If It's Too Loud...

2025 marks Death and The Poetess' sixth entry for the RPM Challenge, which challenges artists to write and produce an album during the month of February. This year's submission is Lucid Lockpicking , an eight song album sees jojo Lazar and Blake Girndt opting for a "solely acoustic instruments" sound. The album is delightfully twee, and has a vibe that is both fun and dark at times. Plus, for an acoustic album, it's oddly trippy for some songs. What's truly great about the selection of songs that make up Lucid Lockpicking is how soothing and positive they are. With so much anger and negativity dominating 2025 so far, it's nice to have an album that seems to be designed for your mental health and to bring us all some positivity and tranquility.  You can listen to "Wolfy's Song" below. Lucid Lockpicking is available now for the "name your price" option over at Bandcamp . If you do choose free, please make sure to follow Death and The ...

One of the other highlights of the annual RPM Challenge is the submission from Death and The Poetess. The duo of Blake Girndt (ex-Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys, currently The I Want You and AxeMunkee) and jojo Lazar (Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys and Burlesque Poetess) have released Potions of Pre-villainy. The six songs on the album make up Death and The Poetess' most cohesive collection yet. The songs are odd, of course, but in such an endearing way. The songs fit together in a way that seems to follow a story, even if you're not one to pay too close attention to the lyrics. There is a strong reason behind that, which jojo Lazar explains in the album's Bandcamp description: "I suggested the idea of a dark, high fantasy, magical-realist 1980s film soundtrack for an as of yet untold tale. This was just to begin filling the "imagination cauldron" as we set out to find/receive this record. "I had some combination of Labyrinth ...

We're double dipping into the world of Friday Freebie this week, and also into the realm of Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys. Death and The Poetess features Broken Toys Blake Girndt (who is also in The I Want You) and Jojo Lazar. Their new release, Smelling Salts (also recorded for the RPM challenge), is, as they put it, "...  tips its chapeau to Weezer's Blue album, among other 1990s ghosts and Pumpkins ." They aren't wrong. "Smelling Salts" has a distinct Blue Album goes folk-adjacent-and-also-includes-flute feel. "Tomb-Builders' Tombs" is going to give you some serious Beat Happening flashbacks. Smelling Salts  is as fun as it is weird. You get some obviously 90's inspired tracks that sound barely like the 90's and include The Princess Bride  and historical references. You can listen to "Smelling Salts" below. Smelling Salts is available now as a free download via Bandcamp. If you decide to throw in some ca...

In case you didn't get enough Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys free music RPM Challenge goodness already this week, here's another free album from two members of the Army of Broken Toys! Death and The Poetess, aka Blake Grindt and Jojo Lazar, are back with a new offering: Lady Jane Grey's Wholesome Ritual. Death and The Poetess occupy the same world as the Army of Broken Toys, but have a completely unique sound. This album feels quite fancy and proper, and even includes a song that consists mainly of a flute solo ("Fluitar Fantasies"). This is most certainly not going to be for everyone who reads If It's Too Loud..., but sometimes it's ok to bring you a niche art project specifically for those interested in the humor of the Tudors. You can listen to "Song To Drown To" below. Lady Jane Grey's Wholesome Ritual  is available for the name your price option over at Death and The Poetess's Bandcamp . For more on Death and The Po...

One of my favorite things about March are all of the RPM challenge albums that start popping up in the first half of the month. The first is from Death and The Poetess, aka Blake Girndt (The I Want You, Walter Sickert & The Army of Toys) and Jojo Lazar (Burlesque Poetess, Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys). The duo just released their first offering, On Ghoulie Isle . They describe their music as "crypt-folk," but it's much more fun than gloomy. As you would expect from... well... everything about this project, it's quite odd. The album is quite bare bones, with the only instruments credited as being used are a classical guitar, ukulele, flute, and a "tiny 1990's yamaha keyboard." As fun as it is, there is, of course, a dark feel, especially in a song like "Split the Lark." As their Bandcamp describes the album: " It's as though the crypt-folk mourning-wear fancying duo was dropped on a Coney Island-esque boardwalk in ...