If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Naomi Peters Motherhood have a new art-surf-punk single out, and this one is a lot of fun. The Canadian band have reworked their previous song "Kyle Hangs at Noon" into "Kyle Hangs Ten," and the result is a bizarro surf song that morphs an artist like The Cramps into art rock. It starts off as a fairly standard surf rock song (albeit a dark one), and then the wheels start falling off the longer it goes. It's a little creepy, and is kind of begging to get added to some Halloween playlists. And then the song hits a bump and the noise starts creeping in until it's almost unrecognizable. "Kyle Hangs Ten" probably won't be for everyone out there, but if you like dark and bizarre surf punk, this one will totally be for you. Motherhood says of their latest single: "With 'Kyle Hangs Ten,' we were trying to write the most surfy song we could without over-complicating a genre that, at it’s core, is just swaggy country music. Adam ha...

Photo by Celeste Hay Sam Salmon and the Grand Manan Bandits are an alt-country band hailing from New Brunswick, and consist of Motherhood and Keith Hallett. They're set to release their debut album and have just released a new single from it. "If I Needed You Now" does an interesting thing. Alt-country typically either falls in the hokey/tongue-in-cheek camp or the completely earnest side. When "If I Needed You Now" started, I got the feeling that it's being intentionally ironic, but as it goes on, it sounds more and more earnest. It ends up being an alt-country number that leans into the fun side of country music and seems like Sam Salmon and the Grand Manan Bandits truly love the genre. Singer Brydon Crain says of the band's latest single: “‘If I Needed You Now’ was one of the first songs written for the Sam Salmon project sometime around 2013, we called it ‘Country No. 1’ until about six months ago. It’s about being in a burning house and wondering if...

Photo by Nicole Cecile Holland Summer is just around the corner, so it's the perfect time for the latest single from Penny & The Pits. The band led by Penelope Stevens (bass and keys for Motherhood) recently released "Pool Party," a new single based in surf rock... but not quite a true surf rock song. It has guitars usually associated with surf rock, but tuned just slightly differently. It's an oddball song steeped in the world of indie rock, but much groovier than you typically get with that genre. "Pool Party" has a kind of The B-52's meets Colleen Green sound, which I never knew I wanted, but Penny & The Pits have proven it's something we all need. You can watch the video for "Pool Party" below. Liquid Compactor is due out June 27 on Forward Music Group, and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp . For more on Penny & The Pits, check out the band on Instagram . 

Photo by Nicole Cecile Holland You may know Penelope Stevens as the bass player for Motherhood. She's back with a new musical project called Penny & The Pits (with Motherhood as her backing band). The band's new single, "Montenegro On Ice," is a ripper of a tune. It's part heavy math rock mixed with garage rock and punk. It's the kind of song you can just listen to on the surface and enjoy as a straight up rock song, or you can dig down and examine exactly what makes it up. For me, it's kind of like a jam session between Queens of the Stone Age, The White Stripes, and Amyl & The Sniffers. What sets "Montenegro On Ice" apart for me is Stevens' vocals. Her style of singing is usually associated with a more pop focused alt-rock sound, but for this project it creates a unique style and depth to the song. Penelope Stevens says of her new single: "'Montenegro on Ice' explores memory and the ways in which the past can seep out o...

Photo by Sarah Kierstead Nico Paulo was born in Canada, spent much of her childhood in Portugal, and is now back in Newfoundland. Her new single, "Now or Never," is based in Tropilcalia, but is more of a standard singer/songwriter track with pop elements. Despite the Tropicalia vibe, "Now or Never" reminds me a lot of Jeff Buckley. It has that same gorgeous quality, and has this epic feel despite being a relatively simple song. The harmonizing and background vocals are the true stars of the song and give it a truly unique and captivating quality. This song is guaranteed to suck you in even if you would never normally listen to anything described as Tropicalia. Nico Paulo says of her new single: "The lyric ' kiss me now or never, hold me close or let me go,”  is one of the first lines I wrote and it has stayed relevant to my experiences ever since. This line has haunted me for almost a decade and recent experiences of loss and reconstructing of the self help...

Photo by Benjamin Edwards Aquakultre, aka Halifax, Nova Scotia based artist Lance Sampson, has released a new video for his single "Africvillean Funk." The song is the kind of G-funk influenced song that will remind you of classics like Ice Cube's "Bop Gun." Despite being indebted to 90's classics, this doesn't sound like a 90's throwback, or even a throwback to the 70's originals. This is classic soul and funk updated for the 2020's. Sure, it may remind you of your favorites from that era, and even some swing and jazz music from the 1940's, but something about "Africvillean Funk" just sounds current. This song is upbeat and incredibly fun despite the video's theme. Lance Sampson says of the song and video: "When it's all said and done, Africvilleans still have not received proper compensation or reparation for their homes that have been torn down in the name of 'urban renewal.' At this point, the call of ac...

Photo by Vanessa Heins New Brunswick's Motherhood have their own take on the whole indie rock thing. Their newest single, "Tabletop," has a certain classic indie rock vibe while not really sounding like most classic indie rock. It's upbeat while still sounding sorta aggressive. If anything, most things about the song seem a little off. The vocals don't quite match the drumming, which doesn't match the guitars... everything seems to be going at it's own time, but somehow it all works together. Plus, "Tabletop" is oddly groovy. The whole vibe is like a Pavement meets The Dandy Warhols thing, which you know we'll be all about here. You can watch the video for "Tabletop" below. Winded is due out June 24 on Forward Music Group, and can be pre-ordered via Bandcamp . For more on Motherhood, check out the band's website .

Photo by Vanessa Heins Sometimes we'll get a submission before we're allowed to post it, and despite how excited we are to share the new song we have to wait. It feels like I've been sitting on this one for ages, but I can finally share the latest from Motherhood. Granted, I don't know much about New Brunswick, Canada, but this isn't what I expected a band from that territory to sound like. "Ripped Sheet" is a fast and noisy punk rock song. It starts off with some droning feedback, and then once it fully kicks in you just need to buckle up and hold on. It's a relatively straightforward punk song, except for the odd noise factor and what could be surf guitar popping up every so often. It's not quite noise punk... it's more noisy oddball punk. But sign us up for the Motherhood bandwagon. The band says of the new song: "We wrote Ripped Sheet after talking about writing a 'straight-ahead punk' song for awhile and then finally learning ...

Photo via Century Egg We've been really digging the Mandopop of Nova Scotia's Century Egg, despite not really understanding what defines that genre. Their latest single is exactly what we love about them. It's punk-ish with a hard pop side that doesn't cross into pop punk at all. It has that early alternative edge and DIY sound and feel that you would get with a band like Beat Happening, but more modern and far more pop tinged. "Mirror" is filled with grungy guitars, driving drum beats, and harmonized vocals throughout. It's a fun, uplifting song despite the subject matter. According to the band, "Mirror" is "...  about the struggle of depression and how dark things can feel even when there are bright sides ," which I think we can all relate to after the past almost two years... and more. You can listen to "Mirror" below. The song is currently available as a single via Forward Music Group, and can be downloaded over at Bandca...

Photo by Century Egg We loved loved loved Century Egg's 2020 EP We Can Play , and now the Nova Scotia quartet are back with a new single. "Moving On" continues what we loved about the EP. It's a burst of upbeat indie rock with sprinklings of punk and garage. While the majority of music that has even the slightest hint of punk tends to be angry and aggressive, "Moving On" is endlessly upbeat and positive. It's a song that has definitely seen some shit, but it's getting past that now. If you could take the negative energy of punk and turn it into a positive, you'd have "Moving On." It's filled with crunchy guitars and vocals which combine harmony and gang vocals, which is just magical. You can listen to "Moving On" below. The song will be available as a double single with "Mirror" November 23 on Forward Music Group. You can pre-order the single over at Bandcamp . For more on Century Egg, check out the band's Fa...

Photo by Phyllis Grant Pabineau First Nations MC Wolf Castle is back with a new single that's furthering my fandom of Canadian hip hop. "Welfman" is a "de-colonial, working class banger." It's that kind of underground hip hop that could possibly break out at any moment. "Welfman" is a truly killer hip hop song that anyone that has ever been even slightly into rap is going to enjoy. Wolf Castle is a ridiculously talented rapper with a unique flow and voice that is laid back at one moment and aggressive the next. Seriously, do yourself a favor and jump on this bandwagon early. In a press release, Wolf Castle says of the new song: "Welf" was an insult when I was in school, short for "Welfare" used to make fun of people who were poor. My family's had their struggles and so have a lot of other people where I'm from, so I wanted to make a song that said it was okay to be from that, and to do what you had to do to get by. It wa...

Photo by Century Egg Based in Halifax, Century Egg make this impossibly charming version of garage pop. "Do You Want to Dance?" has the fuzziness and edge of garage rock but the sheen of pop. Sure, those sound like complete opposites, but Century Egg pulls it off. At times the song feels like it's wildly careening through decades from the 1960's to present day, all while sounding like a cohesive song. It's groovy, melodic, and punk at times. It's a fun song that is guaranteed to suck you in, no matter how much of an aging music snob you may be. (We speak from our own experience on that one...) You can listen to "Do You Want to Dance?" below. Little Piece of Hair is due out May 7 on Forward Music Group. You can pre-order a copy over at Bandcamp . For more on Century Egg, check out the band on Facebook . Little Piece of Hair by Century Egg