If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Olivia Perillo Cashier have released the title track for their debut EP, and you're going to want to drop everything to listen to this one. "The Weight" closes out the Louisiana band's upcoming release, and it's a hazy mixture of indie rock. No pun intended on this one, but the song feels weighed down by a heavy sense of melancholy. It's not exactly sludgy, but it's also not not sludgy. The guitars are the true star of "The Weight," and cut through the song in both a fuzzy and heavy way. This one is at least shoegaze adjacent, and you'll feel like you're being enveloped by the guitar fuzz at multiple points during "The Weight." Cashier have leapt to the front of our anticipated releases of March on the strength of this song alone. Bandleader Kylie Gaspard says of the band's latest single:  “As the title track of the EP, I wanted to tie the themes of all the songs together.  In this song, we wanted to create somethin...

Photo by Owen Lehman If you played me the latest single from MX LONELY and told me it was a reissued lost song from the 90's, I would completely believe you. "Anesthetic" starts off with a distorted guitar and Rae Haas' vocals before erupting into a grunge-ish burst. It's very mid-90's, when songs would still have heavy guitars along with a slightly poppier feel. There is also the wave of fuzz that washes over you associated with shoegaze. It's filled with pounding drums, fuzzed out guitars, and some wonderfully hooky vocals. This one is reminding me of Veruca Salt and Salt. Plus, as aggressive as the song can be, it still has that 90's slacker vibe which hits me right in the nostalgia. You can watch the video for "Anesthetic" below. All Monsters is due out February 20 on Julia's War, and is available to pre-order here . For more on MX LONELY, check out the band's website . 

Photo by Luke Ivanovich Brooklyn's Ringing have a single off their upcoming debut album, and you're going to want to drop everything to listen to this one. "incandescent" is a sludgy powerhouse of a song. It swings wildly between a quieter, lo-fi sound to a bludgeoning, huge one. It's heavily rooted in the 90's, between the pounding guitars and slacker vocals. I'm hearing Melvins meets Hum in "incandescent." I haven't heard the loud/quiet/loud thing done this well in a while, but Ringing nail it with this one. If you have a fondness for 90's alt- and indie rock, you're going to love this one. Even if you're not a 90's rock fan, if you love any version of noisy, guitar driven rock, "incandescent" will be for you. Bandleader Colton Walker says of his band's new single: "This song is about admitting that you aren’t happy with the way you’re living your life.  It’s not an easy thing to confront, but it’s a neces...

Photo by Luke Ivanovitch New York's MX LONELY have a new-ish single out off of their upcoming album. "Shape of an Angel" is one of these newfangled indie rock songs that is as much pop as it is rock. It's an epic that is somehow both quiet and loud at the same time. The way "Shape of an Angel" combines its abrasive and melodic sides ends up making the noisier and discordant parts more beautiful. This is am intense song, and the opening instrumental portion grabs you before the vocals even get started. Vocalist/synthesist Rae Haas has more than a little bit of that 90's slacker vocal thing going, but also adds plenty of emotion into the track. "Shape of an Angel" is making me think of a heavier rock based version of an artist like Blondshell. Rae Haas says of her band's latest single: “When I was first diagnosed with ADHD, I was prescribed a hefty script of adderall and I fell in love…I developed a heavy dependency on these creamsicle colore...

Photo by Brian Karlsson One thing the 2020's have provided are wildly new takes on shoegaze, and no one has put their own spin on the genre like They are Gutting a Body of Water. The Philadelphia band's latest single, "rl stine," is an explosion of sound, sometimes simply loud and others completely disjointed. It sweeps you up in a wave of fuzzy noise and then crashes you down into its devastating power. If heavy shoegaze is a current genre, "rl stine" destroys that very concept with volume and abrasiveness. There's a lot of crossover fandom between shoegaze and hardcore, and TAGABOW are the rare band that lands on both sides of that equation. Band leader Doug Dulgarian says of his band's latest single: “There is a guy who I see every day near my house. I always buy him a pack of Newport hundreds, knowing full well that he will trade it for crack. I wonder sometimes if it’s the addict in me, enabling the addict in him, or if I just fully understand h...

Photo by Brian Karlsson Philadelphia shoegaze heroes they are gutting a body of water (aka TAGABOW) are known for eschewing your standard shoegaze rules to create their own thrilling sound. Their latest single, "the chase," might be their most traditionally shoegaze song yet, but of course that's always relative. The new single is a heavy version of the genre, built more for moshing than chinstroking, but that wall of heavy sound and fuzz will still blast you back once "the chase" starts. Lyrics aren't typically the focus with this still of music, but the song features a gripping spoken word story of songwriter and guitarist Douglas Dulgarian's account of relapsing. TAGABOW are reinventing a decades old genre, and we're thrilled to be on this journey with them. Douglas Dulgarian says of his band's latest single: “It’s hard. In no way do I want to glorify drug use. I want to make it clear that attempts to escape yourself leave you yearning for a f...

Photo by Sean Booz Total Wife are an experimental duo from Nashville. Their latest single, "make it last," may have its basis in shoegaze. I say "may" because I'm not sure how to describe this song. It has all of the fuzz and warmth of shoegaze, but Total Wife take that genre and put it through a bizarre filter to make their sound. It's like they took a recording of "make it last" and spliced it with some kind of electronic noise that weaves in and out. The foundation for a nice, normal alt-pop hit is probably in there somewhere, but instead Total Wife made this amazing and groundbreaking noise jam. This one is going to be defiantly not for everyone, but if it works for you, Total Wife could end up being your latest favorite. Vocalist and lyricist Ash Richter says of the band's latest single: “‘make it last’ started as kind of a horny song.  I was experimenting with lyric writing that felt a little less serious or sappy, but the more I worked t...

Photo by Brian Karlsson We talk a lot about how much of modern music is without a genre, but no one exemplifies that quite like They are Gutting a Body of Water, aka TAGABOW. The band's new single, "trainers," is going to mostly be considered a heavy shoegaze song, but that barely scratches the surface of their sound. They've nailed the loud/quiet/loud thing perfectly, and the song starts off more as a slightly off-center indie rock song before the wall of noise and fuzz barrels over you. If that was the only sonic change up in the song, it would still be a great track, but TAGABOW also adds in interesting little samples and electronic noises after a killer guitar solo that defies everything we know about shoegaze. "trainers" is a good one that will demand multiple listens to make sure you've taken it all in. Singer Doug Dalgarian says the new single is  “... a vignette, a day in the life; desiring something wholesome while still grappling with the reali...

Photo by Brian Karlsson Philadelphia's TAGABOW (aka They are Gutting a Body of Water) were one of my favorite discoveries from this year's Something in the Way Festival. The band's latest single, "AMERICAN FOOD," is everything I loved from their performance. They're considered one of the new shoegaze bands, and while that's not incorrect, it also doesn't come close to explaining their genre ignoring sound. This new song has a guitar that is reminiscent of shoegaze, but the song is also much heavier. Plus, the song is filled with samples, electronic effects on vocals, and drums that sound electronic, as well. It's kinda shoegaze, but also hardcore, hip hop, and electronic music. "AMERICAN FOOD" is such a hodgepodge of sounds that it simply shouldn't work, but newfangled artists like TAGABOW somehow pull off these new and eclectic sounds perfectly. You can watch the video for "AMERICAN FOOD" below. The single is out now via a ...

Photo by Devonte Johnson Hailing from Los Angeles, Draag make music that can best be described as shoegaze, although that's not completely accurate. Their latest single, "Orb Weaver," has that dreamy sound associated with shoegaze, but Draag take the genre off in their own direction. The guitars sound warped, and it's more of a small wave of sound brushing against your legs than the typical overpowering wave most shoegaze artists use. "Orb Weaver" takes the forty or so year old genre and moves it forward, and also a little bit to the left. Adrian Acosta says of his band's latest single: “Jess [Huang] and I go on night walks in our neighborhood often, probably because there’s no one around and we are obsessed with the eerie nostalgic quality of empty neighborhoods.  One summer, it was very hard to walk without running into a big orb weaver web. I have a severe fear of spiders. I used the night walks as a form of therapy but it got me in a fearful state in...