Oakland's King Isis was taught piano by their great-great grandmother Omega King, who was one of the first black opera singers in Chicago. After years of classic training, King Isis is making music that combines R&B with rock. Typically that means R&B with some rock flourishes, but their new single, "Make It Up," lands squarely in the middle of the two genres. Unlike outlaw country which is usually too rock for country fans and too country for rock fans, "Make It Up" is going to work for both fans of rock and R&B. The song has this dark R&B vibe that is driven by rock guitars. It's a compelling combination that is going to inspire multiple listens just to try and figure it all out.
King Isis says of their new single:
“I wrote the first version of this song at home in Oakland, going through lows in love and life. I was experimenting with darker production and more droney melodies, which I felt encompassed the monotonous feeling of just getting through the motions that was my life at the time.’
You can watch the video for "Make It Up" below. For more on King Isis, check out the artist on Instagram and Twitter.
Dischord is one of those record labels that I'll listen to anything they put out at least once. Their latest is post-dance-punk band Light Beams. The Washington D.C. band just put out a new single, "Friendly." This new single stresses the dance in post-punk-dance. The song is heavy on percussion with samples adding an accent to the song. This is the kind of song Dischord punk purists may hate, but they are simply wrong. Light Beams are pushing the boundaries of punk (even post-dance-punk), and if this wonderfully hypnotic song isn't enough to force you to start moving, you may not have a soul.
Vocalist/bandleader Justin Wm. Moyer says of the new song:
“I was covering a protest at the Supreme Court, interviewing a demonstrator who was very critical of the media. I had taken some photos of the scene and the protester started challenging me – physically challenging me – about my photos. This person was getting very angry, and I was getting very angry. But I realized that the situation could be defused easily by, well, keeping things friendly. So I gave this person my phone and let him delete all the photos he objected to (which weren’t going to be published anyway). I thought this was a good outcome. I’m not always good at dealing with anger and, in a different part of my life, the argument might have ended a different way. This song is about that – and any situation where emotions threaten to get too big for the people experiencing them.”
You can watch the video for "Friendly" below. Wild Life is due out November 3 on Dischord Records, and is available for pre-order here. For more on Light Beams, check out the band on Instagram. Current tour dates are below the video.
Somehow TORRES keeps surprising us with her music. The musical project of Mackenzie Scott has released a new single that features her vocals and acoustic guitar that would feel at home in a neo-folk song over a pre-programmed drum beat with sounds that at times are either a light squall of guitar feedback and electronic noises. The song has this haunting and unsettling feeling to it, despite sounding like it's trying to be upbeat. I'd say art doesn't always have to be a pleasant experience, but "I got the fear" can be a pleasant listening experience, except for the times it's not.
Mackenzie Scott says of her latest single:
“A collective dread has been mounting. Everyone I know is having a brawl with the universe, with themselves…wars, climate catastrophe, a pandemic, the worldwide regression on human rights, the political hellscape — it affects everybody, and I know we’re all feeling it in waves of varying degree all the time. I think it’s really important that we find a way to get our hopes back up. I’m here to try to help light the way if I can. Most days I really believe humanity will find a way. But there’s a nagging anxiety that maybe that won’t happen. One has to wonder if it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy that a species that believes it’s doomed will doom itself.”
You can watch the video for "I got the fear" below. What an enormous room is due out January 26 on Merge Records, and is available for pre-order here. For more on TORRES, check out the artist on Facebook and Instagram. Upcoming tour dates are below the video.
Wed. Jan. 17 - Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop * Thu. Jan. 18 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall * Fri. Jan. 19 - Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar * Sat. Jan. 20 - Nashville, TN @ The Basement * Mon. Jan. 22 - Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade (Purgatory) * Tue. Jan. 23 - Durham, NC @ Motorco * Wed. Jan. 24 - Washington, DC @ The Atlantis * Thu. Jan. 25 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry * Fri. Jan. 26 - Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere * Sat. Jan. 27 - Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair Fri. Feb. 2 - Paris, FR @ Le Hasard Ludique Sat. Feb. 3 - Bruges, BE @ Cactus Club Mon. Feb. 5 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Upstairs Tue. Feb. 6 - Cologne, DE @ Bumann & SOHN Wed. Feb. 7 - Berlin, DE @ Privatclub Thu. Feb. 8 - Munich, DE @ Milla Sat. Feb. 10 - Baden, CH @ One of a Million Festival Mon. Feb. 12 - Manchester, UK @ YES Tue. Feb. 13 - Bristol, UK @ Strange Brew Wed. Feb. 14 - London, UK @ Oslo Wed. Mar. 20 - Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge ^ Fri. Mar. 22 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court ^ Sat. Mar. 23 - Boise, ID @ Venue TBA Tue. Mar. 26 - Seattle, WA @ Neumos ^ Wed. Mar. 27 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios ^ Fri. Mar. 29 - San Francisco, CA @ Cafe Du Nord ^ Sat. Mar. 30 - Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room ^ Mon. Apr. 1 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah ^ Tue. Apr. 2 - Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar ^ Thu. Apr. 4 - Dallas, TX @ Club Dada ^ Fri. Apr. 5 - Austin, TX @ The Parish ^ Sat. Apr. 6 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall (Upstairs) ^
Boston's favorite "soft punk" TIFFY has a new single out, and it's shockingly pop, even by her standards. "Lost in the Shuffle" is more of a pop and dance track than the previous singles we've heard from the artist's upcoming album. It's a dreamy track that might be more sway-able than danceable. But the song has a distinct groove that still falls into the soft punk category. It reminds me a little of if Palehound decided to go disco. "Lost in the Shuffle" is the kind of song that is both beautiful and fun, which can be rare in the world of music.
You can watch the video for "Lost in the Shuffle" below. So Serious is due out November 3 on Totally Real Records/Dollhouse Lightning, and is availabkle for pre-order through Bandcamp. For more on TIFFY, check out the artist's website. Upcoming tour dates are below the video.
Sat 11/4 - Loading Dock Littleton, NH
Thu 11/9 - Nova Arts Keene, NH
Fri 11/10 - Deep Cuts Medford, MA / Boston
Sat 11/11 - bkONE Tom Kane Theater/Industry City Brooklyn, NY
Fri 11/17 - WSCA Portsmouth, NH
Sat 11/18 - News Cafe Providence, RI
Toronto's DijahSB has one of the more interesting styles in hip hop today. The MC has released a pair of singles, "Don't Touch!" and "I'm Blooming" that touch on their life as a black, non-binary rapper. "Don't Touch!" has that late 80's positive hip hop sound that reminds me of De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest meets the modern sensibility of an artist like Oompa. It has an upbeat, jazzy sound that throws back to classic hip hop while still sounding modern. "I'm Blooming" is a more laid back track that still has that jazzy vibe, but in a more Guru-esque kind of way. Both songs may have an old school thing going on, but neither sounds like a throwback track.
DijahSB says of their new tracks:
“These two tracks are essential to the theme of this album, I’m excited to have this album out. I’m turning 30. I feel like I’m going to be stepping into a new era and this album will help usher me in.”
You can listen to "Don't Touch!" and "I'm Blooming" below. The Flower That Knew is due out November 17, and is available for pre-order here. For more on DijabSB, check out the artist's website.
We've known that no one else in Boston quite sounds like the dark electronic music of Ex-Hyena, but with their latest single that's even more true. "Reptile" is both more experimental and more mainstream than their typical releases. It starts off with this strange and uncomfortable intro, and then the vocals kick in, making it even weirder. It reminds me a little of Lead Into Gold. "Reptile" then makes an even stranger twist by going in a mainstream direction. It starts to sound like an 80's mainstream synth hit before going back and forth a few times. Ex-Hyena have always stood on their own in this city, and this sees them moving even more in their own direction.
You can listen to "Reptile" below. The song is available on the Back from the Grave - Vol. 2 compilation out now via Darkness Calling. You can get a copy through Bandcamp by naming your own price. For more on Ex-Hyena, check out the band on Facebook and Instagram.
After just a couple of singles and their performance at the Rock 'n' Roll Rumble, I thought I knew what to expect from Not Bad Not Well. The Worcester, MA band have a heavy alt-rock sound reminiscent of At the Drive In, and would continue that sound for a while. Their latest single fits into that description, but "Afterglow" ends up being not quite a ballad, but at the very least ballad adjacent. It's a surprisingly gorgeous song and has a sound that mixes post-hardcore with sunny southern California classic rock. It's not a sound that typically comes from the land of nu-metal and cover bands, so it's refreshing to see a Worcester band blow our minds with an unexpected sound three singles in.
You can listen to "Afterglow" below. The song is currently available through Bandcamp. For more on Not Bad Not Well, check out the band on Instagram and Facebook .
London's Sabatta has such a diverse list of bands on their "for fans of" section in the press release for "Get Over Yourself" that they couldn't possibly sound like them all. How can a band be compared to Queens of the Stone Age, Bad Brains, Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, and Parliament/Funkadelic and live up to that? But... Sabatta do. This new single has that funk meets punk side of Bad Brains while leaning more heavily into funk like Parliament/Funkadelic, the stoner/desert rock of Queens of the Stone Age, and dark guitar solos that combine Black Sabbath and Hendrix. As you can imagine, "Get Over Yourself" is a badass song that needs to be listened to. It's the kind of song that melts your mind the longer it goes on as it just keeps getting more intense and more engaging as it goes on. Sabatta are one of those bands that will blow up if there is any justice in the world.
You can watch the video for "Get Over Yourself" below. How to Get Even is due out November 17, and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp. For more on Sabatta, check out the artist on Instagram and Facebook.
We've loved the singles we've heard from Daneshevskaya, but we're still surprised by her latest single. "ROY G BIV" might be the New York pre-school social worker/musician's most accessible single yet. This new song still focuses on her mesmerizing vocals, but despite being just over two minutes long, it feels like you've gone on a journey. In its short time, "ROY G BIV" sounds like an alt-pop song, an orchestral piece, a song from a musical, alt-folk, etc. Daneshevskaya does this so effortlessly and makes the inclusion of different styles so gently that you hardly notice it. This new song is brilliant, and has us even more excited for an album we were highly anticipating already.
Anna Daneshevskaya Beckerman says of her latest single:
“This song was definitely inspired by working with kids and seeing how their worlds hinge upon small discrepancies. I always love when kids instinctually put things in order, and I could see a lot of the time how putting things in the right order calmed them. I think adults do that too in their own way.”
You can watch the visualizer for "ROY G BIV" below. Long is the Tunnel is due out November 10 on Winspear, and is available for pre-order here. For more on Daneshevskaya, check out the artist on Instagram and Twitter.
We tend to love power pop here at If It's Too Loud..., which is why we love The I Want You. The Boston quartet just released a brand new single that is pure classic power pop, but with a little twist. "My Favorite Dive" sounds like it could be an unreleased song from Big Star, except a slightly off one. The song also has a little bit of the indie rock noise meets pop of Guided By Voices (who many also consider to be power pop.) This is power pop with a slight groove to counteract the jangly guitars, and is the kind of song that will make you smile even if the underlying melancholy hiding underneath isn't just in my head.
You can watch the video for "My Favorite Dive" below. The My Favorite Dive EP is due out November 3. For more on The I Want You, check out the band's website.
Halloween weekend is always one filled with more events than anyone could possibly attend, and this year was no exception. Seeing as Tysk Tysk Task was playing their hometown of Lowell, and they were playing The Overlook, a venue I really like but haven't made it out to in far too long, that made the decision easy. It worked out perfectly, as I discovered three more bands I ended up really enjoying.
First up was I Love Cheeseburgers. A side project of Burp., they played a short set of heavier rock than you get with Burp. Burp. are already noisy pop punk, but I Love Cheeseburgers were an even noisier version of that. It was if you combined Warped Tour pop punk with grunge, and then just went wild with that. Their set was a little too short to truly judge, but I'm looking forward to getting to check them out again.
Jiddo opened, and just... wow. They're a band from Worcester playing post-hardcore. Their set was filled with these ridiculously loud songs that are just shy of being accessible to music normies. I had checked out their song "New Mombasa Orbital Elevator" before Saturday night, and was still just absolutely floored by Jiddo. They were like a brilliant combination of The Jesus Lizard and Mission of Burma, but a little more straightforward than either of those. Expect to see more about them here as often as possible.
Next came Tysk Tysk Task. I've seen them live more times than I care to admit to, but each performance ends up being different than the one before it. Now playing as a four piece, Samantha Hartsel's band has added Rick Martel as a second guitarist which has created a completely new dynamic. It's interesting to hear the two guitar interplay of favorites like "Flies" and "Contagion," but it really shines on the newer, unreleased songs. "Shrine" in particular is a song I can't wait to watch evolve with it's dark shoegaze meets grunge vibe. There's not many bands that I feel inclined to see every time I can, but Tysk Tysk Task are that rare band.
Class President closed out the show and were the most pop band to play that night. (They called themselves a pop band, and I only think they were by comparison.) They have a really cool sound that is more poppy than pure pop. It was modern indie rock with vocals that almost sound like they came from the 1960's. You don't typically get melodies like this from an indie rock band, so Class President were a pleasant surprise. They also dusted off a song about getting murdered in the woods since it was a Halloween show and all.
We've come to expect greatness any time Dori Freeman releases new music, and the Galax, VA singer-songwriter consistently delivers. Her latest single, "Movie Screen," is a gently rambling country song. It has that traditional folk meets neo-folk sound that Freeman does perfectly. Plus, Freeman's vocals are particularly mesmerizing on "Movie Screen," which is fitting since the song is about getting lost in a movie. This is a simple yet perfect song that is going to work for you if you're a fan of literally any subgenre of folk.
Dori Freeman says of her new single:
"I wrote 'Movie Screen' deep into the pandemic after watching many hours of Peaky Blinders. As the song developed, the movie theatre became a broader metaphor for the way many of us turn to entertainment as distraction from the challenges of our day to day lives."
You can listen to "Movie Screen" below. Do You Recall is due out November 17 on Blue Hens Music, and is available for pre-order here. For more on Dori Freeman, check out the artist's website.
The duo of Jon Rauhouse and Blaine Long have had different paths in music. Rauhouse has been Neko Case's longtime guitarist, released a duets album with Eric Bachmann, and has been a member of Grievous Angels. Blaine Long came to prominence as a contestant on The Voice. The two have paired together on an upcoming album, and just released a new single. "Nothing Lasts Forever" has that perfect mainstream neo-folk sound. It's not quite folk-pop since it's rooted to much in traditional folk, but this is just about as pop as traditional folk can be. It's a little bit ramblin', and just has that laid back warm sound that sucks you in. In particular, the slide guitar on "Nothing Lasts Forever" is one of the warmest around and nearly hypnotic.
You can listen to "Nothing Lasts Forever" below. One Day Will Never Come Back is due out November 17 on Fort Lowell Records, and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp. For more on Jon Rauhouse & Blaine Long, check out Jon Rauhouse's website here, and Blaine Long's website here.
Lana Nauphal's upcoming album is mostly about falling out of love and a relationship ending, but her latest single is about the period of falling in love and how all encompassing that feeling is. "Oh He Oh MY" is a burst of upbeat folk that is infused with the pop music of the 1960's. The song is pure joy in musical form, and is the kind of catchy that could be a negative if the song wasn't so great. It also includes some of my favorite "Ah-ooooh" backing vocals of all time. If you've ever fallen in love, you'll know that "Oh He Oh My" captures that giddiness perfectly.
Lana Nauphal says of her upcoming album:
"Pursuing pre-law at Georgetown University, I met a truth-teller in the form of a boy. A musician himself, he picked up on what was circling, unrelenting, in my periphery, and confronted me with it: my undeniable call to music. I hadn’t realized how buried it had become— and it was his reverence of my capabilities that finally allowed me to dig it up, dust it off, and claim it as my own. I fell in with him, and his raucous band of friends, and we were ridiculously happy— sleepless, singing, painting on the walls. They brought to life a wildness in me.”
You can watch the video for "Oh He Oh My" below. Wildland is due out May 24. For more on Lana Nauphal, check out the artist's website.
Can it really be Halloween without a new song from Charming Disaster? The goth-folk duo just released the single "Cherry Red." We've become accustomed to their dark and moody sound, but "Cherry Red" seems to kick up the atmospheric vibes up even more. The song features Don Godwin on drums and bass and Kate Wakefield of Lung (who we haven't listened to in far too long), and just builds and builds with the most delightful sense of dread imaginable. If you're the type of person that finds the macabre fun and intriguing, you're going to adore "Cherry Red." This new song fits perfectly in with Charming Disaster's entire catalog, and may just be one of their finest yet.
Charming Disaster say of their new single:
"This song is a ghost story about a haunted house…or possibly a cautionary tale about carbon monoxide poisoning, whose symptoms (disturbing hallucinations, waking nightmares, a feeling of dread) are very similar to the classic signs of a haunted house. But who (or what) caused that furnace leak—was it a ghost? And what caused that ghost’s death—was it carbon monoxide poisoning?"
You can listen to "Cherry Red" below. The song is available now via Bandcamp. For more on Charming Disaster, check out the band's website.
Recently I've been making more of an effort to finally see bands I've never seen before. Mudhoney are one of those bands I've been meaning to see for decades, but just never got around to. It seems every time they've come around in the past ten or so years, it just hasn't worked out for me. Luckily, this past Thursday fit into my schedule and I finally got to see the grunge legends.
Mudhoney started off the show by going all the way back to "When Tomorrow Hits" off their 1989 self-titled album. It was an interesting choice, as it's a more laid back and moody song than I expected to open the show. It ended up being the perfect way to ease the crowd into their set. For their second song they went back even further to 1988's excellent Superfuzz Bigmuff and "In & Out of Grace" to really get things going. Seeing as they're touring to promote a new album (Plastic Eternity, which was released back in April and is more than worth your time), they did play more than half the new album during their set, but the songs more than held up to the classics.
A surprising move by Mudhoney was playing "Sweet Young Thing (Ain't Sweet No More)" and "Touch Me I'm Sick" right in the middle of their set. At this point, the vast majority of the crowd at a Mudhoney show are die-hards who just want to see them play anything, so there's no need to save these classics for the encore.
A couple of stray observations on the show. Mudhoney might have been the least grunge looking people in Brighton Music Hall that night. I have no idea how the under thirty crowd handled the unseasonably warm night in their winter hats and flannel shirts as they larped the 90's, but they pulled it off. Also, as Mark Arm's voice ages, it fits the music better and better. A lot of artists definitely lose their vocal chops as they age, but the extra gruffness to Arm's vocals just fit the music more and more as the years go on.
It would have been easy for Mudhoney to choose one of the dozens of neo-grunge bands popping up in recent years to open the show, but instead they went with Hooveriii. Pronounced "Hoover Three," the Los Angeles based band seem to have taken just about every subgenre of rock and use them all to comprise their sound. There's some grunge, some pop punk, some glam rock, some power pop, some prog rock... literally everything is just mushed into a new but familiar sound. They included the heavy use of keys and saxophone in every song, which is rare for a rock band. In fact, saxophone player Gabe Flores joined Mudhoney on keys and sax sporadically throughout the set. They're the type of band that is going to drive music journalists insane since they don't fit into a neat category, but you'll want to check them out next time they come through your city.
Chicago's The Claudettes (which features Johnny Iguana and JQ, the duo that scored the FX series The Bear) are described as "garage cabaret," and that's exactly what you'll hear on their latest single. "No Matter How Much" is driven by piano and singer Rachel Williams' engaging vocals. And... man... when I say her vocals are engaging, it's the kind of captivating performance that we rarely see. Williams could easily be a Top 40 singer or a contestant on whatever singing competitions are still around, but instead she's gracing us with her amazing talents. "No Matter How Much" is a theatrical, cabaret style cabaret meets punk song that continuously just builds and builds into this noisy and effective climax. It's so close to being a song that could have wound up in a hit musical, but The Claudettes just bring it to this magnificently weird place.
You can watch the video for "No Matter How Much" below. For more on The Claudettes, check out the band's website. Upcoming live dates are below the video.
Oct. 27: Reptile Palace, Oshkosh, WI Oct. 28: Mary's Place, Rockford, IL Nov. 3: Nightshop, Bloomington, IL Nov. 4: BB's, St. Louis, MO
Hailing from New Haven, CT, The Problem With Kids Today are an indie punk band, but one that defies the stereotypes of that genre. Their latest single, "What Else Could I Say," has a little more of a vintage garage rock sound. That is more due to the heavy use of 60's style keyboards in the song more than a fuzz to the guitar. In fact, the guitar has a very clean sound to it, which is surprising for both garage rock and indie punk. The most traditional punk aspect of the song are the vocals. "The Great" Tate Brooks' vocal style is somewhere between a chant and a yelp, and The Problem With Kids Today utilize liberal gang vocals on "What Else Could I Say." The song is pretty straightforward for an indie punk song, but it's of the wall for garage rock.
Tate Brooks says of his band's new song:
"'What Else Can I Say' is an indie punk anthem, written out of frustration both metaphorically and literally. It broke us out of a writer’s block and set the bar for the rest of the album."
You can watch the video for "What Else Could I Say" below. Born to Rock is due out February 9. For more on The Problem With Kids Today, check out the band on Facebook and Instagram. If you're in New England, they'll be playing October 28 at Three Sheets in New Haven, CT and December 15 at JJ's Tavern in Northampton, MA.
Chicago's Chicken Happen chose to focus on piano driven songs for their fourth album. A trio making piano driven indie rock/pop songs is going to draw immediate comparisons to Ben Folds Five, but it's apt for their latest single. "The Easy Way" has that upbeat, confessional with a sense of humor sound that you'd get with a vintage BFF song. The main difference will be the guitar on "The Easy Way." The song has this rollicking sound that is extremely rare in a pop based song. It also features some oddly killer harmonies and joyous "oooooohs." Chicken Happen have released a keeper of a single that is nearly impossible to resist.
Lilly Choi (singer and multi-instrumentalist) says of her band's upcoming album:
“This album has been all about collaboration and exploration. It was a grandiose idea to write an entire album of piano songs, but we were in the right place at the right time and the songs kind of wrote themselves. I was in a deeply self-contemplative place when writing these songs and I really wanted to break free from all expectations I felt from others and myself. These songs draw a lot of inspiration from R&B and are some of the most vulnerable songs I’ve ever written.”
You can watch the video for "The Easy Way" below. Chicken Happen IV is due out November 10, and is available for pre-order on Bandcamp. For more on Chicken Happen, check out the band on Facebook and Twitter.
Brooklyn's Frances Chang just released one of the most thrilling singles of 2023. "Eye Land" starts out as this dreamy and twangy song that has just the slightest hints of grunge hidden behind the twang. It then proceeds to morph multiple times through multiple genres, including dream pop, indie pop, power pop, post-grunge, etc. It's the kind of song that you never know what's coming next, and this is all packed into a just over four minute run time. I checked how long I had been listening at one point and it was less than ninety seconds. It felt like so much longer, only because of how much had already happened in the song. Despite the fact that "Eye Land" feels a lot longer than it is, you're going to end up disappointed there isn't more when it ends.
Frances Chang says of her new single:
"This song marked a period of change - a big relationship was ending, I was solo touring with my friend around the Ireland and England freak folk/witch noise scene, I was completely creatively and romantically blocked and two separate strangers told me in two separate countries that my second chakra was blocked (and then offered to energy heal me for free). I wrote this song on my last day in Ireland, but edited it over a period of many years, and finally finished writing it in the studio days before recording. Maybe that’s why it’s so schizophrenic and ever-changing – it tells a long and winding story."
You can watch the video for "Eye Land" below. Psychedelic Anxiety is due out February 16 on Ramp Local. For more on Frances Chang, check out the artist on Instagram and Bandcamp.
