If It's Too Loud...

Karly Hartzman of Wednesday Photo by Ken Sears Welcome to the third and final day of the Green River Festival, where if you weren't wearing a piece of Geese merchandise, one was provided for you. It was very obvious who most of the crowd at Green River were there to see (which led to the biggest attendance in Green River's forty years), and the big question was if the band of the moment would live up to the hype. Of course, there was a lot of music to be heard Sunday, and we took in as much as we could! Angela Autumn, Backporch Stage Angela Autumn was one of those artists I discovered while preparing for this year's Green River Festival, and I'm glad I did. She plays that style of Americana/roots music that comes right up against the mainstream while still having her own unique sound. Her songs are beautiful, but with an edge to them. Before Sunday afternoon, I had only heard a handful of songs of hers, and after Sunday afternoon, I'm more than a little obsessed. Au...

Photo by Char Klein If you like some country mixed into your rock and roll, you're going to love the latest from Esther Rose. "New Bad" is almost the definition of the genres country rock, alt-country, or outlaw country. Recorded live to tape, this is a killer rock song with just enough twang in Rose's vocals to keep it on the country side. The song is filled with distorted songs and some of the catchiest lyrics we've heard so far this year. There's even a part where I can't tell if it's supposed to be a choir of voices or gang vocals, or maybe it's supposed to be both. Rose's vocals are truly the highlight of the song and will immediately draw you in. She just has something instantly compelling once she starts singing. "New Bad" is reminding me of a dream combination of Rilo Kiley and Drive-By Truckers, and if that sounds like your thing, get ready to have a new musical obsession. Esther Rose says of her upcoming album: “There are th...

For her latest single, Esther Rose brought in her friend Alyndra Segarra of Hurray for the Riff Raff for vocals. "Safe to Run" is a gorgeous and stripped down folk song that borders on the pop side of things, at least until some killer slide guitar adds some fantastic twang. As gorgeous as the song is, there is a growing sense of dread that builds and builds as the song goes on. It's just the slightest sense of noise, and a slight change to the guitar, but it's unquestionably there. Since the song is about the dread of climate change, this slowly growing dark vibe makes perfect sense and adds to the brilliance of the song. Esther Rose says of the new song: "Sonically, Ross and I threw every idea we had on this song and it absorbed everything as if it were just this mega-powerful container. We built so many layers into the outro. I love Ross’s counter-melody on the Mellotron and the high-pitched 1-note synth drone which he refers to as ‘the angels.’ Nick Cohon, of...

Photo by Bradon Soder Esther Rose grew up in Michigan, moved to New Orleans, and then relocated to New Mexico where she wrote her upcoming album. Her new single, "Chet Baker," is this light and breezy country song that leans into pop but never quite becomes pop country. It has all the twang you require with a country song, but it's more upbeat and sunny than you normally get with this kind of twang. There are also the traces of psychedelia that pop out every so often, giving the track a bit of a pop cosmic country sound... if that sound is even possible. "Chet Baker" has one of the more interesting blends of genres we've heard in a long time while still sounding cohesive. In a press release, Esther Rose says of her new song: “Someone sent me a DM, asking ‘do you remember me.’ I was transported into a decade-old memory; a weird weekend with a crew of dangerous college preps, a car crash. What came out is this short study of my townie life in Ann Arbor. As I w...

Artist : Bull Album : Discover Effortless Living Quick Thoughts : This is some solid, standard alt/indie stuff from top to bottom. It's sometimes fun, it's sometimes quirky (like with "Love Goo"), but it's really just the sort of springtime effort I'm happy to have heard. Just a lot of good stuff here from a new (to me) band that I'll definitely be keeping my eye on. Songs of Note : "Love Goo," "Bedroom Floor," "Eugene" Artist : Sunny War Album : Simple Syrup Quick Thoughts : We adore Sunny War around these parts, and Simple Syrup is yet another entry in her superbly consistent catalog. This shows continued growth while still providing some good songs along the way. Loved every moment of this in what is a pretty busy week. Songs of Note : "Kiss a Loser" Artist : Antonioni Album : Antonioni Quick Thoughts : My favorite album last year was Cartalk's effort, and there's a lot of acts right no...