If It's Too Loud...

It's been a little over two years since we've brought you any new music from Boston's Cold Expectations, but luckily the drought has ended and we have a new song. Previously their music was a Hank Williams/Rolling Stones mixture, with just a little 90's alternative to it. This time they're describing "Two Blueberries" as "... a contemporary take on a fun 70's-style bubblegum pop song." That does describe the song perfectly. It's a jangly pop song that calls to mind bands like Big Star and the Ramones covering oldies. It's wonderfully sweet in a way that stops just short of being saccharine, and maybe just the slightest edge possible. Cold Expectations explain the meaning of "Two Blueberries": "It’s about the ordinary, everyday stuff that happens, like a pint of berries spilling out, becoming whole universes and planets spinning around on the kitchen floor. It feels like you and me, spinning out in space. Little things. ...

Photo by Sam Rich I was all set to bring you the latest single from Austin, TX's Gentlemen Rogues. "Do the Resurrection!" is this great slice of alt/indie/emo. It's an anthemic singalong that is like combining The Replacements and Superchunk. It's absolutely a great song, and everyone needs to listen to it. But then I saw the b-side. "Bloody Rudderless (in Ursa Major)" is described as "...  70% Rudderless' by The Lemonheads ,  25% 'Destination Ursa Major' by Superdrag , and  5% 'When You Sleep' by My Bloody Valentine."  "Destination Ursa Major" and "Rudderless" are two of my absolute favorite songs by two bands I truly love. And then you throw My Bloody Valentine in there? It's this bizarre cover mash up medley where the music for one song is sometimes played over the lyrics to another, and then switches around again. For anyone that loves all three of those bands, covers, and mash ups, "Bloody R...

Photo by Kay Dargin The more we hear from Clever Girls' new album, the more it becomes clear that it's a rebirth for the Vermont band. It's their first since frontperson Diane Jean came out as queer and gender-nonconforming, and it's also reflecting a change in sound for the band. With their latest single, "Saturn," gone is the Tom Petty style Americana meets indie rock. The new song reflects a more pop oriented sound, although one that's heavily filtered through their indie rock roots. It starts off relatively poppy and smooth, but as it goes on the guitars start getting fuzzier and noisier. As many of our indie rock favorites go further and further into the world of pop, it's great to see a band keep one foot squarely in that world while exploring their pop side. Diane Jean says of the song: "When you flip a tarot card to unveil the Tower of the Major Arcana, those who practice often associate the draw with a tumultuous fulcrum- a moment charact...

Being an obsessive David Bowie disciple, and a lover of cover songs, it's very rare that I can pass up bringing you any Bowie cover. The latest is from punk legends Spizzenergi. The band started up in 1979, and have released a cover of "Valentine's Day" just in time for the holiday. It's not an obvious choice, as it's from Bowie's 2013 album The Next Day. Written about a school shooting at Northern Illinois University on February 8, 2008, the Spizzenergi version is definitely a little faster and heavier than Bowie's original. It's still leaning into the New Wave side of punk. It's a very fitting tribute to the music legend, and seeing as how it was mixed by Bowie's longtime producer Tony Visconti, it has an extra level of leitimacy. You can watch the video for Spizzenergi's version of "Valentine's Day" below. The song is available as a single via Holy Dotage Records. A special limited 7" can be pre-ordered here . For ...

Photo by Annette Wong Will Graefe has been known as a guitarist for Okkervil River, Landlady, Petra Haden, and more. His solo work truly stands out, and he's set to release his second solo album. The latest single from that album, "Coral Court Motel" (which features vocals from Katie Von Schleicher), edges close to the mainstream end of the singer/songwriter spectrum, but the dense feeling of the song is what is going to set it apart from others. "Coral Court Motel" just feels heavy. The melancholy of the song threatens to weigh down the listener. It's the beauty of the song that lifts it up. As sad as it may feel, you just can't resist a song that is filled with the kind of beauty that this one is. You can listen to "Coral Court Motel" below. Marine Life is due out on April 30. You can pre-order your copy here . For more on Will Graefe, check out the artist's Bandcamp .

Since the last time we heard from Foundlings, they dealt with the departure of their original bassist, a new member, parenthood, Brexit, COVID, and a trademark dispute on their name, they've rechristened themselves Hadda Be after the Allen Ginsberg poem "Hadda Be Playing on the Radio." Despite all that, their first single under the new name is surprisingly upbeat. "Another Life" is the kind of song that would have been played on 120 Minutes twenty five years ago and been considered post grunge, but would now be alt-pop. It's power pop with fuzzy guitars, which just might be our favorite kind.  Hadda Be explains recording their new album:  “There’s a vibrancy and an energy to our live shows, a distinct personality that we wanted to immortalise in our debut album. The songs were mostly recorded live, with some overdubs here and there. Due to the coronavirus lockdown restrictions, the recording of the album was delayed twice. By the time we finally managed to g...

Photo via Facebook In hindsight, we were all incredibly unfair to Liz Phair around the turn of the century, myself included. Luckily, we're now older and more mature (and have aged out of being insufferable music snobs), so we can enjoy Phair's still incredible musical output. Her new single, "Hey Lou," imagines an ordinary day in the life of Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson. Musically, it fits perfectly in the middle of her more indie fare and her releases that were wrongly hated. This is the kind of musical progression we can all get behind. It's a chilled out, beautiful song that really captures Phair's impossible coolness. You can watch the video for "Hey Lou" below. Soberish is due out sometime later this year. For more on Liz Phair, check out her website .

Let's talk about Rebecca Black for a minute. Assuming you had internet access about a decade ago, you couldn't get anywhere without hearing "Friday." It was a song. That much is true. The artistic merit beyond that, however, was charitably questionable. It turned out that the label that put it together was less a musical endeavor and more an effort to make some money off a young girl with a rudimentary song. Regardless, as The Room of pop music, it has its share of qualities that keep it from being completely forgotten. A decade later, and Rebecca Black is on the C-list periphery, with a popular enough YouTube channel and some occasional news coverage. What surprised me was when she popped up on Dorian Electra's album last year, with a glitched-out vocal that fit right in with Electra's brand of hyperpop. Then, out of nowhere yesterday, comes a 10th anniversary remix of the song that made Rebecca Black (in)famous. It's clear to...

It's probably not a coincidence that there are so many conspiracy theory songs out right now. The latest comes from one of our favorite New York based noisy pop punk bands, Nervous Dater. "Tin Foil Hat" gets a little more back to their pop punk roots. Musically it's an aggressive yet fun punk song that sounds like the Descendents meets "Celebrity Skin" era Hole, with a little thrash and "Weird" Al thrown in for funsies. This kind of aggressively mocking is my personal favorite styles of punk, which means I'm all in for this one. While some thrash based songs have long been part of Nervous Dater's repertoire, "Tin Foil Hat" mixes that with a more catchy, almost pop style that is going to suck you right in. You can watch the video for "Tin Foil Hat" below. Call in the Mess is due out on February 26 via Counter Intuitive Records. You can pre-order a copy here . For more on Nervous Dater, check them out on Facebook and Twit...

Jay Gonzalez is best known for playing guitar and keyboard in Drive-By Truckers since 2008. He also produces some killer music of his own. His latest single, "(I Wanna) Hold You," showcases his own sound. Instead of the amped up country punk of his other band, "(I Wanna) Hold You" is a mid-tempo power pop song. There might be the slightest twang to the guitar, but Gonzalez is more Big Star goes New Wave than anything else. It's a gorgeous love song that is impossibly compelling, and includes some blistering guitar work, naturally. You can watch the video for "(I Wanna) Hold You" below. Back to the Hive  is due out March 5 on Middlebrow Records. You can pre-order a copy via Bandcamp . For more on Jay Gonzalez, check out the artist's website .

Photo by Ash Dye It seems like Chicago has been having a musical Renaissance lately, and the latest band we've discovered from there is Floatie. Their newest single, "Catch a Good Worm," is classic indie rock, but done in just enough of a unique way to keep things interesting. First, the song is almost twee. Almost. It stops just shy of being twee, mainly thanks to the heavier drums and bursts of more aggressive guitar. It creates this interesting and captivating blend of softer sounds with jangly, sometimes disjointed guitars that merge together into a hypnotic swirl of sound. Sam Bern (they/them) says of the new song: “ Two options could never represent the complexity of human expression. I think a lot of people could benefit from not having predetermined expectations of themselves in place upon arrival. Sometimes the pressures of challenging these patterns make me think this is how I was born so that is who I’m meant to be. When the reality is I can work towards being ...

Artist : Nana Yamato Album : Before Sunrise Quick Description : Your new favorite lo-fi indie artist has arrived. Why You Should Listen : This grabbed me within minutes of the first song. Overall Thoughts : I can't be more effusive about Before Sunrise than to say that this is borderline relevatory. Nana Yamato has put forward an album that both can't exist in any other time and yet feels somewhat timeless in its execution. It's indie, it's DIY, but it also feels incredibly deep, with some weight behind it. "Do You Wanna" is great, "Gaito" is great, the whole package is wonderful. I can't wait to go back to this one. Recommendation : Easily the best of the week. Artist : Editrix Album : Tell Me I'm Bad Quick Description : Loud, brash, unapologetic indie punk. Why You Should Listen : Asks a lot of the listener, but to great reward. Overall Thoughts : This was an unexpected surprise. Punk rock, on a whole, can be hit-or-miss for...

Photo by Michael Crusty Toronto's Bad Waitress have released a furious new single that's going to defy a few different genres. "Pre Post Period Blues" is going to be a little too messy to be purely metal. Instead, it leans more towards neo-riot grrrl. But, it's far too metal to truly be riot grrrl or punk, for that matter. And at times it's a pretty mainstream almost pop/rock song, but it's far too metal and punk for that. But it is loud, and heavy, and thrashy, and fast... so there is always that. Guitarist Katelyn Molgard (they/them) explains the song: “ It’s like this: you got yer friggin hormones, your cramps, you forgot to eat, but you need to take Advil, then yer like, "bitch, now my stomach hurts!" and then you get so mad yer like "WHYYYYY?!?"So you slam back a few and then you’re way more drunk than you’d normally be so like, you say some shit to someone and then now yer yelling and THEN some dude’s like “are you on your period?...

According to their Bandcamp profile, Boston's Lockette "... has a common love of the occult, fuzz pedals, and catchy hooks." I, for one, am in! Their latest single, "The Mess," shows off the second and third things in that list. It's a song filled with fuzzy guitars and is almost impossibly catchy. The guitars hold down this intense groove, and with the fuzz it's almost like a slightly more pop version of Sleater-Kinney. It's a big indie rock song that is going to suck you in to the point of nearly being mesmerized. It's going to live in that world between indie rock and larger more mainstream rock in the way that Veruca Salt did in the late 90's. You can listen to "The Mess" below. The song is currently available as a single via Bandcamp . For more on Lockette, check out the band's Facebook . The Mess by Lockette

Photo by Vicki Sharp Last week Peggy Seeger (sister of Pete and part of one of the biggest folk music families of all time) announced that she would be releasing what is most likely her final album. She's eighty five and has been making music and touring for seven decades (and was investigated by the CIA in the 50's for her activism), so she's capping quite a career. The first single from that album, "The Invisible Woman," is available, and even if it wasn't from Peggy Seeger, it's a must listen. Normally when an artist gets in their eighties, their voice starts to falter. That hasn't happened with Peggy Seeger. Her vocals on "The Invisible Woman" are strikingly beautiful and powerful. The song is about how our society ignores older generations, but still has an uplifting feel with just the hint of a sense of humor. Peggy Seeger says of the new song: " My older son Neill MacColl was hesitant for ages about co-writing with me. He turned u...