If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Daniel Bergeron I think we all have those bands that we know we should be more familiar with, but for some inexplicable reason, we just aren't. One of those bands for me is Karate. The Boston band's initial run was between 1993 and 2005 was my prime for going to shows and hearing new music, but even though I knew the name, I just never got into them. Well... now's a good time for me to correct that since Karate is about to release their first new album in twenty years. Their latest single, "Defendants," fits right into the post-rock/slowcore/jazz rock sound that make Karate so beloved. It's the kind of single that makes a newbie like me angry for not discovering the beloved band twenty-five years ago when I should have, but at least now it's inspiring me to go into a full fledged deep dive. From the very surface of my dive, a song like "Defendants" and its B-side 'Silence, Sound" fit right in with their classic releases, showing...

It's a cliche when festivals proclaim that this year is their biggest and best line up every single year, but when Nice, a fest does it, they mean it. 2023 marks their third year, and sees the festival expand to four days and seventy four (!!!!) bands. The festival will take place July 20-23 once again between Crystal Ballroom and The Rockwell in Somerville's Davis Square. If you went last year, you know that topping last year's killer line up was damn near impossible, but Get To The Gig Boston pulled it off. Once again Nice, a fest features an all local line up headlined by post-rock/emo legends Karate, indie rock legends Swirlies, dance-punk/neo-psychedelic favorites Guerilla Toss, singer-songwriter Frances Forever, alternative rockers Ovlov, alt-rockers Valleyheart, art rock band Bent Knee, neo-folk artist Izzy Heltai, indie rock/emo artist Dino Gala, and Boston legend Will Dailey. The undercard is equally as impressive, but we obviously can't list every band here, s...

E, the band of Boston indie rock legends Thalia Zedek (Come, Uzi, Live Skull), Jason Sanford (Neptune), and Gavin McCarthy (Karate), is back with a new single. "Any Information" is just as odd and intense of a song as you would expect from this trio. It's obviously going to be discordant, and this particular song has a guitar riff that sounds like it's driving straight into your skull, but it's also oddly lovely. It might not be at first, but as the song goes on and through repeated listens, you start noticing a strange beauty within. It may be an intensely noisy indie rock song, but there is beauty inside of it if you take the time to look.  You can watch the video for "Any Information" below. The song is the title track of an upcoming EP which is due out April 22. For more on E, check out the band's Facebook .

The impossible to Google Boston supergroup E (consisting of Thalia Zedek, Jason Sanford, and Gavin McCarthy) has released a new album on Bandcamp. Given the pedigree of those involved, Complications  is both surprisingly and not surprisingly accessible. That's not to say E don't get noisy and discordant on this new album, because they certainly do. Complications does a great job of staying experimental and challenging to the listener while keeping some pretty great melodies intact. A song like "Acid Mantle" does a great job of this. It's abrasive at times, catchy at some, and sometimes both at once. "Contagion Model" might be the best song on the album. It's just a classic edgy indie rock/post punk song that will have you singing the chorus of "It's contagious / Pass it around" out loud, so maybe keep your car windows up for that one. Complications is filled with nine songs that are going to draw you in just as much as they push you a...

We have a soft spot for supergroups here at If It's Too Loud..., and if you're a long time fan of the Boston music scene, it's not going to get much bigger than E. E features Thalia Zedek (Come, Uzi, Live Skull, Thalia Zedek Band), Jason Sanford (Neptune), and Gavin McCarthy (Karate). As you would expect, their latest song is a killer burst of indie rock at its finest. "Contagion Model" (which is either the best or worst timed name for a song and includes the chorus "It's contagious / Spread it around") is three minutes of perfection. It's loud and dissonant with guitars that will lock into your mind for days to come. This is the kind of indie rock that dominated my life in the 90's and you don't hear as much of these days. E are poised to take over to become the new favorite indie rock gods for those of us over forty by making us feel young again. You can listen to "Contagion Model" below. Complications , the new album fr...