If It's Too Loud...

Photo by The Company Film Even if I had never heard of The Concrete Boys and didn't know that three members also play in Powersolo, their new single would have won me over with the title. "Stop Flattening the Baby" is an unhinged garage rock meets punk (or "metapunk, as The Concrete Boys" call it) single that trods along at a medium pace. It's loud, it's noisy, and it's undeniably groovy. This reminds me of a more straight up garage rock version of Butthole Surfers or Ween, even if the title is reminiscent of Happy Flowers. I can't imagine "Stop Flattening the Baby" is going to appeal to everyone, but if you like this, it's going to burrow itself deep into your brain until you become a rabid fan of The Concrete Boys. I bet you can guess which one we are. You can listen to "Stop Flattening the Baby" below. Everything's Better Than You is due out April 18 on Crunchy Frog Recordings, and is available for pre-order here . ...

Powersolo is a rock and roll outfit out of Denmark I discovered opening for Heavy Trash way back in 2005. The project of Kim "Railthin" Kix just released a new single that isn't quite like what I expected. "She's a Trucker" features vocals by Phoebe Killdeer and is more of a freak out ballad than the normal high octane rock and roll we're used to from Powersolo. The new single is more along the lines of The Stooges' weirdo jam kind of songs, if they were more R&B inspired and were trying for a single and not just album filler. If anything, "She's a Trucker" is like a cross between 60's Stooges and Beck's "Debra." You can listen to "She's a Trucker" below. Jambalaya - X-Tra Spicy is due out May 5 on Crunchy Frog, and can be pre-ordered through Bandcamp . For more on Powersolo, check out the band on Facebook and Instagram . Jambalaya - Xtra Spicy by PowerSolo

I first discovered Denmark's Powersolo years ago when they opened up for Heavy Trash at the dearly departed TT the Bear's. Somehow, they slipped out of my mind until recently when I decided to look them up again. It was great timing since they are about to release a new EP. (Well, it says it's an EP, but it's two songs so it's more of a 7"...) The first song is "Backstab," and it's everything I remember loving about Powersolo. It's noisy and dirty garage rock that's still insanely fun and groovy as it possibly can be. This isn't slick early 2000's garage rock revival garage rock. This is the kind of garage rock actually made in garages in the 60's by young bands just trying to get it going, but will just be too weird for mainstream success. And it's glorious. You can listen to "Backstab" below. Transfixing Motherfucker EP will be out on Slovenly Recordings on February 8 and can be ordered here . For more on Po...