When The Beths released "Silence is Golden" last month, we noted that it was their most rock song to date. On their latest, "Expert in a Dying Field," the New Zealand band get quite a bit quieter. This new song stops short of being a power ballad, but just barely. There is still plenty of crunching guitars and noise to keep this from being a pure pop song, but "Expert in a Dying Field" has far more harmony for it to be pure indie rock. It's filled with plenty of reverb and crashing drums, but this is a gorgeous song. It's rare for a song to be this delicate but yet still rock this hard, but The Beths somehow pull this off.
Elizabeth Stokes says of the new song:
"I really do believe that love is learned over time. In the course of knowing a person you accumulate so much information: their favorite movies, how they take their tea, how to make them laugh, how that makes you feel. And when relationships between people change, or end, all that knowledge doesn’t just disappear. The phrase ‘Expert in a Dying Field’ had been floating around my head for a few years, I was glad to finally capture it when writing this tune.”
You can watch the video for "Expert in a Dying Field" below. Expert in a Dying Field, the album, is due out September 16 on Carpark Records and can be pre-ordered here. For more on The Beths, check out the artist's website. Upcoming tour date are below the video.
Sun. Jul. 24 - Seattle, WA @ Capitol Hill Block Party
Mon. Jul. 25 - Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret
Fri. Jul. 29 - Brooklyn, NY @ BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival
Sun. Jul. 31 - Denver, CO @ UMS - The Underground Music Showcase
Tue. Aug. 2 - San Diego, CA @ Belly Up Tavern
Wed. Aug. 3 - Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory
Thu. Aug. 4 - Santa Barbara, CA @ SoHo Restaurant & Music Club
Fri. Aug. 5 - San Francisco, CA @ Outside Lands Music Festival
Sun. Aug. 7 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
Wed. Aug. 10 - Davenport, IA @ Raccoon Motel
Thu. Aug. 11 - Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
Sat. Aug. 13 - North Adams, MA @ Here and There Festival, Mass MoCA
Sun. Aug. 14 - Toronto, ON @ Lee's Palace
Mon. Aug. 15 - Detroit, MI @ Magic Bag
Tue. Aug. 16 - Chicago, IL @ Here and There Festival, Salt Shed
Thu. Aug. 18 - St. Louis, MO @ Blueberry Hill
Fri. Aug. 19 - Indianapolis, IN @ Hi-Fi
Sat. Aug. 20 - Covington, KY (Cincinnati) @ Madison Live
Mon. Aug. 22 - Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall
Tue. Aug. 23 - Richmond, VA @ The Broadberry
Thu. Aug. 25 - Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
Fri. Aug. 26 - Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes
Sat. Aug. 27 - Portland, ME @ Portland House of Music & Events
Sun. Aug. 28 - Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz PDB
Wed. Aug. 31 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Spirit Hall
Thu. Sep. 1 - Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar
Thu. Sep. 15 - Melbourne, AU @ 170 Russell
Fri. Sep. 16 - Sydney, AU @ Metro Theatre
Sat. Sep. 17 - Brisbane, AU @ The Triffid
Tue. Sep. 20 - Adelaide, AU @ The Gov
Wed. Sep. 21 - Perth, AU @ Magnet House
Fri. Sep. 23 - Wellington, NZ @ Opera House
Sat. Sep. 24 - Nelson, NZ @ Theatre Royal
Fri. Sep. 30 - Christchurch, NZ @ James Hay Theatre
Photo by Alexa Viscius This may be Liam Kazar's debut single, but the Chicago based musician already has an impressive resume, having worked with Jeff Tweedy, Chance the Rapper, Steve Gunn, Daniel Johnston, and others. "Shoes Too Tight" features childhood friend Spencer Tweedy on drums, Lane Beckstrom on bass, and Ohmme on vocals. It's an absurdly fun and groovy little song that is a party waiting to happen. What he gives us here is a timeless song that could truly have been released any time since the 1960's (ok... maybe not the 80's...) There are elements of classic rock, 60's crooners and R&B, indie rock, modern Americana... it's really just packed with everything in a cohesive song that maintains the vibe the entire way through. You can watch the video for "Shoes Too Tight" below. For more on Liam Kazar, check him out on Instagram and Twitter . He's also raising money on his Bandcamp for Constellation and The Hungry Brain. ...
Photo by Joanna Chattman I've been referring to Northampton, MA based Izzy Heltai's music as mainstream modern folk with just enough of a unique spin to keep it appealing to music snobs, too. His latest single, "Father," might be the perfect example of that. It's a quiet, deeply personal song that starts off painfully sparse but ever so slowly builds and builds as it goes on. It walks that line between accessible/mainstream and indie expertly. You can watch the video for "Father" below. Father , the upcoming debut album from Izzy Heltai, will be out October 9. You can pre-order a copy here . For more on Izzy Heltai, check out the artist's website .
Photo via Instagram Any time J Mascis releases new music will always be a big deal at If It's Too Loud... November will see the release of Elastic Days , his new solo album. Judging by the first single, "See You At the Movies," Elastic Days will be exactly what we expect and want in a Mascis solo album. The first single is much prettier than Dinosaur Jr is. Mascis's solo work tends to be calmer and almost folky. "See You At the Movies" is exactly that, and is even almost orchestral in some places. You add in some of Mascis's guitar solos (a more tame version than Dino Jr's thunderous ones), and you've got a classic Mascis solo track. It's a typically great song, but at this point I'd like to see Mascis mix things up a bit. You can listen to "See You At the Movies" below. Elastic Days will be out November 9 on Sub Pop Records. There are some pretty reasonable pre-order bundles available, including a CD and t-shirt for $24....
