If It's Too Loud...

Back in 2014, Eddie Spaghetti was diagnosed with throat cancer while on tour with the Supersuckers. On June 19, the band closed out the tour in Seattle. In attendance that night were Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam) and Blind Marky Felchtone (Zeke). At the end of the show, Vedder and Felchtone joined Supersuckers for a rendition of the Ramones's classic "I Believe in Miracles." It's exactly as fantastic as you'd expect. It's just a straight up rock version of the punk epic, with a little grunge and garage tossed in. It was obviously an inspired choice, seeing how Spaghetti was staring down cancer, which he eventually beat. You can listen to Supersuckers's version of "I Believe in Miracles" with Eddie Vedder and Blind Marky Felchtone below. The song is available now via Supersuckers's Bandcamp . For more on Supersuckers, check out their website . I Believe In Miracles by Supersuckers feat. Eddie Vedder

I first discovered Zephaniah OHora when he opened for Sarah Shook & The Disarmers back in 2018 (which feels about a decade ago at this point...). His old timey country sound fit in perfectly with his tourmate's, and I became a fan that night. He's back with a new single, "Black & Blue." "Black & Blue" still sounds like classic country, but more Johnny Cash in the 70's than the 50's. It's classic country, but with a little glitz involved. Maybe it's just OHora's voice, but all the glitz in the world couldn't keep him from sounding at least a little dark, and that sound helps elevate "Black & Blue" to an instant classic. You can listen to "Black & Blue" below. Listening to the Music , the upcoming album from Zephaniah OHora, will be out on August 14 via Last Roundup Records. You can pre-order a copy at Bandcamp . For more on Zephaniah OHora, check out his website . Listening To The Music by Z...

Photo by Chiara Gambuto Bee Bee Sea are the most British sounding band ever to not come from England. Instead, they're an Italian trio, and their latest song has some pretty serious Song of the Summer vibes. "Gonna Get Me" is a high energy burst of garage psych with some Brit pop twinges. Lyrically, it's the story of a love song gone bad, and I hate to celebrate someone's heartbreak but when we get a song this good it's hard not to. As much as everything is horrible right now, put this song on and for two and a half minutes you'll get to experience pure joy. You can listen to "Gonna Get Me" below. Day Ripper , the upcoming album from Bee Bee Sea, will be out on October 9 via Wild Honey Records. You can pre-order a copy here . For more on Bee Bee Sea, check them out on Facebook and Twitter . Bee Bee Sea · Gonna Get Me

Photo by Rachel Cabitt "Milk" started off as an instrumental track when Psymon Spine's Noah Prebish and Sabine Holler asked then Barrie bandmate Barrie Lindsay to add lyrics and vocals to the track. The resulting song is this oddly hypnotic psych/dance track. It's a laid back song that combines disco with trip hop and maybe the slightest hint of post punk. This is the kind of dance music for people who hate dance music but love to dance. It's a fun and groovy song with just enough of a dark vibe running underneath to keep it interesting. You can listen to "Milk" below. The single is available now via Northern Spy and can be downloaded via Bandcamp . For more on Psymon Spine, check them out on Facebook and Twitter . Milk (feat. Barrie) by Psymon Spine, Barrie

Toronto's Jacqueline Tucci has snuck in and become a favorite around here. Her latest single, "Sweeter Things," has a great mid-90's alt-rock/singer-songwriter feel to it. It's snarky as hell, and is about wanting to use her voice in music but feeling pressure to not say anything to make people upset. It's filled with crunchy guitars and an impossibly catchy chorus.  Jacqueline Tucci explains the song: “'Sweeter Things' emphasizes the importance of being true to yourself and speaking up for what you believe in. The lyrics are tongue-in-cheek but the message is sincere.  I think a lot of women, in particular, sometimes feel like we need to live a certain way based on someone else’s standards, but it just isn’t realistic.  You know what matters to you and you should stand up and speak up for that." You can listen to "Sweeter Things" below. Jungle Sounds , the upcoming EP from Jacqueline Tucci, will be out later this year. For more ...

Photo by Ian Wayne The upcoming album from Brooklyn's Ian Wayne is filled with intense grief. While on tour, Wayne found out his three year old nephew had been diagnosed with leukemia. He was gone two weeks later. That intense sorrow that I can't even begin to imagine can be physically felt in the first single from that album. "Baby" starts off as a modern Americana flavored song that slowly moves into some of the most heartbreaking indie rock guitar solos you've ever heard.  "Baby" is about a different loss for Wayne. He explains:  “'Baby' is about an imagined longview of life in love. I think love can make us blind to our loneliness, and at other times, in our loneliness, we miss one another by inches. I believe that love is guided by optimism, which makes the gnashing of teeth along the way even sadder. I think this will be true for all of us, in some respect, at least once. “Baby” is written from this perspective." You can list...

Photo by Riley Buttery Godcaster (who recently became the band with my favorite name) are back with the debut single from their debut album. With the band name and a song called "Serpentine Carcass Crux Birth," you'd be correct in assuming this is a weirdo band. Considering part of their bio reads " Rising from the underground river of primordial goo that runs between New York City and Philadelphia and ascending toward some unknown ethereal plane beyond our comprehension, comes to us the revelatory debut of music and mythos from Godcaster,  Long Haired Locusts," you'd be correct. However, they might not be the type of weirdo you'd expect. "Serpentine Carcass Crux Birth" is a burst of almost kind of funky bizarro indie rock along the lines of Guerilla Toss and The Flaming Lips. This is definitely not for anyone, but if you're even slightly intrigued you owe it to yourself to listen. You can listen to "Serpentine Carcass Crux Bir...

The travelling Whistlestop Rock Festival was derailed along with everything else this spring. The festival featured local New England bands  The Chelsea Curve, Cold Expectations, Field Day, Heather Rose In Clover, Justine and The Unclean, Kid Gulliver, The Knock Ups, Linnea’s Garden, and Tiger Bomb  playing in different cities throughout New England with special guests. Keeping the spirit of that festival alive is "Queen of the Drive-In" which features an all-star line up of Whistlestop Rock bandmembers. Kid Gulliver's Simone Berk takes on lead vocals. This is a wonderfully fun song that is a little too poppy to be garage rock and a little too upbeat to be dream pop, even though it's all of these. Plus, with a chorus that features the lyrics " I'm the Dry Hump Queen of the Drive In /  Squeeze over the handbrake and we'll both win," this is just a simple, fun rock song, just the kind we need in a summer like this one. You can listen to "Queen...

Artist : Kalen and Aslyn Album : Back of Our Minds Quick Description : Gorgeous rootsy folk. Why You Should Listen : One of many male/female folk duos, but they're the real deal. Overall Thoughts : Ken sent this over to me, and I'm glad he did, because this was super beautiful in so many ways. The songs are fairly straightforward, but the production value feels just right and the tone of this so surprisingly pleasant. We've had a few winners as of late with these folk duos, and I'm glad this hit my radar. Recommendation : Absolutely worth the time. Artist : TJO/Tara Jane O'Neil Album : Songs for Peacock Quick Description : A minimalist electronic mixtape. Why You Should Listen : Tara Jane O'Neil has done a lot of great music so far. Overall Thoughts : Her first big release under the TJO moniker, this is a covers album with a lot of interesting... everything. As musically compelling as it is compelling in terms of the song choices being made, this...

Photo by Liz Maney The latest from Allegra Krieger starts out as a deceptively simple song. It begins as a sparse modern indie rock/folk song. Just Kreiger's voice and some lightly strummed electric guitar. That by itself would have been enough to be completely captivating for five minutes, but more instruments slowly wander in and out. And then a gloriously change up happens and it morphs into this more aggressive rock song with clanging guitars and drums that don't quite match up to the song. And then it slowly wanders back to the original. If it's going to remind us of anything, it's a combination of Haley Heyndrickz and Lady Lamb, which is huge praise coming from me. According to Allegra Krieger,  "'Forgot' is the realization of losing one's self in a relationship, and becoming completely beholden to the will of another." You can listen to "Forgot" below. The Joys of Forgetting , the upcoming album from Allegra Krieger, is due...

Muck and The Mires are "Boston's international ambassadors of garage rock 'n' roll." Their latest single, "Take Me Back to Planet Earth" brings back the alien/space age garage rock trope, which is never not welcome. It's a groovy song with fuzzy guitars that longs for the good old days. It hearkens way back to the days that you could lay out in the sun without sunscreen, smoke in public places, and before cell phones. The quarantine recorded video adds to the alien feeling by showing many Boston landmarks completely empty. If it wasn't for the subject matter, you'd mistake "Take Me Back to Planet Earth" for a song at least forty years old. You can watch the video for "Take Me Back to Planet Earth" below. Take Me Back to Planet Earth , the new EP from Muck and The Mires, will be out September 25 on Rum Bar Records. You can pre-order a copy here . For more on Muck and The Mires, check out their website .

Germany's Silent Attic list The Strokes and Arctic Monkeys as influences, and you definitely hear that on their latest single "Hide Away." It's a huge indie rock song that throws back to the early 2000s during the last great rock revival (which makes us feel ancient). It's filled with rough, catchy vocals, giant guitar hooks, and more groove than you can handle. It's possibly more on the mainstream/pop side of things than I normally write about, but Silent Attic are one of those bands you're going to want to know about now. You can watch the video for "Hide Away" below. Escape , the upcoming EP from Silent Attic, will be out October 2. For more on Silent Attic, check out their website .

Any day we can bring you new music from the legendary Throwing Muses is a good day. This September they are all set to release their first album since 2013, and right now we can check out "Bo Diddley Bridge." This new song keeps intact everything we want in a Throwing Muses song. It's both dissonant and gorgeous, repelling some people while drawing others in. If you love Throwing Muses, you're going to love this. One new element is an almost funky song. "Bo Diddley Bridge" grooves much more than we've grown used to in Throwing Muses's nearly forty year history.  You can watch the video for "Bo Diddley Bridge" below. Sun Racket , the upcoming album from Throwing Muses, is due out September 4 on Fire Records. You can pre-order a copy here . For more on Throwing Muses, check out Kristin Hersh's website .

By this time, it feels like we've heard the majority of The Bobby Lees's upcoming album, but I suppose when its release date was pushed back due to COVID-19, that's what happens. We're now a week away from the release of Skin Suit , and we have one last pre-release single for you. "Wendy" is exactly what we want from The Bobby Lees. It's high energy noisy blues based garage punk. It's buzzsaw guitars, vocals dripping with menace and attitude, and then handclaps to keep the party going. That's the true joy of "Wendy." It's a hard hitting garage punk jam that still sounds like you just walked into the best party in town. You can listen to "Wendy" below. Skin Suit , the new album from The Bobby Lees, will be out July 17 on Alive Naturalsound Records. You can pre-order a copy here . For more on The Bobby Lees, check out their website .

London's Grace Gillespie has released a beautiful folk-adjacent song. "Empty in the Capital" is a light and breezy sounding pop song that still has its roots in the world of folk/rock. This is in stark contrast to the bleak lyrics, which of course are going to be viewed through the lens of quarantine and a global pandemic. Gillespie says of the song: "I wrote my new song, 'Empty in the Capital' just before lockdown about themes that were coming up in my own life.  Then suddenly, Covid is here and we are all sharing in my isolation, fear and frustrations. I don’t like London at the best of times and the idea of being stuck here was almost scary to me.  The track very much follows the pattern of a day for me. Much of my time is spent trying to reassure myself through rationalizing and acceptance, heard in the song’s verses, coupled with outbursts of inward frustration that I express in the choruses.   I think it’s a pattern we have all been th...