If It's Too Loud...

New Hampshire's Hell Beach are in for a huge year based on how great the singles from their upcoming album have been. The latest is "Double Agent," which is a song that demands you re-think how you feel about pop punk. That might be the secret weapon of Hell Beach: They're proudly pop punk, and their songs are so great that even the snobbiest of music fans is going to end up loving the genre. "Double Agent" is as catchy as anything that they've put out, and might even be the most punk song we've heard from them. It's fast, and it's just as poppy as it is heavy. Turn this one up, and get ready to scream out the chorus for ultimate enjoyment. You can watch the video for "Double Agent" below. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is due out November 13 on Counter Intuitive Records, and is available for pre-order here . For more on Hell Beach, check out the band's website .

Photo by Kelly Davidson Photography Boston's Girl with a Hawk have a new single out off their excellent album Regenesis , and it's quite timely. "The Fighter" is a deeply personal song for lead vocalist and guitarist Linda Viens, but it's also about the patriarchy in this country. It's a folk-infused alt-rock power ballad, with an emphasis on the power. You're going to be instantly grabbed by the guitar intro to the song, and when Viens' vocals come in at around thirty seconds, you'll be fully invested. Girl with a Hawk seems to be one of the most underrated/"Boston's best kept secret" bands around, and a song like "The Fighter" proves that we should all be giving them more attention. This is one of those songs that's both huge and intimate, and it's fully worthy of your attention. Linda Viens says of her band's latest single: “The song began as a reminiscence on my childhood of growing up as the eldest of four i...

Photo by Connor Middlebrook There's a lot of bands showing off their 90's influences lately, and Brooklyn's Sledding are no exception. Their latest single, "Covert Station," absolutely nails the 90's alt-rock sound while tweaking it to sound more modern. It's reminding me of a mixture of Hum and Slint, with feedback creating a disquieting, ominous sound. This is the kind of song that only gets better as it goes on, and by the time its four minutes and eighteen seconds is done, you're going to be obsessed with the song. Plus, "Covert Station" nails the angst of 90's alt-rock in a way that Sledding's peers miss. This isn't fully a 90's throwback, but it's going to remind you of your teenage years in a way that current bands rarely do. Aidan Drouse (vocals, guitar) says of his band's latest single: " When you’re writing music in the general arena of “rock,” the associated energy can be heightened and frenetic. Obviou...

Photo by Saeka Shimada Mei Semones continues to be one of the most intriguing and original artists we cover by mixing up styles. Her latest single, "2 Hands," keeps her trademark sound of combining jazz, bossa nova, and indie rock, but she keeps doing so in different wants. This new song is a little heavier and more rock focused than we're used to from Semones while still being a more jazz centered track. "2 Hands" meanders along where the song wants to, with some elements dropping out and entering without warning. It's laid back, but also heavy at times. Only an artist like Semones can make a song so chill so attention grabbing. Mei Semones says of her latest single and video: “Everyone in my band is such an incredible musician and I feel so lucky and grateful to play with them, and that's what this song is about! So for this video I wanted to capture what it's like to play music with them, and highlight how amazing and talented each of them are. Th...

Photo by Holly Parker Los Angeles alt-punk garage band have a fast and fun new single out just in time for Halloween. Clocking in at under one minute, "We're Werewolves Not Swearwolves" is horror punk that's meant to be fun, and it is. Loosely inspired by What We Do in the Shadows , the song is fast and heavy, but in a way that's more joyous than angry. If you're looking for a straight up punk track about werewolves and inspired by a classic comedy film, SP's have you covered with "We're Werewolves Not Swearwolves."  You can watch the video for "We're Werewolves Not Swearwolves" below. Dating at the End of the World is due out March 26 on Baby Robot Records. For more on SP's, check out the band on Instagram and Facebook .

Green Tea Bitches are a Chinese-Danish dance punk duo based in Copenhagen. They've released a new single out specifically for Halloween, and this is a great one. "Ghosts" is actually about ghosts, with Green Tea Bitches admitting to being afraid of them. This is a fun, dance-friendly track that is perfect for the holiday. It's a little spooky and a whole lot of fun, and unlike other songs clogging up Halloween playlists (The Cranberries' "Zombie" and Jason Isbell's "Vampires" for example), "Ghosts" is about actual spirits. It's a mixture of post-punk and dance-punk, with more than a little pop thrown in. Crank this one up, and get ready for the best holiday of all! You can listen to "Ghosts" below. For more on Green Tea Bitches, check out the band on Instagram .

Photo by Chapin Patel Chicago garage power pop duo North by North have a new single out just in time for Halloween. "Be Your Own Ghost" has all of the rough edge of garage rock with the smooth side of power pop. It feels like the more restrained side of power pop, like it was built more for small clubs that shooting for arenas. It's also surprisingly funky, and it's perfect for both fist pumping and dancing. The guitar in "Be Your Own Ghost" is catchier than the lyrics, which are rather catchy in their own right. While most songs you can straight up rock out to can be quite silly, North by North have given us a clever rocker with their latest. Drummer and vocalist Kendra Blank says the band's latest single is “... about taking charge of your own life and choosing to leave a toxic relationship, whether with a friend, a lover, or a family member. You may have someone in your life who pushes you to be as toxic as they are. This song is about the moments lea...

As someone who loves a good conspiracy theory (fun ones, at least), the latest single from Devil Love brought me one I had never heard of before. The Boston band just released "Black Knight Satellite," and it's a fun track. If you were a fan of the Boston music scene in the mid to late 90's, you're going to get some delightful flashbacks. This reminds me of the era when the city was looked at to be the next Seattle. It's filled with melodies and crunchy guitars, and it's much more pop adjacent than any of us would have ever admitted to back then. It's close to being a power ballad, and is begging to be sung along to live. Devil Love have a great one here, and we're all in. Peter Buzzelle (vocals, guitar) says of his band's latest single: “The idea of the BKS conspiracy comes from an actual conspiracy theory that is circulating that claims an ancient, extraterrestrial spacecraft has orbited Earth for thousands of years.   Maybe they are collecti...

Photo by Ali Zare If you were of a certain age, there was nothing cooler than the sounds of trip hop and 1960's bossa nova in the mid to late 90's. Trip hop pioneer Eric Hilton (Thievery Corporation) is combining those sounds in his latest album, and the latest single is sonic perfection. "Alma Boa" features vocals from Natalia Clavier, and it has all of the chill vibes of trip hop with the groove of bossa nova. It somehow sounds like it could have been released in either the 60's or 90's, depending on which genre grabs you the most. (Plus, that 90's groovy/bossa nova resurgence will always remind me of my college radio days.) "Alma Boa" is an effortlessly cool track, and we can't wait to hear more from Hilton. Eric Hilton says of his latest single: “‘Alma Boa’ grew out of my love for Brazilian music and bossa nova, particularly the recordings from the 1960s that have influenced me for years.  I wanted to capture some of that warmth and sophi...

Photo by Kimberly Ha The highly anticipated new album from THAO comes out tomorrow, and there's one last single to check out before then. "Take It Easy" is more like a rock song than we've heard from the previous singles from THAO's upcoming album. It's a quirky indie rock song that never gets cutesy, and while it does delve into her folk side, it's predominantly a rocker. It's also as catchy as anything that she's released to date. This one reminds me of my personal favorites from her time as Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, and it's going to immediately grab you and make you need to dance. If you weren't already thrilled about the release of Show Me , you certainly will be now. Thao Nguyen says of her latest single: “It’s written in the voice of a person I used to be married to. It’s me asking for forgiveness — from her and myself.” You can watch the video for "Take It Easy" below. Show Me is due out October 30 on Kill Rock St...

Photo by Libby Rodenbough Viv & Riley are back with a new single, and it's everything we've come to love from the folk duo. "Sourwood" is a gentle song that perfectly captures both traditional and modern folk sounds. It's not quite folk pop, but it's also not not folk pop. I think what keeps Viv & Riley from becoming a true folk pop group is just how much of the traditional side of the genre they keep in their songs. "Sourwood" is going to be perfect for both your purists and more mainstream fans, but that's kind of how these two have always been. And their releases just keep getting better and better. Vivian Leva says of her group's latest single: “‘Sourwood’ was inspired by the sourwood trees that erupt into orange and red blazes in the mountains of Virginia every fall. I was thinking about how these trees display such vibrant beauty before they inevitably lose their leaves and become bare each winter. There is something that seems ...

As you can probably tell, we're not a heavy music blog. We tend to prefer the sounds of indie rock, folk, alt-rock, punk, etc., with occasional posts about hip hop, cumbia, jazz, and others, and very rare metal posts. But, I do have a rarely seen metal side, and I did enjoy going to Ozzfest back in the day, so when a chance to head down to Texas to see Sick New World... how could I say no? I'm not going to get into the controversies of the day, and while the event wasn't perfect, it's somewhere between the online discourse of it being the worst planned event ever and it running perfectly. Here were my favorites of the day! Kittie I always enjoyed Kittie's 2000 album Spit , and it probably holds up better than most metal albums of that period. There was always a bit of a novelty factor of teenage girls playing metal, but now they're adults and back, possibly better than ever. They absolutely rocked the Spiral stage, proving they are far better than you remember. ...

Artist : The Olivia Tremor Control Album : The Same Place Quick Thoughts : When it was announced that the first Olivia Tremor Control album in well over 25 years was coming out, I was very excited. The Elephant Six band was probably the weirdest of the set of weird acts, and much of this album was recorded between 2002 and 2014. The untimely deaths of Bill Doss and Will Hart, however, did as much to delay this final album as it did to get it out to the masses. If there's a takeaway from this it's that The Olivia Tremor Control were a truly special act and that the direction they were heading would have been among the more interesting trajectories this side of Of Montreal. A really, realy great release on all accounts. Songs of Note : "Begin Now!" "Timewaster," "The Same Old Place," "We Captured a Frame," "Halfway Down," "Leaf," "Garden of Light" Artist : Art d'Ecco Album : Scheele's Gr...