If It's Too Loud...

Not the greatest week... The Mountain Goats - Beat the Champ : On the surface, this album should be my favorite thing in the world, combining The Mountain Goats with professional wrestling. The unfortunate truth is that the album peters out really quickly, with the high points being "The Legend of Chavo Guerrero" and "Foreign Object," and the rest being kind of unmemorable. I may have gone into this with higher expectations than I should have, but this is an album I wanted to love and barely like at this point. It's unfortunate. Say Lou Lou - Lucid Dreaming : Say Lou Lou (formerly Saint Lou Lou) is the project of the twin daughters of the lead singer of The Church from back in the 1980s. Lucid Dreaming is sort of the low-key electro-pop I love, and the album is generally good but never seems to take that leap into something greater throughout. I've liked what I've heard up to this point, and the album isn't bad at all (especially in a b...

Credit:  Dominick Mastrangelo In order to help pay for touring, Field Mouse have a special tour store with special items and deals. They're basically crowdfunding the costs of touring. Since we love Field Mouse ( especially Jeff ), and we love covers, we're especially excited for their promised covers LP. They've already shared their cover of the Jurassic Park theme and  Joyce Manor's "Schley," and today they shared The Smashing Pumpkins' "Mayonaise." It's a near perfect cover, to the point that I immediately started listening to Siamese Dream  once it was over, and I can't remember the last time I broke that one out.  For more information on Field Mouse, including dates for their upcoming tour with Hop Along, go to their website . To pre-order their covers LP, and check out all the other offerings, go to their tour shop . You can also listen to their cover of "Mayonaise" below.

Coming out of Brighton, Prinzhorn Dance School have released the first single from their forthcoming album. "Reign" is minimalist new wave that recalls early Depeche Mode and remind me of a dark Gang of Four. With the slightest shred of instrumentation, the track is intense as can be, and creates a haunting mood that will follow you for weeks. The song is as addictive as crack. When I first heard it last week, I liked it. Now, I've become obsessed with Prinzhorn Dance School, going back and listening to previous albums. "Reign" is still as intense of their previous albums, but somehow feels more human. It could be because most of their new album's tracks were recorded on the first take, before overthinking and overproduction can become an issue. Home Economics is due out on June 9th from DFA Records. You can listen to "Reign" below. To find out more about Prinzhorn Dance School, head over to their website , and go here to pre-order the album. ...

Photo by Ken Sears Spirit Family Reunion is one of our favorite bands of the past few years, and they have a new album coming out on April 14. "Wake Up, Rounder!" is the first single, and it's exactly what you expect and want from them. They were the surprise hit of the 2012 Newport Folk Festival and played to a massive overflow crowd in 2013 at the Fort Stage. They have this fabulous downhome Appalachian style of folk, played with such an infectious love and joy that it's impossible to not get sucked in, unless you're missing a soul. In one of the more interesting pairings, Just Coffee Co-Op (the same company that makes the WTF Blend advertised on Marc Maron's podcast) has made a Wake Up Rounder coffe e to coincide with the release of Hands Together. Hands Together  and Wake Up Rounder coffee will be released on April 14. To pre-order the album, go here. For more information on Spirit Family Reunion including tour dates (we simply can't recommend ...

To follow up from our contest last week, the winner of The King in Wait's album is Heidi Caswell of Maynard! Thanks to everyone for entering, and Heidi, expect the CD in the mail sometime in the next week or so. Congratulations!

Photo by  Daniel Topete Photography Where the hell did this song come from? It's been almost 2 years since I first discussed Speedy Ortiz on If It's Too Loud... , calling them "...    Liz Phair [fronting] a supergroup with members of Pavement and Dinosaur Jr." You would never connect that description with their new song, "Puffer." "Puffer" is still 90s as all hell, but has a bizarre Sneaker Pimps slinky vibe to it, and am I detecting a little, teeny bit of Britney Spears behind that? It's all layered over noisey, feedback heavy guitars, and it's good ( really  good), but holy hell I never would have expected this to come out of them 2 years ago. You don't usually get a band this early on in their career to make such an intense and major sound shift. If they do, it's usually a giant mistake, but this doesn't feel like a bad move. "Puffer" just grooves. To make everything just that much more strange, the song premier...

With their final album coming out April 25, Brown Bird have released the first single, "Bannerman." As with anything Brown Bird related, it's very bittersweet since, with Dave Lamb's passing, this will be it. It's hard to tell if "Bannerman" is as haunting as it is on it's own, or if this information influences the vibe of the song, but this song will just stick into your brain stem for days after hearing it. It's full of Brown Bird's standard Eastern European infused folk, but with this dark, mysterious vibe caused by an almost swirling guitar. It's this very unique direction that I haven't heard in folk before, giving it just the slightest hint of shoegaze without fuzz, if that's possible. I have heard that Axis Mundi  will reflect some of Dave Lamb and MorganEve Swain's more metal influences. Maybe this darkness is just a preview of that. Axis Mundi  is due out April 25, and is available for preorder through their Bandc...

Watching Wrestlemania this past weekend, they threw a musical performance in the middle of one of the more earwormy, yet still kind of frustratingly awful, songs of recent times, "Rise" by David Guetta with singing from Skylar Grey: I had never heard of Grey prior to the performance, nor did I know that Guetta was part of the song at all, to the point where I asked those I was watching the show with whether Grey was the singer or the DJ. This prompted me to Google, and this prompted me to have my mind blown a bit. First, this is Skylar Grey. It turns out that you know of her even if you don't know of her - she co-wrote a few songs, most notably Eminem's "I Need a Doctor" and was nominated for a Grammy for writing Rihanna's part on "Love the Way You Lie." The latter song was outright inescapable a few years back. She's definitely made a name for herself in terms of writing for R&B and hip-hop acts over the years. She was also...

Chicago has a legendary blues and jazz scene. One of the newest artists to come out of it recently has been Lili K. You might recognize the name from appearing on Chance the Rapper's " Hey Ma " and " Pusha Man ," but that track barely captures Lili K's talents. "I Don't Want You No More" comes across like a more youthful and fun Lake Street Dive fronted by a 50s teenage R&B singer, with just the slightest hint of indie rock thrown in. Where most jazz has a stodgy, formal feel, this track is an absolute blast . Even the video is fun, looking like both Sonic Youth's videos for Goo  and mid-90s films starring Parker Posey.  Lili K's debut album, RUBY , is due out April 21 on Freshly Baked Records. For more information, you can find her on Facebook , Twitter , and her own official website .

It seems like the more important the release, the less interesting the album. I didn't expect that. Drab - Drab : The band is calling this a remaster of their first album, although I don't know if it was ever actually released before. I'm treating it as a new release in any regard, because I love this album . I've always been drawn to the off-center punk/rock with female leads, and Drab really does it well. At only 26 minutes and 9 tracks, I wish it was a lot longer, but beyond that it's a really enjoyable ride and quite easily the album of the week. The Sonics - This Is The Sonics : The Sonics release their first album in 48 years this week. No, that's not a typo, and yes, they're that old. With that said, old guys shouldn't really rock this hard, and, while there are some cringeworthy moments throughout, there is more than enough charm ("Bad Betty" is legitimately great, "Save the Planet" is endearing with its "It...

The Green River Festival has long been one of the most beloved, if almost secret, annual New England music festivals. It was long run by the Greenfield, MA Chamber of Commerce and because of that always seemed to be geared towards an older audience. That started to change back in 2013 with the inclusion of Gogol Bordello to the festival, and last year it started being presented by Signature Sounds , the fantastic Northampton, MA based record label. The festival sold out in advance last year, and this year will be an even quicker sell out for its 29th year. Saturday is just ridiculous with Tune-Yards, Wood Brothers, western MA rock god J Mascis, Booker T. Jones, Milk Carton Kids, Langhorne Slim & the Law, blog favorite Lydia Loveless, Polaris (aka the band from The Adventures of Pete & Pete !), and more. Sunday is also solid with Steve Earle & the Dukes, Punch Brothers, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Valerie June, Elephant Revival, Joe Pug, and more. Besides music, the festi...

Walter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys released another free album via their Bandcamp this week. It was fairly surprising, mostly because they've been extremely busy with providing the music for a version of Shockheaded Peter   for the past few months. Recorded as part of the RPM Challenge 2015  (where bands record full albums in 28 days), this might be their oddest release to date for one main reason: It's extremely straightforward. Don't get me wrong, it's still a strange album by normal standards, but for Walter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys it might as well be a Mumford & Sons album, if Mumford & Sons were dark as fuck. Somehow the subject matter and the sense of foreboding behind a more "normal" musical landscape comes across as even creepier than their typical fare. I miss the more bombastic, heavier songs that accompany their normal releases, but this is still a good solid album, especially for free. It's also nice to see an...

Because we can't hear them all? Diana Krall - Wallflower : I'll listen to almost anything, but jazz always seems to get away from me. Diana Krall is a noteworthy exception to this for whatever reason, though, and her latest album, a cover record called Wallflower , is both a step in a more accessible direction as well as somewhat less interesting as the smooth jazz takes on some classics are...not great. I love a good cover song, but too many of the tracks here end up being more dirgey than anything else, and that's not always a welcome thing. Worth a listen, but beware. Jenny Owen Youngs - Slack Tide : Most musicians, when repackaging their music for an EP, tend to irritate me. When Jenny Owen Youngs does it, for whatever reason, I keep getting hooked over and over. I listened once for the new song and the curiosity, and I must have replayed it at least 6 times within a few days of that first listen. It's a solid EP anyway, more fun if you're a fan of her...

Credit: Shervin Lainez In May, Field Mouse is heading out on tour with Hop Along. For smaller bands, touring can be expensive, and is largely paid for with merch sales. Field Mouse is following that, but by kinda sorta crowdfunding their tour. They have a special tour store  with lots of bonus merch and experiences. The basic is a handwritten postcard from the band for $5, and for $50 you get a VIP experience with a ticket to a show of your choice and the band will buy you 2 drinks. My favorite is the covers album level. As you know, If It's Too Loud... loves  cover songs, and the band is recording an album of covers just for those that help out with funding their tour. So far they've revealed two covers: "Jurassic Park Theme," which is a cover of the actual film score and not the "Weird Al" song (unfortunately), and a version of Joyce Manor's "Schley." You can listen to "Jurassic Park Theme" below.    Washed Up Emo has an exclus...

Photo by Katie Graves Marrow is a brand new band comprised of former members of Chicago alt-hip hop group Kids These Days. After the formation of Marrow, Liam Cunningham (guitar/vocals) toured as a member of Tweedy and Macie Stewart (keyboard/vocals) toured with Chance the Rapper. It's an interesting combination, which doesn't really fit Marrow's sound. "Paulson" shows off this weird mix that lives in between pop punk, folk, and 90s alternapop, kind of like Laura Stevenson, or Field Mouse without the shoegaze elements. They're all in their early 20s, but it doesn't feel like that since they've been playing together since high school. And I'm sure touring with the likes of Jeff Tweedy doesn't hurt. You can check out Marrow at their website  or Facebook . Listen to "Paulson" below, and below that they have some tour dates listed (their first outside of Chicago!). Tue. April 21 – Philadelphia, PA @ Milkboy Wed. April 22 – Ne...