If It's Too Loud...

Image courtesy GHXST GHXST are a Los Angeles based duo who have one of the more exciting sounds we've heard in a while. First of all, the press release for their new single, "Pls, You Must Be a Dream," says that the song has a "surf goth element" which we can't argue at all. Their sound is like a heavy metal version of shoegaze, but with an intense noise rock guitar solo that is basically just a drone. This is an intense, ear-splitting sound despite how mid-tempo and sludgy the song is. It's just a mess of low end barraging you until the feedback squall takes over... but there's still an odd pop element to the song? It's as if the vocals were a pop singer's version of 90's slacker with an intense wall of noise collapsing over it. Yeah... "Pls, You Must Be a Dream" is pretty great. You can watch the video for "Pls, You Must Be a Dream" below. Admire is due out April 22. For more on GHXST, check out the artist's webs...

Even though we just had an album from Celtics punks The Rumjacks back in February, they're already back with new music! "Whitecaps" leans much more on the punk side of things than the Celtic side. In fact, there are only a few Celtic flourishes used sparsely in the song. If we're going to compare all Celtic punk bands to Dropkick Murphys (and we probably are), "Whitecaps" is much more along the lines of "Skinhead on the MBTA" and "Pipebomb on Lansdowne" than "Rose Tattoo" or "Shipping Up to Boston." This is just the pure aggression of gang vocals and heavy punk guitars. Frontman Mike Rikvees says of the new song: "The song is vaguely about the rise of far right nationalist movements. White caps meaning rough waters due to high wind… But also could be interpreted as KKK hoods. It just means something big and bad is coming politically. I wrote it based on seeing swastikas all over Eastern Europe. As a Jew, it rattle...

Hailing from New Jersey, Cathedral Ceilings are a relatively new band made up of punk veterans. Their new song, "Addition By Sedition," is definitely a punk song despite how melodic it is. It's more of a combination of melodic punk and straight up rock and roll. The song is dripping with the attitude needed for a punk song, but one that just flat out rocks. I kinda hate to say something like this, especially since they're from New Jersey and all, but this is what Bruce Springsteen would sound like if he fell into punk and decided to go stadium rock with it. Ralphie Malanga of Cathedral Ceilings says about the new song (and we're pretty sure you can guess who it is about!): "I like to save political arguments for social media or family gatherings. So it's really rare for me to get political in a song.  But you can argue that this song isn't political at all. It's just about a decrepit human, who might see a jail cell soon." You can listen to ...

Photo by Rudy Martin - Visual Eyes LA Southern California garage punks 3LH are going to hit nostalgia buttons you might not have even known you've had. Their latest single, "Shadow," is this brilliant mix of 60's surf and punk with early rock and roll. And by early rock and roll, we don't mean rockabilly. This is pure Richie Havens and Buddy Holly style rock and roll with a modern punk and garage rock shine. "Shadow" might just be the catchiest song of the year, and it's due to these amazing harmonies that haven't been around in at least sixty years. What 3LH are doing here is even more amazing because this isn't a pure throwback sound. They sound purely modern while being steeped in such a nostalgic sound. You can watch the video for "Shadow" below. Silver Dream Road is out May 13 on My Grito Industries. For more on 3LH, check them out on Facebook and Instagram .

Photo by Tooney Pham I really, really didn't want to like a band called Captain Asshole. I'm a grown adult with two kids and a mortgage. I only listened to chuckle at how terrible the German band would surely be. But... they're not. "Apocalypse Whenever" is an absurdly catchy melodic punk song. It stops just short of pop punk by being just a little too grungy to truly be pop punk. It's filled with shout along gang choruses that have a "whoah-oh" behind them just to be even more catchy. This is fun punk that is much, much better than the band name could ever hint at. I'm still not going to be wearing a t-shirt that says "Captain Asshole" on it, though. You can watch the video for "Apocalypse Whenever" below. Successfully Not Giving Up is due out April 15 on SBAM Records and SAY-10 Records, and can be pre-ordered through Bandcamp . For more on Captain Asshole, check out the band's Facebook .

Photo by Meredith Truax "Queer rock & roll truth teller" S.G. Goodman is making some of the most interesting singer/songwriter music out there right now. The Kentucky musician starts off her latest single, "Teeth Marks," in a fairly standard folk-adjacent kinda way, and if that is how the song stayed, it would still be a great song. But slowly other elements begin creeping in. There is a layer of indie rock noise that eases its way up every so often, and a swirl of what may be steel guitar in the instrumental bridge. It's this unique mish mash of sounds that is truly going to suck you in, and makes this hypnotic song impossible to resist. S.G. Goodman says of her new song: “This is a song about the phantom limb of love: a condition in which a lover's mind is deluded and we make the mistake of taking a step forward, only to fall face first into the reality of another's heart. A reality we are unwilling to accept – a land of false promise we find ourse...

Rip Room's previous single combined a punch of punk sounds into one new but familiar cohesive punk sound, and their new one continues that, but with different sounds. "Worth Repeating" sounds like early, noisier The Dismemberment Plan with the bass groove of Geffen-era Sonic Youth, the intensity and out of control feeling of Rites of Spring, and the thrash of Bay area metal. "Worth Repeating" is an intense song that is going to sound gloriously familiar to some of us while still plowing straight at you at near top speed. This is intense, disjointed punk that is still an enjoyable listen. John Reed (vocals/guitar) says of the band's new song and video: "Shot in the midst of the pandemic, we found ourselves in a clandestine location with a rough plan and more than a few worries. The song is about the world falling apart, so it felt right to shoot in the woods — ominous and sinister, but maybe the safest place to be. By the end of a long evening, our direc...

Boston punk legends The Dogmatics are back with new music! While their previous single, "Automat Kalashnikov," sounded like it could have been from the band's early 80's archives, "Drop that Needle" sounds much more modern. Instead of punk fury, this new song has more of a garage rock meets power pop sound, with some surf guitars thrown in. Of course, this is a Boston band, so it can't be too surf. Instead of lyrics about surfing and bikinis, The Dogmatics sing about Dorchester and fellow Boston rockers Muck & The Mires. This is what Boston punk tends to sound like after four decades, but no one is possibly complaining when it's still this great. You can listen to "Drop that Needle" below. The EP Drop that Needle is due out May 6 on Rum Bar Records, and can be pre-ordered through Bandcamp . For more on The Dogmatics, check out the band on Facebook . Drop That Needle by The Dogmatics

Photo by Lin Bartraij Dutch dream pop duo Maida Rose have a new single out that is going to have a very specific nostalgic twist for many of us. "Fallen" may have been written when Roos Meijer moved to London in 2019 but it doesn't sound very English to me. Instead, it sounds like that brief French lounge music revival from the 1990's that poked its head up. "Fallen" has this incredibly lush and cinematic sound and would have been used in every single indie film that involved a romance if this came out twenty five years ago. It has just the slightest groove to it along with a romantic yearning that fleshes out the beauty of the track. Maida Rose say of the new song: "'Fallen’ was the final puzzle piece that was needed to finish our debut album ‘Tales of Adolescence’.  A song about reminiscing a previous relationship and wondering about why it ended. Written in London, and inspired by William Blake’s poem ‘The Little Girl Lost’, it questions the fina...

Test Patterns are a dark, electronic music project based in Oakland, CA. I think letting Gage Bickerstaff of the band explain their new single is best: “This song came from an inspiration to write a great hip hop song, but I couldn’t find anyone to rap on it, so I had to do it myself. What came out was one of the best things I’ve ever done.” This accidentally creating a great song reminds me of the story of how Beck was trying to sound like Chuck D on "Loser," failed miserably, and created one of the most iconic songs of all time. Bickerstaff isn't a Jay-Z level MC, but his flow is perfect for "Don't Ask Me." The song has this odd Massive Attack goes doo wop vibe and is just endlessly cool. His verses aren't what you typically get in any style of hip hop ever, but it helps elevate "Don't Ask Me" above most hip hop songs. It's like how artists like J Mascis or Neil Young don't have classic sounding voices, but that's what makes t...

Photo via Facebook We're always up for a Tom Petty cover here at If It's Too Loud..., and the most recent is from Toronto's The Slocan Ramblers. They take on "A Mind With a Heart of It's Own" from 1989's immortal Full Moon Fever. It's a perfectly faithful take on the original, except for the fact that The Slocan Ramblers are a bluegrass band. But if Tom Petty was a modern bluegrass artist, this is what "A Mind With a Heart of It's Own" would sound like. This isn't an old timey sounding bluegrass song, it's bluegrass with a rock edge complete with gang vocals on the chorus. It's a great tribute to an artist with Americana roots who we lost far too soon. You can watch the video for The Slocan Ramblers version of "A Mind With a Heart of It's Own" below. Up the Hill and Through the Fog is due out June 10 and can be pre-ordered here . For more on The Slocan Ramblers, check out the band's website .

Photo by David Guttenfelder The previous single from Pow Wow singer Joe Rainey was quite bass heavy and had a hip hop meets digital hardcore thing going for it. "no chants" was an intense, angry song. His latest, "bezhigo," is much more restrained. Instead of a blistering, in your face track, it's more like a chill out room meets noise rock kind of song musically. Of course, calling "bezhigo" chill is relative. It still has this intense industrial chugging behind it, and it's incredibly cinematic. Joe Rainey explains that "'bezhigo' is a loose Ojibwe term meaning alone or by itself," and even if you didn't read that explanation the feeling is impossible to miss even if you don't speak the language of the song. Rainey has been releasing important and moving music, and you owe it to yourself to check these out. You can watch the video for "bezhigo" below. Niineta is due out May 20 on 37d03d and can be pre-ordered h...

Photo by Josh Goleman Brooklyn based singer/songwriter Ben Talmi has released a song that is a tribute to his grandparents. "Ralph + Mary" tells the story of how his grandparents met, kept their romance going through the war, and opened a diner called The Sugar Bowl in western Massachusetts. It's the kind of sentimental song I feel I should automatically hate, but Talmi has crafted this absolutely lovely tribute. It's an upbeat song that sounds like a combination of Belle & Sebastian and Ben Folds at their finest. It's orchestral pop that uses a string section without being hokey. Maybe I'm just getting old, but "Ralph + Mary" is the kind of sentimentality that I can't resist these days. You can watch the video for "Ralph + Mary" below. Berkshires, which is also a tribute to Ben Talmi's hometown of Pittsfield, MA, is due out May 20, and can be pre-saved here . For more on Ben Talmi, check out the artist's website .

The latest from Boston based multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer Matt Jatkola (recording under the name JATK) expands on the idea of power pop. "Never Gonna Be Your Girl, Friend" is a synth heavy pop song along the lines of The Rentals and Tegan & Sara. This song is undeniably poppy and catchy without being pure pop. It's the kind of song that is going to grab you within the first twenty seconds and refuse to let go. This is an earworm of the highest quality. Matt Jatkola says of the new song: “In its simplest form, ‘Never Gonna Be Your Girl, Friend’ is about a person who feels like they will never be the right partner because of their gender. The lyrics play with ideas around gender, masculine and feminine language, and the fluidity of it all. A step further, the masculine and feminine articles in the song are designed to be easily changed, swapped, modified, omitted or otherwise reinterpreted.” You can listen to "Never Gonna Be Your Girl, Friend...

Just when I think I can't possibly like Scrunchies (the Minnesota band made up of members of Baby Guts, Kitten Forever, and Bruise Violet), they go and release a song like "Parallel." I'll let vocalist/guitarist Laura Larson explain how the song came together: "We wanted 'Parallel' to be like 'Squirrel Song' by Shellac, and have these jarring, uneven measures to the verses. I was also very interested in having Danielle do this Kim Gordon-esque deadpan call-and-response vocal delivery in the bridge, almost as a juxtaposition to the song's loose theme of both self-imposed and external hope + idealism vs turbulence + obstruction of being a woman making art during late stage capitalism." Besides being inspired by Shellac and Kim Gordon, I'm getting some major early Sleater-Kinney vibes from this one. It doesn't quite have the aggression of some of their other recent singles, but when a song is going to be this straight up great no one...