If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Ken Sears Drive-By Truckers are probably my favorite active band, and I try to get out to see them as much as possible. Their not currently touring, but Patterson Hood is behind his excellent album Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams , released just last month. With Lydia Loveless as his opener, there was no way I could miss it. I wasn't originally sure if he would have a band or not on this tour, but earlier this week I saw it was going to be Patterson Hood and the Sensurrounders, so I was very curious who that would actually be. Lydia Loveless opened the show with a great solo electric set. She focused on newer songs like "Sex and Money" from 2023's Nothing's Gonna Stand in My Way Again  and the just released Bandcamp exclusive "Accolades," but did go back to 2014's Somewhere Else for "Verlaine Shot Rimbaud." The crowd was definitely a Patterson Hood/Drive-By Truckers crowd, but there were pockets of Loveless fans that were th...

Photo by Danny Clinch I typically hate reissued albums. For the most part, they're just quick cash grabs with maybe a few songs that didn't make the album, and I've never been enough of an audiophile to hear the read difference. But now there's Drive-By Truckers' reissue of The Dirty South. The Complete Dirty South promises three bonus tracks, four remixed songs, and two with updated vocals. We can hear a song with updated vocals now, "Puttin' People on the Moon." This new version is much closer to the one we've come to love from DBT's live shows. Patterson Hood sounds completely different here, with more of a growl to his vocals than the previous version. There's more age to his voice now, but it fits the song much more. I've always loved "Puttin' People on the Moon," but I think I love this one even more. In a press release, Patterson Hood says of the new version of the song: “I wrote ‘Puttin’ People on the Moon’ in the ...

Photo by Ken Sears Despite Drive-By Truckers being my favorite active band, I almost skipped this show. I already had a lot going on in April, including a ticket to see Guerilla Toss the night before. I had just seen Drive-By Truckers back in August at Green River Festival. I'm not a huge fan of Royale, as it's more of a dance club that sometimes has bands instead of live music venue. I obviously wanted to go, but I was on the fence. Finally I decided I'd go if they added an artist that I really, really wanted to see to the show, and I gave myself the example of Lydia Loveless. Well... they added Lydia Loveless, so I went. And I'm glad I did, or I would have missed one of the best nights of music of my life. Except for singing a couple of songs after a screening of Who is Lydia Loveless? (Coincidentally five years ago almost to the day of this show), I hadn't seen Lydia Loveless live since a glorious weekend of two shows in a row in 2015. A lot has changed for Lovel...

It's been a while since Drive-By Truckers released a fun single. Their recent singles have been overtly political. No complaints, as I've enjoyed them all, but sometimes you just want DBT to release a rock song. "Welcome 2 Club XIII" is DBT's ode to a club they used to play back in their Muscle Shoals days. My favorite songs of theirs tend to be very personal ones about their past, and "Welcome 2 Club XIII" fits that. It's a rollicking song that even almost edges into dance territory. This one is just meant to be a fun song, and considering how dark things have been lately, we can use it. You can watch the video for "Welcome 2 Club XIII" below. Welcome 2 Club XIII , the album, is due out June 3 on ATO Records, and can be pre-ordered here . For more on Drive-By Truckers, check out the band's website .

The Green River Festival is always a highlight of any year. They've just released the line-up for the 2021 edition, and somehow this is just the initial line up. It's safe to say that this is by far their most exciting line-up ever! As always it skews heavily towards folk/Americana, but they've truly outdone themselves this year. Headliners for the three days are Jon Bastiste, Shakey Graves, and Ani Difraco, which would be thrilling enough. The other announced bands include long time If It's Too Loud... favorites like Drive-By Truckers, Deer Tick, and JD McPherson, alongside more newly discovered favorites like Sierra Ferrell, Twisted Pine, Rachel Baiman, and Bella White (who I just discovered over the weekend and haven't even had a chance to post about yet!) Plus, there are other artists we're big on like Valerie June, Mandolin Orange, Bonny Light Horseman, Charlie Parr, and Rebirth Brass Band that are all playing.  Green River Festival will run August 27-29 at...

Jay Gonzalez is best known for playing guitar and keyboard in Drive-By Truckers since 2008. He also produces some killer music of his own. His latest single, "(I Wanna) Hold You," showcases his own sound. Instead of the amped up country punk of his other band, "(I Wanna) Hold You" is a mid-tempo power pop song. There might be the slightest twang to the guitar, but Gonzalez is more Big Star goes New Wave than anything else. It's a gorgeous love song that is impossibly compelling, and includes some blistering guitar work, naturally. You can watch the video for "(I Wanna) Hold You" below. Back to the Hive  is due out March 5 on Middlebrow Records. You can pre-order a copy via Bandcamp . For more on Jay Gonzalez, check out the artist's website .

To say 2020 has been very low on highlights is an understatement. One of the few for me was the Drive-By Truckers show way back in February at Somerville Theater. It had been far too long since I had last seen them, particularly after a pair of lost shows due to weather issues. It didn't fit into my schedule, but I crammed it in, and was glad I did. I knew it was going to be my Concert of the Year, and little did I know how right I was. Drive-By Truckers have always been road warriors, so they've had some time on their hands as of late, which means we're getting a second album from them this year! The album is due out tomorrow (Friday), and we can listen to the title track right now. While "The New OK" might not be the most upbeat song, compared to the last pair of Drive-By Truckers albums this one is nearly cheery. And it might just be the best quarantine themed song ever. You can listen to "The New Ok" below. The New OK , the new surprise album f...

I had never heard of Jerry Joseph until yesterday, but any time Drive-By Truckers are go ing to be someone's backing band, you're going to get my attention. And if Patterson Hood says that a song "...  might be the most punk rock song I’ve heard in twenty years (or more)," I'm in. For some background, Jerry Joseph has been in various bands (Little Women, Jerry Joseph & The Jackmormons, Stockholm Syndrome) since the early 80's. His upcoming solo album was produced by Patterson Hood, and Drive-By Truckers are acting as his band. "Sugar Smacks," the most punk rock song Patterson Hood has heard this century, is indeed punk as hell... but not in the traditional sense. It's a seven minute rant set to music. Jerry Joseph lets loose with spoken word for nearly the entire length of the song, which doesn't sound like a Drive-By Truckers song in the least. Instead, it's a funky yet scary psychedelic jam, more along the lines of those weirdo ...

Photo by Ken Sears Despite Drive-By Truckers being one of my all time favorite bands, it's been roughly six years since I've been able to see them live. Weather issues have derailed the last two times I was supposed to see them, but luckily last Saturday was devoid of any weather issues, so I was finally able to see them again. The show started off a little... off. For the first four songs ("Made Up English Oceans," "Rosemary With a Bible and a Gun," "Slow Ride Argument," and "Heroin Again") the band seemed tense. Maybe it's because three of those songs are off Drive-By Truckers's latest album and haven't been played live much yet, or maybe it's that they're just dark, slow songs, but they just didn't seem like themselves. It's a little odd, since those appear to be the opening songs on every show of the tour so far. The band seemed to start getting their groove back on the Mike Cooley sung "3 Dimes ...

One month down already... Artist : Frances Quinlan Album : Likewise Quick Description : Solo effort from the Hop Along frontwoman. Why You Should Listen : Equal parts familiar and fresh. Overall Thoughts : We love Hop Along, and while it’s easy to try and distill this to “the softer side of Hop Along,” this is just an interestingly structured singer-songwriter album that’s really gorgeous in a lot of respects and has a complexity bubbling underneath it that I really loved. From everything we had been hearing up to the release, I knew this would be something special, and the album absolutely delivers. I feel as if this might end up having some legs as well, given how much there is to uncover. Recommendation : Don’t miss this one, it’s an early 2020 favorite for sure. Artist : Drive-By Truckers Album : The Unraveling Quick Description : Legendary alt-country act's latest statement. Why You Should Listen : One of the better albums they've released as of late, if ev...

Photo by Andy Tennille Given the more recent politically charged output from Drive-By Truckers, it's easy to guess the subject matter of their most recent single, "Thoughts and Prayers." It's a brutal look at school shootings and the inability of anyone to actually do anything about it besides offer thoughts and prayers. The footage used in the accompanying video is taken from what I assume is the National School Walkout with the song's lyrics written on the protest signs in the crowd. It's a quiet, reflective Patterson Hood song that fits square into what you'd expect from the Drive-By Truckers at this point, but a mid-tempo mellow rocker is an easier pill to digest and forces the listener to pay attention to the words. And just in case anyone misses the point, the last verse ends with  "Stick it up your ass with your useless thoughts and prayers" repeated twice. You can watch the video for "Thoughts and Prayers" below. The Unrav...

Photo by Andy Tennille It doesn't feel like it's been three and a half years since Drive-By Truckers released American Band . It could be because they've been nearly constantly touring so it doesn't feel like that album cycle ever ended. Or it could be because the last three years have made that album feel even more current than ever. Well, get ready because they're about to release another album. The first single is "Armageddon's Back in Town," and this might be the first DBT song that we can truly call cowpunk. Sure, any song sung by Patterson Hood is going to sound country, but "Armageddon's Back in Town" is this epic rock song that sounds how we all feel right now: Angry, but tired of constantly being angry while knowing we need to stay angry. Which is exhausting. What really exemplifies this is the fact that the song is just shy of four minutes, but feels much longer. (In an epic/the song just feels huge way, not in an overlong w...

I've been praising Prescott Park Arts Festival since the very beginning of If It's Too Loud... They always book a bunch of artists we love, and there's just something great about watching a world class artist play for a $7.00 donation on the Portsmouth, NH waterfront in the summer. It's especially great since a lot of artists they book tend to normally charge more than I'm comfortable paying for a concert. In the past I've seen Carolina Chocolate Drops, Nikki Lane, Deer Tick, David Wax Museum, Shovels & Rope, Steve Earle, and Mavis Staples here, and every show is always a highlight of my summer. This year year they've only announced three shows so far, but all three could easily be the highlights of the entire season: Jenny Lewis: June 16 Drive-By Truckers: June 30 Conor Oberst: July 17 For more information on the Prescott Park Arts Festival, be sure to check out their website .

Photo by Danny Clinch Remember when we all thought American Band  was as political and as political as Drive-By Truckers would get? Well, here's a new single, "The Perilous Night." With this song, Patterson Hood gets specific, mentioning Putin and Charlottesville explicitly, and with an accompanying lyric video showing anti-Trump imagery and videos of Russia. Apparently American Band was a warm up. What's even more interesting is the actual song itself. Drive-By Truckers have always been Americana with punk tuned guitars, and that sound is almost completely absent. "The Perilous Night" sounds a lot more like the pop side of mid-90's alternative (think Gin Blossoms and Fountains of Wayne) mixed with soul, complete with an R&B chorus. It's an interesting choice to make their most commercially sounding single for their most abrasive and divisive topic. I can't imagine it wasn't done on purpose. You can watch the lyric video for ...

Halloween is my favorite time of the year. It's the only time of the year when visiting old cemeteries isn't "weird." It's "festive." That also means it's time for our annual Halloween playlist. Every year we try to avoid the usual "Monster Mash" and "Thriller," and instead bring you a playlist reflective of the kind of music we listen to all year round. We have classic alternative (Beat Happening, Dinosaur Jr, Tori Amos), neo-folk/country (Jason Isbell, David Wax Museum, Marlon Williams), classic rock (Bob Dylan, The Jam), some hip hop (Ghostface Killah, Swet Shop Boys), old school punk (The Cramps, Dead Milkmen, Ramones), and even some metal with Dead Cross. At just over two hours, it's perfect for Halloween parties, to put on during trick or treating, or to play during work to drown out your co-workers playing "Wereworlf of London." Happy Halloween!

Valentine's Day sucks. We spend weeks getting faux romance crammed down our throats and then we're stuck spending a ridiculous amount of money to prove we're in love on a day that means nothing to anyone. Plus, most romantic music is outrageously terrible. You know what's better than romantic music? Break up music. Which is what the 2017 If It's Too Loud... Valentine's Day playlist consists of. I might have leaned a bit too heavily on old timey country, but is there anything better for the negative sides of love than classic country? Aside from that, there's a ton of 90s alternative, which my knowledge of sad sack 90s alternative shows what my romantic life was like back in that decade. [Note: There might be two Lemonheads songs, but one is an 80s Ben Deily song and the other is a 2000s Evan Dando one, so it's completely different.] This is perfect for anyone that doesn't give a crap about the most forcibly romantic holiday of the year or that enjo...

My obsession with Drive-By Truckers has been going pretty strong for 15 years now, ever since the release of Southern Rock Opera . In my own opinion, they haven't released a bad album in that time. Even a mediocre Drive-By Truckers album is still pretty great. Their latest release, American Band , is my favorite release of theirs since 2004's  The Dirty South. Their albums tend to be a mixture of serious, darker songs along with some that border on novelty, with some thinly veiled politics mixed throughout. American Band  drops the thin veil and sense of humor and is their most overtly political and serious album yet. Mike Cooley claimed that he "... wanted to piss off the assholes," and with songs about getting rid of the Confederate flag ("Surrender Under Protest"), Black Lives Matter and police shootings ("What It Means"), and the sex lives of conservative Christians ("Kinky Hypocrite"), it's safe to say they may have accomplishe...

Apologies to all for the truncated nature of this week's first listen. It's been a busier past few days than anticipated, and I'm not entirely sure there's any sign of it stopping, so it will be a quick hit version this week and hopefully we're back on track next week. Album of the Week : * Drive-By Truckers - American Band : DBT have always been hit or miss for me, but this album is a musical masterpiece and, for many listeners, will absolutely hit the right lyrical notes in the current political climate. Political music done right by a band that knows what it's doing. Other Quality Listens : * La Sera - Queens * Microwave - Much Love (sounds like if Weezer was just starting out) * Luke Winslow-King - I'm Glad Trouble Don't Last Always (quality classic roots music) * Banks - The Altar * Regina Spektor - Remember Us to Life (her best effort in nearly a decade) * Tami Neilson - Don't Be Afraid (definitely a top listen this week) ...

Photo by Danny Clinch Next week marks the release of the new Drive-By Truckers' album, American Band. The band has released the lyric video for a third song on the album, "Filthy and Fried." Far less political than the previous two songs we've heard from the album ("Surrender Under Protest" and "What It Means"), "Filthy and Fried" and a Mike Cooley sung song more along the lines of your traditional Drive-By Truckers song. What's most interesting about the song is that it sonically follows a verse-chorus-verse format, but lyrically it just goes in it's own direction with only the final line repeated. The only politics it touches on is the right of a woman to go out looking for a sexual conquest the way men always have been able to (which is for some reason a political issue in this country). Maybe it's the organ, but the "chorus" almost has a gospel feel to it. It also includes what is quite possibly one of my fav...

Photo by Danny Clinch American Band is either going to propel the Drive-By Truckers into superstardom or push them even further into cult band status. They've never shied away from airing their politics, but there's a big difference from "... goddamn Reagan's in the White House..." and their latest song, the Patterson Hood written and sung "What It Means." "What It Means" is about possibly the most sensitive subject in America today: The shootings of unarmed black men. It was written in the wake of the Ferguson decision and the death of Trayvon Martin, but it could be about any of the recent deaths. The most specific it gets is about Trayvon Martin: "And that guy who killed that kid down in Florida standing ground / Is free to beat up on his girlfriend and wave his brand new gun around." The Drive-By Truckers aren't fucking around on this album. American Band is due out September 30 on ATO Records, and make sure you pre-ord...