De La Soul featuring Chuck D - "The People"

Hip hop pioneers De La Soul and Chuck D have teamed up for this new track, "The People." For musicians that have been around for almost 3 decades, this track is unbelievably fresh, with jazz riffs and an almost uncomfortable, disjointed feel which comes across as free form and abstract. It's about what everyone faces as human beings, and wasn't planned to coincide with the Ferguson decision, but feels like it was. Originally scheduled for June, it was delayed until Black Friday.

Currently you can download "The People" off De La Soul's website. Also, they have updated their merch section, with proceeds going to aid business owners affected by the Ferguson protests. Regardless of where any of us stand politically, I think we can all agree that's a great cause.

First Listen: New Releases for November 24

Another really slow week, as expected with the holiday. Hard to say there's a lot that's essential, either.

The New Basement Tapes - Lost on the River: One of my all-time favorite albums is the first volume of Mermaid Avenue, where Billy Bragg and Wilco put music to the lyrics of Woody Guthrie. This is essentially the Bob Dylan version of that, with producer T Bone Burnett getting a bunch of artists together, including Marcus Mumford and the lead singer of Dawes, to work with songs written by Bob Dylan. I'm not much of a Dylan guy, but I'm not much of a Guthrie guy, either, and a lot of this just, well, didn't work for me at all. It actually feels uninspired in a lot of places, and tries to channel a time that doesn't quite work with what's expected or who is performing. Overall, I recommend skipping it unless you have an interest in some of the players or Dylan.

CJ Ramone - Last Chance to Dance: Ramones bassist CJ Ramone puts out his first punk album on Far Wreck. I mean, you know exactly what you're getting with this, there is absolutely nothing surprising about this album and that's actually okay in this instance. It's not going to blow your socks off, but if you're looking for that pure punk sound that you would expect from some guy with the last name "Ramone," you're all good.

Sleaford Mods - Tiswas EP: Ken keeps sending me these, and I don't know why. It's still the same idea of the British rap hybrid thing and it has an indie feel to it and, well, yeah. If you liked the previous stuff, go for it, but this doesn't really work for me.

Kevin Hearn - Days in Frames: Kevin Hearn is the keyboardist/accordionist/multi-instrumentalist for Barenaked Ladies, and he's done his own solo stuff with a backing band, Thin Buckle, for some time, and I've really enjoyed it. His latest effort is a really lush affair, reminds me a bit of Duncan Sheik and Josh Rouse in a lot of ways, and is a breezy, pleasant little piece of singer-songwritery rock/pop. Definitely the release of the week.





Also out this week:

* Bjork - Biophilia Live

The Monsieurs - Self-Titled

I first heard about The Monsieurs since Hilken Mancini is a member. I've been a fan of her work since first hearing Fuzzy back in 1996, and have followed her career ever since. When I heard she was in a new band, I expected more of the cheery alterna-pop that characterized Fuzzy, or maybe something more on the lines of her collaboration with Chris Colburn. Instead what I got was some of the fuzziest, sludged out garage rock I've heard in ages.

This album is loud. And noisy. Really, really noisy. But it's also catchy as hell. "Wolves" has  a "bah bah bah bah" chorus followed immediately by a furious thrash of guitar and some kind of vocal. On first listen, you might turn away thinking it's just obnoxious noise, but as you listen, you can peal back layers to find the nuggets of actual songs within. The rest of the band is rounded out by Andy Macbain and Erin King. 

I can't stress how pleasantly surprising this album is. Usually as a musician is entering their 2nd decade of making music, they start slowing down, a la Thurston Moore's latest album. This is by far Mancini's most aggressive release. It's basically cramming Sonic Youth and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion into one band, but adding some Rocket From the Crypt and Detroit Cobras.

For more info on The Monsieurs, check them out on Facebook. Their Bandcamp doesn't include this release, but Slovenly Recordings' Bandcamp does. 

The Sheila Divine - "Watch Out For Us"

Boston's The Sheila Divine are on their 2nd comeback since breaking up in 2003, reforming in 2007 until 2008, and then again reforming in 2010. The classic Sheila Divine sound bordered more on the emo side of things, but more on the Jawbreaker/Sunny Day Real Estate side of emo, while borrowing from the loudquietloud blueprint of the Pixies. "Hum" was a pretty major radio hit, but the band suffered from their label, Roadrunner Records, deciding to shift focus away from the alternative side of the label once nu-metal took off at almost the exact same time as New Parade was released.

They just released the first song from their forthcoming album. "Watch Out For Us" drops the aggression and melancholy of their earlier albums, for a more mature pop punk sound. Yes, they somehow made pop punk mature. I wasn't expecting this with a new release. It's different, but fantastic. Considering the lyrics rally against the "1% are the VIPs," coming across as mature is quite impressive.

If you're in the Boston area, The Sheila Divine are playing The Sinclair in Cambridge on Wednesday, November 26 with Mean Creek, The Daily Pravda, and The Life Electric. For more info on The Sheila Divine's third run, you can like them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter. To listen to "Watch Out For Us," head over to the band's Bandcamp.

Monday Mix: Best Songs of November 2014

As we get toward the end of the new release year, it's good to look back at this month as we get to the top ten lists and such. Here's the best releases of November:

First Listen: New Releases for November 18

A solid week of new releases overall, even as we're getting toward the end of the year.

Chumped - Teenage Retirement: It's hard to say which release this week is my favorite, but the extremely pleasant surprise that is Chumped's first full-length album is certainly a contender. If you liked the Field Mouse album but thought it should have been poppier or heavier, this is absolutely something you should give a listen to, as it's equal parts The Reputation/Sarge/Velocity Girl and some of the more indie pop punk that's been hitting the new releases as of late. An absolutely excellent album that should take some room in your playlists this week.

Ben Hunter and Joe Seamons - Take Yo Time: The other contender for album release of the week is this one by Ben Hunter and Joe Seamons. I only knew of this through Ken, and it's a great bluegrassy collaboration, both stark and musically solid. One of my favorite albums of the last few years was the collaboration between Chris Thile and Michael Dawves, and this has some similarity to it in terms of tone and musicality. It's definitely worth your time this week.

TV on the Radio - Seeds: While everyone likes TV on the Radio's song "Wolf Like Me," I confess to not being moved much by the band on a whole. This is the band's first album since the passing of their bassist, and I'll at least say that the music here is really solid from start to finish, with songs like "Ride" staying stuck in my head very quickly. If you've missed the band, or felt as if you've missed the boat on them, this might be a good (re)entry point.

Brooke Fraser - Brutal Romantic: Have we reached peak Down Under? New Zealand's Fraser's fifth album gets a release in the United States, and it's some solid left-of-center singer-songwriter music with a lot of interesting songs and choices throughout. In a year where we have a lot of really solid music like this coming out, this (at least domestically) has the possibility of being lost in the shuffle and it probably shouldn't be as a pretty solid album. Give this a listen.

Manchester Orchestra - Hope: Hope is billed as a "reimagining" of Manchester Orchestra's great album from earlier this year, Cope. This is a quieter, more acoustic affair that redoes the songs from the prior album into almost a new genre. Probably really only appealing to hardcore fans of the band, this is less a great album and more an interesting curiosity that does succeed more often than it fails. I just personally know that I enjoy Manchester Orchestra loud. It's really similar to when the Foo Fighters go acoustic, if it's a good analogy.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part One Soundtrack: Curated by Lorde, we've officially hit peak "Young Adult Movie Soundtrack." Some of this is good, some of this not so much, but Lorde's involvement with some of the artists featured will make this popular regardless of what anyone thinks.

Punk Goes Pop Volume 6: See above: some of this is good ("Wrecking Ball" is fun, "Royals" interesting), some of it really isn't. Like any of these compilations, you'll find a gem or two but that's about it.

The Brown Bird Christmas Album

This release is one of the few times as a music writer that words truly escape me. I'm going to use MorganEve Swain's explanation for it:

One night in mid-December of Dave's and my first year together, we were snowed in, drinking strong eggnog and dressing up in each other's winter clothes when we decided to take our silliness one step further and write a holiday song. "The Old Church Bell" was the first song we ever co-wrote. We had so much fun with it that that same night we recorded a version of "Silent Night" too, using almost every instrument we had in the house- just having fun with it and each other. Every winter since then, we kept the tradition of recording a few Christmas songs, which we would hand-package and give as gifts to our families. This year, I thought it'd be special and important to make these songs available to our extended family, in an effort to send something fun into the world and keep Dave's cheerful, fun-loving spirit alive. 


I'm not usually one for Christmas music, but this album is incredibly special. The loss of Dave Lamb this year was particularly tragic, and to be given something this intimate and personal is truly special. Head over to Brown Bird's Bandcamp page to purchase it while you still can. You can listen below.

Sebadoh Covers Rush????

We're pretty open about our love of cover songs here at If It's Too Loud... I'm personally a huge Sebadoh fan and celebrate their entire catalog of work. I even love The Sebadoh. Seriously, it's the most underrated album of the 90s. Go and listen to it again. One thing I just don't get is Rush. Nope. Not at all. It's not like I have a certain level of hatred for them that I have for other bands other people seem to love, it's just not my thing. Really, really not my thing.

Which is why I love the AV Club. They take a list of 30 songs and have bands come in and choose 1 to cover. As you get towards the end, you have fewer songs to choose. There were only 3 left, so Sebadoh chose Rush. Of course, they might have anyway, but we'll never know. It's the perfect cover for Sebadoh fans, but Rush die hards probably won't approve.

If you've never checked out the AV Club's Undercover series, you need to. You missed great stuff like Lydia Loveless covering Echo & The Bunnymen or Gwar covering Pet Shop Boys just this year. Go here to watch Sebadoh cover Rush.

Live Shows: Sallie Ford, Great Scott, Allston, MA 11/12/14

Almost a year to the date of the last time Sallie Ford played in the Boston area, I headed out to Allston on a Wednesday to see her latest band. After seeing her with The Sound Outside on what ended up being their last tour, I wanted to check out her latest incarnation on their first Boston stop.

Usually when an artist adds a keyboard player to their line up, it waters down the music and gives it a more mainstream sound. Somehow, Sallie Ford comes out even more raw and dirty with her new line up, including keyboards. Of course, one of the big questions was if she would play her older songs or just stick with her new line up and album. She did break out some of her previous band's songs, including "They Told Me," which really showcased her new, more raw sound. Her earlier, more bluesy sound has been replaced with an edge that's reaching just slightly into Stooges territory. Some of this has to be credited to her new drummer, Amanda Spring. It's like taking the simplistic style and pure joy of Meg White and mixing it with precision. "Workin' the Job" was the highlight of the set, with its catchy as hell chorus and bridge. The band implored the crowd to dance halfway through the set, especially since the previous night's crowd in Northampton was so reserved. They then admitted that that was a seated show. After seeing Sallie Ford live, I can't imagine trying to do so sitting down. They came back for a one song encore of The Ramones' "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend," leaving the crowd that stayed late on a Wednesday night thrilled to have come out.

The show wasn't as well attended as I would have expected. Maybe the Wednesday night factor was stronger than it should have been. Interesting mix of a crowd, as people seemed to be there for a specific band,and then filed out once their favorite was over. The front row was a blend of early 20-something females and middle aged men, so I can pretty much guarantee you won't be deterred by the Creepy Old Guy factor. I implore you to get out if she comes to your area. You won't regret it. Check out her website to see if they're coming to your town.

Monday Mix: Covers of R.E.M. Songs

With First Aid Kit's cover of R.E.M.'s "Walk Unafraid" coming out in the last couple weeks, it inspired me to look into making a mix of covers of my favorite band's songs. I've gotten countless cover albums over the years (most notably landing a copy of Surprise Your Pig something like 15 years ago, and I know how rare that can be), so I thought compiling a mix would be easy, but so many of the best covers aren't on Spotify, so we do lose out on some of the greats, like Tori Amos doing "Losing My Religion" or Editors performing "Orange Crush."

With that said, I was able to find 20 interesting/different/good(?) covers of R.E.M. songs on Spotify that are worth a listen. I'd like to send a special shout-out to the fine folks over at the R.E.M. Fans United group on Facebook. I've been a member for a few years and a call out for some help got some great ideas that I hadn't already dug up from Eric Hutchinson, Paul Cottrell, Pascal Isabel, and Christian Harper.

First Listen: New Releases for November 11

We're starting to see things slow down a bit on new releases, but what looks like a lean week actually has a lot of new releases of interest. Whether they're any good, though...

Azealia Banks - Broke With Expensive Taste: This was a surprise release over the weekend after being trapped in record company limbo for some time, and, for what it's worth, it's one of the most interesting rap albums I've heard in a while. A lot of different sounds and styles throughout, it's like Janelle Monae with more rapping and less asthetic. I'm really into this album more than I thought I would be, and it's definitely one that's staying in rotation for a while. Highly recommended, definitely the release of the week.

Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways: I've always been fond of Foo Fighters and I thought their last album was actually pretty solid, all things considered. Unfortunately, Sonic Highways feels like an abrupt transition into legacy rock act territory, with frankly uninspired composition masked behind epic-length rock excess. It's not terrible, it's just really dull and uninteresting. Maybe this is a misstep, or maybe it's too influenced by the documentary series of the same name, but this just didn't work at all for me. Skip it.

Parquet Courts - Content Nausea: We liked Sunbathing Animal, the Parquet Courts album from earlier this year, and when Ken told me a new album was out today, I was surprised at how quickly it came out. On first listen, I was convinced it was a b-side compilation, as it has a number of solid songs mixed in with a lot of indie rock weirdness (including a really surprisingly straight cover of "These Boots Were Made For Walking"). So is it a good album? Truth be told, I'm not 100% sure yet, but it's an interesting one that I might need more time with.

Pink Floyd - The Endless River: Pink Floyd has a new album, some odds and sods, mostly instrumental, combined with some new stuff. It's extremely dull and really doesn't deserve the amount of time I spent with it. Skip it for your own sake.

Damien Rice - My Favourite Faded Fantasy: It's been 8 years since we last heard new music from Damien Rice, and while the electric guitar on the first track was a surprise, it quickly settles in and becomes the type of album you've come to expect from Rice. A few songs feel really classic in their execution ("The Greatest Bastard" and "Colour Me In" in particular), and it's ultimately a solid listen. Truly, your enjoyment of it will be directly correlated with your enjoyment of his previous work, so you kind of know what you're getting. As for me? I really liked it.

Royksopp - The Inevitable End: Billed as their final album (they might just do a lot of singles/EPs), Royksopp's latest is a bit of a transition. We heard a bit of this direction on their EP with Robyn, but this full length, while a little long, is a really good piece of electronic music. A solid piece from start to finish (as I've found most of their work), it's definitely a must listen for electronic music fans.

2:54 - The Other I: I really liked 2:54's first album, a bit of shoegazey indie goodness that worked well for me. I've spent some time talking about the darker pop music that I've been hearing of late, and 2:54's sophomore effort definitely feels different from their debut in that it embraces the more gothic-sounding stuff. The benefit of higher production values and some more accessible songs means a pretty high-quality album overall. I'm a big fan of this release and I'm excited to spend a lot more time with it, it's definitely a recommendation for everyone.

...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - IX: It's been some time since I kept up with Trail of Dead, and the new album sometimes feels like Source Tags-era Trail of Dead and sometimes meanders off into attempts at more epic stuff. I don't hate the album, but in a week with a few really good things, I'm thinking this might get lost in the crowd. Still, if you've been a fan or wondered what they've been up to, this is a pretty interesting listen on a whole.

The Jazz June - After the Earthquake: The Jazz June is not a band I was familiar with, and they've apparently been around for some time and this is their first album in close to a decade. While it's more punk than my tastes generally trend, it's an album that feels mature while not losing that lively angle that punk music often has. A number of really fun songs on here mean this is a pretty high quality album that readers of this blog might really enjoy. Check it out.

Swingin' Utters - Fistful of Hollow: Speaking of older punk bands releasing new albums, we have a new one from Swingin' Utters. I'm not familiar with their older stuff, but this is more fun than The Jazz June's album, and I assume that's kind of the point. It's solid punk music, no doubt, so if you're into it, check it out.

Cult of Youth - Final Days: Described as a post-punk band, this is just a weird album for me. There's a lot of interesting parts to like, but the vocals are kind of strange and move it firmly left of center. I kept waiting for something else to come around that didn't quite hit the mark, and I know this is getting a lot of positive press this week, but it ultimately didn't work for me. In terms of musically challenging releases this week, this is definitely one to look into, but temper your expectations overall.

The Alternative with Chris Atwood Compliation

If you're a reader of this blog, you'll probably want to start listening to The Alternative with Chris Atwood. Airing on Boston area radio station WATD, it is "classic rock for the MTV generation," featuring a mix of 70s punk, 80s new wave, and 90s brit-pop. Recent shows have featured interviews with Peter Hook and The Hold Steady. If you're not in the immediate Boston area, it's also available in podcast format. 

For a compilation, Chris Atwood didn't just release a greatest hits package of some old favorites. Instead, he's released an album filled with current bands with some of the same aesthetics of those classic favorites. It hearkens back to the days of great indie compilations where you first heard some of your favorite bands. The albums starts with James Stevenson of Gene Loves Jezebel, The Cult, and Gen X. From there you get James Straight and the Wide Stance with their glammed up rockabilly Alice Cooper sound. The New Frustrations are another highlight, sounding like 90s pop-punk mixed with Sugar-era Bob Mould. Workforce (who also share a singer with James Straight and the Wide Stance) are perfect for fans of electro-clash and Depeche Mode. For Americana fans, there is Ruby Rae, who sounds like a smoother yet more indie Lucinda Williams.

For more info on The Alternative with Chris Atwood, check out the show's website. You can listen to and purchase the compilation on Bandcamp.

Arlen - "Gloria"

Lowell, MA is the kind of dying mill town New England is kinda famous for. It's best known as the birthplace of Jack Kerouac, but also had an HBO documentary called High on Crack Street: Lost Lives of Lowell back in 1995. It's also the hometown of boxer Mickey Ward (as played by Mark Wahlberg in The Fighter) and comedian/podcaster Matt Mira. The city is this bizarre blend of working class with a drug problem and artist haven. From this mill town comes Arlen.

Right now Arlen has a three song demo that came out earlier this year, plus they just released the first song of their forthcoming EP. "Gloria" is a post-punk masterpiece, combining Fugazi and Jawbreaker with Joy Division. Somehow that is a sentence I've never typed before even though it is one of the best combinations I can imagine. The song clocks in at just under 3 minutes, but somehow crams one of the most epic songs I've heard all year into that short time.

Right now, "Gloria" is available for free for the beloved "Name Your Own Price" option on Bandcamp. While you're at it, be sure to like Arlen on Facebook.

Monday Mix: Best Songs of October

When adult responsibilities get in the way of blogging, we sometimes have to go back in our time machine all the way to October to hear some of the best songs of that month. Enjoy a Monday Mix of those!

The Dead Milkmen - "Ronald Reagan Killed the Black Dahlia"

At the risk of this site turning into an unofficial Dead Milkmen fan page, here is yet another new video for the already classic new Dead Milkmen song "Ronald Reagan Killed the Black Dahlia." It's the best 1 minute 30 seconds you'll spend all day. It's a cut and paste stop motion animated video that features Joseph McCarthy's favorite evil attorney Roy Cohn asking Ronald Reagan for help, and also Reagan killing The Black Dahlia for turning down his sexual advances. It's crazy that Reagan can still be culturally relevant 30 years later, but that's kind of the world we all live in now.

If you haven't yet, head on over to The Dead Milkmen's website and get their new album, Pretty Music for Pretty People, which I'm sure I'll write about again before the end of the year.

Drab - Unicorn EP

Somehow we missed this one when it came out last month. Drab has a great Boston/Northampton musical pedigree (Sophia Cacciola is also in Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling, Jason Layne is a well-known Boston radio dj) and their sound shows it. Lo-fi in the best possible way, with jangling and fuzzy guitars and catchy as all hell melodies, it's discordant indie pop-rock at it's absolute finest. "Tell It to Me Straight (Tell It to Me Gay)" is sure to get lodged directly in your brain for the next week. Or more. Right now they have only released the Unicorn EP and Bird EP earlier this year. They are promising a full length next year.

You can listen to Unicorn EP below via Spotify. Also, check out Drab's website for more info. If you're in the Boston area, go out and see them play somewhere near you in the next couple months:



Nov 14 - Last Safe & Deposit Company, Lowell, MA
Nov 19 - AfterHours at Northeastern University, Boston, MA
Dec 10 - Brighton Music Hall, Allston, MA
Jan 3 - TT the Bear's, Cambridge, MA

Kitten Forever - "Rat Queen"

Back in the early days of If It's Too Loud, I wrote about great neo-Riot Grrl band Kitten Forever. Well, they're back with a brand new video for "Rat Queen." Besides doing a killer modern version of bands like Bikini Kill and Cake Like, the video is a throwback to the type of videos Sonic Youth made for Goo: A slight background change, a couple outfits, some instruments, and you have a video! They're also wrapping up a tour that gets them out of the Minneapolis area. Unfortunately, there are no New England dates for us, but maybe next time.

You can watch the video for "Rat Queen" below, and their current tour dates are below that. Also, head on over to their Bandcamp page to listen to all their albums.

Nov 6 - Saratoga Springs, NY @ Skidmore College
Nov 9 - Philadelphia, PA @ House Show w/ Urine Culture, Pebbles
Nov 10 - Kent, OH @ Eurogyro w/ Ride or Die and The Bijous
Nov 11- Columbus, OH @ House Show w/ Skurt and Etc Etc Etc_ 
Nov 13 - Ames, IA @ House Show w/ Chalk and Pelvis

First Listen: New Releases for November 4

I guess a lot of the music for the week was delayed due to the midterm elections. We have some really interesting releases this week, though.

Arca - Xen: Arca is best known for his production work, with some credits on one of my favorites this year, FKA Twigs's LP 1 and Kanye's most recent release. This, a solo release, is definitely more on the elctronic end, lending itself more to some of the glitchiest stuff out there while still being somewhat accessible. I like it a lot, but proceed with caution, especially if this isn't typically your genre.

Grouper - Ruins: I don't know the first thing about Grouper, but this was a quick hit of some quiet, but interesting, indie folk of sorts. It's a very stark affair, mixing in some field recording-style sounds with the sparse recording to give the appearance of you sitting in her kitchen, listening to a performance. It's an cool choice that doesn't always work, but when it does, it's pretty solid. Give this one a try.

Deerhoof - La Isla Bonita: Release of the week this week for me is Deerhoof's newest, La Isla Bonita. Not a Madonna cover album, but rather a really interesting piece of indie noise pop that I didn't expect to love as much as I did. It's too soon to say whether or not specific songs jump out at me, but this is one that'll need a few listens to fully digest. For now, though, arguably a must listen for this week, as it's one of the more interesting releases.

Saint Saviour - In the Seams: I don't know much of anything about Saint Saviour, but I'm glad I listened to this one. A nice piece of gorgeous folkish-style songs that really have a lot going for it. Fits right in with a lot of the fare we talk about here, so you should give it a shot.

Calvin Harris - Motion: The pop offering of this week is a new record from Calvin Harris. It says a lot about the mainstream acceptance of club-ready tracks these days that a song like "Slow Acid" can fit right in with the mainstream attempts of songs featuring Ellie Goulding and Haim, but if you can get past this album effectively being a further jump into the mainstream for Harris (I still can't believe this is the same guy who did "Acceptable in the 80s" so many years ago), you'll probably find something to like.




Also out this week:

* Mark Kozelek Sings Christmas Carols
* Over the Rhine - Blood Oranges in the Snow

Free Music: Mr. Lif - I Phantom

Seeing as we love free music here at If It's Too Loud..., I was thrilled to see that one of my favorite early 2000s hip hop albums is being offered at a "Name Your Own Price" option. Released in 2002, Mr. Lif's I Phantom blew me away. I was raised on a ton of rap in my formative high school years, but by my post college years, there was fewer and fewer hip hop albums I could stand, much less love. By then, most hip hop was "sampling" a pop song from the 80s in it's entirety, even keeping the chorus, and rapping about having money. Nothing seemed to mean anything anymore. Then came Mr. Lif's debut album. Mostly produced by El-P, it was very sparse and actually about something. You can download the entire album on his Bandcamp page, which actually includes descriptions of each song. If you loved hip hop before Puff Daddy,you'll want to check this out. You can also check out his official website for the rest of his newer material, including Terra Bella, his great new project with Ayla Nereo and The Polish Ambassador.