If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Annette Rodriguez New York post-hardcore veterans Quicksand are back with a new single off their upcoming album. "Crystallize" is everything I want in a Quicksand song in 2026. There is the same amount of noise and aggression as their iconic 90's releases, just a little extra maturity. It's as if maturity has sharpened the band's sound and made it more vital. It doesn't sound as if they've changed their sound to match what's going on in the indie rock and punk worlds now, but more like the rest of the world finally caught up to them. Somehow Quicksand sound more current in 2026 than they did in 1993. There aren't many bands you can say that about. Quicksand says about their latest single: "’Crystallize’ opens a new lane for us.  Post-punk self-actualization-core meets 1960s Batman fight scene.”   You can watch the video for "Crystallize" below. Bring on the Psychics is due out July 17 on Equal Vision Records. For more on Qui...

Normally on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend we're heading in for Boston Calling, but the premier festival in the area is taking this year off. Actually, taking a year off (hopefully) is the theme for 2026, with Hartford's The Capital Groove, Portland's Back Cove Music & Arts Festival, and Worcester's New England Metal and Hardcore Festival all skipping this year. Luckily, there are still plenty of festivals happening this year. Here are our recommendations for the summer of 2026, presented in chronological order! Backwoods Metal Fest, Henniker, NH, May 29 and 30 Taking place up in Henniker, NH, Backwoods Metal Fest is a two day rager in the woods of New Hampshire. It's a hike, but the bands make it well worth the drive. You'll get performances from False Gods, Tree, Afghan Haze, Druid Stone, Suicide Forest, Sick Dude Hell Yeah, Trunk, North Star the Wanderer, Lizzy, Holy Bowl, Eight Foot Manchild, Scuzzy Yeti, VRSA, Witchspire, Hobo Wizard, ERGI, Bvrt B@c...

Toadies and Local H are two bands who seem to finally be getting the respect they deserve. I've never heard anything but gushing praise after a Local H live show, and Toadies have one of the most underrated catalogs in music. Plus, their music has aged surprisingly well. If you haven't listened to Local H's As Good As Dead or Toadies' Rubberneck  for a while, I guarantee they are far better than you remember. Plus, I haven't seen either band live in decades, so when they announced a tour together, I instantly wanted to go. (Apologies to Vandoliers for missing their set. They're a band I adore, and they rarely make it up to Boston, but the early start time and my schedule didn't work out.) The shocking thing about the crowd for Local H was just how young it was. There were some forty and fifty-somethings speckled in the crowd, but the majority was Gen Z. And The Kids got a masterclass in 90's alternative rock. As I said, they were always a surprisingly gr...

Photo by Broderick Baumann FIGHTMASTER is the solo project of nonbinary artist E.G. Fightmaster. I typically don't refer to songs as steamy, sultry, or any similar adjectives since I'm always afraid that isn't the artist's intent, but that's certainly not the case with their latest single, "Glide." There is no innuendo here, just a great steamy track. It's a little indie rock, a little alt-pop, a little singer-songwriter. Musically, it's probably closest to trip hop, but more organic, stripped down, and laid back. The song is undeniably great, and a unique mixture of styles. It's also similar to a mixture of artists like TORRES and boygenius. We'll definitely be checking out FIGHTMASTER's other songs as soon as possible. FIGHTMASTER says of their latest single: “ ‘Glide’ is an addictive alt-pop song driven by filth: filthy synth, filthy drums, filthy lyrics." You can watch the video for "Glide" below. Tolerance is due out...

Photo by Liz Sadkowski Hailing from New Jersey, CR & The White Lights have a new single out, and Americana fans are going to be blown away by this one. There are references to Neil Young and Crazy Horse throughout the press release for "Tinted Windows." Within ten seconds of hitting play on the video below, you'll understand why. The song has that perfect mixture of vintage guitar noise and twang that made Young such a legend. It's a mixture of garage rock and Americana with some pre-grunge thrown in. Seriously, the guitars in "Tinted Windows" are what instantly drew me in. The guitars are also going to remind a lot of you of early Drive-By Truckers and Wilco's more epic songs. The song is under five minutes long, but it's going to make you think of other ten plus minute songs from other artists. This is one hell of an into for us to CR & The White Lights. CR Gennone says of his band's latest single: "The record captures a period of ...

Photo by Alexa Viscius With every new single we hear, we get more and more excited for the upcoming debut album from Andrew Sa. "Your Whisper," his latest single, moves slightly away from the alt-country of his previous singles. There is still some twang present, but the song has more of a jazz/soul meets singer-songwriter sound. It's a slow and laid back sound that also edges just slightly into gospel with its backing vocals, and even some indie rock-esque drone (which sounds like it could have been made with a viola or fiddle). "Your Whisper" is a stunning song, both in its sound and how complex it is despite being stripped down. Without rewriting the Americana genre, Andrew Sa has crafted his very own sound with this latest single. Andrew Sa says of his latest single: “‘Your Whisper’ is intentionally very sensual. It's affirming sex with the windows open full of summer rain - Chet Baker Sings on the record player. Then there’s the ominous heart pangs, me...

Photo by Panic Shack Roughly a year ago we discovered Panic Shack and became fairly obsessed, and now the Welch punks are back with new music. "grin & bear it" lands somewhere between classic punk and the newfangled, pop oriented punk. It's undeniably catchy, with guitars that both bite and crunch. There are elements of noise punk and pop within the song, making it almost mainstream while still being underground, especially in attitude. "grin & bear it" also grooves just as hard as it rocks, and is surprisingly danceable for something this noisy. Panic Shack are quickly becoming a favorite around here. Panic Shack says of their latest single: “This song has had many iterations, seen many a practice room and taken many forms.  It’s a song that we’ve felt really passionate about getting right, but the music was never fully hitting. We reworked it from the start of the year in any spare time we had around working our jobs and gigging (as we almost always do...

Photo by Kelly Davidson Photography Girl with a Hawk are set to release their debut album next month, and the latest single from that album is one of the best songs out there about aging. There's a feeling that being in a band is something you do in your teens and twenties, and then grow out of by your thirties. Same thing with going to concerts, listening to new music, having music journalism as a hobby, etc. "Wasn't It Just Yesterday" is about aging in rock 'n' roll. It's a 70's style Americana/rock song with some tweaks to make it sound more modern. You know how we're supposed to say "They don't make music like that anymore?" This is the music that's supposedly not made anymore. Besides just being a killer rock song, it's the kind of song those of us right up front at a rock show well into our forties and beyond will appreciate the message of.  Frontperson Linda S. Veins says of the band's upcoming album: “At least four...

Photo by PJ Guinto For her latest single, Josaleigh Pollett is going about as mainstream as we've heard from them. "The Witness" could be considered folk music if it wasn't as synth heavy as it is. It's a dreamy singer-songwriter track that sucked me in almost instantly. The song feels warm and cozy, which is rare for a track involving synthesizers. A lot of the warmth comes from Pollett's vocals, and the music feels like it's swirling around you throughout the song. There is also a huge crossover possibility for "The Witness," and I could easily see this song breaking through if it were to end up in some popular TV show. A song like "The Witness" could put Pollett on the list of artists like Madi Diaz who should be breaking through at any moment. Josaleigh Pollett says of her latest single: “The Witness is a song about knowing that to be seen and held and understood, you must first see and hold and understand. It’s about love, beyond l...

Photo by Xander Lewis The latest from mary in the junkyard sees the trio moving in a new musical direction while still sounding like themselves. "New Muscles" is a hypnotic track focused on vocal harmonies and percussion. It's like a psychedelic version of alt-pop-rock. The song is relatively stripped down and feels quite raw. Saya Barbaglia's viola and/or violin truly has a chance to shine in the song, and the song will lull you despite its quiet intensity. It may feel like mary in the junkyard have been morphing and playing with their sound quite a bit in the past two years, but not as much as they are in "New Muscles." Their upcoming album is promising to be an interesting one. mary in the junkyard say of their latest single: "’New Muscles’ was originally composed on the accordion, we wrote it about [drummer] David joining a gym." You can watch the video for "New Muscles" below. Role Model Hermit is due out July 3 on AMF Records, and i...

A strange thing happened while listening to Sam Mulligan's new album Pizza Forever. I expected a pizza themed chiptune/VGM/nerdcore album to be fun, and this album certainly is. It's a genuinely funny release, with songs about ordering so much pizza that you lose all your money ("Broke"), and another about getting a pizza and not being able to recognize the toppings ("Weird Pizza"). Pizza Forever should be a novelty release that you listen to once, chuckle, and then move on. But the songs on Pizza Forever are great. Turns out they are ridiculously catchy and well put together. You'll put this on once out of curiosity, but you'll end up going back to the album repeatedly because it turns out to be great. You can listen to Pizza Forever below. The album can be purchased via Bandcamp . For more on Sam Mulligan, check out the artist's website . Pizza Forever by Sam Mulligan

Photo by Reese Layton Blondshell, aka the musical project of Sabrina Teitelbaum, has a brand new single out, and it might be her best yet. "Heart Has to Work So Hard" continues Blondshell's mixture of pop and indie rock, with this one leaning deeper into indie rock territory. This new song is intense, and it's just as melodic as it is noisy. It feels like a mixture of PJ Harvey and Boygenius, and it's deserving of that level of praise. Teitelbaum has always let all of her emotions out in her music, but not on the level that she does on "Heart Has to Work So Hard." It feels urgent, like she needed to get this song out of her soul.  Sabrina Teitelbaum says of her latest single: “This song is really about friendship and betrayal, getting stuck in a dynamic and letting things fester. It’s about pain and confusion — no one trains you for the ups and downs of a friendship between two women — but it’s also about a love so enduring that you find compassion no ma...