If It's Too Loud...

Photo by William Howard "Loma Linda," the latest single from alt-rock icons L7, was originally written with then bassist Janis Tanaka in 2003. (Tanaka has also replaced bassist Jennifer Finch after her death earlier this year, with Finch's blessing.) It remained a demo for over twenty years, and was just completed with music and lyrics last week. Meant as "an expression of love and gratitude for Jennifer, Janis and their badass fans," this new song is an alt-rock power ballad much more restrained than we're used to from L7. While "Loma Linda" might not be as fiery and punk as the band's more classic material, it contains every ounce of their emotions as their 90's releases did. It may be more quiet, but it's just as kick ass as you'd expect. Donita Sparks says of her band's new single: “This new single marks the return of Janis Tanaka being back in L7 on bass after the sadness of losing Jennifer Finch a couple of months ago. ...

Photo by Meg Morris There's just something about the new single from Empty Banner that we can't get enough of. The Hull, England band's latest, "Dead to Me," has this great mixture of both rough and polished. The music has this raw, DIY punk/indie rock sound while the vocals are much smoother and almost pop focused. Mia Ann Stephens is crooning over a buzzy and upbeat sounding track that is dripping with venom. I personally love when a song can carry this much punk attitude without being overtly aggressive, and Empty Banner are experts at pulling this off. Empty Banner say of their latest single: “ for us, this song is for all the bad men in the world who shirk their responsibilities & feel they can get away with it without consequence. As for the record itself, it’s taken a while for us to get it together, having played it live at our gigs in many guises, but now it’s out there, we hope people are going to love it as much as we do. There’s a video for Dead ...

Photo by Lena Nugent Boston's Elisa Smith continues releasing one song from her new album weekly with "Smut." The last single, "Angels (Who Take No Shit)," was much more of an alt-country instant classic, and "Smut" changes that sound up. There are still elements of that alt-country sound, but this latest song is much harder to define. It probably leans into more of a modern, mainstream country sound... if modern, mainstream country was great. It's more of an alt-rock/singer songwriter power ballad with just enough twang to make its country roots known. Plus, it's an ode to smutty novels, so there's a fun story behind the intensity of the song. Elisa Smith says of her latest single: “‘Smut’ is great fun. I recently got into reading smutty little novels and I know a lot of other folks have, too! So I wrote a song about it. There are a lot of people making commentaries about why women are reading more of these titillating books but honestly, ...

Photo by Rick Perez Alternative cumbia/punk band Integra Pink lean more into their alt-rock side with their latest single. "Pink Nokia" is steeped in early 2000's nostalgia, including the sound of the song. It has that sound from when alt-rock and mainstream rock were interchangeable, although Integra Pink do add a little more of an edge to their song than you typically had back then. The track keeps just enough of their punk cumbia sound to keep things interesting, and it only gets better as the song goes along. It particularly gets better towards the end when there's an interesting cumbia heading towards the end. Integra Pink have proven to have one of the most diverse sounds around these days. Leo Mendez (vocals, guitar) says of his band's new single: “I think PINK NOKIA is a song about two people with opposing attachment styles and how that dynamic works.  I know it can be frustrating for both parties when they feel as though they’re not being understood or th...