If It's Too Loud...

I went into Mclusky's 2024 set at The Sinclair in Cambridge as a casual fan. Part of me felt guilty since the show was very sold out, and I felt like I was taking the place of a diehard who deserved it more. By the end of the show, I became one of those diehard fans, and desperately wanted to see them again. Last month they released the excellent EP i sure am getting sick of this bowling alley , and came back to the States to support it. This brought them to the Paradise Wednesday night, and I was right up front and thrilled to be there. Mclusky opened with "Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues," almost like they just wanted to get it out of the way. The crowd absolutely exploded, and, unlike most bands that started three decades ago, the energy of the crowd increased with each song. Mclusky sets tend to be a bit unhinged, but that only accentuates their post-hardcore sound. Their songs are noisy and disjointed, and that's exactly why we love them so much. It's also easy ...

Artist : billy woods Album : Golliwog Quick Thoughts : billy woods offers a form of modern horrorcore that isn't for everyone, and isn't even for me all the time. GOLLIWOG succeeds in embracing the darkness to an extent while also keeping its somewhat disturbing feel - "Waterproof Mascara" is legitimately one of the uncomfortable listens of recent memory. It's honestly worth the listen, although you'll know quickly whether or not its for you. Songs of Note : "Jumpscare," "Waterproof Mascara," "Misery," "STAR87," "Golgotha," "BLK ZMBY" Artist : Mclusky Album : the world is still here and so are we Quick Thoughts : Mclusky are (finally) back with new music, and it's great. Granted, the venn diagram between Mclusky and Future of the Left may as well be a circle in many regards, but in terms of the Falkous Cinematic Universe, this is the best effort they've collectively put out in a dec...

I somehow missed Mclusky the first time around, which doesn't make any sense to me since I was very active in finding new music in the early 2000's. I only recently discovered them thanks to Jeff, and they were always one of those bands that I just had to accept the fact that I missed out on. But, somehow the band reunited in 2014. So when a show at The Sinclair in Cambridge was announced for last Friday, I jumped at the chance to go despite feeling like an imposter fan. And what a show it was. I doubt there were any casual Mclusky fans at the show on Friday night, but if there were they are now diehards. Opening with "Fuck this Band" (which is literally the perfect choice, both because it's hilarious and helped ease the crowd into the show before the explosion of "Dethink to Survive"), Mclusky instantly had the crowd enraptured by their show. Quite often reunion shows can be very obvious cash grabs, with the band having no real interest in playing the m...

With the release of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens coming up this week, I had this bizarre urge to listen to some Star Wars music besides just "The Imperial March" over and over again. This birthed the If It's Too Loud "Songs About Star Wars" mix. I tried to avoid songs that simply make one reference to Star Wars and aim for songs actually about Star Wars. Of course there is some nerdcore (MC Chris), forgotten 90s bands (2 Skinnee J's), 90s bands that are still with us (Blink-182, Presidents of the United States of America), bands you would never think of doing Star Wars covers (Queens of the Stone Age, Ash), and "Weird Al," of course. It's perfect to listen to while you're at work waiting for it to end so you can head out to the theater, on your way to the theater, to avoid figuring out name mix up games in the theater, etc.