If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Peter McManus For their first single in three years, Boston's The Rupert Selection have released a very specifically 90's sounding single. "Astronauts" has that fuzzed out, psychedelic alt-hard rock sound that is going to remind you of some of your favorite 90's classics. In particular, this one is going to make you think of Hum and early Smashing Pumpkins. It has this wonderful aggressive while still being beautiful. If you miss music from that time period, give the latest from The Rupert Selection a shot.  You can listen to "Astronauts" below. For more on The Rupert Selection, check out the band on Facebook .

Photo by Tim Duffy Ernie Vincent has been on the New Orleans R&B scene since the 1970's with his band The Top Notes. He's flown mostly under the radar since, as he says, "I've always been the kind of guy who likes to work in the background supporting others rather than drawing attention to myself." Vincent has a solo album coming out in January, so expect to hear more from him. The latest single, "Mr. Good Daddy," certainly doesn't sound quite like anything else you've heard recorded in 2022. The song sounds like an unearthed lost soul/R&B classic from at least fifty years ago. It even has production that sounds classic. Vincent certainly doesn't sound like an artist in his late seventies. "Mr. Good Daddy" is as classic and vintage as it gets. You can listen to "Mr. Good Daddy" below. Original Dap King is due out January 13 on Cornelius Chapel Records. The album can be pre-ordered here . For more on Ernie Vincent, ...

Dave Del Monte & The Cross Country Boys are making music that is just perfect for Christmas. The Connecticut band specialize in old fashioned rock 'n' roll, and if you love holiday classics like "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and "Jingle Bell Rock," their latest will be perfect for you. "Hey! Mrs. Claus" is pure vintage rock 'n' roll that is an ode to Mrs. Claus and how she's the one who truly keeps everything at the North Pole running. Even the subject matter makes this one sound like it's from a lost classic from the 50's. If you have a love of early rock 'n' roll or just love old timey Christmas songs, "Hey! Mrs. Claus" is perfect for your playlist this year. You can listen to "Hey! Mrs. Claus" below. The song is currently available via Bandcamp . For more on Dave Del Monte & The Cross Country Boys, check them out on Facebook . Hey! Mrs. Claus by Dave Del Monte & The Cross Coun...

Artist : Summit Point. Album : Vulnerable Quick Thoughts : Loud and noisy in all the right ways, Summit Point. gives a really fuzzy and buzzy alt-rock effort reminiscent both of the mid-1990s and more recent acts like Charly Bliss and Daddy Issues. I loved this album, a late-year favorite in a year packed with winner after winner, but this deserves some of your time. It's absolutely the right album right now. Songs of Note : "Change," "Settle," "Victim Blaming," "Reproach," "Memorial" Artist : Tom Jenkins Album : It Comes in the Morning, It Hangs in the Evening Sky Quick Thoughts : Tom Jenkins is a solid singer-songwriter who puts out a pandemic-era record that doesn't feel like one, with beautiful and bright songs and a nice feel to it. In a busy week, I would recommend to anyone, but it's kind of the perfect album for the moment and I'm glad to get back to it. Great especially for fans of Travis. Songs of No...

Photo by Ania Shrimpton Hailing from Newcastle, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs have released a new single, "Mr Medicine." This one is a little heavier than we typically cover, but we obviously can't resist the band name, and "Mr Medicine" turns out to be a killer hard rocker. This is definitely more hard rock than metal, but it's at the very least metal adjacent. It has that dark sound of early metal that you would get with Black Sabbath, and the groove of a band like Queens of the Stone Age. Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs are the kind of hard rock that metal die hards and casual fans are both going to love. Vocalist Matt Baty says of the new song: “Music is a powerful medicine and it should be consumed daily for mental wellbeing. Mr Medicine's faithful and highly regarded colleague is Doctor Gig, who we also have on speed dial.  Lyrically I suppose the sentiment is not too dissimilar to Sister Sledge ‘Lost In Music’, only galvanised by heavy, he...

Hailing from Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, Bus People have just released their debut single. "Luck" is a lo-fi keyboard jam. It's one of the best examples of modern bedroom indie pop around these days. It's a weird little song that is going to win you over with nothing more than pure charm. "Luck" most likely personifies the description of twee, but I hesitate to call it that because it seems like Bus People are a little more than twee (as much as we adore twee around here). I might stick with that, but the song does erupt into a more standard indie rock ending, which is what helps elevate this song to being spectacular. Aley Waterman and Scott Sheppard (aka Bus People) say of their new single: "Our debut single, 'Luck ,' was inspired by a nostalgia for being a young teenager in a small town. The conflicts of the time felt so simple when looking back through the lens of adulthood.  "There’s a calm narrative throughout the verses ...

It may be the B-side of the excellent holiday single "Marshmallow March," but how are we not supposed to focus on an instrumental surf rock version of "All I Want for Christmas is You?" The Surfrajettes, who are "Toronto's premiere psychedelic instrumental surfing group," have given us a perfect version of the much beloved and much maligned holiday staple. It's just as fun and bouncy as you'd want it to be, and it's perfect for those of us that secretly love Christmas music but have a complicated relationship with this particular song. Also, be sure to check out "Marshmallow March" as it's also great, but we just happen to be overly obsessed with cover songs. You can listen to The Surfrajettes' version of "All I Want for Christmas is You" below. The song is currently available via their Bandcamp . For more on The Surfrajettes, check out the band's website . Marshmallow March / All I Want For Christmas Is You ...

Emily Breeze's new single is being called a "... 70's CBGB's inspired new wave anthem," but "The Bell" has a lot more going for it. Sure, it definitely has a New Wave inspired sound, and the guitar is straight out of the 70's punk and proto-punk sound, but the song sounds much more modern than that description entails. "The Bell" is mostly a pop song. It's high energy and ridiculously catchy, but that guitar sound keeps one foot planted firmly in rock. Breeze's latest will have you unsure if you want to dance or pogo, so you'll probably try to do both. Emily Breeze says of her new song: "[It's]  a love song to nights spent in the local pub where you swing by for a quick pint after work. You are probably meeting a friend who is having a crisis, just one quick pint and then straight home. Your first glass is empty just as the conversation is getting to the important part but it's fine, two pints on a work night is tot...

Photo by Joshua Black Wilkins Along with recording her new album, Sunny War recently moved from Los Angeles back to Nashville. Her newest single, "Higher," was written at the end of a break up. The song starts like a fairly standard modern folk song, although Sunny War's vocals keep anything from being very standard. As the song progresses, we get more dissonance and noise, and the song gets a little bit heavier without getting faster or changing her vocal delivery. It's a song full of heartbreak with the vitriol that goes along with that. With "Higher," Sunny War continues being one of the most unique voices in Americana/roots music today. In a press release, Sunny War says of the new song: “I wrote ‘Higher’ around this time last year, just a few days after my ex collected the last of his belongings from our apartment. The break up was fresh and I was thinking about all the years we spent together. I was also thinking about how much stronger I was before ou...

We've passed the Thanksgiving threshold, so now we can start bringing you Christmas music in earnest! Molly Burch released a full Christmas album in 2019, and now she's back with two brand new Christmas singles. According to an email to fans, "'Cozy Christmas' is for when you are really excited about a winter crush and 'December Baby' is for if that crush doesn't work out." The two songs play excellently back to back for that reason. "Cozy Christmas" is an overly upbeat indie pop song. It's kind of like an indie pop version of "All I Want for Christmas is You." "December Baby" is a much more downtempo song that's more like Burch's earlier indie goes crooner music. Both are stellar holiday songs perfect for all of your playlist needs. You can listen to "Cozy Christmas" and "December Baby" below. The songs are ouit now via Captured Tracks and can be purchased here . For more on Molly Burch...

Even if you've never gotten into Angel Olsen, you know and love "Shut Up Kiss Me." It's just one of those universally beloved songs. Since we're huge fans of NOVA ONE and covers, we obviously have to bring you their cover of the Angel Olsen classic! NOVA ONE's version of "Shut Up Kiss Me" is a Roz Raskin solo track, with just their vocals and guitar. It's stripped down, but it still sees Razkin using tracks to harmonize with their own vocals. Beyond the charities the single will benefit, this is a great cover of a great song that you're going to need to check out. You can listen to NOVA One's version of "Shut Up Kiss Me" below. The song is available via Bandcamp . Proceeds will be split between RIOT RI (an RI based non-profit offering music programming for women, girls, trans, and non-binary folks) and the victims of the Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs. For more on NOVA ONE, check out the artist's website . shut up kiss ...

Photo by Shervin Lainez One thing we love about Carsie Blanton is how she has mastered making music that sounds so sweet while being so viciously political at the same time. Her latest might be her sweetest and most vicious yet. "Rich People" is a jazzy, nightclub style song railing against the wealthy and how they are the root of all of our problems. It namechecks both Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher as the ones who set this all up, so CW if you're on the conservative side of things. You've never heard a line like "Rich people been fucking us all" delivered quite as sweetly as Blanton does here. You can listen to "Rich People" below. For more on Carsie Blanton, check out the artist's website .

Photo by Holly Macve Hollow Hands is the musical project of Brighton based musician Max Kinghorn-Mills and has just released a new single. "Heaven Just Watched" is an interesting mix of 70's era Americana tinged folk rock and more modern forays into indie rock while being all psychedelic. It has all of that sunniness of the California 70's psychedelic folk scene and a little of the edge of 90's psychedelic indie rock. This is perfect if you adore the music of bands like The Byrds and The Brian Jonestown Massacre. It definitely has that weird vibe while still being just mainstream enough to kinda be pop-ish. Max Kinghorn-Mills says of the new single: "Chaos reigns & London is in flames, 1666. The lyrics for ‘Heaven Just Watched’ are based on a diary I kept when I moved into London to work on music. I was reading Peter Ackroyd’s definitive biography of the city & totally immersed in the mythology & hidden rituals which form the foundations of the ci...

For their Patreon, Hallelujah the Hills have a monthly "Hills Cover Sessions" where they learn two cover songs which they arrange and record in a room together over a few hours. This month they decided to release their two covers to the public, and they are The Smashing Pumpkins' "1979" and Joanna Newsom's "Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie." Joanna Newsom seems more akin to Hallelujah the Hills' own style, and the cover shows that. Their cover of "1979" is stellar, in that it's an almost completely torn down and rebuilt version. While the original is a perfect example of that mid-90's post grunge alternative that was just starting to become dance music although we'd never admit it sound, Hallelujah the Hills' version is a slowed down version that almost grinds to a halt, complete with an almost industrial level of noise and feedback. Leave it to them to take one of the prettiest and most mainstream songs of that era and dirt...

Photo by Brendan Nakahara Tanukichan may be the project of Bay Area musician Hannah van Loon, it is also a collaboration between van Loon and Chaz Bear of Toro y Moi. The project's newest single, "Don't Give Up," is this odd mixture of chillwave, shoegaze, and nu metal. (I honestly didn't pick up the nu metal until I saw it mentioned in the press release, but now I can't unhear it...) "Don't Give Up" has the unmistakable electronic chill of bands like Massive Attack and Stereolab, the fuzz of shoegaze, and the oddly aggressive riffs of nu metal. This song should not work at all, but Tanukichan pull off this unique sound masterfully. It's one of the more unique and familiar sounding songs we've brought you in a while. Hannah van Loon says of the new single: "This song is about feeling I haven’t done anything with my life, but also knowing that I’ve accomplished a lot and it’s only getting better. I started writing the lyrics when I wa...

Photo by John Clark Quasi (which we all know is the collaboration of Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss) have a new single that is exactly what we expect from them and a refreshing change at the same time. "Doomscrollers" is an upbeat, happy alt-rock/pop song, but it's also shockingly dark at the same time. The song is called "Doomscrollers," so you're going to expect some level of darkness, but tying this level of dark with this level of upbeat is almost whiplash inducing. It's also a straight up alt-rocker for the most part, but at times there are added strings that give the song a cinematic feel. Quasi's upcoming album will be their tenth, so it's great to see a band with that much music still finding ways to surprise us. You can watch the video for "Doomscrollers" below. Breaking the Balls of History is due out February 10 via Sub Pop, and can be pre-ordered here . For more on Quasi, check out their Facebook and Twitter . Upcoming tour dat...

November 11 : Artist : Smut Album : How the Light Felt Quick Thoughts : Smut is the sort of comfortable indie rock that I love, where it's not doing anything particularly revolutionary but is still doing what they do better than anyone else in the moment. Don't overlook this listen, there's a lot of great music to love in here. Songs of Note : "Soft Engine," "Believe You Me," "Morningstar" Artist : Delivery Album : Forever Giving Handshakes Quick Thoughts : This album has a lot going for it, and its refusal to conform to any specific genre is a benefit when many acts could treat it as a drawback. This album won me over right away, and will likely win you over, too. Songs of Note : "Poor-to-Middling Moneymaking," "Baader Meinhof," "No Homes," "Good" Artist : A7PHA Album : II Quick Thoughts : I wanted to highlight this because it's great, but also because it reminds me a lot of when Tric...

Poster by Daykamp Creative I usually try to avoid nostalgia shows and tours. While most people my age seem to adore them, it's not typically my thing. Many bands from the 90's come around once a year around the same time, play the exact same venue, and play basically the same setlist. It could be because I've seen a lot of these bands before, and usually for a lot cheaper than the shows cost now. I'm more into having a new or unique experience than I am having the same one over and over. Plus, you get a lot of middle aged people trying to relive their college and teen years, including trying to drink like they did twenty to thirty years ago. However, there are always exceptions to every rule, and mine is Letters to Cleo. I've seen Letters to Cleo more than any other band. I'm not quite sure how many times, but I'd guess over twenty, maybe over thirty. Even though they play the Paradise every year, they always find a way to mix it up. This year saw a quick fi...