Tom Morello featuring Vic Mensa - "We Don't Need You"

Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, Prophets of Rage) has been rocking a solo career for quite some time. This century, he's released solo albums under The Nightwatchman moniker as well as his own name. These have been mostly acoustic folk-rock albums filled for the most part with protest songs. In October he'll be releasing another solo album, but this one appears to be more of a rocker/possible party album. Based on the list of collaborators for the album, we're going to assume Morello takes a step back from vocal duties and takes over the guitar like we all want to. Right now you can listen to "We Don't Need You," his collaboration with rapper Vic Mensa. It gets fairly political with 9/11 conspiracies being spouted by Mensa, and it's way more of a banger than we're used to from Morello. In fact, his guitar almost sounds autotuned at some parts, if that is even possible. At the very least, the new album will be interesting.

You can listen to "We Don't Need You" below. Tom Morello's new album, The Atlas Underground, will be out October 12 on Mom + Pop. It will also feature collaborations with Killer Mike, Big Boi, Portugal the Man, K Flay, Marcus Mumford, Gary Clark Jr., Steve Aoki, GZA, RZA, and more. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on Tom Morello, check out his website.

Cordovas - "This Town's a Drag"

It's a Friday during the summer, which is the perfect time for a song like Cordovas's "This Town's a Drag." The song just captures a lazy summer country feel, but is probably a little too rock to truly be considered straight country. Plus, it's fairly funky, despite being a country song. It sort of reminds me of The Deslondes meets Deer Tick with soul. It also has a tiny bit of Wilco's noodling towards the end. In other words, most readers of If It's Too Loud... will end up digging this.

You can listen to "This Town's a Drag" below. That Santa Fe Channel, the new album from Cordovas, will be out August 10 on ATO Records. For more on Cordovas, check out their website.

Molly Burch - "Wild"

Photo via Facebook

Molly Burch's Please Be Mine was one of my favorite albums of 2017, so I'm thrilled that we'll have the follow up this year! The first single, "Wild," continues Burch's fabulous 60's soul meets modern Americana movement, but it's a little bit tweaked. Somehow Burch has added a slightly off kilter quality to the song, bringing it a little away from the oldies sound and has also made it a bit more mainstream. She also adds in some current indie rock vibes, particularly in the chorus. The result is a more modern sound that still hearkens back to a classic sound (both Burch's and pop music in general) while looking more forward and ahead.

You can watch the video for "Wild" below. First Flower, Molly Burch's follow up to Please Be Mine, will be available October 5 on Captured Tracks. You can pre-order your copy here. For more on Molly Burch, check out her website.

Kevin Pearce Covers Underworld

Here's something fun for all of us middle aged former hipsters that became obsessed with Trainspotting in our youth and may have even gone through a short lived techno phase we don't talk much about. Kevin Pearce has released a cover of Underworld's "Born Slippy," aka the greatest electronica song ever recorded. All of the dance/techno has been removed from the song, and Pearce does it as a trippy singer/songwriter version. The result is far more captivating than you'd expect, and it completely sidesteps the novelty cover trappings. Also, despite the slowed down feel, Pearce takes a song that was originally nearly 10:00 and cuts it down to 4:20. If you're not completely sold on the concept, you will be by the time you get to the "Shouting lager lager lager lager / Mega mega white thing" portion of the song.

You can listen to Kevin Pearce's version of "Born Slippy" below. For more on Kevin Pearce, check out his website.

Deleter - "Doctor Jonathan Osterman"

Concept albums are usually the territory of prog rock and maybe the occasional hip hop album. Minneapolis's Deleter are set to come out with what may very well be the first post-punk concept album. Levitate the Pentagon isn't about Abbie Hoffman or the Yippies, but instead is, according to the press release, "... somewhat of a concept album based loosely on generations of comic book lore interweaved with social/political commentary on the history of western culture's role in the world today. With nods to Alan Moore's Watchmen, The World's Greatest Detective, Marvel's cosmic universe, the Atomic Age of comics and so much more, Deleter weaves narratives, meaning and connections between a fantasy world and the violence of the reality we all know all too well."

The first song we can hear from Levitate the Pentagon is "Doctor Jonathan Osterman" sounds like a dark DEVO without the synths. It starts off with noises that may be drums or could be just clicks, and then a barely strummed guitar comes in. It's a very slow build until it all devolves into a swirling near-mess that you could dance to if you tried. 

You can listen to "Doctor Jonathan Osterman" below. Levitate the Pentagon will be out on August 24 and can be pre-ordered on Bandcamp. For more on Deleter, check them out on Facebook.

Mountain Lions - "In the Valley"

Photo by Matt Brubek

Back in June we brought you the latest single from Chapel Hill, NC's Mountain Lions. It was a fairly straightforward, mainstream modern Americana song. If you pigeonholed them like we did based on that one song, you'd be quite wrong. Their latest, "In the Valley," isn't quite freak folk, but we can hardly call it mainstream, either. "In the Valley" has a distinctly dark feel. The typical words we music journalists like to use are "moody" and "ethereal," and in this instance they fit. The song is about a farmhouse that still stands after the owner's death, which explains the mood. Steven Diaz plays the role of crooner for this song, but without the dreamboat aspect usually associated with a crooner. When an artist has two such differing styles on two singles, we get even more excited to hear the rest of the album.

You can listen to "In the Valley" below. We Are, the new album from Mountain Lions, will be out on August 10. For more on Mountain Lions, check out their website.

First Listen: New Releases for 20 July

Another slow week, so this does have some catch-up.

Artist: Punch Brothers
Album: All Ashore
Quick Description: Latest from the inventive bluegrass group.
Why You Should Listen: Punch Brothers have yet to do any wrong whatsoever.
Overall Thoughts: Punch Brothers are effectively the 1995-2005 era Radiohead of bluegrass at this point. What they do transcends their early work, transcends their genre, and exists on a plane of its own. This may be their most musically challenging endeavor, and yet it still feels fresh and accessible. I don't know what else to say about it at this point, as they're just too good for words.
Recommendation: Punch Brothers should be automatic at this point.

Artist: Pram
Album: Across the Meridian
Quick Description: First album in ten years from the British act.
Why You Should Listen: You enjoy the odder things in life.
Overall Thoughts: For all my music immersion over the years, I seemingly missed Pram, an experimental group of sorts. They put out a number of albums before going dormant a decade ago and then came back with this album, a strange and weird and compelling listen that basically walks the line perfectly between weird and welcoming. I really loved this, and it’s probably no surprise given my recent addictions, but this deserves a spot in your rotation.
Recommendation: A must-listen this week.

Artist: Lori McKenna
Album: The Tree
Quick Description: Latest from the local folkie.
Why You Should Listen: Lori McKenna should be someone who you're following already.
Overall Thoughts: Lori McKenna is basically a staple of the Boston-area roots/folk landscape at this point, and with good reason. She is clearly well ahead of her peers across the board, and this new album is no different. This is simply a confident, well-done record that will slot in very nicely for what you’re looking for.
Recommendation: Worth your time.

Artist: Meg Myers
Album: Take Me To The Disco
Quick Description: Latest from the pop songstress.
Why You Should Listen: Meg Myers has a take on pop music that isn't like anyone else's.
Overall Thoughts: is pretty much why I’m into darkish pop music these days, although I don’t know for sure whether she’d actually classify herself that way. But “Adelade” has been my jam for years, and this new album is similar in tone with solid songwriting and a unique, individual feel. If you have any interest in pop music at all, you should fire this one up.
Recommendation: Solid pop effort.

Artist: Ume
Album: Other Nature
Quick Description: Indie rock with some feeling behind it.
Why You Should Listen: You're looking for something that is both traditional and challenging.
Overall Thoughts: This is some solid, often angsty, rock music that stays restrained as opposed to going on full blast. It puts out a sort of vulnerability as a result, and that vulnerability usually makes this work in a really compelling way and sets it apart from other albums like it. The overall presentation might be a turnoff for a lot of listeners, but this worked really well for me on a whole.
Recommendation: Worth the risk in a short week.

Artist: Rebekah Rolland
Album: Seed & Silo
Quick Description: Superlative roots effort.
Why You Should Listen: This is a more mature, straightforward rootsy affair.
Overall Thoughts: It’s almost a shame this came out the same week as Lori McKenna and Clay/Jody, as this is probably the most endearing of the alt-country/roots selections this week, but will almost certainly be overshadowed by everything else in its space. This is a mature record in many ways, with the right balance of sparser songs to go along with the type of bluegrass that has a lot of atmosphere and movement to it. Do not sleep on this one, because it should not get lost in the shuffle.
Recommendation: Make this part of your rotation.

Of note:

* Clay Parker and Jodi James - The Lonesomest Sound That Can Sound (Above-average traditional roots record)
* Dentist - Night Swimming (A solid, dependable record in the vein of acts like Dum Dum Girls)
* 10 String Symphony - Generation Frustration (A fascinating combination of genres)
* Cornelia Murr - Lake Tear of the Clouds
* Eisley - I'm Only Dreaming... Of Days Long Past
* Champagne Superchillin' - Beach Deep

EPs:

* Elias - Walk With Elias (A pro wrestler with a folk singer gimmick puts out an EP in character. Need I say more?)
* Kayla Guthrie - Falling Star
* Katie Ellen - Still Life

Also out:

* The Internet - Hive Mind
* President of What? - And What If After I'm Gone None of It Matters?
* Negative Scanner - Nose Picker
* Ty Segall and White Fence - Joy

Live Shows: Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys and The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing, ONCE Ballroom, Somerville, MA 7/21/18

Every performance by Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys is truly unique and special. Saturday night's show at ONCE Ballroom in Somerville was unique in that it was a pretty straightforward rock show. The eight piece band took the stage and played a collection of audience favorites as well as new songs. The three new songs the band played seemed to sum up the evening the most. While a lot of Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys's newer material has been on the quieter, more moody and ethereal side of the spectrum, the new songs are much more loud and thrashy. The band is definitely letting their metal flag fly on a few of these. The political climate is influencing the band quite a bit, as they brought back a song that they haven't played in eight years ("No Room") and one of the new songs contemplated the fear of bringing up a child in the current world that includes near constant school shootings ("War Gospel" may have been the name.) 

It wasn't all doom and gloom for the evening. Well, it was, but also in the fun way. Any performance by the Army of Toys is uplifting in the way that it brings all the weird kids together for a night of community. There's literally no wrong way to attend a live show of theirs, and everyone is accepted. Plus, there is no possible way to not enjoy their performance of "Dull Boy," which is their ode to The Shining. The only disappointment of the night is that Sickert teased a cover of Bell Biv Devoe's classic "Poison," which wasn't followed through on. Maybe next time...

The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing advertise themselves as "the UK's biggest, loudest, heaviest SteamPUNK band." Not being an expert on the UK's SteamPUNK scene, I'm going to assume they are correct since I can't imagine it getting much heavier. Their music comes across as sea shanties filtered through punk and metal, the way Motorhead played it. If that sounds like something you'd enjoy, you're going to love them. Their show was an insane amount of fun, despite songs about babies being thrown into rivers instead of being adopted ("Baby Farmers") and more angry politics. "Baby Farmers" was used as an example of what happens when women don't have access to reproductive rights, and a very anti-Trump theme was expressed throughout the night. (Of course, unless you're going to see Kid Rock or Ted Nugent, I'm sure that's a pretty standard theme.)

Apologies to Frenchy and the Punk and Radiator Kings. I meant to get there early enough for all four bands, but unfortunately didn't make it. 

Blair Jollands - "I'll Remember You"

Not too many artists take their inspiration from the 1940's and 50's these days. The latest single from Blair Jollands is the increasingly rare exception. The London artist just released his latest single "I'll Remember You." The song is a torch song in the best possible way. It's a duet with singer Iraina Mancini and it sounds like a bridge between singers like Frank Sinatra and Roy Orbison. It's a gorgeous song filled with lush string arrangements. It's a kind of cool we don't usually see any more.

You can listen to "I'll Remember You" below. 7 Blood, the upcoming album from Blair Jollands, will be out on September 14. For more on Blair Jollands, be sure to check out his website.

Major Murphy Covers The Kinks

Photo by Michael Newsted

I was completely unfamiliar with Grand Rapids's Major Murphy before we were sent their cover of The Kinks's 1970 classic "Strangers." But, we also didn't know about Courtney Barnett until she covered a Lemonheads song, so they're in great company. While The Kinks's original version of "Strangers" is a very slow piano heavy ballad, Major Murphy speeds the song up a little and turns it into a fairly upbeat Americana track. It's one of those rare cover songs that perfectly straddles the line between staying true to the original but still making the song its own.

You can listen to Major Murphy's version of "Strangers" below. The song is currently available for a "Name Your Price" option with all purchases donated to the Fianza Fund which supports immigrants being detained on the southern border. You can get your copy here. For more on Major Murphy, check them out on Facebook and Twitter.