First Listen: New Releases for 7 May

Artist: Squid
Album: Bright Green Field
Quick Thoughts: This is some really odd but really fun post-punk. Ken highlighted one of their songs last week, but I liked "G.S.K." quite a bit and the whole album is so strangely brilliant that it's difficult not to be charmed by the whole affair. This will definitely be an acquired taste for some, but this was one of my favorites this week and it might just resonate with you as well.
Songs of Note: "G.S.K.," "Paddling"

Artist: Rosali
Album: No Medium
Quick Thoughts: This is a nice alt-rock singer-songwriter effort with a lot of really melodic stuff to go along with what is a pretty vulnerable record. Each song really resonated with me, and I found myself really into a lot of this. I'm super excited to dive back in, and if you like a lot of what we highlight in these parts, you'll enjoy this record.
Songs of Note: "Mouth," "If Not For Now"

Artist: Natalie Bergman
Album: Mercy
Quick Thoughts: It's safe to say that Ken and I are not religious folk. No shade on those who are, including Natalie Bergman, who produced a modern religious record that even an atheist can enjoy. It's out on Third Man, which explains a lot to start, but Jesus is front and center on this album and yet it doesn't feel preachy or overdone. It ain't your local church group's worship music, let's put it that way - it's just a really solid indie record dressed in its Sunday best.
Songs of Note: "Talk to the Lord," "Shine Your Light on Me," "The Gallows"

Artist: Sarah Jarosz
Album: Blue Heron Suite
Quick Thoughts: I've been a fan of Sarah Jarosz for a while, and this release stems from a 2018 commission. It's gorgeous bluegrass music, and it's perhaps more highbrow than most, but it's incredibly well done and I wanted to make sure it wouldn't get lost in the shuffle.
Songs of Note: "Morning," "Painted Blue"

Artist: Iceage
Album: Seek Shelter
Quick Thoughts: I feel like I don't see enough really solid rock music these days. Or at least not enough straight rock that grabs me. Iceage's latest, however, grabbed my attention. It's a real banger, and given how much I enjoyed their COVID track "Lockdown Blues," I knew I'd like this. I just didn't expect to like it this much.
Songs of Note: "Love Kills Slowly," "Vendetta"

Of note:

* Nancy Wilson - You and Me (Lead singer of Heart, this has some solid moments.)
* dodie - Build a Problem (A lot of music here with a number of standout tracks.)
* Little Snake - A Fragmented Love Story, Written by the Infinite Helix Architect
* Mia Joy - Spirit Tamer
* Dorothea Paas - Anything Can't Happen
* Czarface and MF Doom - Super What?
* L'Orange and Namir Blade - Imaginary Everything
* The Lucid Dream - The Deep End
* Hooverphonic - Hidden Stories
* Sophia Kennedy - Monsters
* Mega Ran and Noveliss - Maverick Hunters
* Fiver - Fiver With the Atlantic School of Spontaneous Composition
* Destroyyyyer - hard hitters vol. 1

EPs:

* Century Egg - Little Piece of Hair (Keep an eye on this band.)
* Pet Fox - More Than Anything
* Mother Mother - Forgotten Souls
* Jill Andrews - Vultures
* Anjimile - Reunion
* KALI - CIRCLES
* The Lounge Society - Silk for the Starving (The Remixes)
* Doss - 4 New Hit Songs
* Chelsea Williams - The Cave Sessions
* GRLwood - Roommate Wanted (Music from the Motion Picture)
* Durante and HANA - Celestia EP
* Cusp - Spill EP

Live albums/Compilations/Reissues:

* Sufjan Stevens - Convocations (Compiles all five of Sufjan's 2021 ambient efforts into one package.)
* Pet Shop Boys - Discovery (Live in Rio 1994, 2021 Remaster) (A good reminder that the Pet Shop Boys are awesome.)
* Marissa Nadler - Instead of Dreaming (A collection of pandemic covers.)
* Angel Olsen - Song of the Lark and Other Far Memories (All sorts of demos and alternate versions.)
* Koven - Butterfly Effect (Acoustic) (The techno act's acoustic version of their great 2020 album.)
* GoGo Penguin - GGP/RMX (Remix album.)
* Claire Rousay - A Collection (Compiles her early efforts in a reissue.)
* Elbow - Asleep in the Back (Deluxe Edition)

Also out:

* Aly & AJ - a touch of the beat gets you up on your feet gets you out and then into the sun
* McKinley Dixon - For My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her
* Weezer - Van Weezer
* Buffet Lunch - The Power of Rocks
* Lucy - The Music Industry is Poisonous
* Luke Haines - Setting the Dogs on the Post Punk Postman

Tobisonics & Wee Scots Poet - "All the Little Things"

If you've been reading If It's Too Loud... for any length of time, you'll know that I rarely write about electronic music. Because it's rare, you know that when I do it's something truly special. That's how I feel about the latest single from Tobisonics. "All the Little Things" is a collaboration with Wee Scots Poet has a little bit of a sound collage feel, but if a sound collage were more unified. This might be the ignorant American in me, but it sounds like some of The Streets' more celebratory music. In an email, Tobisonics put it best: "Disco is the electronic genre of hard times. Right now, people need their Saturday Night Fever."

You can watch the video for "All the Little Things" below. For more on Tobisonics, check out the artist's website.

Yinyang - "Poison Darts / Boyish Charms"

I really hate to just copy from a press conference, but sometimes the PR people just nail it. The latest from Yinyang (aka Lauren Hannan) is going to remind you of a mixture of Peaches and MIA. "Poison Darts / Boyish Charms" has the more aggressive pop and hip hop sound of MIA but the electroclash of Peaches. It's pop, but it's incredibly noisy and discordant pop filled with an absurd amount of attitude. Except when it's not. "Poison Darts / Boyish Charms" is what happens when pop and hip hop truly goes punk. 

Lauren Hannan says that with new single “... there’s no cool or deep meaning for the song. I just had a few things to get off my chest, and now I feel much lighter for it.”

You can watch the video for "Poison Darts / Boyish Charms" below. For more on Yinyang, check out the artist on Facebook.

Ryan H. Walsh - "Direct Address"

Hallelujah the Hills singer/songwriter Ryan H. Walsh has released a new solo song, and if you like his band there is no chance you're not going to like this song. "Direct Address" has all the fabulous literary songwriting of Hallelujah the Hills, just quieter. It's a beautiful, ramblin' not quite folk song. It's nice to truly be able to pay attention to Walsh's lyrics without the bombast behind it. Don't get me wrong... I adore that bombast, but it's also great to hear his music done with his lyrics being the centerpiece as well. However, this is the kind of song that proves there is no justice in the world. If there was, it would be a huge hit song played on a variety of radio station formats nationwide and not just a solo song released on Bandcamp Friday.

You can listen to "Direct Address" below. The song is currently available on Hallelujah the Hills' Bandcamp. For more on Ryan H. Walsh and his band, check out their website.

Needles//Pins - "Of Things Best Left to Chance"

Dammit, does Needles//Pins make some perfect emo. "Of Things Best Left to Chance" is a punk rock song that is just melodic enough to land into the world of emo. It's aggressive and rough around the edges, but it just has enough of that pop sensibility and bounce to it to be considered emo. This might be emo for the over 40 crowd that knew what it was before Dashboard Confessional and New Found Glory Top 40ed all over it. This is good old punk rock 'n' roll that you couldn't possibly get hurt pogoing near the pit during.

You can watch the video for "Of Things Best Left to Chance" below. Needles//Pins' self titled album is due out May 28 on Dirt Cult Records. You can pre-order your copy here. For more on Needles//Pins, check out the band's Facebook.

GA-20 - "Two in the Ground"

With Boston's GA-20 having recorded four albums worth of material in 2020, they're just sitting on an insane backlog of material right now. The second single from this abundance of music is "Two in the Ground." The new song is a slow, groove filled blues jam. Sure, there are more blues revivalist bands kicking around right now, but GA-20 are the best of the best. "Two in the Ground" will show you why. It's not a pure classic blues throwback, it's not blues by number, and it's not an amped up version of the blues. GA-20 take classic blues and modernize it while making it sound classic. Plus, they're ridiculously talented musicians, which certainly isn't hurting.

You can listen to "Two in the Ground" below. The song is currently available as a single via Karma Chief Records, and can be downloaded here. For more on GA-20, check out the band's website.

Sierra Ferrell Covers Faron Young

This past Sunday saw another edition of Sierra Ferrell's Pick Your Poison Virtual Concert Series. The theme for this one was Calypso, and it included a cover of Faron Young's 1958 song "Alone With You." Faron Young is an artist I had never heard of before Ferrell's cover, but he was a classic country singer and producer. Ferrell's cover is pretty spot on, and it's just pure classic country. She does inject the song with her own spark, which is what draws us to her music so intensely. She and her band seem to be having an absolute blast, which is what we really want with this type of cover. Plus, they stray from the original with a funkier outro, so stay tuned for that.

You can watch Sierra Ferrell's take on "Alone With You" below. The third and final installment of the Pick Your Poison Virtual Concert Series is May 16 with the theme of Jazz Night at the Basement. You can get a ticket here. For more on Sierra Ferrell, check out the artist's website.

Neighborhood Brats - "Harvey Weinstein (is a symptom)

California's Neighborhood Brats just might be taking the baton from Dead Kennedys. Their new single, "Harvey Weinstein (is a symptom)," is a blisteringly fast thrasy punk song. The song is one minute twenty one seconds of the fastest old school punk you've heard in years with just the slightest hints of X style rockabilly. Just from the title, it's obvious the song is about misogyny and lyrics of "Closeted mysogyny / Hides the intent / Patriarchal values / Flavor the event" drive that point home. "Harvey Weinstein (is a symptom)" isn't a subtle song by any means, and that's the point of it. 

You can listen to "Harvey Weinstein (is a symptom)" below. Confines of Life is due out May 28 on Dirt Cult Records. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on Neighborhood Brats, find them on Facebook and Bandcamp.

Saint Sister - "Oh My God Oh Canada"

Photo by Ellius Grace

The previous two singles we've covered from Dublin's Saint Sister have been wildly different. "The Place That I Work" was a nearly a capella more traditional Irish folk song, while "Karaoke Song" was total pop. "Oh My God Oh Canada" lands somewhere in the middle. It's more of a folk pop song that leans a little more into pop territory. Although Gemma Doherty is credited as arranger and harpist, so it can't be fully pop. It's this blend of traditional sounds and modern pop that truly make Saint Sister stand out from other artists of the genre.

In a press release, Morgana MacIntyre explains the new song:

“‘Oh My God Oh Canada’ is about the intricacies within your most cherished and complicated relationships. It’s about not knowing where the line is, finding yourself on the wrong side of it and spending months trying to find your way back to the right place. It’s about saying too much and at the same time, nothing at all, giving too much of yourself in one moment but not showing up when you’re needed most. I wrote it about wanting to be a better friend, but knowing I never would be.”

You can watch the video for "Oh My God Oh Canada" below. Where I Should End is due out June 25. The album can be pre-ordered here. For more on Saint Sister, check out their website.

The Mistons - "Transmission"

In the past, we've mentioned the similarities of The Mistons and Mission of Burma. On their new single, "Transmission," the Portland, OR duo drop any similarities to the Boston legends. "Transmission" may still be post punk, and Sean Croghan may sound similar to Roger Miller, but the new song has this bizarre pop sensibility to it. It's still a noisy and discordant song that most of your co-workers will be repelled by, but it's filled with jangly guitars and maybe even a little hint of melody. There are also some strong hints of early rock 'n' roll as if an early 80's post punk band decided to cover Chuck Berry.

You can listen to "Transmission" below. World of Convenience is due out May 21. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on The Mistons, check out the band on Facebook.