If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Rouse Productions There are a million covers of The Smiths out there, so props to The Persian Leaps for choosing a lesser known song to cover. "Jeane" was originally the B-side to "This Charming Man," and since it might be the closest The Smiths got to power-pop, it might be the perfect song for The Persian Leaps to cover. The Minneapolis band gives it a sheen of fuzzy guitars and makes it sound much more 1994 than 1983. It's more along the lines of bands like Guided By Voices and The Lemonheads than 80's New Wave, but it still sounds enough like The Smiths to make it an obvious cover of theirs. You can listen to The Persian Leaps take on "Jeane" below. The song is available as a single on Land Ski Records via Bandcamp . For more on The Persian Leaps, check out the band's website . Jeane [Single] by The Persian Leaps

We've been covering The Persian Leaps for quite a while now, and we always love when we can bring you new music from them. The Minneapolis band led by Drew Forsberg has released "Alright Alright," and it's everything we love about them. It has that indie rock goes power pop sound that's reminiscent of Guided By Voices and Teenage Fanclub. It's catchy as hell but with far too much noise to be considered even remotely pop, even though it's also poppy as hell. "Alright Alright" is one of the more chilled out songs we've heard from them, but it has just enough of an edge to keep this pop song quite interesting. Drew Forsberg says of the new song: "This song is about people who thrive on conflict. They’ve always existed, but it’s so much worse in the digital age when people can post inflammatory statements with total anonymity–or at least not say things directly to someone’s face. This song is for people who hang out online in the Comments se...

I feel like we've been writing about The Persian Leaps ever since If It's Too Loud... first started, and each time they release new music it's killer. The St. Paul, Minnesota band's latest single, "When This Gets Out," fits right into their Guided By Voices inspired sound. As with any release from The Persian Leaps, this new one may be inspired by GBV, but it's hardly a knock off. "When This Gets Out" has a little more melody in the fuzz, also reminding me of Teenage Fanclub and The Lemonheads. We're always excited when we get new music from Drew Forsberg's band, and once you hear this you'll get why. While I don't think of The Persian Leaps as being a particularly political band, that changes with the new song. Drew Forsberg explains the inspiration behind it: "Each week, it seemed there was a new Trump-related scandal that by rights should have sunk him. However, instead of consequences, the scandal would be eclipsed the ne...

We've been writing about Minneapolis's The Persian Leaps for almost as long as If It's Too Loud... has existed. Their blend of 90's-ish bouncy alt-rock is kind of our thing, so we're going to excuse them for this one. According to Drew Forsberg, their new song was inspired by: "The Simon & Garfunkel song "America" came up on my iPhone. As I was singing along to the great lines "Cathy, I'm lost, I said though I knew she was sleeping", I was inspired to write a song with a slight twist on those lyrics: "Kathy, I'm a lost cause." So, I started singing it to myself and had the first two-thirds of the song worked out by the time I was done skiing. When I got home, I figured out the chords and finished it up. That never happens! The song is a fairly tongue-in-cheek, exaggerated take on lack of self-confidence; honeslty, the lyrics are basically a delivery mechanism for the hooks in the verses and choruses. I don't rea...

Two of my favorite musical genres are oldies from the 60's and noisy indie rock. It's rare that those two genres get mixed together, but luckily for me The Blog That Celebrates Itself has released yet another brilliant covers collection, this one specializing in girl groups covers. If you're looking for covers that stay true to the original, this one may not be for you. It's filled with genre shattering versions that skew towards shoegaze  and noise rock, filled with more feedback and droning guitars than most people can handle. A perfect example is include "Now You're Gone" (done here by Ceremony, originally by Bobbie Smith and the Dream Girls), which would be entirely unrecognizable without a track listing. It's a blisteringly noisy nearly 7:00 version that ignores the vocals for two full minutes, which completely defies the entire girl group genre. Ghost Transmission goes a little more traditional with their version of The Shangri-las "Rememb...

Hailing from St. Paul, Minnesota, The Persian Leaps have been an early favorite of If It's Too Loud... They have this great jangly guitar pop sound that we've compared to The Afghan Whigs and The Sheila Divine in the past. The band is back with a new EP, Bicycle Face, which may be their best to date. The Persian Leaps haven't changed their sound on Bicycle Face. Instead they've perfected it. Bicycle Face  is a collection of five incredibly tight indie rock pop songs. It reminds me a ton of the mid 90's when fuzzed out guitars and catchy as hell hooks were all the rage of 120 Minutes. The EP's opener, "Picture My Reaction," is this indie rock anthem that shoots for arenas with it's pure size and force. "Even Less" could secretly be an outtake from Superdrag's Regretfully Yours.  You can listen to "Picture My Reaction" below. Bicycle Face is available now on Land Ski Records. You can get your own copy over at Bandcamp . ...

The Persian Leaps are back with their third EP in as many years. High & Vibrate keeps in line with their jangly, fuzzed out guitar pop reminiscent of mid-90s power pop bands, but they're showing a heavy 60s influence with solid, catchy hooks. "Under the Lilacs" has a guitar jangle that will suck you in with a heavy bass buzz hiding underneath. "Dottie, Queen of the West" is perfect for anyone that skipped the whole Blur vs Oasis debate and skipped to Suede and The Charlatans. It's guitar pop in its best form. High & Vibrate is out now on Land Ski Records. You can listen to it via The Persian Leaps' Bandcamp . While you're at it, like the band on Facebook and check out their website . If you're in Minneapolis, you can see them November 5 at Kitty Cat Klub and December 5 at Palmer's Bar. If not, you'll have to be content with watching their video for "Under the Lilacs" below.

When we started this blog, I was worried we'd turn into a Boston-centric blog, since so many of the bands Jeff and I like are from Boston, it's so much easier to discover new bands from where you're from, and being from the Boston area leads to an insane level of homer-ism. Lately I've been receiving so many submissions from fantastic Minnesota bands, I'm starti ng to have the opposite concern. What is going on in Minnesota that is birthing all these great rock bands? Singer/guitarist Drew Forsberg used to record under the name The Persian Leaps for years, but never shared his music until 2012 when he joined with Brad Hendrickson, Michael McCloskey, and Neil McCloskey.  Back in August, The Persian Leaps released their debut offering, Praise Elephants. It's five songs of fuzzy, heartfelt rock with its roots in predecessors such as The Afghan Whigs or The Sheila Divine. "Silent Treatment" is by far my favorite. With its gang vocals saved for verses...