If It's Too Loud...

It's been a few years since we've brought you new music from Kid Gulliver, but the Boston band is back with a new single. "24 Hours" is everything we've always loved from Kid Gulliver. It's an amped up power pop single that's almost impossibly catchy and sugary sweet. It has all of the sweetness of 60's power pop like The Archies mixed with some of the edge of 90's power pop like Letters to Cleo. As catchy and fun as the lyrics and Simone Berk's vocals are, the song really shines during instrumental parts, especially when the guitar and drums are truly set loose. When the guitar solos kick in, "24 Hours" adds in some Cheap Trick style showmanship to their classic power pop sound. You can listen to "24 Hours" below. For more on Kid Gulliver, check out the band on Facebook and Instagram .

Doing Anything this Weekend? is a feature here at If It's Too Loud... where we feature some live shows in and on the far outskirts of the Boston area. Our main rules are that they have to be reasonably priced shows that you can attend last minute. They'll feature If It's Too Loud... approved bands, and we'll provide event links when possible. And since we're in outdoor music season, these events are weather permitting. If you're looking for last minute plans this weekend, we recommend: June 14 Jennifer Tefft & the Strange, Lovina Falls, and Little Billy Lost at Fireseed Art Studios, Framingham, MA Vudu Sister and Savoir Faire at Myrtle, Providence, RI Linnea's Garden, Ruby Grove, Cindy Lawson, and Lovewhip at The Jungle Community Music Club, Somerville, MA Bikini Whale, Speedfossil, and Cold Expectations at Faces Brewing, Malden, MA Kid Gulliver, True Jackie, and The Satch Kerans at The Square Root, Roslindale, MA Matt Woods, Ted Russell Kamp, and Matt C...

Doing Anything this Weekend? is a feature here at If It's Too Loud... where we feature some live shows in and on the far outskirts of the Boston area. Our main rules are that they have to be reasonably priced shows that you can attend last minute. They'll feature If It's Too Loud... approved bands, and we'll provide event links when possible. If you're looking for last minute plans this weekend, we recommend: Friday May 3 The I Want You and Crow Follow at Midway Cafe, Jamaica Plain, MA The Iron Roses, Lowest of the Low, and One Fall at Deep Cuts, Medford, MA Saturday May 4 Kid Gulliver at Luther's Coop, Easthampton, MA Rock and Roll Rumble Finals featuring Other Brother Darryl, The Ghouls, and Gut Health with special guest Halfcocked at Sonia, Cambridge, MA Folk Collective Annual Concert featuring Alastair Moock, Almira Ara, Anju, Audrey Pearl, Cliff Notez, Gabriella Simpkins, Kim Moberg, Lydia Harrell, Maxfield Anderson, Naomi Westwater, Peter Mulvey, and Steph...

Doing Anything Fun this Weekend? is a new feature here at If It's Too Loud... where we feature some live shows in and on the far outskirts of the Boston area. Our main rules are that they have to be reasonably priced shows that you can attend last minute. They'll feature If It's Too Loud... approved bands, and we'll provide event links when possible. If you're looking for last minute plans this weekend, we recommend: Friday, February 2 PonyBoy, Muzzins, Minibeast, and The Z-Boys at The Parlour, Providence, RI Princess Bleach, Miracle Blood, and Burr, DNB Craft Kitchen, New Bedford, MA Baabes, Salem Wolves, Sexx Fix, and Komodo Rojo at Deep Cuts, Medford, MA Recent History, Kid Gulliver, and Eyrie House Ruins at JJ's Tavern, Florence, MA The Wolff Sisters and Hush Club at The Press Room, Portsmouth, NH Saturday, February 3 Gut Health, Miracle Blood, Fox Canadian, Superjerk, and Berm at Hotel Vernon, Worcester, MA  Happy Little Clouds, Crow Follow, and Cold Expect...

Photo via Facebook In a city full of great garage rock and power pop, Kid Gulliver remain one of Boston's finest purveyors. Their latest single, "Nothing But Trouble," is a throwback to both the 60's and 90's. It has that upbeat and groovy vibe of the 60's (especially the drums on this one) but a little of that 90's crunch to it. This is reminding me a lot of a band like Cheap Trick, but more like all of those power pop bands of the 90's that led to a Cheap Trick revival. Plus, the guitar is just a little more ferocious than you might expect in a song like this! You can listen to "Nothing But Trouble" below. The song is available as a single via Red On Red Records, and can be found on Bandcamp . For more on Kid Gulliver, check out the band's Facebook . Nothing But Trouble by Kid Gulliver

The Bee Gees are one of those bands that I'm not too familiar with, despite watching the fantastic Bee Gees: How Do You Mend a Broken Heart documentary. I do know that they kind of accidentally got caught up in the whole disco thing, and had an entire career before disco or Stayin' Alive. "I Started a Joke" is from that time period. The 1968 song is kind of a mopey and sappy heartache ballad. It's definitely not my thing. Enter Kid Gulliver to make me love this song. Their cover is a power pop sensation. It's a bouncy and upbeat version of the song that takes the lyrics and melody and turns it into a party. It's the kind of power pop we can get fully behind, and now we're waiting for Kid Gulliver to issue a Bee Gees tribute album. You can watch the video for Kid Gulliver's take on "I Started a Joke" below. Gimme Some Go! is available now via Red On Red Records, and can be ordered on Bandcamp . For more on Kid Gulliver, check out the band ...

There's just something about power pop that I can never seem to get enough of. Kid Gulliver personify everything I love about the genre. Their latest, "Boy in a Bubble," is definitely a pop song with enough rock in it to keep it firmly in power pop. Plus, it has that hazy, swirling feeling to give it a dream pop and shoegaze feel throughout. That feeling is mostly from the guitar, which also gives us one of the most glorious guitar solos we've heard in a long, long time to close out the song. "Boy in a Bubble" is a great song that is going to suck you in as soon as you hear its opening riff. You can listen to "Boy in a Bubble" below. The song is available as a single on Red On Red Records, and you can download it through Bandcamp . For more on Kid Gulliver, check out the band's Facebook . Boy in a Bubble by Kid Gulliver

While New England is in the midst of a multi-day snow storm, a new song from Boston's Kid Gulliver is just what we need. "Beauty School Dropout" is exactly what we want from Kid Gulliver. It's outrageously poppy power pop. At times it threatens to cross over into being a little too poppy for my own personal taste, but every time the guitars get a little extra crunchy just to keep this firmly into the rock category. "Beauty School Dropout" is the kind of catchy, fun, summery kind of song we need right now to remind us that warmer weather (and better times) will be back someday, even if it's not as soon as we'd like. You can watch the video for "Beauty School Dropout" below. The single is available now now Red on Red Records via Bandcamp . For more on Kid Gulliver, check out their website .

Berk/Lehane is the pairing of Simone Berk (Kid Gulliver, Sugar Snow, Whistlestop Rock) and Jerry Lehane (The Dogmatics). It's the kind of Boston grouping you would never think of, but once it's here, you know you've needed it all this time. Their song, "An Irishman for Christmas," is obviously a Christmas song. And it's not a song that's a rock song about Christmas. "An Irishman for Christmas" is a Christmas song dipped in Boston rock 'n' roll. The two first came together when Jerry Lehane reached out to Simone Berk about her song "Queen of the Drive In" with Whistlestop Rock. Eventually this led to the " Boston-Irish-Interfaith-Romance-folk-punk" you can listen to today! You can listen to "An Irishman for Christmas" below. The song is currently available via Bandcamp . Let's hope this leads to many more songs from the Berk/Lehane collaboration! An Irishman For Christmas by Berk/Lehane

The travelling Whistlestop Rock Festival was derailed along with everything else this spring. The festival featured local New England bands  The Chelsea Curve, Cold Expectations, Field Day, Heather Rose In Clover, Justine and The Unclean, Kid Gulliver, The Knock Ups, Linnea’s Garden, and Tiger Bomb  playing in different cities throughout New England with special guests. Keeping the spirit of that festival alive is "Queen of the Drive-In" which features an all-star line up of Whistlestop Rock bandmembers. Kid Gulliver's Simone Berk takes on lead vocals. This is a wonderfully fun song that is a little too poppy to be garage rock and a little too upbeat to be dream pop, even though it's all of these. Plus, with a chorus that features the lyrics " I'm the Dry Hump Queen of the Drive In /  Squeeze over the handbrake and we'll both win," this is just a simple, fun rock song, just the kind we need in a summer like this one. You can listen to "Queen...

This summer isn't going to be much of a summer. Typical summer activities are far less safe, and I can't see myself heading to very many beaches or barbeques this summer. The one thing we'll still have are summer songs, and Kid Gulliver may have given us the summer song of 2020. "I Wanna Be a Popstar" is a bright, sunny pop rock song. It's a little too low key to be power pop, but we could probably call it power pop lite. "I Wanna Be a Popstar" is the perfect simple, catchy song for driving around with t he volume up. Of course, that's as long as you don't pay attention to lyrics like " I hear the interviews for things they said /  I try to analyze their twisted heads /  their pretty faces hang above my bed /  I wonder why so many wind up dead" too closely to enjoy the fun. You can listen to "I Wanna Be a Popstar" below. The song is available now on Kid Gulliver's Bandcamp . For more on Kid Gulliver, check out thei...

Boston's Kid Gulliver are one of the bands touring New England as part of the Whistlestop Rock Festival, and based on their latest single, they're sure to be one of the biggest hits. "Susie Survived Chemotherapy" is a bright and sunny song about a survivor of childhood cancer. It's power pop at its absolute most poppy, which seems a little strange given the subject matter, but what deserves a celebratory song more than that? Of course, there is a slight hidden edge to the song underlying the sunny sound, because they are from Boston after all. You can listen to "Susie Survived Chemotherapy" below. The song is available now as a download via Kid Gulliver's Bandcamp . For more on Kid Gulliver, check out their website . If you're lucky enough to be in the Boston area, you can check them out at the Whistlestop Rock Festival this Saturday at ONCE Ballroom in Somerville, March 14 at Koto in Salem, and March 28 at Sun Tiki Studios in Portland, ME.  ...

The winter is a fairly dead time for live music in New England. A storm can derail a live show at any time, and who really wants to deal with being cold and carrying around a big, bulky coat inside a sweaty, packed club? Whistlestop Rock Festival is going to change that for the better. Simone Berk (Kid Gulliver, Sugar Snow) reached out via a group message to women in bands about doing a show together. That idea expanded into a regionally touring festival featuring eight bands plus special guests in each city. As you can tell by the name, Whistlestop Rock Festival sticks with the rock side of things and features the retro-mod punk of The Chelsea Curve, the Rolling Stones meets Hank Williams of Cold Expectations, Boston rock veterans Field Day, heavily 90's alt-rock infleunced Heather Rose in Clover, the power pop punk of Justine and The Unclean, Kid Gulliver's power pop, power trio The Knock Ups, the impossible to classify Powerslut, and Tiger Bomb's garage pop. Any thre...