If It's Too Loud...

A new Throwing Muses song should be regarded with at least as much fanfare as a new Pixies song. I guess the difference is "sleepwalking-1" is actually good and holds up with the best of the Throwing Muses back catalog. Throwing Muses broke up in 1997 because touring wasn't financially viable, but came back in 2003. Since then they've been pretty silent, but on November 11 they will be releasing their new album, Purgatory/Paradise.  Ok, it's not really just an album. In keeping with the tradition of Kristin Hersh's solo work, it's being packaged with an art book. And the album is 32 tracks long. I guarantee not a single one will be as disappointing as "Bagboy." You can listen to the first song, "sleepwalking-1" below. You can also stream a 2nd song, "Sunray Venus," over at their website .

Almost a full year ago, Fire Records announced they were reissuing the criminally long out of print first three Lemonheads albums, Hate Your Friends, Creator, and Lick.  Since then, there has been virtually no information released. Are there gobs of previously unreleased tracks and/or alternate versions of songs? Or is it just a straight remaster with maybe an extra song on the end? In the day of bands announcing a new album on their website with a link to download that album immediately, a year is an excruciatingly long time to wait. This week, Fire Records posted some of the remastered tracks on Soundcloud, which shows that this is actually happening. Listen to the 5 tracks here .

Paper Bag Records announced the free download of an album of remixes from European dance pop queen Sally Shapiro and Johan Agebjörn. Titled Sweetened , I have no idea how long this will be available for free, but the album has thirteen tracks of remixes, such as Shapiro taking on Young Galaxy and Little Boots. If you're into remixes and aren't familiar with Sally Shapiro yet, this is a great opportunity to dive in. If you're already a fan of either of these artists, chances are you're probably diving at anything they put out anyway, so go and grab it: Johan Agebjörn/Sally Shapiro - Sweetened

For the most part, I just don't get the current indie dance scene. I'm not saying it's all bad and worthless, I just don't get why anyone cares. Before this song, I've never paid any attention to YACHT . The only reason this song landed on my radar is my obsession with Marc Maron and his WTF podcast . After seeing him play guitar in a Postal Service video , YACHT asked Maron to play on their new anti-NSA song, "Party at the NSA." The song reminds me of Bis mixed with X, which is not a bad thing at all. Including Maron initially sounded like a gimmick to get more press, but Maron is actually one hell of a guitar player. All proceeds for the song go to the Electronic Frontier Foundation , which is leading the fight against the NSA and patent trolls. I might have to rethink my stance on indie dance bands.

After last week's deluge, things have slowed down a little bit with the new releases, but it hasn't stopped a few interesting things from dropping this week. Franz Ferdinand - Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action : If you told me at any point in the last 8 years that I would like another Franz Ferdinand song, never mind album, after things went downhill following "Do You Want To," I would have laughed at you. It turns out that the new album is a stunning return to form, and one that does not feel old or derivative at all. The first time through, it doesn't sound like there's a clunker on the album - we're back to the party atmosphere that the first album and a half or so made us love from them to begin with. I don't know at this point whether I'm grading on a curve, but this is a welcome surprise from a band I had basically written off. Belle & Sebastian - Third Eye Center : Belle & Sebastian have always been good about compilin...

Long before Gorillaz stole their thunder, Deltron 3030 were the premier (and possibly only) experimental future hip hop collective. Comprised of Del the Funky Homosapien, Dan the Automator, and Kid Koala, 2000's  Deltron 3030 was a concept album that took place in the year 3030. Damned if I knew what the hell was going on, but City From the Rising Ashes EP takes place in 4010. In advance of their follow up album, Event II , City From the Rising Ashes EP is here to remind us when Deltron 3030 blew the shit out of our minds. It consists of 3 songs which feature guest spots by Mike Patton and Mary Elizabeth Winstead ( Scott Pilgrim vs The World, Smashed ). Existing pretty much solely to get us psyched for Event II , the EP does it's job. It's exactly what we want, and you know the best is still yet to come.  City From the Rising Ashes EP  is out now. You can stream the entire EP for free. Event II  is set for release on October 1. Head on over to Deltron 3030's webs...

It's rare for me to hear hit songs these days that aren't cultural touchstones. I went through a week where I heard "Blurred Lines" 8 times a day a few weeks back, everyone heard "Get Lucky," etc. For me to know a song that's on a TV show or a movie these days is rare ( Pitch Perfect is a weird movie for me in that regard), and while there's something to having that shared experience, well, I saw Miley twerk it and I think I'm all set. With that said, I tripped up on Lorde's "Royals" last week, and I am obsessed . I could listen to this song on repeat for an hour and not tire of it. It's a lot like Kimbra in a sense, except I'm nearly old enough to be Lorde's father and this song is more accessible. It's not really alt-rock, it's not really pop music, I don't really know what to make of it, but I do know that it's really, really good. Give it a listen above. Her EP, The Love Club , is out now...

Unfortunately, I'm nowhere near cool enough to have been able to fly up to Toronto to see The Replacements play their first show in 22 years at Riot Fest, but I wanted to make sure everyone could see the best coverage out there. Slicing Up Eyeballs is putting together an incredible archive of Tweets, pictures, and are piecing together the setlist through videos posted on YouTube. I'm sure you're not even reading this and have already clicked the link. Don't forget, the Replacements are also playing additional Riot Fests in Chicago on September 15 and Colorado on September 21. Hopefully there will be an actual tour to follow.

Lou Barlow's former partner in the Folk Implosion has been quiet for the past 15 years, but that's changing with the October 29th release of Spare Parts, his first solo album . For now, you can check out the first track, "Masoch." It's almost 6 minutes of sparse solo singer-songwriter fare that reminds me of Elliott Smith mixed with Bob Dylan. It contains virtually none of the funky weirdness of the Folk Implosion, so don't expect a follow up to "Natural One." Instead you get reverb heavy vocals, acoustic guitar, and strings for a lush sound. Spare Parts  will be added to my already packed list of my most anticipated releases of September/October.

We love cover songs at If It's Too Loud..., so when one of my favorite artists covers another one of my favorite artists, you can rest assured I'm going to post about it. I'm already in a tizzy over Sebadoh 's upcoming album ( Defend Yourself, due out on September 17), and Lou Barlow just posted a video on YouTube where he's covering Ryan Adams ' "Two," one of my all time favorite Ryan Adams tracks. The best part of this whole thing is that the video is posted on a brand new YouTube channel that Lou started so he could share covers of his favorite songs. 

Hailing from the shockingly indie fertile mecca of Minneapolis , Kitten Forever are a new generation of riot grrrl band. The trio of Liz Elton, Corrie Harrigan, and Laura Larson trade off instruments throughout and bring their own blend of punk to a musical style more than two decades in. They are equal parts the sense of humor of Cake Like, the edge of Bikini Kill, and the groove of Death From Above 1979. The 13 songs on their latest release, Pressure , are raw in the best way, but have a sense of melody and songwriting structure almost completely disguised by the distortion and gang vocals. Be Your Own Pet made me feel old; Kitten Forever make me feel downright elderly, but I’ll still head out anytime they venture out to the Boston area. Check out Pressure on Kitten Forever’s Bandcamp page , and check out the video for “Famous Friends” below.

Kim Gordon's post-Sonic Youth band (a duo with Bill Nace) has finally released a track, and it's pretty much exactly what I expected. "Actress" exists in the land between the SYR series and Evol.  It's not pure noise, but it's pretty damn close. That's good for me since I hate most true noise bands and prefer some remnants of a song structure. In Sonic Youth's last few albums, Kim's songs were always the noisier and more experimental of the batch. If "Actress" is an example, Body/Head will be by far the most avant garde of the bunch while SY are on indefinite hiatus. "Coming Apart" is due September 10 on Matador. Listen to "Actress" below.

Biggest new release week since the blog started, and biggest new release week in recent memory, so let's just get to it. Braids - Flourish // Perish : A confession to start out: when I saw this release listed in this week's albums, I got excited as I thought this was something new from indie rock band Braid. It's not. Braids, instead, is an electronic outfit from Canada that has put out a surprising album that I really, really loved on my first listen. It's got a stark coldness to it that is difficult to achieve, and actually kind of gave me an "Aphex Twin if Aphex Twin was trying to make accessible music" vibe. If this sort of thing interests you at all, you owe it to yourself to give it a try. It's really one of the more interesting recent releases. Travis - Where You Stand : A "hey, remember us" album like none other. Travis hasn't released anything in around five years, and while their most recent album was a return to form afte...

On the heels of last year's pretty fantastic Light Up Gold , Brooklyn's Parquet Courts are releasing a new EP into an already crowded fall schedule. Tally All the Things That You Broke  is scheduled for release on October 8. The opening track has been released, and I like it better than anything on Light Up Gold.  "You've Got Me Wonderin' Now" is a 2 1/2 minute blast of Sonic Youth meets "California Dreaming." It's super up-tempo and poppy with an absurdly catchy hook, but with blasts of noise and more changes than any song this short has any right to contain. Plus, there's a recorder. For more information on Parquet Courts, check out their Wordpress , listen to "You've Got Me Wonderin' Now" below, and see them on tour, if you happen to be in Europe or Austin. AUG 23rd @ Leeds Festival,  Leeds, UK AUG 24th @ Reading Festival ,  Reading, UK AUG 25th @ Rock En Seine Festival ,  Paris, FR AUG 30th @ End of the...

Thank you for dealing with the delay. While you wait for tomorrow's new releases, here are some favorites from last week: Washed Out - Paracosm : Washed Out might be best known for his song being used for the theme for Portlandia , but those expecting another chillwave piece are going to be disappointed in this album that, on one hand, sounds like nothing else before it, and, on the other, doesn't sound like anything especially compelling. On first listen, it's just kind of...there, and nothing about it stands out. I was hoping for some nice electronica and got something very different, and I'm honestly torn about this album so far. Glen Campbell - See You There : Glen Campbell recently finished his farewell tour, as he is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. This album is his revisiting some of his most famous or important songs a final time in a more stark, spacious tone. It's a great album, but the shadow of Campbell's illness really impacts one...

Was just alerted to this YouTube clip of Dolly Parton's "Jolene" slowed down 25%, and now it sounds like something really sad and lonely, but also really, really interesting. As slow as things can get for us old fogeys on late weekend nights, this might be something to take with you into the evening.

For the inaugural Nines Festival, 10 diverse bands were brought to an athletic field in the middle of a decommissioned military base that has never hosted a music event of this size. It could have been a recipe for disaster. Instead it was a fantastic day of music and arts that will hopefully be the first of many to come. Upon walking into the venue, I was struck by how much art was integrated into the festival immediately. Installations and dancers were the first thing we came across before we even got into the main area. The main stage was set up right at the home plate of the baseball diamond, which created a fantastic natural line : People could stand in front of the stage on the dirt, while blankets and chairs stayed back on the grass . It probably wasn’t done on purpose, but it was the happiest of accidents. First up was Walter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys, who were an interesting choice to say the least. As much performance art as they are music, they mes...

Back in 2012, hard rock/alt-country band Murder By Death started a Kickstarter campaign. One of the offerings was for $1000 a donor could have the band record any song of their choosing. A whopping 15 people chose this option, and now the album is available for purchase. The 15 songs mix the obvious (“We Are the Road Crew” by Motorhead), the fantastic (“Needle in the Hay” by Elliott Smith) and the absolutely hilarious (“Hold On” by Wilson Phillips). For the album, the band adopted a sort of lounge band feel, as evidenced by the album cover. However, at no point do any of these songs come across as jokey. Even songs such as Weezer’s atrocious “Unspoken” and “Just Dropped In” by Kenny Rogers are treated the same as Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” and “Little Red Riding Hood” by Sam The Sham and the Pharoahs. My personal favorite might be INXS’s “Never Tear Us Apart” as done by the world’s most evil wedding band. To get your copy of AS YOU WISH: Kickstarter Covers , head ...

As if this fall wasn't already packed with anticipated releases, it looks like Lee Ranaldo has a new album coming out October 8 (a month after Kim Gordon's Body/Heat) on Matador. Last Night on Earth  is his first band with The Dust, which features Steve Shelley on drums. From the first track to come out (also the first song on the album, this could an extension of last year's Between the Tides and the Times.  It starts off sounding like Sonic Youth relaxing into middle age, and then just as "Lecce, Leaving" sounds like it's winding down, it veers off into interesting territory, with hints of country twang mixed into the wall of noise. As much as I did like it, Between the Tides and the Times disappointed me a bit with it's middle of the road leanings. Last Night on Earth has increased my anticipation. You can pre-order Last Night on Earth over at Matador's website. Check out "Lecce, Leaving" below, as well as some upcoming tour dates for ...

I've never gotten the whole Yoko Ono thing, but some people do. And apparently Ad-Rock and Mike D get it. Yoko One Plastic Ono Band have an album coming up on September 17, Take Me to the Land of Hell, which features a ton of collaborations including ?uestlove, tUnE-yArDs, members of Wilco, Cibo Mato, and more. You can stream "Bad Dancer" with Ad-Rock and Mike D over at Pitchfork . It's definitely not my thing, but it has the surviving Beastie Boys on it, so here you go!

First listen will probably be late this week/combined with next week, but I did want to draw your attention to a free download of the album World Record Holders by rap group The Go Getters. Who are the Go Getters? A group of Chicago rappers including a young Kanye West. This mixtape is about a decade old, so it's worth taking a peek at here .

If you’re a fan of Britpop of 70s British glam rock, pay attention. There’s a new supergroup featuring members of Supergrass, The Smiths, Roxy Music, and Suede. I’m not sure if this is going to become a full time project, but a guy can dream. So far they’ve recorded three songs for some British show called The Records .  Phil Manzanera, Mike Joyce, Mat Osman  and  Gaz Coombes  have released a song called “She’s a Queen,” and it sounds exactly like you want it to. It’s extraordinarily Bowie-esque, but I will always approve of bands aping on Bowie . It’s not purely a Bowie rip off and includes just enough of a Britpop sneer to have a fresher sound. I have no idea what The Records is, but let’s hope the show has a long, long run.

Legendary 90s alternative rock gods Jane’s Addiction are back with a new standalone single, “Another Soulmate.” Just in case the legacy of Jane’s Addiction hasn’t been tarnished enough for you, this song just might do it. Even though “Mountain Song” and “Summertime Rolls” are classics I will drop everything to listen to any time they come on, I pretty much gave up on Jane’s when Dave Navarro started doing reality shows with Carmen Electra. “Another Soulmate” is just terrible. The song is about a friend of Perry’s wife who declares each new loser she starts dating to be her soulmate. Because that’s what you want in a Jane’s Addiction song. In Rolling Stone, Perry has also said it’s their attempt at writing a “ Beatles-esque short song that would be fast and furious and it would just be fun, dig it and move on, short attention span."  Keep in mind that this is how a 54 year old man talks. If you still decide you want to listen to “Another Soulmate,” Rolling Stone has the exclusiv...