If It's Too Loud...

Artist : The Blow Album : Brand New Abyss Quick Description : Latest from the popular indie act. Why You Should Listen : They're very buzzworthy. Overall Thoughts : This is a higher-profile indie release this week, and I’m not afraid to say I’ve never quite gotten The Blow. For me, they seem like a poppier version of The xx in a lot of ways, except that the sparse nature of what they do never fully connects. On the other hand, I know a handful of people who are pretty big fans, so this might more be an issue of my not getting it than anything else. You might love this, so give it a chance and you’ll know pretty fast if it’s for you. Recommendation : Worth some time Artist : Tricky Album : ununiform Quick Description : Latest from the trip-hop legend. Why You Should Listen : It's the most interesting release of the week musically. Overall Thoughts : Tricky sounded unlike anything else in the mainstream during his peak, and, honestly, he sounds unlike anything els...

I don't think I realized how much I was missing noise and bands playing loud just to be loud until I heard the new Metz album. II  is just perfect for what it is. It's just loud and noisy and aggressive while being actual songs.  These days, a lot of what is considered punk is just either a paint by numbers approach where a band mimics the last 30 years of music or it's this whiny emo nonsense that gets played on the radio next to a Taylor Swift song. Also, most noise rock is just pure noise with no song structure or just twiddling with some electronic instruments in what is technically noise but is just boring. II pushes punk into noise and noise into real songs. It's predecessors are Nirvana and Refused's The Shape of Punk to Come. If you listen to either of those for more than pure nostalgia, you'll end up loving this album. It's rare for me to hear an album that makes me wish I was 20 years younger so I could fully appreciate hearing it. I just know ...

We saved the best for last this week. Hop Along - Painted Shut : Hop Along is a band I only know because they're touring with Field Mouse (a blog favorite here). Within a few moments of this album, you see why they match up with Field Mouse so well, and get hit right in the nostalgia with a sound that sounds like so much you've already heard, but can't place. Expertly done indie rock with very few flaws (the more indie/anti-folk songs near the end do feel a little out of place), it's definitely one of the best releases of the week, and arguably the year. I can't recommend this highly enough. Metz - II : Metz's second album is absolutely the heaviest thing on the docket this week. It's a short affair, pretty heavy, but has a number of good moments throughout. Not really my sort of thing in general, but if you're looking for something on the heavier side this might work for you. Best Coast - California Nights : I mentioned back in November how ...