If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Kimberly Ha THAO (formerly Thao and the Get Down Stay Down) returns with her first new music in six years. "Fossils" pushes past THAO's previous releases, while still sounding exactly how we want a release from her to sound. It mixes folk, dance,a and indie into a sound that is all hers. It's a joyous song, and I can't wait to hear her perform it live in a couple of weeks at Green River Festival. "Fossils" is practically begging, if not demanding, a dance party to break out at any minute. THAO's music is a series of upbeat and affirming songs, and "Fossils" fits right in there while still transforming her sound just enough. THAO says of her latest single: “Fossils is both a red-flag warning and an encouragement,  I’m saying I can see it all, I can zoom out and up and see how I and we will have reached the end, frozen in these protective stances. The danger of underliving our lives is real, is in every isolationist choice we make. H...

Photo by Tobias Polanco Argentina's Buenos Vampiros has a new single out that blends up multiple styles in ways we've never quite heard before. "No hay amor que nos salve" is an upbeat yet melancholy track blending post punk, New Wave, and dream pop into a mixture of dark indie. I feel like this is the kind of song that many people are going to find dark and sad, but for those of us that enjoy the dark and sad, "No hay amor que nos salve" is going to be delightful. Regardless, you'll find yourself dancing your heart out and screaming along the gang vocals to Buenos Vampiros' latest. You can watch the video for "No hay amor que nos salve" below. El ultimo disparo is due out in early September on Spinda Records/Casa del Puente Discos. For more on Buenos Vampiros, check out the band on Instagram .

Austin's French Film list Sonic Youth as one of their influences, and you'll hear that all over their latest single. "Rabbit Foot" has that Sonic Youth guitar sound, where it's both punk and art, with a tuning that repels many listeners but locks in others. The main difference with French Film's sound is that vocalist Ash Keenum has an almost pop sound to her voice. It creates an interesting dichotomy of barely controlled musical chaos mixing with more traditionally pleasant vocals. "Rabbit Foot" is our introduction to French Film, and it's a fantastic way to discover them.  You can listen to "Rabbit Foot" below. Yours + Five is due out August 21 on Solid Brass, and is available to pre-order through Bandcamp . For more on French Film, check out the band on Instagram .

Artist : The Sheila Divine Album : The Middle Ages Quick Thoughts : If you know Boston music at all over the last 30 years, you know Aaron Perrino and The Sheila Divine. No musician in the area has persevered quite like Perrino, and I will say that The Middle Ages is my favorite Sheila Divine record and possibly the best thing Perrino's done since the 2003/4 Dear Leader records. That the band never really got its due nationally always felt like a crime, and while one could hope that this is the long-awaited breakthrough, Boston's best-kept secret might have put out the best album of the year. Songs of Note : "Gods of War," "Middle Ages," "No Favors," "Hurry Up," "Celebrate the End," "We Once Burned" Artist : Boards of Canada Album : Inferno Quick Thoughts : Boards of Canada is like a techno locust: they go into hibernation for a few years and then pop up and basically consume your life for a bit. The gro...

Boston's Miracle Blood have a new song and video out for a track recorded during the sessions for Hello Hell. "Wasteland" simply shows how great of a band Miracle Blood is, considering a track as great as this didn't make the cut for their album. It's a behemoth of a song, residing somewhere in between punk and metal. The song is loud, it's heavy, it's thrashy... it's everything we love about Miracle Blood. Somehow, even after all their accolades, Miracle Blood remains one of the most underrated bands in the Boston music scene. "Wasteland" is a beast of a song that demands to be played as loudly as possible. You can watch the video for "Wasteland" below. The song is available via Bandcamp . For more on Miracle Blood, check out the band's website . Upcoming tour dates are below the video. 6/19 Getties – Providence, RI 6/27 THCC – Easthampton, MA 6/28 THCC – Cambridge, MA 7/16 1st Republic Brewing – Burlington, VT 7/17 Turbo Haus ...

Photo by Rian Archer I hate repeating what a press release says about a band or song, but the one for the latest from Wishy nails it. "Lovesick" is compared to The Cure and The Sundays, and that pretty much explains it. The song is covered in a dreamy hazy throughout, mixing shoegaze and dream pop along with some bubblegrunge. This is kind of exactly what we'd want a song called "Lovesick" by a band named Wishy to sound like. It's an updated version of our favorite college/indie rock from the late 80's and early 90's. This is a killer track that modernizes some of our favorite musical styles. You can watch the video for "Lovesick" below. Nature's Pill is due out October 2 on Winspear, and is available for pre-order here . For more on Wishy, check out the band on Instagram . Upcoming tour dates are below the video and include October 14 at Brighton Music Hall in Boston. 07/25 – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues * 07/26 – Indianapolis, IN @ ...

Photo by Daisy & Tomos Ayscough For their latest single (and the closing track on their upcoming album), mary in the junkyard have released an epic indie rock power ballad. "Mouse" is a gorgeous and powerful track. It starts off as quiet as it could possibly be, feeling deeply personal. Even as the volume and tempo speeds up, the song continues feeling intimate. Even at its most quiet, "Mouse" is a great song and would be one of our favorites of the year. However, when more instruments and volume kick in, mary in the junkyard suck you in even deeper. This is one of our favorite tracks of the year, and makes us more desperate to hear the full album, which is due out next month. Clari Freeman-Taylor (vocals, guitar, violin, viola) says of the band's latest single: “I went to Iceland and became obsessed with the ocean. I remembered I was a fisherman in a former life with a mouse in my pocket, lost in a storm. It is about me reconnecting with the mouse when they...

Just a few weeks ago we brought you a list of upcoming summer music festivals to check out since Boston Calling, The Capitol Groove, Back Cove Music and Arts Festival, New England Metal and Hardcore Festival, and FreshGrass aren't taking place this year. It was a list of seven diverse festivals, and now we have more to share! Prescott Park Arts Festival, Portsmouth, NH, June 22 through September 6 Not a traditional music festival, but the Prescott Park Arts Festival has been one of my New England summer highlights for over ten years now. The festival is mainly a family friendly play (this year is Cinderella), but for our purposes they bring in some fantastic musical artists throughout the summer. Plus, it's only a $20 suggested donation (we implore you to donate so they keep putting these on) to see artists that would cost far more at any other venue. The artists tend to be more along the lines of folk and Americana, and this year brings a bunch of our favorites to seacost New ...