Deer Tick Does In Utero

If It's Too Loud endorses Deer Tick as a live band, and they have apparently been doing versions of songs from Nirvana's In Utero live lately. In Brooklyn over the weekend, the band decided to do the entire album in its entirety. If the stream of "All Apologies" is any indication, they do it as a very straight version of the album, which is an interesting choice.

You can stream it below and download the whole set above from NYC Taper.

Luscious Jackson - "Show Us What You Got"

Luscious Jackson, the band that taught indie kids to dance, is back with the first song off their first album since 1999, Magic Hour. Every indie dance act out today owes a debt to Luscious Jackson, although they probably don't know it. I was a little worried they'd try to keep up with the kids and this whole twerking phenomenon, but "Show Us What You Got" is a mid-tempo groove that fits right in with their classic 90s work. It's a perfectly fun summer tune, which is a bit of a shame they held it back until now. Magic Hour was crowdsourced, making 100% of goal in 48 hours. There are still some packages left over at PledgeMusic, so check it out. For more details, head on over to Luscious Jackson's official website, and you'll find "Show Us What You Got" below. Magic Hour is due out November 5th.

The Julie Ruin - Run Fast

The beauty of the debut album from Kathleen Hanna's new band, The Julie Ruin, is how unexpected it is. The opening track of Run Fast, "Oh Come On," is exactly what I expected and wanted it to be: It combines the punk rock edge of Bikini Kill with the groove of Le Tigre. From there it takes a turn and is much more than I expected.

This is a fun album. It's obvious that Kathleen Hanna's having a blast now that she's back to making music after her recent health scare, and that almost makes this a party album. Song titles like "Party City" and "Cookie Rd." give off that vibe. "Goodnight Goodbye" is actually just a really pretty little song. "Girls Like Us" shows what a Beastie Boys/Le Tigre mash up would sound like. Keyboad player/background vocalist Kenny Mellman takes over lead vocals on "South Coast Plaza" which comes across like a more drunken The Hold Steady. "Stop Stop" is my personal favorite track with it's beautiful chorus juxtaposed with shouting verses. All in all, it's a much more diverse album than I would have ever expected.

Run Fast is out now. Head on over to www.thejulieruinband.com for more info and to purchase a copy. You can watch the band perform "Oh Come on" on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and current tour dates below.

Sep 15 NEUMO'S    W/ LA SERA AS SUPPORT    SEATTLE, WA

Sep 17 SLIMS    W/ LA SERA AS SUPPORT    SAN FRANCISCO, CA  

Sep 19 THE ECHO    W/ LA SERA AS SUPPORT    LOS ANGELES, CA

Sep 22 IRENIC    W/ LA SERA AS SUPPORT    SAN DIEGO, CA 

Oct 25 MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG        BROOKLYN, NY

Nov 08            FUN FUN FUN FEST           AUSTIN, TX 

Nov 09            FUN FUN FUN FEST           AUSTIN, TX 

Nov 10            FUN FUN FUN FEST           AUSTIN, TX

Drive-By Truckers - Alabama Ass Whuppin'

Out of print for far too long, Drive-By Truckers have just reissued their first live album, Alabama Ass Whuppin'. Originally released in 2000, Alabama Ass Whuppin' showcases a pre-Jason Isbell DBT at their very best. It was an interesting time to release a live album, considering they only had released two albums at this point (Gangstabilly and Pizza Deliverance), but DBT have never truly followed a normal path. It also features an early version of "Lookout Mountain" long before it appeared on 2004's The Dirty South. A live staple, few songs match it's intensity when it's performed live. There's also DBT's cover of Jim Carroll Band's "People Who Died" on Alabama Ass Whuppin'. Drive-By Truckers have always been one of the best live acts around, and this album almost captures the live show perfectly. 

Make sure to head on over to Drive-By Trucker's website for more information and to purchase Alabama Ass Whuppin'. You'll also find a live video for "18 Wheels of Love" below, as well as current tour dates. If you've never seen them live, I can't implore you enough to head out next time they come to your area.

Sat Sep 28       Stateline, NV  Harrah's Tahoe South Shore Room    

Sat Oct 5         Mobile AL      Bayfest           

Sun Oct 06      Greenville        MS     Mighty Mississippi Music Festival     

Fri Oct 18        Macon GA      Cox Capitol Theatre   

Sat Oct 19       Live Oak FL   Magnolia Music Festival        

Wed Oct 30    Dubuque IA    Diamond Jo Casino    

Thu Oct 31      Chicago, IL     Vic Theatre    

Fri Nov 01       Detroit MI       Royal Oak       w/ OLD 97s

Sat Nov 02      Toronto ON    Phoenix Ballroom       w/ OLD 97s

Sun Nov 03     Buffalo NY     Town Ballroom           w/ OLD 97s

Tue Nov 05     Philadelphia PA          TLA    w/ OLD 97s

Wed Nov 06   Columbus OH Newport Music Hall   w/ OLD 97s

Thu Nov 07     Bloomington IN          Bluebird Theater        

Fri Nov 08       Covington KY            Madison Theater         w/ OLD 97s

Sat Nov 09      Memphis, TN  Minglewood Hall        w/ OLD 97s

Sun Nov 10     Nashville, TN  Cannery Ballroom      

Fri Dec 06       San Francisco, CA      The Chapel      Patterson Hood Solo

Sat Dec 07      Santa Cruz, CA Don Quixote's International Music Hall Patterson Hood Solo

Fri Dec 13       Denver, CO     Larimer Lounge          Patterson Hood Solo

Sat Dec 14      Denver, CO     Larimer Lounge          Patterson Hood Solo

First Listen: New Releases for September 10

After a few epic weeks, a slower burn, this time with one high-profile release and some interesting pieces on top of that:

Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady: Musically, I love pretty much everything about Janelle Monae. She's got a really unique aesthetic for R&B that plays into my love of sci-fi and over-the-top storytelling, she knows how to cultivate a musical image that compliments the pop sensibilities of having a clear physical one, and, most importantly, the music is great. While I've found I like some rap music over the last few years, more straightforward R&B hasn't always worked for me, but Monae does. The Electric Lady doesn't quite meet the heights of The ArchAndroid, but I'm pretty sure that would have been impossible. The new album is definitely one of the better things to come about this year, its only flaw being a little too produced. Definitely worth your listen.

Emiliana Torrini - Tookah: Emiliana Torrini is an artist that I've kind of associated with trip-hop more than folky singer-songwriter stuff after seeing her open for Travis and Dido back in 2001. This is not to say that her more recent output is bad, I just get continually surprised by her. The new album is a good listen, nothing jumps out at first listen, but I can see it staying in the rotation in the short term, at least.

Moving Units - Neurotic Exotic: I saw Moving Units open for Blur back when "Crazy Beat" was a thing, and I was super impressed by their dance/disco rock, which was kind of a "thing" back then. Since then, we've seen bands like Franz Ferdinand do it really well and we're well past that trend, but Moving Units, who haven't released a full length since 2007, are back with an album that feels new and fresh without abandoning the format that gave them some indie popularity to start. "I Wanna Go Dancing" is the highlight so far, but the whole album is a fun winner so far.

Goldfrapp - Tales of Us: About 3 songs in, my question was "I thought Goldfrapp was an electronic act." This isn't really a chill album, it's not really a folk album, or a pop album. It's maybe Goldfrapp trying to be Bat for Lashes, but without a lot of the epicness. It's quite confusing, and I don't think I like it.







Other albums of note:

* Juliana Hatfield - Wild Animals: A new album from Hatfield isn't available for streaming yet, but Amazon describes it as "trashy acoustic" and she's doing a PledgeMusic drive to fund it.
* Arctic Monkeys - AM

2 Great New Covers: Yuck covers Order and Disappears cover U2

Here at If It's Too Loud..., we're always on the lookout for new cover songs to share with you. Today, I'm bringing you two of my most recent favorites. Yuck are one of my favorite English bands I feel like I'm a little too old to be really into, and they're covering New Order, one of my favorite English bands I feel like I'm just young enough to have missed them. "Age of Consent" might be my favorite New Order song, and it's just under appreciated enough not to be played out. Yuck attack the song with their own noise rock style but keep just enough of the original to be reverential.



Similarly, Chicago's Disappears bring just enough noise to U2's "New Year's Day" to keep it fresh. "New Year's Day" is the most hack song to cover in the U2 catalog, but it's part of The AV Club's covers series, so they didn't have much of a selection. It's definitely not a parody, but Disappears make the song their own, which is what the best covers do.

Disappears cover U2

Book Review: "The Kennedy Chronicles" by former MTV VJ Kennedy

If you're a certain age, you probably hit the sweet spot of MTV - a little after the network finally solidified its image, but before the scourge of things like Total Request Live and the end of the animation block. For me, I probably started watching around 1993, which means I was too young to know much about the personalities of the VJs like Kennedy, but old enough to know who was who at the very least. Kennedy was probably my favorite, if only because she came across to me as the misfit toy of the group - not a model, not a comedian, sort of the nerdy type who wandered in and ended up getting a gig on TV. Now, today, she's a political spokeperson in libertarian circles, and she put out a book about her time at MTV, so I dove right at it.

The meat of the book is effectively the story of Kennedy at MTV. It trades back and forth between anecdotes about working at MTV, getting hired, getting fired, the Beach House, and so on, and contrasts it with some talk of the bands she met of the time, her personal relationships with many of the people involved, and so on. It's a lot of confessional, a little "look how cool I was," and a lot of topics over the 300 pages.

What worked for me was that there were a lot of interesting stories. She spent a lot of time with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and you get a different feel for him than perhaps the popular sentiment would represent. In what might be the biggest reveal, we get an admission from the lead singer of the Goo Goo Dolls that their hit song "Name" was actually inspired by and about Kennedy, which is stunning. A lot of other interesting pieces about various musicians, and a surface-level inside look at MTV in general? It's not bad, especially in the short chapter bite-sized chunks it comes in.

I do wish the book spent more time on some of the aftermath. I do wish we had a more in-depth look at MTV's operations. Some stories, like the ones with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, feel like they're missing key information that should have probably been disclosed later on. The book's hyper-focus on MTV was a little disappointing, and Kennedy was way too focused on her virginity in the old stories. Really?

Overall, I enjoyed the read. It is far from perfect, but as a fun nostalgia trip, especially as someone who was right in MTV's wheelhouse during a time when Kennedy was on, and as someone who was young enough to not know what anyone else really thought about her? Absolutely worth my reading time.

Mean Creek - "Cool Town"

I was a little worried about how much time Mean Creek has been spending opening up for Counting Crows lately. Not that I really have anything against Adam Duritz, but I was worried the early 90s college stoner dude vibe would start rubbing off on Mean Creek. Apparently, my concerns were misguided since their just released song, "Cool Town," is the most furious thing they've released yet. It stops just a shade shy of punk and rests squarely in surf rock on speed. It's an interesting departure for the band, which always gave me an Archers of Loaf meets Bright Eyes kind of vibe. I'll be interested to hear their next album, Local Losers, due out on January 28, which seems like forever.

Check out Mean Creek's website here, and stream and download "Cool Town" below.

"Robocop 4 is in Pre-Production, as if Robocop 3 Wasn't Bad Enough" - Future of the Left Gets It

With word that the trailer for the reboot of Robocop has landed, and with a new song from Future of the Left being released around the same time, it sounded like a good reason to offer up their song about that Robocop film in pre-production in celebration of their new album coming soon, How to Stop Your Brain in an Accident, due out this October.

While it's not allowing me to embed, "Bread, Cheese, Bow and Arrow" feels a lot like the themes of their first couple albums with the production of last year's The Plot Against Common Sense. They're still moving away from the McLusky sound, and I mind it less and less every time.

Ben Folds and Ryan Adams sing children's songs by Sandra Boynton???

Music made for kids is the absolute worst. As much as you might try to raise your kid on a diet of Dinosaur Jr and the Ramones, eventually a grandparent ruins everything with some Disney Princess nonsense or the Wiggles. Sure, there are children's albums out there by They Might Be Giants and the Fun Fun Records roster is actually good, but they are the exception, and the rule is Raffi.

Right now for free you can download a 3 song sampler on Noisetrade for Sandra Boynton's FROG TROUBLE. If you have a kid, you know Sandra Boynton's surprisingly good books featuring animals in people clothes (But Not the Hippopotamus is my personal favorite). FROG TROUBLE is a collection of kids' songs written by Boynton and sung by a mixed bag of artists. You'll probably want to focus on Ben Folds, Ryan Adams, Mark Lanegan, and Fountains of Wayne while ignoring Darius Rucker. The "fun pack" you can download for free includes Kacey Musgraves, Ryan Adams, and Ben Folds. Ryan Adams' "When Pigs Fly" is much better than it should be, and could actually fit in with his own songs.

You can download the FROG TROUBLE Fun Pack here, and watch a making of video below.