If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Ken Sears Once I checked out Will Butler + Sister Squares' self-titled album last month, I knew I wanted to see them live. Luckily for me, their tour hit up the Boston area at Deep Cuts in Medford, a newer venue I've been meaning to check out. Sometimes things just align perfectly. Will Butler + Sister Squares occupy an interesting little niche of music. It's hipster indie rock that demands that you dance. It has this impossibly cool vibe that is going to appeal to an audience that wants to stand and stroke their chin while contemplating the music, as well as someone that wants to dance at a show. As soon as the band opened with "Arrow of Time," you knew both types of fans would be happy. Not many artists can pull off that style of music, and somehow no reaction in the audience seemed out of place. You had people barely bopping their heads next to people having a full on dance party, and neither looked out of place. Will Butler is a captivating indie fron...

Photo by Daniel Topete Toronto's Rachel Bobbitt is going to hit the sweet spot for a lot of our readers. Her latest single, "Clay Feet," is being described as bedroom alt-pop, but there is so much more to the song. There's a lot of the modern folk or near folk sound similar to what artists like Lucy Dacus and Julia Jacklin are doing, but Bobbitt is adding a little more of a rock edge to the song. The rock side and volume of the song is more apparent as it builds and builds, but it's always there lingering just below the surface. It may peek out from time to time in the form of some shoegaze style fuzz, but towards the end it fully erupts. And then there's Bobbitt's voice, which expertly draws you in, and may end up taking over the entire song for you. Rachel Bobbitt says of her new single: “ ‘ Clay Feet’ describes a love that is all consuming and desperate.  While the song details the gentle and delicate moments within a relationship, it also alludes to a ...