If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Carissa Johnson Boston music scene veteran Adam Sherman has done time in Private Lightning, The Souls, and Nervous Eaters. Now he's set to release a new solo EP, and we can hear the second single off of that today. "Gratitude" has that Americana inflected power pop sound that we seem to love around here. It's a surprisingly positive and uplifting single that never falls into the corny trappings most uplifting songs can fall into. This is a solid rock song with a positive message that actually rocks. Plus, it features fellow Boston rock legend Robin Lane on backing vocals, and you simply can't go wrong with that. It's the type of song that acknowledges things may not be where we want them to be, but they can and will get better, which is a message we could all use right now. Adam Sherman says of his latest single: “‘Gratitude’ is about focusing on thankfulness for the good things in our lives, rather than the difficulties we encounter every day. It’s a...

Photo by Sean McDonald Ecca Vandal is a Sri Lankan artist that was born in South Africa and currently based in Australia. Vandal recently toured with Idles, and has a new single out. "Cruising to Self Soothe" is an interesting mixture of hardcore and pop music. The song opens up with one of the better screams we've heard in a while. As heavy as the song is throughout, it's also shockingly filled with pop hooks. The guitars get quite grungy at times, and the bass just makes the whole thing groove just as hard as it rocks. "Cruising to Self Soothe" is the type of song that's going to inspire both mosh pits and dance parties.  Ecca Vandal says of her new single: “‘Cruising to Self Soothe’ is about cultivating your inner strength when navigating life on your own, even when it feels a bit isolating. It's about that pivotal moment when you recognize that you're stronger without the people who were weighing you down, and there's a real sense of empo...

Chainlacing are our favorite "lo fi experimental gloom" band from New Hampshire. Their latest single, "Atom Eyes," is brimming with a beautiful sense of menace. There's a strong burst of noise throughout the song, overwhelming everything including the listener. What's strange is that in other hands "Atom Eyes" could almost be a pop song, especially with the vocals. Your senses will be overwhelmed by the sheer force within the song, but in a good way. It's hypnotic and brutal, but as is the case with most of Chainlacing's music, it's also quite lovely. What "Atom Eyes" most certainly is not is background music. There's virtually no way not to focus your attention on this one. You can listen to "Atom Eyes" below. Aftersee is due out March 15. For more on Chainlacing, check out the band on Instagram . Atom Eyes by Chainlacing

Reggae-punk supergroup The Kilograms (featuring members of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Avoid One Thing, The Bouncing Souls, and more) just released a single that is the first to truly sound like the members' previous bands. "Faith & Love" leans heavily to the punk side of their sound, and with the gravelly vocals and "Woah-oh!" gang vocals, it sounds like a mixture of the Bosstones and Rancid... just a little more mellow 2025 version of those bands. This is a great song that defines what ska-core for grown ups can sound like. If you had your teenage ska phase in the 90's (or never really had it end), "Faith & Love" is a dream come true. Sammy Kay (guitar and vocals) says of his band's latest single: "Faith and Love feels like a conversation between two folks who have walked a similar path at different times." You can listen to "Faith & Love" below. Beliefs & Thieves is due out April 4 on Rad Girlfriend Recor...

A few weeks back I started seeing ads on social media for Back Cove Music & Arts Festival in Portland, ME. I always try to keep my expectations low when a new festival is announced, because more often than not the line up isn't in my taste (aka typically filled with jam bands). I was optimistic, but didn't expect much. Today the line up was announced, and it's kind of ridiculously great. Taking place August 2 and 3 in Payson Park, the festival features world renowned heavy hitters like Jack White, Lord Huron, Andre 3000, Turnpike Troubadours, and Lucy Dacus, as well as If It's Too Loud... favorites like Margo Price, Thee Sacred Souls, Madi Diaz, The Greeting Committee, local heroes Weakened Friends, and many more! This is a completely solid line up, and considering it's a festival boasting no overlapping sets, how could you go wrong? Maine is beautiful, and we're always looking for an excuse to get up there over the summer. What better reason is there than a...

Photo by Shervin Lainez Uwade is a Nigerian-born, North Carolina-raised artist who has opened and recorded with Fleet Foxes among others. Her debut album is set to be released in April, and she recently released a new single from it. "(I Wonder) What We're Made Of" is one of those songs that doesn't fit neatly into a single box... or even a few boxes. The song starts off as a laid back soul and R&B song, just with a more modern or alt- twist. As it goes on you start to notice some folk and possibly even country elements, along with a guitar that combines Americana and indie rock. The last few years have seen more and more of a trend of strict genres breaking down and melting into new sounds and art, and Uwade is a shining example of that. Uwade says of her latest single: "Romantic love gets a lot of attention so when I was workshopping the project that would turn into ‘I Wonder,’ I wanted it to take on a different shade. It was about affection, gratitude, and...

Photo by Ebru Yildiz Julien Baker and TORRES teaming up for a country album is one of the true joys of 2025. The pair's latest single, "Tuesday," is fronted by TORRES, and according to the press release is about "... trying to overcome and heal from the guilt, shame and religious abuse that so many people experience discovering their identity and growing up Queer." The song is a twangy, laid back country track that lands somewhere between classic country and modern pop music (but nowhere near the current country pop sound). I'm not typically a lyrics guy and don't normally pay attention to the lyrics of a song until after multiple listens, but the lyrics of "Tuesday" grabbed me immediately upon the first listen. This is the type of song that is going to demand your focus and attention.  You can watch the visualizer for "Tuesday" below. Send a Prayer My Way is due out April 18 on Matador Records, and is available for pre-order here . F...

Photo by  Karolina Wieolcha Sometimes you just hear a musical combination that makes such perfect sense that you're shocked you haven't heard it before. "Kintsugi," the latest single from London-based Sheldon Agwu, is considered a mixture of dream-jazz and trip hop. It's all of the best qualities of chilled out trip hop with a hazy layer of horn over it. Agwu has crafted a completely mesmerizing new single that is going to suck in fans of either genre. This is such a great combination of trippy and laid back, and maybe we've missed an entire genre before this, but "Kintsugi" isn't quite like anything we've heard before while still feeling familiar in its parts. You can listen to "Kintsugi" below. Kintsugi , the album, is due out April 11, and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp . For more on Sheldon Agwu, check out the artist's website . Kintsugi by Sheldon Agwu

Artist : Sunny War Album : Armageddon in a Summer Dress Quick Thoughts : We are big Sunny War fans here, so this latest album, which feels a little more accessible in comparison to her kind of angular take on singer-songwriter folk, is a welcome listen this week. A lot of good stuff here, with "Ghosts" being a true highlight on first listen. Songs of Note : "Ghosts," "Watching Contradiction," "Debbie Downer," "One Way Train" Artist : Heather Nova Album : Breath and Air Quick Thoughts : Heather Nova is basically a folk legend at this point, which makes the quality of her latest album a welcome surprise. She hasn't lost a step, and songs like "Ebbs and Flows" and "Ghost in My Room" show her experience while also not feeling like a retread. Many artists would have fallen into a rut six albums earlier, and here she is doing some of her best on her 13th. Check it out. Songs of Note : "Ebbs and Flows,...

Photo by Eliza Callahan Vermont's Lily Seabird has released a pair of sonically very different but thematically very similar singles. "How far away" is a just under two minute piano ballad. It's only Seabird's vocals and Sam Atallah's piano, and it's a completely compelling and beautiful song about loss. It's melancholy, but beautiful and surprisingly uplifting. "It was like you were coming to wake us back up" is about seeing someone outside of her house that looked like her deceased loved one. The second single is a full band track that is a little faster in pace, but not much. To me, "It was like you were coming to wake us back up" feels more pained, while "How far away" sounds more like reminiscing. Both are beautiful and powerful songs of loss that are well worth spending some time with. Lily Seabird says of her new singles: “‘How far away’ closes Side A of Trash Mountain and ‘It was like…’ opens Side B, but they'r...

Photo by Avery Norman With their latest single, Momma have shifted their alt-rock meets modern pop sound into more of the pop side. "Bottle Blonde" is almost a pure pop sound, or at least what they call alt-pop these days. The beats sound almost like they belong in more of a trip hop song bordering on mainstream pop. As with any song from Momma, this one is defined by the vocal harmonies of lead vocalists Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten. Without the harder edge of their typical alt-rock sound, the pair get to show off their vocal talents more readily on "Bottle Blonde." This one is even perfect for those of us that typically cringe away from any music that even hints at a pop sound. Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten say of their band's latest single: “We wrote this song as a letter to our past selves, when we were 23 and 24, stumbling through an extremely grueling tour that ended up taking a huge toll on our hearts and minds.  We both had bleached hair a...

Photo courtesy Colemine Records We cover a decent amount of neo-soul here at If It's Too Loud..., and we might have just discovered a new favorite. The Charities are a five piece band out of southern California. Their latest single, "Fatal Attraction," nails something that most bands of the genre miss. The song has harmonized vocals in a style that I haven't heard in years. If it was a punk song we'd call it gang vocals, but this is a soul song so it can't be that. But there's just something about the way The Charities sing the line "Fatal attraction" together that reminds me of listening to oldies radio with my parents as a kid. If the press release for this song stated it was a long lost single from sixty years ago, I'd completely believe it. You can listen to "Fatal Attraction" below. The single is out now digitally with a 7" to follow on April 4, and is available to pre-order here . For more on The Charities, check out the ...

Photo by Abbey Raymonde Miki Berenyi Trio (aka Miki Berenyi from Lush's current band) has a new single out that is just dripping with 90's retro delights. "Big I Am" is reminding me of that period in the 90's when rave and electronic music culture started invading alt-rock. It has a hypnotic sound and dances right in the middle of being either electronic or alt-rock. It's reminding me a lot of a mix between The Stone Roses' "Fools Gold" and Hotwired era Soup Dragons... just a little more electronic. If you've been a fan of Lush or Berenyi's post-Lush bands (or really any 90's British bands), you're going to enjoy "Big I Am."  Miki Berenyi says of her band's latest single: “I've witnessed 50+ years of the trends in masculinity and frankly, nothing much changes – as ever, there are good men and there are shit men, and there are boys who can be misguided but easily mature into the best of their sex. But this latest ...

If you've long been wanting more cello in your indie rock, Sove the Second might be the band you've been longing for. The Boise band's latest single, "Green Hills," is a six minute epic that features Grace Crookham-Guy's cello as the lead instrument. Unlike many bands that feature an instrument not usually associated with rock music, "Green Hills" utilizes the cello like it has always been meant to rock. This is a fast alt-rock track that reminds me of a cross between that dog and Porridge Radio, just with a cello and not a violin. Of course, since the press release does say "Sove the Second makes music for the overwhelmed and the over thinkers," so my enjoyment of this song might say more about me. You can watch the video for "Green Hills" below. For more on Sove the Second, check out the band's website .

Italy's The Peawees are celebrating their thirtieth anniversary with a new single and their first tour of the United States in twenty-seven years. The new single is a cover of The Remains' garage rock classic "Don't Look Back." If you're unfamiliar with The Remains, they're a Boston garage rock band from the mid 60's that opened for The Beatles on their final tour. "Don't Look Back" is a killer somewhat lost garage rock classic, and I'm personally thrilled to see an artist paying tribute to a band like The Remains. This is pure classic 60's garage rock with plenty of punk sneer thrown in to make it in the style of The Peawees. If you're as much of a garage rock fan as I am, you're going to love this one. You can listen to The Peawees version of "Don't Look Back" below. The single is out now via Spaghetty Town Records in the US, Folc Records in Spain, and Wild Honey Records in Italy. For more on The Peawees, c...

Chris Brokaw is one of the most prolific musicians out there. In the four years since his album Puritan , he's released music and/or played with The Martha's Vineyard Ferries, Chris Brokaw Rock Band, Lupo Citta, Come, and most likely more that I'm missing. Now he's back with a brand new solo song and an upcoming album. "8 or 9 Things" doesn't sound like Puritan , but if you're a long time fan of his this will fit right into his sound for you. It's heavy on distortion and fuzz, and is more than a little hypnotic and haunting. Brokaw's vocals almost sound like they're coming from another realm, while his guitar dances lightly around you. As captivating and oddly beautiful as "8 or 9 Things" is, it's somehow both calming and anxiety inducing. Once again, Chris Brokaw is blowing our minds, multiple decades into his career. You can listen to "8 or 9 Things" below. Ghost Ship is due out April 28 on 12XU, and is available f...

I've been a huge fan of Benjamin Booker for over a decade now. His self-titled debut was my top album of 2014, and I've been impatiently waiting to hear what he would do after 2017's Witness. It was a long wait, but LOWER , released earlier this year is a strong contender for 2025's album of the year, and honestly gets better with each listen. Once I heard he was playing Crystal Ballroom, I knew I had to see what he would be like live in 2025. Booker took the stage with a drummer and Kenny Segal on roughly five different types of keyboards and DJ equipment. The trio formed a triangle on stage and started off with a sample about playing music for yourself, and to make sure you enjoy how it sounds. That was obviously a message to the audience, as Booker's current sound is virtually unlike anything he's played before... or really anyone else has done before. If anything, Booker has become an even more amazing performer since I last saw him at TT the Bear's back...

Photo by Sophie Adams We've been raving about every new single from Lady Pills upcoming album, and "Out Into the Open" will be no exception. Ella Boisonnault is a master of merging indie rock with modern pop, and with this new single she moves in some more unexpected directions. The song is almost impossibly catchy and adds a heaping amount of New Wave to the track along with a newly discovered theatricality. "Out Into the Open" feels more like a story than your average single. The song is beautiful and fun as it cycles through different sounds and tempos while always sounding like the same song. Lady Pills seem to be playing with styles like early girl groups, classic indie rock, and musicals on this one, and we are fully onboard.  You can listen to "Out Into the Open" below. Renowned in the Roaring Twenties is due out April 4 and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp . For more on Lady Pills, check out the artist on Facebook and Instagram .