If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Kathy Chapman I've been a huge fan of Hilken Mancini's since I first discovered Fuzzy way back in the 90's. Since then, she's also been in Shepherdess, Andy California, and The Monsieurs, released an album with Chris Colbourn of Buffalo Tom, co-founded Punk Rock Aerobics (which led to her appearance in the video for Green Day's "Here Comes the Shock"), and co-founded Girls Rock Camp Boston. Now, she's back with a new musical project, Hilken Mancini Band. If you're familiar with any of Mancini's musical work, you're going to love her new single, "Weight." The song is reminiscent of her work from the 90's with Fuzzy, but a little less bubble grunge and more punk. The song is filled with fuzzed out guitars and a harder edge, but still with all of the melody and pop hooks that are a trademark of Mancini's songs. "Weight" is a killer alt-rock song that sounds like it's straight from the 90's, but with...

Forgotten Fridays is an occasional feature here at If It’s Too Loud... where we go back and find the lost records of our glory days. We played these on our college radio shows, put them on countless mix tapes, and then forgot they existed. We go back and remind you of their existence, and help decide if they were any good. I think it's been a little over a year since I've done a Forgotten Friday, but recently I re-discovered Consonant, and I simply couldn't resist bringing them back to all of our attentions. We throw the term "supergroup" around quite liberally here, but check out the line-up for Consonant. Formed in 2001, this marked Clint Conley's return to making music since the dissolution of Mission of Burma in 1983. Also included is Chris Brokaw (Come, The Lemonheads), Winston Braman (Fuzzy), and Matt Kadane (Bedhead). That pedigree alone should get Consonant a lot more attention, not to mention that this helped inspire Mission of Burma's brilliant r...

Forgotten Fridays is an occasional feature here at If It’s Too Loud... where we go back and find the lost records of our glory days. We played these on our college radio shows, put them on countless mix tapes, and then forgot they existed. We go back and remind you of their existence, and help decide if they were any good. I absolutely loved all the tribute albums back in the 90's. This might be one of my absolute favorites. In 1997, Boston label Cherrydisc put out an all Boston tribute to Van Halen. As the title states, some of the covers are much less faithful than others. In fact, legend has it that The Elevator Drops submitted a cover that turned out to not be a Van Halen song. No one realized it until the very last minute and it got pulled. That's how much the people behind this compilation knew about the Van Halen catalog. We get not one but two versions of "Eruption." The first is The Reverend Ed Broms performing the guitar masturbation classic on a churc...

Love Love is the latest project from Boston based singer-songwriters Chris Toppin and Jefferson Davis Riordan. After her time in Fuzzy ended, Toppin took 10 years off to raise her kids. After the two met, they began working on music together, and Love Love was born. With two gifted songwriters, Love Love's songs are tight, poppy showcases of Americana. Their latest video, "I Like You Weird" from their EP released back in September, features Riordan on vocals with Toppin singing back up. It starts off simply enough with a basic guitar/bass/drums mix, and then slowly becomes more lush as extra instruments get added. It's an ideal blend of the mid 90s Boston scene and the contemporary country/folk revival. You can check out the video for "I Like You Weird" below. For more information on Love Love, you can head over to their website or Bandcamp . Their debut full length is due out in May. If you're in the Boston area, you can see them at The Midway Ca...

I first heard about The Monsieurs since Hilken Mancini is a member. I've been a fan of her work since first hearing Fuzzy back in 1996, and have followed her career ever since. When I heard she was in a new band, I expected more of the cheery alterna-pop that characterized Fuzzy, or maybe something more on the lines of her collaboration with Chris Colburn. Instead what I got was some of the fuzziest, sludged out garage rock I've heard in ages. This album is loud. And noisy. Really, really noisy. But it's also catchy as hell. "Wolves" has  a "bah bah bah bah" chorus followed immediately by a furious thrash of guitar and some kind of vocal. On first listen, you might turn away thinking it's just obnoxious noise, but as you listen, you can peal back layers to find the nuggets of actual songs within. The rest of the band is rounded out by Andy Macbain and Erin King.  I can't stress how pleasantly surprising this album is. Usually as a musician...

Forgotten Fridays is a weekly feature here at If It’s Too Loud... where we go back and find the lost records of our glory days. We played these on our college radio shows, put them on countless mix tapes, and then forgot they existed. Once a week we go back and remind you, and help decide if they were any good. Fuzzy received a lot of unfair comparisons to the Lemonheads back when this album was first released. Both bands were from Boston; David Ryan, the drummer for Electric Juices , was a former Lemonhead; both were on Atlantic Records; and both had ‘60s cover songs as their lead single. But while the Lemonheads’ cover of “Mrs. Robinson” was an enforced decision by the record company and feels ironic at best, “Girl Don’t Tell Me” is a total homage to the Beach Boys original. The similarities are incidental; what should matter is the music. I hadn’t listened to this album in years, and I’m pleasantly surprised at how well it has aged. Fuzzy is led by two singers, Hilk...