If It's Too Loud...

Artist : Miss Georgia Peach Album : Aloha from Kentucky Quick Thoughts : If you look at this album cover, you can probably make an educated guess as to what this album will be like, and your guess will probably be correct. This is such a fun, raucus roots effort from an act I hadn't previously heard of, and it doesn't take itself too seriously even while being seriously awesome. Roots/country fans should absolutely take some time for this one. Songs of Note : "Do You Know What Love Means," "Jackson" Artist : PLOSIVS Album : PLOSIVS Quick Thoughts : A punk rock supergroup of sorts, PLOSIVS is an energetic act with a lot of great moments on this debut album. It's melodic and noisy in all the right ways, and feels fully formed from the star (as we'd come to expect from the people involved). As someone who is a little picky about his punk, I really liked this and I'm excited to spend more time with it. A great listen this week. Songs of...

I don't think anything could have been more directly marketed to me than this release from Atlanta's Mattiel. The band fronted by Mattiel Brown have released Double Cover , which is, as the name implies, a pair of covers. Mattiel chose Beastie Boys's "Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun" (which is one of my absolute favorite Beastie Boys songs) and The Clash's "Guns Of Brixton" (also one of my favorite Clash songs). Any time a band is going to release two covers of two of my favorite songs by two of my favorite bands, I'm going to be interested. It especially helps when Mattiel covers them so perfectly. Each one stays almost completely true to the originals while adding just enough of their own sound to it to keep it interesting.  You can listen to Mattiel's take on "Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun" below. Double Cover is available now on Mattiel's Bandcamp . For more on Mattiel, check out the artist's Facebook . Double C...

Artist : The Minus 5 Album : Stroke Manor Quick Description : Latest from the R.E.M.-adjacent act, and the first since McCaughey's stroke. Why You Should Listen : This is one of the best efforts from the band in well over a decade. Overall Thoughts : It’s been a minute since the Minus 5 have recorded anything, and with good reason given Scott McCaughey’s stroke a few years back. This is probably his most different effort, and for good reason since he began work on it in the ICU, still somewhat addled, shortly after the doctors said he might not play music again. The story is told elsewhere better, but long and short? This is a really fascinating listen, and one that has a lot of layers I expect to uncover on future listens. Whether it’s an album that would be considered one of the better releases of the year remains to be seen, but it is definitely one of the most interesting ones given the way it got to release. Recommendation : Give this some time. Artist : The Trinar...