If It's Too Loud...

I first discovered Guerilla Toss way back in 2015 when they opened for Mission of Burma in Portsmouth, NH. I hadn't really been able to get into their albums before seeing them live, but their live show hooked me as a fan. Guerilla Toss had this bizarro noisy funk party band dynamic that worked for me. Despite that being seven years ago, and them touring consistently, I hadn't seen them since. So obviously when a Wednesday night in Providence worked out for me, I had to make the trek down. Muggs Fogarty opened the show. Last year's Eventual Party didn't quite work for me personally. It was a little too pop for my snobby tastes. I recognized it was good, but just not for me. Live is a completely different story. Muggs Fogarty opened her set sitting on the floor and looping vocals over and over to create a soundscape to perform spoken word over. From little singing snippets to beatboxing, the entire backing track was created right there. Oddly compelling stuff. From there...

The Columbus Theater has been hosting a series of benefit shows for Maggie Siegel, and this past Saturday saw a line up that included The Huntress & Holder of Hands, Tall Teenagers, and Smith&Weeden. I went for The Huntress & Holder of Hands since I knew the other bands by name but had never heard them. I left with two new favorite bands. It's going to be easy to compare Smith&Weeden to Deer Tick. They're both Rhode Island bands that play a country-fied version of noisy rock and roll, but it's hard not to since they're both Rhode Island bands that play a country-fied version of noisy rock and roll. While Deer Tick have been delving into a more straightforward and mainstream version of rock lately, Smith&Weeden are staying right in the country/rock genre. Songs like "Wondering" and "Boys in Bands" are these gems of alt-country: Way too country to be rock and way to rock to be country, but perfect for those of us that love the m...