If It's Too Loud...

The travelling Whistlestop Rock Festival was derailed along with everything else this spring. The festival featured local New England bands  The Chelsea Curve, Cold Expectations, Field Day, Heather Rose In Clover, Justine and The Unclean, Kid Gulliver, The Knock Ups, Linnea’s Garden, and Tiger Bomb  playing in different cities throughout New England with special guests. Keeping the spirit of that festival alive is "Queen of the Drive-In" which features an all-star line up of Whistlestop Rock bandmembers. Kid Gulliver's Simone Berk takes on lead vocals. This is a wonderfully fun song that is a little too poppy to be garage rock and a little too upbeat to be dream pop, even though it's all of these. Plus, with a chorus that features the lyrics " I'm the Dry Hump Queen of the Drive In /  Squeeze over the handbrake and we'll both win," this is just a simple, fun rock song, just the kind we need in a summer like this one. You can listen to "Queen...

An interesting new release week... Album of the Week : Artist : Sunny War Album : With the Sun Quick Description : Lovely, edgy folk music. Why You Should Listen : You wish Cold Specks's album from last year was more like her earlier ones. Overall Thoughts : On initial listen for this, I was surprised at how the vocal quality and delivery reminded me of Erin McKeown, but the stark nature of a lot of the music also gave me a lot of thoughts to the earlier Cold Sparks albums. This is a really gorgeous folk album with some light strings, great harmonies, subtle guitar work, the whole thing. This might have legs, so here’s hoping this is a breakthrough effort that gets the attention it deserves. Recommendation : A must-listen this week. Artist : Bat Fangs Album : Bat Fangs Quick Description : A side project of sorts that is as fun as it is aggressive. Why You Should Listen : You like your guitar rock with every distortion pedal turned up. Overall Thoughts : A compress...

A pretty loaded new release week! Album of the Week : Artist : The Prettiots Album : Funs Cool Quick Description : Biting anti-folk debut album. Why You Should Listen : You miss The Moldy Peaches but wish they had been wittier. Overall Thoughts : I fell in love with "Suicide Hotline" a while back, and I listed this as one of my most anticipated albums of this year. I thought it was coming out in April, but here we are with a great debut that is witty and interesting and has some of the catchiest songs we're likely to hear this year. Conceptually, this is just a confessional winner and seems like it hits upon the whole "jaded millennial" theme pretty well (especially in the final track, which is less a song than a treatise of sorts). Overall? A must listen and an early contender for a favorite of mine from this year if my immediate enjoyment is any indication. Recommendation : Simply the best album released in 2016 so far. A must listen. Artist :...