If It's Too Loud...

Luke Reed records the kind of bedroom pop I miss from the 90's. While his other bands, Bent Shapes and Mini Dresses, release more energetic rock, his solo material is decidedly more chill. It could be that he does record at night in his Somerville, MA bedroom, but the results are a style of dreamy pop music with summery vibes, which we could use in New England right now. His latest single, "I'm Dreaming," fits this perfectly. It sounds like the kind of music that would be playing in your head while you're in that dream filled haze between being awake and asleep.  You can listen to "I'm Dreaming" below. The single is available for free via The Native Sound. You can get your copy over at Bandcamp . For more of Luke Reed's music, check him out on Soundcloud . I'm Dreaming – Single by Luke Reed

Somehow I completely missed Tea Leigh & Luke Reed's series of singles back in 2012. I'm much more familiar with Reed's work with Bent Shapes (RIP) and Mini Dresses. In the past five years, Leigh opened Welcome Home, an all female tattoo shop in Brooklyn. The duo is back with a new single, "Underwater." The new single is remarkably stunning. It fits right into the dream pop genre and defines the word "lush." What truly sets it apart from the usual music called dream pop is how sparse it is despite having the lush dream pop sound. It's sparse enough to be almost considered folk, but just almost.  You can listen to "Underwater" below. If you like what you hear, you can download a copy for free thanks to The Native Sound. For more on their previous releases from 2012, be sure to check out their Bandcamp .

When a press release claims a band is "... Influenced by the likes of Sebadoh, Mudhoney, and Sonic Youth," it's a guarantee that I'm going to be paying attention. The latest song from Neaux, "Stuck Like A...," delivers on that lofty promise. It has the artsy noise of Sonic Youth, the driving aggression of Mudhoney, and the quirky pre-emo hooks of Harmacy  era Sebadoh. "Stuck Like A..." is one of those rare songs that feels much more epic than its just over 4:00 length, and despite feeling much longer than it is, you're still wishing it was longer. It's a rare band that can pull off artsy, heavy, and catchy, so we give the biggest compliment possible to Neaux. You can listen to "Stuck Like A..." below. Neaux's sophomore album, Chain Up the Sun , will be out October 13 on The Native Sound. It can be pre-ordered here . For more on Neaux, check out their Facebook and Bandcamp .

Although Surf Rock Is Dead call Brooklyn their home, the duo come from Chicago and Melbourne, Australia. None of those three locations are southern California, but the band's sound distinctly is. "As If" isn't quite The Beach Boys, but there is a dreamy, sun soaked sound to it. It has a strong shoegaze quality, if there was a version of shoegaze you could listen to while hanging out on the beach. The song doesn't sound as lackadaisical as I'm making it sound. While there is a definite laid back quality, there is an energy behind it. Maybe it's the sound of being stuck in a concrete city like Brooklyn and longing for the sun and social scene of a beach community. You can listen to "As If" below. The new EP from Surf Rock Is Dead, We Have No Friends? , will be out September 22 on The Native Sound. You can pre-order your copy here . For more on Surf Rock Is Dead, check out the band's website .

Petite League now reside in Ridgewood, Queens, but started out in the DIY show scene in Syracuse. Lorenzo Gillis Cook started out playing solo under the name Spark Alaska, once he met drummer Henry Schoonmaker, Petite League were formed. Petite League's latest single, "Sun Dogs," might be the jangliest pop song you ever hear. The opening guitar riff is reminiscent of early Strokes, but in a much more lo-fi way. It somehow sounds like the most polished and produced basement recording of all time. It's all gritty and lush, with one of the greatest uses of "la la la" in a chorus I've heard in years. It's the NYC ooze of The Strokes mixed with the sunshine pop of The Beach Boys, which is one of those combinations you never new how badly you needed it until you hear it for the first time. You can listen to "Sun Dogs" below. Petite League's third album, Rips One Into the Night (the last two were called Slugger and No Hitter ), will...

Seemingly the only thing that No Sun and Dead Kennedys would have in common would be that they are both the western United States. No Sun are a relatively new ambient rock/shoegaze band from Salt Lake City, while Dead Kennedys are the legendary politically charged fairly hardcore 80s punk band. But, we live in strange times, so here's No Sun covering the Dead Kennedys' iconic "Nazi Punks Fuck Off." This song was chosen to make a fairly obvious political statement, and I'm pretty sure we'll be hearing a lot more covers of this particular one for the next four years are so. No Sun's take is very  different from the original. The Dead Kennedys' song is this unbelievably fast hardcore blast of a song, while No Sun's just slowly grinds.  You can listen to No Sun's cover of "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" below, and get your own copy for free via Bandcamp . For more on No Sun, check them out on Facebook . You can find their current tour dates bel...

With the new EP from Funeral Advantage coming out later this month, we can now hear the title track, "Please Help Me." "Please Help Me" might be my favorite Funeral Advantage song yet. It's the absolute pinnacle of their dream pop meets 80s synth pop sound that they've perfected, and is just beautiful. It might not sound like The Cure, but it has that Cure feel to it. It's a sad little song that just makes you happy.  You can listen to "Please Help Me" below (along with their previously heard song "CEOT7K"). You can pre-order Please Help Me here . It will be available on February 24 via The Native Sound. For more on Funeral Advantage, check out their website .

No Sun might be the very first band to come out of Salt Lake City that I've ever heard. Their new song, "Drown In You," is being compared to both grunge and shoegaze, but I'm really not hearing that. What I hear in "Drown In You" is more of a late 90s, post grunge alternative sound. At least, it has those hooks and pop sensibilities that came during that time. But this song is more distorted than most things released during that time period. As in way more distorted. There are some sounds that sound almost like when home demos tapes (or ultra lo-fi albums) used to warp a bit. It's odd because this sounds too well produced to be tape flubs, but it hits this odd little nostalgia button for me that I didn't know even existed. It creates this great mixture of early 90s DIY noise with late 90s power pop. No Sun's debut album, If Only , is due out on January 20th via The Native Sound. You can listen to "Drown In You" below. If Only  is av...

The new single from London's Plastic Flowers, "Falling Out," might be the dreamiest of dream pop. The guitars are light and swirling, with vocals that drone on while still being filled with heart. It's a virtually perfect old school shoegaze-tinted dream pop song that feels like Galaxie 500 mixed with early Cure, but then you discover that what was a little slice of perfect was just the ever-so slow build for the first three quarters to this glorious crescendo of beautifully intense noise, the kind where the instruments sound like they're going in all directions but feel like they're just circling each other. The new Plastic Flowers single, "Falling Off," is available for a pre-order through The Native Sound until October 5. It's a special lathe cut that is only available through this pre-order. If you don't order before October 5, you will miss out completely. You can get your copy here , and make sure to listen below. For more informati...

It's only been nine months since Sheer released their debut album Uneasy , and they are already changing up their sound in a very subtle way. While Uneasy was filled with dreamy fuzzed out guitar based power pop, their new single "Room" feels like more of an arrangement and less of a pop song. The dreamy fuzzed out guitars are still there, but instead of the typical verse/chorus/verse of a pop song, "Room" is more rambling, like Bob Dylan doing shoegaze. There are verses and a chorus, of course, but it all blends together, and even that structure evaporates as the song progresses. "Room" is available as a hand-numbered made to order 7" that will only be sold until August 4 via The Native Sound, so you'll want to act now to get yours. There is also a $1.00 download version. Both are available at Sheer's Bandcamp . For more information on Sheer, check them out on Facebook . Room – Single by SHEER

Grave School's "Eugene, OR" will be the best short song you hear all year. The video clocks in at 2:06, but about 30 seconds of that takes place before the music kicks in. For the minute and a half that the song lasts, it's pure catchy 90s inspired pop rock. It reminds me a ton of whitechocolatespaceegg era Liz Phair meets The Anniversary. It's raw, and confessional, with swirling jangly guitars, and just as you decide you love the song and are dying for the second verse, it's all over.  "Eugene, OR" is the fourth installment of The Native Sound Private Press Series. You have until April 18th to order a 7" of your very own. After that, no more orders will be taken, and it will never be reprinted. You'll also get a download of Grave School's EP, so just hearing more from these guys might make it worth it. You can order your own copy here . For more on Grave School, you can follow them on Twitter or Facebook . Also, Grave School featu...

As we inch closer to the debut album from Vow, they've made another song available to listen to. "Green Light" continues their move away from the synth pop of their first two Eps into more indie rock territory. That's not to say it completely gives up all electronic elements, as there is a strong resemblance to a sunnier New Order here, with just a hint of vocals that remind me of Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval and Steven Malkmus. Vow's debut album, Kind Eyes, will be out May 27 on The Native Sound. Be sure to listen to "Green Light" below. For more information on Vow, check out their website . You can also pre-order the album on Bandcamp .

For their debut album, Los Angeles based Vow decided to drop the synthesizers for a more indie rock sound than their previous releases. The sound isn't quite as grimy or edgy as the press release likes to claim, which is perfectly ok. Instead, it's a brighter, more cheerful version of shoegaze. You get the drone and reverb of a band like My Bloody Valentine mixed with the power pop of Letters to Cleo, with maybe a bit of Superchunk. If you've been reading this blog with any regularity, you'll know that may be the perfect mixture for me. Vow's debut album will be released sometime in the spring on The Native Sound. For now, you can listen to "Withdraw" below and check out their website and Bandcamp .

Photo by Chrissy Britt Coming off their debut album, Sheer have just released the video for "Uneasy." A song about battling social anxiety, this song absolutely must be heard. It's such a throwback to the mid-90s, blending parts of Galaxie 500 with Belly and just the slightest touch of The Promise Ring. It's all swirling fuzzed out guitars and the catchiest power pop in ages. It's a mix of dreamy, aggressive, and vulnerable. Plus, the drummer wears a shirt for The Queers in the video, so instant 90s cred! Sheer's debut album, Uneasy, is due out November 20th on The Native Sound. You can pre-order a copy via Bandcamp . Also, make sure to follow Sheer on Facebook  and Twitter . I honestly can't recommend this song enough.

Photo via Facebook I wrote about Funeral Advantage last month when they played the Harvard Square Mayfair, mentioning that their songs sounded like Smiths covers. After hearing "Sisters," the first song off their upcoming album, I may be wrong. "Sisters" is a lovely dream-pop song, and far too summery too ever be compared to The Smiths. It's very light and synth heavy and reminds me of a more ethereal version of The Anniversary. After hearing their previous material, this is a huge step forward for them song and production wise. Expect huge things from their debut. Funeral Advantage's debut album, Body Is Dead, is due out August 25 on The Native Sound. You can pre-order it now on the label's Bandcamp or iTunes . For more on Funeral Advantage, including previous releases, check out their Bandcamp  or Facebook . If you're in the Boston area, they have a show coming up July 23 at The Middle East in Cambridge.