If It's Too Loud...

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...

I'm a little bit of an obsessive Jon Spencer fan. I've seen Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Heavy Trash, and Jon Spencer + The HITmakers before, so I'm obviously going to try to see the man every time he comes through the area. With the release of last year's excellent Spencer Gets It Lit , I've watched the band play multiple tours without coming to Boston, or anywhere else I could feasibly get to easily. When he finally announced a Boston show at The Middle East, I couldn't pass it up. An added bonus were two local support bands I'd go see on their own anytime. Muck and the Mires were a perfect opener for Jon Spencer. They have this vintage garage rock sound that could be from anytime in the past six decades. It's the style started in hundreds of garages across America once The Beatles broke out that isn't exactly easy to tie down to a specific time since every generation has a handful of these bands. They're one of those bands that I would have sw...

Minibeast is the current project from Peter Prescott, formerly of Mission of Burma. The Providence based band has a new album coming out on April 1, and one of the songs they've made available to listen to is "Exclusive." If you're familiar with Prescott's work with Mission of Burma or Volcano Suns, chances are you're going to dig this song. "Exclusive" has a lot of the noise and clunky guitars of his previous bands, but there is also an jazz-like groove throughout the song. The song surprisingly stops just shy of being mainstream, but definitely stops short. While it may be rooted in classic Burma, Minibeast are a completely different project, but still ones fans will love. You can listen to "Exclusive" below. On Ice is due out April 1 and can be pre-ordered through Bandcamp . For more on Minibeast, check out the band's website . On Ice by Minibeast

It's been far too long since we've brought you new music from Providence's Minibeast, featuring Peter Prescott (ex Mission of Burma and Volcano Suns). If you're unfamiliar with Minibeast but know Prescott's previous bands, you'll have an idea what Minibeast sounds like. Their latest single, "Crawling On My belly Through A Tunnel Towards The Dawn" is a nearly ten minute odyssey of a track. The instrumental trudges along, seemingly without any real direction or destination in mind, propelled by whining, forlorn sounding guitars. The drums have the unenviable task of holding everything together, which they do, but barely. You can listen to "Crawling On My belly Through A Tunnel Towards The Dawn" below. The song is currently available via Minibeast's Bandcamp. For more on Minibeast, check out their website . Crawling On My belly Through A Tunnel Towards The Dawn by Minibeast

Photo via Facebook Minibeast are set to release two new albums in the near future, and have offered up a new song as a preview. For those not in the know, Minibeast is the new project from Peter Prescott of Mission of Burma. (The band's Facebook profile lists him as formerly of Mission of Burma, further cementing that Burma is no more, which I refuse to accept.) "Town Cryer" is perfect for Mission of Burma fans. It has that disjointed almost tribal beat that we've come to love, and coming in at eight minutes and forty seconds, it feels like an experimental post punk jam session. With the spoken/shouted lyrics is thunderously noisy guitars, this song might be heralding an upcoming album of the year candidate. You can listen to "Town Cryer" below. ISM Vols. 1 & 2 , the upcoming albums from Minibeast, can be pre-ordered via Kickstarter . The release seems imminent. For more on Minibeast, check them out on Facebook .

Somehow Peter Prescott of Mission of Burma and Volcano Suns has another band that I never knew about. Minibeast already released an album that I completely missed back in 2012, and they are currently at work on the follow up, Free Will. Based on a track from the upcoming album, "High Sea," Minibeast shares some common sonic ground with Mission of Burma, but with an added emphasis on the groovy side of things. It's basically the noise and dissonance of Burma but heard through a 60s surf groove, as if Frankie and Annette were punks. You can listen to "High Sea" below. Minibeast currently have a Kickstarter to help fund the final production of Free Will. You can get more information on that here . It should be out sometime in June.