If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Jason C MacDonald In a Facebook post announcing the single, Colleen Green stated that "Someone Else" is her favorite song off of her upcoming album. It's easy to see why. The song is this chilled out track that shows off Green's ability to be both lo-fi indie and pop at the same time. It resides between her earlier ultra lo-fi music and 2015's much smoother I Want to Grow Up. The entire track shows this insane level of growth of Green as an artist. It starts off with a drum loop and Green's swirling guitar until the almost spoken vocals come in almost a minute into the song. The song warps a few times but almost imperceptibly. It's spacey, and poppy, and groovy, and the absolute pinnacle of indie rock. You can listen to "Someone Else" below. Cool is due out September 10 on Hardly Art. You can pre-order/pre-save the album here . For more on Colleen Green, check out the artist's website .

I can't think of any artist that would release a song called "It's Nice to Be Nice" that I would want to listen to besides Colleen Green. That's just truly the magic of Green. In her hands, "It's Nice to Be Nice" is more about wishing she could exile her own negativity. It's not preaching to the public at large to be more kind, it's about her own struggle. It's done in that incredible pop meets indie rock style that only Green can truly pull off. This is one of her more pop songs, but it still has all that DIY punk and indie vibe that we need in a Colleen Green song. She's the rare indie rocker that seems to get better and better the more pop and closer to mainstream she gets. You can watch the video for "It's Nice to Be Nice" below. Cool is due out September 10 on Hardly Art. You can pre-order/pre-save the album here . For more on Colleen Green, check out the artist's website .

Photo by Gordon De Los Santos Back in 2017, Versing came out of nowhere and blew me away when they played with The Courtneys and Weakened Friends, and their album from that year, Nirvana , ended up being my #5 album. Now they're back with a new song. "Tethered" continues the sound that we loved from their previous album. It's a mid-to-late-90's alternative sound, what I keep describing as early Superdrag meets The Dismemberment Plan. But "Tethered" brings a new sound, and a bit more aggression. There's also a little bit of emo (emo as in Sunny Day Real Estate) and an almost DEVO-like hint of New Wave? It's a really interesting addition to their sound, and we can't wait to hear what's next. You can watch the video for "Tethered" below. 10000 , the new album from Versing, will be out May 3 on Hardly Art Records. You can pre-order the album here . For more on Versing, check them out on Facebook and Twitter .

The Julie Ruin is back with the first single from their upcoming album, Hit Reset. I don't remember even hearing that they were working on an album, so this is the most welcome kind of surprises. "I Decide" doesn't quite have the raw ferocity of Bikini Kill, or the danceability of Le Tigre or even The Julie Ruin's previous album, Run Fast. While it still has a distinctive groove and Kathleen Hanna's distinctive sing-song vocals, "I Decide" feels more indie rock than Hanna's previous projects. The song has a haunting quality that's leaving me very intrigued. Hit Reset will be out July 8 on Hardly Art. You can pre-order the album here . The band's website appears to be under construction currently but will hopefully be up soon. You can watch the video (which features Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee wandering around South By Southwest) for "I Decide" below.