as sad as this new song is, there is also an audible sense of hope. It may not be the happiest of songs, but it is surprisingly uplifting. You can listen to "hold on for another day" below. Wyn Doran just finished recording a new album with her band Wyn & The White Light. Hopefully we'll be bringing you more of that soon. For more on Wyn Doran, check out the artist's website .

Beautiful Was the Fight , the new documentary feature from Dave Habeeb, started out at a Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys show. (I believe it was   this one .) It was Habeeb's first time seeing Ruby Rose Fox, and he decided he wanted to make a documentary short about her. He filmed during her Queen Treatment Only Festival the next month, but upon seeing other artists like When Particles Collide, Sarah Blacker, and Haley Jane & The Primates, his short documentary about one artist expanded to a feature length documentary about women in the Boston music scene. This documentary is going to appeal to just about any reader of If It's Too Loud... based solely on the artists that are included in  Beautiful Was the Fight.  It features artists we regularly cover such as the aforementioned Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys and Ruby Rose Fox, as well as other favorites including Sapling, Wyn Doran, Liz Bills & the Change, Stormstress, Carissa Johnson, a...

Photo via Facebook I usually don't share live videos unless they are professionally shot or recorded. It's not always a fair reflection of a band or their live show. But, it's been a long time since we've shared anything from Wyn Doran, or her new band. Plus, this one is really great. Wyn Doran has formed a new band, Wyn & The White Light. The trio just played The Burren in Somerville, which included a cover of The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby." The cover starts off much like what I'd expect a Wyn Doran cover of "Eleanor Rigby" to sound like. It's a dark and moody version propelled by Doran's vocals. Plus, the cello is a great touch. And then the song kicks in with a much more rock focused version of the song. Wyn & The White Light do the loud/quiet/loud thing from there, making this an indie rock with cello and killer harmonies version of one of the most well known songs in The Beatles' catalog. You're going to want to che...

Nashua, NH's Wyn Doran has released her 2022 submission for this year's NPR Tiny Desk contest in the form of a new song, "How the West Was Won." At this point the song is just Doran and her acoustic guitar. It's a lovely song that is much more complicated than your average singer/songwriter acoustic song tends to be. As with any song from this artist, the focus is her voice and songwriting. We always tend to joke about all of her songs being depressing, and I'm not going to say it isn't. The first verse ends with the lyric "Are we ever gonna find it? (We ain't ever gonna find it)." But... there is something hopeful about this one. Doran lets a little ray of light in throughout "How the West Was Won," which could just be my imagination, but I like to think that I hear it. You can watch the video for "How the West Was Won" below. For more on Wyn Doran, check out the artist's website .

Photo by Felton Kizer In a dream pairing for us, New Hampshire's Wyn Doran has covered Julia Jacklin's holiday song from last year, "baby jesus is nobody's baby now." While Jacklin's original is fairly sparse, Doran's feels even more sparse despite having the same basic instrumentation. The only difference is while Jacklin's version is vocals and guitar, Doran's is vocals and ukulele (I believe it's a uke, at least). It's a gorgeous version of a gorgeous song, and it's the perfect way to bring a non-traditional new holiday favorite back into your playlists this year! Plus, it's not exactly a Christmas song filled with cheer, so it fits right in with Wyn Doran's oeuvre perfectly. You can listen to Wyn Doran's version of "baby jesus is nobody's baby now" below. For more on Wyn Doran, check out the artist's website .

Last year during the pandemic (obviously...), Wyn Doran began meeting with violinist/composer Josh Knowles weekly on Zoom to work on musical projects together. "Concern" sprang from that collaboration. "Concern" is a pop song, but a dark twisted version of pop. Doran's voice have never sounded this haunting, which is saying quite a bit. Her vocals along with Knowles' violin over an almost trip hop beat create this intensely cinematic sound. Despite the intensity of the song and a slightly awkward feeling the listener will get from it, "Concern" is simply gorgeous. Somehow the song is both anxiety filled and oddly comforting. You can listen to "Concern" below. For more on Wyn Doran, check out the artist's website .

Wyn Doran writing heartbreakingly sad songs is kind of a joke among her fans, to the point that she jokes about it. (Despite this, she's actually a delight to see in person.) Because of that, a Christmas song from Doran in 2020 perfectly captures how many of us feel about the season this year. "Can't Go Home for Christmas" is a painful song that reminisces for holidays of the past, when things were "all fun and games," and how we can't even go home for Christmas this year. Doran brings in friend and fellow musician Liz Bills in for this one, creating an alt-pop/singer-songwriter track that is as beautiful as it is sad, although Doran injects enough of her charm into the song to make it a great listen. You can watch the video for "Can't Go Home for Christmas" (which features cameos of both musicians' cats!) below. For more on Wyn Doran, check out her website . For Liz Bills, check out hers .

Photo via Facebook Wyn Doran is known around these parts for her gorgeous and absolutely heartbreaking songs. "Eleanor Rigby" is already a sad, mopey kind of song. Put "Eleanor Rigby" in Doran's hands, and it becomes even more sad, almost soul crushing. Gone is any shred of the sappiness in any McCartney song (I'm a huge, huge Paul McCartney fan, but the man does love his songs dripping with sap) and instead it's injected with Doran's trademark gloom. But Doran's gloom almost feels a little tongue in cheek here, kind of like how The Smiths and The Cure had fun with their reputations and made some of the most fun sad music of all time.  Wyn Doran explains her cover and the accompanying video: " Things got weird in my apartment Friday when I last minute asked my husband if we could cook up a Halloween The Beatles  cover video of 'Eleanor Rigby'... I quickly scrambled to lay down a live audio take with my iZotope  Spire, dug out my Beat...

Photo via Facebook Nashua, NH's Wyn Doran might be the perfect artist for 2020. Her music has such a dark feel to it that it gets brought up humorously as she introduces songs. As dark and sad as her songs may tend to be, Doran's blend of folk/pop is absolutely gorgeous. Her latest single, "Starry Eyes," is a prime example of her style. It's a quarantine recorded song that is a collaboration with Justin Wiggins and Sara Robalo, neither of which Doran has ever actually met. In fact, Wiggins is from New York City and Robalo is UK based. The song features also features Wiggins on vocals, and is heartbreakingly gorgeous. The guitar work delicately brings you into the song, and Doran's vocals are both fragile and powerful at the same time.  Wyn Doran says of the new song: " As much as our new world sucks (understated??), I'm so grateful that this song is a direct result of quarantine times.  Back in March, an old contact from my time spent with Ben F...

Picture via Facebook It was back in February when we discovered Wyn Doran at a Sofar Sounds show. (That was somehow only two months ago...) The Nashua, NH artist has released a new single this week, "Cigarettes." This new song is exactly what we came to love about her at that show. It's a little more mainstream and pop-ish than I typically like, but Doran pulls this style off perfectly. "Cigarettes" fits into the folk-pop genre,  but also has an undercurrent of trip hop that really sets her apart from other artists. Plus, Doran's voice has a naturally soulful sound to it, making this a beautiful blend of folk, pop, trip hop, and soul. This is the rare song that will appeal to mainstream music fans and us music snobs equally! You can listen to "Cigarettes" below. For more on Wyn Doran, be sure to check out her website , or you can find her on Facebook and Twitter .

Two things I've been dying to experience live for quite some time has been seeing Justin Golden live and checking out a Sofar Sounds show. Once I saw that Justin Golden was playing a Sofar Sounds show, I knew the time was right. For those unfamiliar with Sofar Sounds, it's a series of shows in four hundred cities. The appeal is that you get three surprise artists in non-traditional venues. It's usually a home, but sometimes it's another location, such as the PRX Podcast Garage lobby, where this particular event was held. Seeing that I knew Justin Golden was playing, it was a bit of a cheat for me. But considering he lives in Richmond, VA and has never played in Boston before, cheating a little is allowed. We've been adoring fans of his bluesy folk for a while now, and his live show has strengthened that even more. It was just Golden and a guitar for his performance, but I don't know what else could have been needed. He completely captivated the audience wi...