If It's Too Loud...

Last night Pickathon announced their 2019 line up, and it has us seriously considering an early August trip out to Oregon. They've always pushed the boundaries of what is considered Americana music, and this year they're pushing them the hardest yet, and it has made for an amazing line up. You get some more traditionally folk/country artists like Nathaniel Rateliff (doing two separate shows with two different bands), Mountain Man, Mandolin Orange, Tyler Childers, Julia Jacklin, Black Belt Eagle Scout, and more. This year they push the boundaries with the indie rock of The Beths, the doom metal of YOB, the North African Tuareg guitar of Mdou Moctar, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, the freak dance of Bodega, the folk-ish dance of Lucius, and more! The whole thing goes down August 2-4 at Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley Oregon. You can get more information over at their website . They've put together a Spotify playlist, which you can find below. The complete line up is below th...

I first discovered Funeral Advantage at the 2015 Harvard Square Mayfair .  Back then, I described them as sounding like just about every song was a Smiths cover, and since I've compared their recorded output to The Cure. They have a new song out, which is going to lead to some new comparisons. "Black House" might be their peppiest song to date, which may be strange since it's from a band called Funeral Advantage and the song is called "Black House." There is a strong early 80's New Wave sound to the song reminiscent of early Depeche Mode and really early Ministry. This is definitely a dance song that has some throwback elements but still sounds fresh and current. The vocal effects, which are very Autotune-esque at some points, help add to that. It's an interesting slight change of sound, which makes the upcoming album that much more intriguing.  You can listen to "Black House" below. Nectarine , the new album from Funeral Advant...

I've always loved a good supergroup. Piroshka might have one of the better pedigrees we've seen in quite a while. It features  Miki Berenyi of Lush, KJ "Moose" McKillup of Moose, Mick Conroy of Modern English, and Justin Welch of Elastica. Their single, "Everlastingly Yours," is exactly what you'd want it to be. It has a distinct shoegaze vibe, but in this almost groovy tropicalia kind of way. It's a smooth, chilled out song. It's definitely the sound shoegaze/Brit pop/New Wave bands should be making now, 20-30 years into their careers. Piroshka are the rare supergroup that have taken all their parts and blended them perfectly together into a more mature and modern sound. You can listen to "Everlastingly Yours" below. Piroshka's debut album, Brickbat , will be out February 15 on Bella Union. The album can be pre-ordered here . For more on Piroshka, check them out on Facebook and Twitter .

Photo by Nazrin Massaro Los Angeles's Potty Mouth have this 90's infused blend of alternative pop rock that we can help but get into. Their new single, "22," is an absolute blast. It's a fun pop punk song, leaning very heavily onto the pop side of things. It has the catchiness and the crunchy guitars of early Letters to Cleo, but the punk attitude of The Donnas, especially with singer Abby Weems's vocal delivery. A warning to all of us old fogies out there: The song is about being nervous about turning twenty two. Not thirty. Not even twenty five. Twenty two. Just let that sink in for a bit... Regardless, if you can get past that, there is no way you won't love the song. You can listen to "22" below. SNAFU , the new album from Potty Mouth, will be out March 1 on Get Better Records. Pre-orders of the album on blue vinyl will come with a comic book titled Potty Mouth: Situation Normal All Fucked Up  that was written and illustrated by Abby We...

Allie Crow Buckley is a singer/songwriter from Malibu, and her latest single, "Cherry Stems," definitely reflects what you'd expect from a singer/songwriter from Malibu (in the best possible way). The song is light and breezy, not really folky but not quite pop, either. It's pretty laid back. You can't quite dance to it, but you could get a really great sway going on. But it does have this unexpected intensity to it, like a darkness just under the edges. Plus, there is some unexpected killer crunchy guitar work that comes in like an unexpected attack. It takes a mainstream sound and turns it just slightly in an unexpected direction enough to help keep it interesting. You can watch the video for "Cherry Stems" below. Allie Crow Buckley's debut EP, So Romantic , will be out on February 5. It will also feature Jason Boesel and Dylan Day from Jenny Lewis's band and Mike Viola as her backing band. For more on Allie Crow Buckley, be sure to check...

Photo by Drew Hagelin Fans of Priests's debut artsy noise rock album  Nothing Feels Natural  might be shocked by the first single off their new upcoming album, "The Seduction of Kansas," is pure shimmering pop, but with an insanely dark side, and it's just off enough to suck in those of us that hate pop music. It's 100% a song you can dance to (and you should), but it also has a disturbing edge. Plus, the song gets far more highbrow than pop music gets. From the press release for the song: " As journalist Thomas Frank explored in 2004’s  What’s the Matter With Kansas? , the ideological sway of Kansas has often predicted the direction in which the U.S. will move—whether leaning socialist in the 1800s or going staunchly conservative in the 1980s." Yeah, this isn't mindless Swedish produced pop music. This is pop music for the art rock crowd, and we should all be thankful for it. You can watch the video for "The Seduction of Kansas" belo...

Few songs are as iconic as Joy Division's immortal "Love Will Tear Us Apart." It's just one of those songs that stays with you forever, and all covers I've ever heard are faithful, even if they're more on the emo/pop punk spectrum. Well, New Orleans's Hot 8 Brass Band will change all of that. Of all the "Love Will Tear Us Apart" covers I've heard, I don't believe I've ever heard a brass band rendition. This is a complete and utter reworking of the gothic/post punk classic as a boucy, joyous celebration, so Joy Division purists beware. It's mostly instrumental, and you will definitely recognize the song through just the music. All verses are completely removed from the song, with the only lyrics being the occasional "Love will tear us apart again." It's not what you'd expect, but it's quite fun if you can get into this sort of thing. You can listen to Hot 8 Brass Band's version of "Love Will Tea...

I've been fairly obsessed with Leyla McCalla ever since discovering her at FreshGrass years ago. She has always had this incredibly unique and fresh take on classic folk that I can never get enough of. Her latest single, "Money is King," shows McCalla pushing towards the mainstream... kinda. "Money is King" seems more like a classic folk song than anything I've previously heard from McCalla, but more the ragtime/jazz side of folk music. Plus, "Money is King" attacks capitalism harder than any mainstream song I've heard since Rage Against the Machine. This seems like it will be a recurring theme for McCalla's upcoming album Capitalist Blues. According to McCalla, " Capitalist Blues is comprised of songs that reflect my experience living in a capitalist society, where we are always expected to do more, be more, and have more. While many of these songs are drawn from my most personal experiences of motherhood, I also find myself questi...

Photo by Ellen Askonas You may know Gabriel Birnbaum better as the frontman of Wilder Maker, but he also is a member of Debo Band and has played with Sharon Van Etten, Lady Lamb, and more. Right now he's releasing a solo album later this year, and we can check out the first single, "Stack the Miles." "Stack the Miles" may sound like pretty standard solo album, singer/songwriter material at first. However, that helps mask how interesting and unique the song is. Despite having a relatively full sound, the song is quite sparse. It's basically the same riff repeated over and over throughout the entire song, with some secondary flourishes sprinkled in regularly. It creates an odd, but intriguing song. You can listen to "Stack the Miles" below. The song will be included on Gabriel Birnbaum's upcoming debut solo album. To keep up on details when they are announced, head on over to Wilder Maker's website .

Photo by Eran Shaysh I don't think I'll ever understand how STL GLD aren't one of the biggest bands in America. Notice I didn't say one of the biggest hip hop acts in America, but one of the biggest bands. It seems every time they release new music they just keep getting better and better. Their new single, "The New Normal, Pt. 1," might be what finally puts them over the top. It's something completely rare in modern hip hop: It's unique and creative while still having a huge amount of mainstream appeal. The song reminds me of everything I loved from hip hop back in the early 90's. It's not a throwback song at all. "The New Normal, Pt. 1" sounds completely current. This song has an edge to it and completely ignores what everyone else is doing out there. STL GLD do their own thing, and we should all come to the party ASAP. You can listen to "The New Normal, Pt. 1" below. The new STL GLD album, The New Normal , will be o...

2019 sounds like a good time to resurrect an old series here, Current Obsessions, where we wax semi-poetic about the stuff that's really nailing it for us. Today, "Wasted Nun" by Cherry Glazerr. On one hand, while I've been a fan of Cherry Glazerr since their early EPs, I have never quite put them in the same box with Tancred, Charly Bliss, and the like with the whole alt-rock revival thing we saw a few years ago. With that said, Apocalypstick was an album of the week for me when it came out and this new song? Well, wow - this song is incredible. The song does not waste any time getting to the point, with a heavier sound and some crunchy guitars getting right into it. The chorus is less melodic and more pleading, with a style that I yelled right along with in the car yesterday afternoon - even though I'm not a wasted girl, I certainly feel like I'm no fun sometimes, and one has to wonder where this song is coming from specifically. And a shout out ...

Photo via Facebook This has been a very cover heavy week, even by our standards. We finally break out of Nirvana covers with this one from The Regrettes. They're taking on Queen's classic (although does Queen have any songs that aren't considered classics?) "Don't Stop Me Now." While there was some controversy over Bohemian Rhapsody winning the Golden Globe earlier this week, I think we can all agree The Regrettes may have the perfect cover here. It stays completely faithful to the original version while adding just enough of their own touch so it does sound like a modern garage pop-punk song. It's an absurdly fun song, and perfect for fans of both bands. You can listen to The Regrette's version of "Don't Stop Me Now" below. The band has said that it's part of a secret upcoming project, but no word on what that is yet. For more on The Regrettes, check out their website .

We first told you about the upcoming Mojo Nixon documentary waaaaaaaay back in July 2013 . After that... there was pretty much no news. Well, five and a half years later we finally have a trailer and a release date. The good news is the trailer. The bad news is that the release date for The Mojo Manifesto is March 2020... over a year away. Well, we've (Ok, I've  been waiting... I doubt Jeff is as excited about this documentary as I am) been waiting for almost six years, so what's one more for our favorite country punk madman legend? Let's just hope this gets a Boston Independent Film Festival screening with Mojo himself in attendance. You can watch the trailer for The Mojo Manifesto  below. Heads up, there is a whole lotta NSFW language, so headphones on! For more on Mojo Nixon, check out his website , even though I don't think it's been updated since 2011.

The Green River Festival has been a highlight of our summer for years now. It hasn't worked out with my personal schedule the past two years, but with today's initial line up announcement it better. So far only five artists have been announced, but they're all killer additions to any festival. They're even kind enough to announce what days they're playing: First Aid Kit: Friday The Wood Brothers: Saturday The Devil Makes Three, Rhiannon Giddens, and Tyler Childers: Sunday The Green River Festival is one of the most laid back and all ages friendly festivals around. It's one of the few that I get just as excited about the food trucks as I do the music. It always feels like a bunch of music fans somehow tricked artists to play a festival they made up, but run perfectly. The Green River Festival runs July 13-15 at the Greenfield Community College in Greenfield, MA. For more information, check out their website , and make sure to buy early bird tickets!

Photo by Pooneh Ghana We were both huge fans of Stella Donnelly's debut EP, Thrush Metal . Obviously we're going to be thrilled in March when her debut album is released. Right now we can check out the first single off that album now. "Old Man" is a little smoother than the songs off Thrush Metal.  It's a little less folk and a bit more pop. It's still a great singer/songwriter release. Donnelly is almost crooning in her Australian accent, and the songs has an almost slinky or seductive feel. Of course, then you listen to the lyrics about a groping, creepy old man (hence the title) and your skin begins to immediately crawl. "Old Man" is a great step in a slightly new direction, and we can't wait to hear the rest. You can watch the video for "Old Man" below. Beware of Dogs, the debut album from Stella Donnelly, will be out March 8 on Secretly Canadian. You can pre-order the album here . For more on Stella Donnelly, check out her ...