If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Sophia Ragomo The latest release from Mae Krell is going to make us all feel old, but then we have to remember that we are old. Lines like "But you leave my thoughts on read" aren't exactly written for Gen-X or elder Millennials, but "rest stop" still deserves all of our attention. It's an absolutely striking folk/pop song. "rest stop" is a swirling and captivating track, with a true focus on Krell's vocals. The song builds ever so slightly based solely on the hurt in Krell's voice. The use of keys in the song is particularly strong, giving the song a bluesy feel. Mae Krell tells the story behind the song: “ I was sad and still processing a really painful friend breakup and just overall not in a great place.  In writing ‘rest stop,’ I was learning that sometimes getting healthier and becoming more independent can end in a loss of a relationship.   And, a s this specific friendship ended, I started to realize that maybe it wasn'...

Photo courtesy Damu the Fudgemunk We're pretty excited about Damu the Fudgemunk's upcoming KPM Crate Diggers album, which he created with music from KPM's legendary sound design archives. If you're not as excited as we are, you'll just need to listen to the project's latest single. "Enchanted Spirits" features Boston MC Insight Innovates, and it's an absolute masterpiece. Musically there is some of the orchestral feel of early Wu-Tang Clan, but with an almost whimsical Disney animation feel to it. It's this impeccably compelling combination that is both classic hip hop and beautiful at the same time. Plus, Insight Innovates (who I feel like I should really be more familiar with) has a flow that will have you doing a deep dive into all of his music for the rest of the day. You can watch the Boston filmed video for "Enchanted Spirits" below. Conversation Peace is due out September 3 on Def Presse and EMI/KPM. You can pre-order/pre-save ...

Photo by Enno Kapitz / digitally altered by Kosuke Kawamur The latest song from Japanese noise legends Buffalo Daughter isn't subtle in its message. It's impossible not to know what "Global Warming Will Kill Us All" is about just based on the title. Aside from the message, the new single is actually pretty groovy. It's filled with tons of vocoder vocals, and sure, it's noisy. And weird. But the song has this great groove to it that is going to remind you a lot of the 90's, especially music released on Grand Royal. (Of course, Buffalo Daughter released their debut album on Grand Royal back in 1996, so it does make sense. suGar Yoshinaga of Buffalo Daughter explains the song's creation: "It was mid summer of 2018 (insanely hot summer when even mosquitoes were not around) when we gathered all those puzzles and pieces together to make them into songs for the album. This song is one of them, and with the impact from the extreme weather, we felt the cry...

Photo by Giant Eye The Brothers Comatose play a unique blend of traditional bluegrass and rock music. Sure, their latest single "Gone Gone Gone" has all the elements of traditional bluegrass. It's twangy, acoustic, and the vocals are pretty standard bluegrass. But then you realize that the guitar is following rock chords. And instead of bluegrass harmonies those are more along the line of gang vocals (albeit pleasant gang vocals). There may be dozens of modern bluegrass bands, but none of them rock quite like The Brothers Comatose while sounding this traditional.  You can watch the video for "Gone Gone Gone" below. When It All Falls Apart is due out in early 2022. For more on The Brothers Comatose, check out the band's website . Upcoming concert dates are below the video. Aug 26  SLO Brew San Luis Obispo, CA Aug 27  The Independent San Francisco, CA Aug 28  The Independent San Francisco, CA Aug 31  The Crocodile. Seattle, WA Sep 01  Mississippi Studios Port...

I feel like we've been writing about The Persian Leaps ever since If It's Too Loud... first started, and each time they release new music it's killer. The St. Paul, Minnesota band's latest single, "When This Gets Out," fits right into their Guided By Voices inspired sound. As with any release from The Persian Leaps, this new one may be inspired by GBV, but it's hardly a knock off. "When This Gets Out" has a little more melody in the fuzz, also reminding me of Teenage Fanclub and The Lemonheads. We're always excited when we get new music from Drew Forsberg's band, and once you hear this you'll get why. While I don't think of The Persian Leaps as being a particularly political band, that changes with the new song. Drew Forsberg explains the inspiration behind it: "Each week, it seemed there was a new Trump-related scandal that by rights should have sunk him. However, instead of consequences, the scandal would be eclipsed the ne...

With the Green River Festival returning August 27-29, we're going to highlight some of the lesser known artists playing that we're most excited to see. The bottom of the poster at any festival contains some gems you don't want to miss, and especially so this year at Green River! When we first discovered Sierra Ferrell late last year, we only had two songs and desperately craved more. Her blend of classic country with a little humor and plenty of joy mixed with jazz and a groovy 60's vibe is basically exactly what we want. Then she released covers of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and "Jingle Bell Rock" and we were hooked completely. Since then we've been devouring everything she releases, from covers to a guest appearance on a song from Melissa Carper, to finally new original songs. Her tour dates have been exclusively on days that didn't work for me, but luckily she's performing next weekend at the Green River Festival. Ferrell ...

Photo by Jason C MacDonald In a Facebook post announcing the single, Colleen Green stated that "Someone Else" is her favorite song off of her upcoming album. It's easy to see why. The song is this chilled out track that shows off Green's ability to be both lo-fi indie and pop at the same time. It resides between her earlier ultra lo-fi music and 2015's much smoother I Want to Grow Up. The entire track shows this insane level of growth of Green as an artist. It starts off with a drum loop and Green's swirling guitar until the almost spoken vocals come in almost a minute into the song. The song warps a few times but almost imperceptibly. It's spacey, and poppy, and groovy, and the absolute pinnacle of indie rock. You can listen to "Someone Else" below. Cool is due out September 10 on Hardly Art. You can pre-order/pre-save the album here . For more on Colleen Green, check out the artist's website .

Photo by Felix Walworth Palberta's Lily Konigsberg is set to release a solo album in October, and she's released a new single from that album. "That's the Way I Like It" is an impossibly upbeat sounding single. It's as poppy as indie rock can get before it transitions to pop. It's a bouncy song with fuzzy and chunky guitars. Also, Konigsberg's vocals keep it from being too pop. Her vocals are lovely, but not quite pop lovely. Her voice sounds more like mid 90's indie rock/power pop vocals. "That's the Way I Like It" is an endlessly fun indie rocker, which is a genre not normally associated with fun. In a press release, Lily Konigsberg explains her new single: " I said 'I’m going to write a song now' to my friend and then wrote this song in 20 minutes .  The chords are symmetrical so it’s really fun to play on guitar. It's a fucking catchy and sassy song about getting what I want when I deserve it. Not whatever I want....

Sapling released one of my favorite albums of last year with No Sequoia , and now they're back with a new full length release. The Apocalypse Musical  is a slightly odd choice for a follow up release as seven of the twelve songs are listed as demos which is very Sebadoh of them. (Seeing as Jason Lowenstein produced No Sequoia , that tracks.) Some songs definitely have a home recording/demo feel, but others are fully built giant tracks. "Antisemantic" leads off the album. While it's a demo, I have literally no idea how it wouldn't be a fully produced single. It's a great follow up to their previous album. "Antisemantic" is a loud, noisy punk song. It has all of the mocking attitude that made me fall in love with Sapling, but somehow revved up even more. After finally seeing the band live earlier this month, I realized how much of a master of noise Amber ToiletFire Tortorelli is, and this song showcases that masterfully. "Hatchet Dutiful" mel...

If you're a Boston based rapper and you name a song "LEBRON," that song better be damn good. This one is from Oompa, so it's obviously great. "LEBRON" might be Oompa's most commercial sounding song so far. In this case, that's a great thing. The song is stripped way down musically while still sounding completely fleshed out. Instead of focusing on beats, the song is allowed to focus on Oompa's flow and vocals. Considering how ridiculously talented she is, this is a perfect choice. It's one of those songs that is kind of laid back (but still intense) musically, but much faster and more intense vocally. Oompa is one of those Boston artists that threatens to bust out nationally with every release. One of these days, there is no way she won't explode to the mainstream. You can watch the video for "LEBRON" below. For more on Oompa, check out the artist's website .

Photo by Ashley Osborne At certain points, I feel like the duo of Jackson+Sellers (Jade Jackson and Aubrie Sellers) might be too mainstream. And a song like "Waste Your Time" is really, really poppy. But, I think that might be the fact that Jackson+Sellars both have mainstream vocal chops. They could probably make it pretty far on one of those singing shows on the TV. But "Waste Your Time" is this great meld of country, pop, and grunge. Seriously, it's fantastic vocals and guitars that are filled with distorted fuzz and twang at the very same time. And it even ends with a killer distorted guitar solo at the end that would make J Mascis proud. Jade Jackson says of the new song: “Waste Your Time was my heart's way of ringing out the last few drops of a toxic relationship. When I started strumming the chords and scribbling down the lyrics I was in a place of weakness. After I put the pencil down and finished the song I felt strong again. It helped me move on.” ...

Photo by Alex Bershaw NYC's Lorne Behrman is formerly of The Dimestore Haloes, L.E.S. Stitches, The Dead Tricks, and The Sweet Things. He's recently released his debut solo single, "When I Hit the Floor." This new track is just pure rock 'n' roll. It's a clean sounding rock song that could have been huge in the 1980's. The speak-singing lyrics are reminiscent of Tom Petty, and musically it's not too far off from classic Heartbreakers. The song may be a smoother rock song, but you can still hear plenty of grit they didn't quite clean up. Lorne Behrman tells the story behind the new song: “'When I Hit The Floor' is about substance abuse; it’s about hitting bottom. Consequences come and go, and you stop caring. You scare people away or alienate them by your actions. They worry about you, but then let go. All these feelings closed in on me when I was in my daughter’s room during the time of writing the song.  "Before I got sober, every...

Another slowish week, so playing a little more catch-up. Artist : Watchhouse Album : Watchhouse Quick Thoughts : Watchhouse is the former Mandolin Orange, a band we love around these parts. The Americana duo has always been consistent, and this rebranding of the name doesn't impact the quality of the music at all. This is really just rock solid Americana with some near-perfect execution, and continues along the trajectory they've set over the years. A favorite this week, for certain. Songs of Note : "Better Way," "New Star" Artist : Liz Bills Album : Liz Bills & the Change Quick Thoughts : This is a rootsy, soul-tinged affair from a Massachusetts musician that deserves some attention. Liz Bills has an impressive voice and knows how to put a song together, and when it all comes together perfectly, it's hard not to fall for it. I didn't know Liz Bills before Ken sent this one over to me, and I appreciate the introduction - I'll abs...

Photo by Thomas Ignatius For their latest single, "glitter trash punks" Hayley and the Crushers crank up the glitter part of their description. "She Drives" is pure 60's shimmery pop. It couldn't possibly get more bubblegum pop than this song. I've previously compared them to Letters to Cleo joins the Warped Tour, and the Letters to Cleo comparison sticks on this new one, but more Go! than before. It's a fun pop song with just enough of Hayley and the Crushers' punk edge to keep it interesting. As with any great pop song, the bubblegum sound does mask a much less cheery story. Hayley Crusher Cain explains the story behind the song: "I wrote 'She Drives' in the bathtub, after getting a stressed-out call from a friend who had just had a massive fight with her partner. This friend of mine is known to drive like a bat out of hell on a normal day. But after this particular fight, she drove and just kept driving, eventually ending up in Ma...

While stuck in quarantine like the rest of us, Nobody's Girl's BettySoo turned to music. She chose songs that reminded her of the before times, and one of those songs was Rodney Crowell's 1978 song "Ain't Living Long Like This." BettySoo's version of the song is very faithful to Crowell's original. The only real difference is a 2021 version is going to have slicker production than a song from 1978, and hers is just a little more pop than Crowell's. Covers of classic 70's country are always welcome here at If It's Too Loud..., particularly if they're as great as this one. In a press release, BettySoo talks about her connection to the original song from Rodney Crowell:  “I can't remember when I actually first heard Rodney Crowell's songs  as Rodney Crowell's songs , but I also can’t remember a time songs like ‘Ashes by Now’ and ‘Shame on the Moon’ didn’t exist.”   You can listen to BettySoo's version of "Ain't Liv...