If It's Too Loud...

Sapling may be a hyper local to us Massachusetts punk band, but their release No Sequoia has been out all but three other releases on my top albums of the year list. How, you may ask? Obviously, it's a great album. But Sapling tap into my absolute favorite type of punk. It's not badass hardcore that will scare you with a threat of violence. Instead, Sapling will relentlessly mock you into nonexistence. The songs on No Sequoia are noisy, loud, obnoxious, and in your face. But they also have a killer groove and are some of the catchiest you will hear all year. They capture this amazing middle ground between noise punk that's purely noise and noise punk that's electronic noise. The songs bounce wildly from silly and fun to deadly serious and political, usually in the same song. Plus, you can dance to it, as long as you agree to mock the same people they do. Songs of note: "Bikini BDRK," "Maria vs. Machine Maria," "Bitchshifter," "Everythi...

Massachusetts's Sapling have released a strong album of the year contender with No Sequoia. Let's be clear: Sapling aren't going to be for everyone. This album is abrasive, and it's intended to be. But No Sequoia is also a lot of fun. Along with the intense noise and aggression of songs like "Fuck This Yuppie Barbecue," you also get these chill and groovy songs like "Maria Vs. Machine Maria." Although "Maria Vs. Machine Maria" devolves into noise and chaos at the end, so there's definitely a theme here. That might be one of the great things about Sapling. Most bands that fall into the noise punk category are either pure noise and aggression or electronic near dance music. Sapling exist in both worlds, being both punk and groovy dance music. Plus, their songs feel both silly and completely serious at the same time, which is never a bad thing. You can listen to "Everything Was Better" below. No Sequoia is available now via B...

Never in my life did I think I would ever type out the words "It has a synth part inspired by The Bloodhound Gang," but that's how our favorite Boston/Worcester artrock/bitchpop trio Sapling explain their new single "Bitchshifter." They also explain that "It's a pop song about complete disillusionment with modern life. Just like all our other songs." To me, "Bitchshifter" is an odd little groovy indie rock song, almost like Cake Like joined forces with The B-52s, but decided to make a total downer of a song that threatens to break out into a party jam at any moment. It never quite does, which is basically perfect. You can listen to "Bitchshifter" below. No Sequoia , the new album from Sapling, will be out February 22. You can pre-order a copy at Bandcamp . For more on Sapling, check them out on Facebook and Instagram . No Sequoia by Sapling

I always like to support local artists, and a catchy band description always helps suck me in. So when I got an email from Sapling stating " We're a Worcester/Boston artrock/bitchpop trio and we like spaghetti. We get up early and stay up late. We're a small band and we burn energy like little suns," how am I not going to at least listen? With their new single "Maria vs. Machine Maria," they sucked me in. "Maria vs. Machine Maria" is a bizarro mixture of artrock and pop. It's noisy, and weird, and somehow also catchy and dancing right on the outside of being an actual pop song? You think it might go in that direction, but then the noise is brought in ways you wouldn't expect. It's a song that plays with your expectations and what is normal, and then obliterates them just for fun. You can listen to "Maria vs. Machine Maria" below. No Sequoia , the debut full length from Sapling, will be out February 22. You can pre-order it...