If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Ben Stas With Hallelujah the Hills' upcoming fifty-two song project, it makes sense that some songs are going to be quite different from others. The Boston band's latest single, "It's Undeniable," is completely different than the previous singles from the project. This new single is far more of a rock song, and even maybe a noise punk track. There's a level of feedback and noise present that I can't recall the Hills ever reaching before, and the vocals are somewhere between spoken word and rap. And so much of the song are gang vocals, which has always been a hallmark of theirs, just not in this abundance. As loud and noisy as "It's Undeniable" is, it grooves nearly as hard. In fact, the more time you spend listening to the song, the more you notice the groove. You can watch the video for "It's Undeniable" below. DECK is due out June 13, and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp . For more on Hallelujah the Hills, ...

Tom Morello and Chuck D Photo by Ken Sears Sunday was the day I was most excited for this year at Boston Calling. Tom Morello and Public Enemy back to back were something that made my inner high school self thrilled, and I was planning on doing everything in my power to get as close as possible. Of course, there was still an entire day of music before we got to the Blue Stage finale, and it ended up being a great end to a great weekend! Snacktime With Sunday's theme being fairly jam band-y, Snacktime might have been the perfect opener. A seven piece band out of Philadelphia, they combine funk, soul, jazz, hip hop, and R&B into a fun musical combination. They were at their best when they were at their most raucous, but also did a great job with some songs that were more almost pure R&B. They got the Dave Matthews Band crowd up and dancing, and truly won the crowd over when one of their songs turned into Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us." That sample hit and the cr...

Rebuilder Photo by Ken Sears The past few editions of Boston Calling have had what appeared to be theme days. Friday had a country theme, and Saturday was more of an early 00's emo and pop punk vibe going. However, there was a lot of going, and we took in some pop punk as well as electronic, folk-pop, indie rock, experimental pop, and vintage blues rock! Sofia Isella Playing during the heaviest downpour of the day, Sofia Isella opened the Green Stage and was the first artist playing Boston Common on Saturday. Stylistically, Isella doesn't sound like anyone else playing all weekend. It was more of an electronic/dance music vibe that made me wish she had played later in the day than 1:30 pm. Ever since first hearing her song "Hot Gum" on the Boston Calling Spotify playlist, I knew I wanted to see Isella live, despite her sound not being something I typically seek out. Live it sounded like Aphex Twin decided to try out drum and bass and recruited Poe to be the singer. I...

Megan from Work Photo by Boston Calling Alive Coverage You're going to see a lot of headlines saying things like "Rain and cold temperatures couldn't dampen festival goer's day," but that's actually the truth. Despite temperatures way below the average for Memorial Day weekend in Boston, and despite a cold rain starting late afternoon, the crowd had a great time, and the weather was mostly shrugged off in a "can you believe this?" kind of way. Of course, great music always helps. Here are the best artists I saw Friday, in the order that they played. Bebe Stockwell Bebe Stockwell is an artist with Boston roots who I was unfamiliar with until she took the stage to open the festival at 1:30. I'm now one of her diehard fans. She played a fantastic set of folk-pop with a charm that was completely irresistible. Anyone who chose to get there early was treated to one of the best sets of the day that included a cover of "Home" by Edward Sharpe ...

Photo by Martin Frances Matching Outfits are a Berlin-based indie pop trio with a Swedish frontwoman, a member from England, and a drummer from Boston. Their latest single, "Cold Sea," is about as sparse as you're going to get with an indie pop song. Musically, the song is as bare bones as you can get, with some terrific harmonies from the bandmembers. It reminds me a little of a band like Beat Happening mixed with The Moldy Peaches. "Cold Sea" is so stripped down that it's almost jarring, but as the track goes on you start to adjust and recognize the beauty in the song. I don't think Matching Outfits are going to work for everyone, but if you're someone that gets into them, they'll be a new musical obsession for you. You can watch the video for "Cold Sea" below. Ditch Me is due out July 25 on Bar/None Records and Dreams of Field. For more on Matching Outfits, check out the band on Instagram and Facebook .

Photo by Marisa Chafetz Forth Wanderers are set to release their first album since breaking up in 2018, but the band insists they're not back. The latest single off that album, "7 Months," is an upbeat sounding indie rock song with jangly guitars and dreamlike vocals. The Montclair, NJ band have a sound that's equal parts indie rock, pop, and emo, and have carved out a niche sound for themselves that is both noisy and melodic. "7 Months" keeps evolving over it's two and a half minutes, without staying the same long enough to get predictable while still sounding like a cohesive listening experience. The transitions are gentle and make sense no matter how quickly and unexpectedly they may happen. Since I missed Forth Wanderers' first run, I'm hoping they're back to stay... despite what they may say. You can watch the video for "7 Months" below. The Longer This Goes On is due out July 18 on Sub Pop Records, and is available for pre-ord...

Photo by Frances Carter New Zealand's Fazerdaze has released a single that blurs the line between alt-rock and pop in a way artists normally can't pull off. "Motorway" is heavy on loud, droning guitars to the point that it's almost shoegaze, but far heavier. Amelia Murray's vocals have a perfect tone that matches the fuzz within the song, and as you listen, you're waiting for a full noise explosion. Instead, the song takes a left turn into a more pop focused sound. It ends up being more danceable than I'd probably like to admit, but it keeps everything we loved about the start of the song intact as it transforms back and forth. This is an interesting sound that we're loving the more we hear, and has us anxious to hear more. Amelia Murray says that her new single was written from  “... a feeling of being trapped between a city and a relationship, searching for home in both, but finding it in neither. It explores an enmeshment with familiarity; and t...

Following in the footsteps of artists like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger is the latest from Josiah Flores. "La Lucha" tells the story of Flores' family history of living as migrant workers in the United States. It's an incredibly powerful stripped down song that doesn't need volume or yelling to make a true impact. I can't remember the last time I heard a folk song hit so hard emotionally and politically, but this one feels like the "This Land is Your Land" for a new generation. Let's just hope our schools don't eventually start teaching it without a verse to pretend it's a rah rah USA! USA! song. Do us all a favor and share this one far and wide. It's that important of a song. Josiah Flores says of his new single: “I wanted to make an anti-manifest destiny song, one that addresses the idea that land may be bought, but the ones who build are the real stewards. Our families and communities have worked hard to be here. They’ve changed t...

Photo by Jon Salazar Chicago's Smut have a new single out that is going to give you some serious 90's flashbacks. "Touch & Go" has some seriously grungy guitars, but it's more along the lines of the mid 90's as the second (or possibly third) wave of grunge bands were starting to break out and more melody starting edging its way into alternative rock. Smut is also putting a little bit of a pop sheen into "Touch & Go," which we never would have admitted back then. Most of the pop side comes from Tay Roebuck's vocals, which are otherworldly at times. This is an interesting mixture of bands like Bush, The Sundays, and Letters to Cleo. We're always down for a 90's throwback sound, especially when it's as great as this one. You can watch the video for "Touch & Go" below. Tomorrow Comes Crashing is due out June 27 on Bayonet Records. For more on Smut, check out the band on Instagram and Facebook . Upcoming live dates a...

Photo by Omari Spears I've been loving Perennial's current sound, which combines their art/noise punk with a more 1960's/mod sound. The New England band is about to combine a bunch of their recent releases into "A" is for Abstract: The Complete Art History , and have released a new single for the project. "Baby, Are You Abstract?" is a two minute burst of highly dance friendly dance punk through a 1960's lens. It's a highly fun song heavy on keys with a Nuggets  vibe. 60's retro seems to be a theme for us this week, but Perennial are doing it in such a unique way. "Baby, Are You Abstract?" is one of the most fun and joyous songs of the week, while also being noisy and loud. You can listen to "Baby, Are You Abstract?" below. "A" is for Abstract: The Complete Art History  is due out June 6 on Ernest Jenning Record Co., and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp . For more on Perennial, be sure to check out the...

Photo by Brian Karlsson Philadelphia's TAGABOW (aka They are Gutting a Body of Water) were one of my favorite discoveries from this year's Something in the Way Festival. The band's latest single, "AMERICAN FOOD," is everything I loved from their performance. They're considered one of the new shoegaze bands, and while that's not incorrect, it also doesn't come close to explaining their genre ignoring sound. This new song has a guitar that is reminiscent of shoegaze, but the song is also much heavier. Plus, the song is filled with samples, electronic effects on vocals, and drums that sound electronic, as well. It's kinda shoegaze, but also hardcore, hip hop, and electronic music. "AMERICAN FOOD" is such a hodgepodge of sounds that it simply shouldn't work, but newfangled artists like TAGABOW somehow pull off these new and eclectic sounds perfectly. You can watch the video for "AMERICAN FOOD" below. The single is out now via a ...

Photo by Graham Tolbert Rat Saw God was my #3 album of 2023, so I'm clearly going to be thrilled to hear new music from Wednesday. The North Carolina band's latest is "Elderberry Wine," which leans more into the Americana side of their indie rock meets Americana sound. There are a lot of bands combining those two genres these days, but no one quite does it as well as Wednesday. They seem to be able to move between and blur the two genres adeptly, and even an almost purely Americana song of theirs puts just enough indie rock fuzz to it to keep things interesting. "Elderberry Wine" also features some of the finest vocals we've heard from singer Karly Hartzman to date. As of right now this is a standalone single, but hopefully we'll be hearing more from Wednesday in the near future. Karly Hartzman says of the band's latest single: “‘Elderberry Wine’ is about the potential for sweet things in life (love, family, success) to become poison if not prepa...

Photo by Sophie Hur Winter (aka Samira Winter) grew up in Curitiba, Brazil before starting to play in bands in Boston, and then moved to Los Angeles. After releasing 2022's What Kind of Blue Are You? , Winter relocated to New York City. She's set to release a follow up album, and just released it's first single. "Just Like a Flower" starts off with this undeniably dreamy sound, with soft and swirling guitars over her just above a whisper vocals. It's the kind of sound that would make The Sundays proud, and just as you're being lulled into a sense of peace, the track kicks it up into a loud and bouncy alt-rocker. With Winter's vocals and guitar keeping the same tone (just played faster), "Just Like a Flower" stays intact throughout without feeling like separate songs. We're always excited to hear new music from Winter, but this one hits a little different. Samira Winter says of her latest single and video: “This song captures the essence o...

Photo by Linear Labs The second single from Brazilian singer/actress Samantha Schmü tz and American producer Adrian Younge is retro in the best possible way. "Samba Can çã o" was recorded in Younge's all analog studio in Los Angeles, which helps give it a sound that could be from decades ago. This is a tribute to Brazilian samba from the 60's and the culture of vinyl records, and even if you don't know what that sounds like, the love for this sound is embedded deep within your soul. "Samba Can çã o" just sounds vitally cool, and will create an instant connection with you. Unless you're hung up on only listening to a single genre of music (and if you are, you probably don't read this blog), you're going to love the collaboration between Samantha Schm ü tz and Adrian Younge. Adrian Younge says of the latest single: “Samba Canção' is a simple song with intricate orchestration created to highlight the beauty of Brasil in the way music did bef...

When I first saw Model/Actriz in late 2023, I was completely unaware of them and was completely blown away by their live show. Their energy and performance was unmatched, and they instantly went on my "must see" list. Monday night they played Deep Cuts, which is my current favorite venue. Obviously, I needed to attend. Even knowing what to expect from a Model/Actriz live show, I was still dumbfounded by just how great they were. Monday night was a non-stop thrill ride of killer song after killer song one right after the other. Songs ranged from rave style bangers that inspired manic dancing in the crowd to industrial ragers that got the pit going hard... although to be fair both were happening for most songs. Vocalist Cole Haden might be the greatest frontperson in music today, and worked the crowd into an absolute frenzy. It's nearly impossible to keep your eyes off of him, and his energy was only matched by the audience. The packed house reacted wildly to every single s...