If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Micah E Wood Hailing from Washington D.C., Cal Rifkin formed in the Fall of 2018. The band's latest single, "Bummer Days," is a hypercharged indie rock meets power pop blast. It has the harmonies of The Beach Boys mixed with the discordant indie rock of Guided By Voices and Sonic Youth. I'll even dare to say there's some stealthy country trying to remain hidden in the background. It's already a great song, and then there is a somewhat chaotic indie rock burst towards the end that will undoubtedly win you over. "Bummer Days" comes charging at you like a train, albeit a fully under control and well regulated one. Songwriter Eric Grimm says of the band's latest single: "Bummer Days is the heaviest and darkest song we’ve put out. Sonically it is meant to capture the oppressive feeling of DC humidity and heat in the peak of summer. For me, different seasons and times of the year always trigger specific memories and emotions. The summerti...

Photo by Mitchell Wojcik It was recently brought to my attention that there are those amongst The Kids These Days that think that Nirvana and Green Day sound exactly the same. Obviously they are very, very wrong, but if you ever wondered what a mixture of Green Day and Nirvana would sound like, you simply need to check out the latest from Sharkswimmer. The Brooklyn post-hardcore band have released "Head is a Hideout" which expertly blends the pure grunge and punk noise fury of Nirvana with the more palatable pop punk and snotty attitude of Green Day. It's a little less screamy than Nirvana, but definitely has the buzzsaw style guitars. And it's a little more straight up punk. You can listen to "Head is a Hideout" below. Serenity is due out October 3 on Really Rad Records, and is available for pre-order here . For more on Sharkswimmer, check out the band's website . Serenity by Sharkswimmer

Montreal's Avec Plaisir formed in 2019 and released their debut album in 2022. They're already back with a new single, "Junji Burrito." The song starts off as mostly straightforward emo, but it slowly starts meandering into its own unique territory. There are odd little guitar riffs here and there and eventually some gang vocals that are strangely delightful that keep "Junji Burrito" from being emo-by-numbers. Emo and punk are typically forced to follow very strict guidelines, so it's refreshing to see a band like Avec Plaisir push back againt the genres' boundaries and make something this interesting. Vocalist/songwriter Sam Winsor says of the new song: “‘Junji Burrito’ is a song about a Dungeons & Dragons session and my friend Dave’s frustration with his cheese becoming soaked with water in the cooler from the summer heat. Wild stuff. Probably our poppiest song yet.” You can watch the video for "Junji Burrito" below. Active Listening ...

Photo by Chris Carraway Denver's Broken Record are making emo and pop punk for those of us who try to pretend we hate the genres. Their latest single, "See It Through," has this epic build to it, and it more akin to late 90's pop punk and emo than the early 00's commercial explosion. It has this driving force behind the song along with fuzzy, post-punk guitars that are surprisingly melodic. It's going to give you flashbacks of Sunny Day Real Estate, The Promise Ring, and Bleed American era Jimmy Eat World. It's a giant, soaring song that keeps its roots planted firmly in punk rock. You can listen to "See It Through" below. Nothing Moves Me is due out August 22 on Really Rad Records, and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp . For more on Broken Record, check out the band's website . Nothing Moves Me by Broken Record

Photo by Mitchell Wojcik There are a lot of bands currently wearing their 90's influences on their sleeves, butBrooklyn's Sharkswimmer are going the extra mile. Their latest single, "Glue," is a perfectly fuzzed out track mixed with some of the poppiest hooks around in 2023. The song starts off with a wall of shoegaze style guitar, but as it goes on the harmony and melody starts coming out more and more. It includes some slacker vocals that end up being surprisingly catchy. "Glue" slowly seems to morph into different styles as it goes on that are barely noticeable. It's like Sharkswimmer found a way to cram My Bloody Valentine, The Lemonheads, Foo Fighters, and Nada Surf into one song, and they did it quite well. You can listen to "Glue" below. Serenity is due out October 3 on Really Rad Records. For more on Sharkswimmer, check out the band on Instagram and Facebook . Glue by Sharkswimmer

Photo courtesy Grave Saddles Hailing from California, Grave Saddles describe their music as countrygaze, and if that doesn't immediately make you want to listen to it, I don't know what will. Maybe the title of their new single being "Willie Nelson Golfing Dream #3" will be enough? If that's not enough, it sounds like some bizarre countrified mash up of a completely hammered The Replacements with J Mascis providing some guitar solos. It's a rambling mess of a song by design that just kind of meanders around and will have you completely sucked in within its three minute run time. It's equal parts twang and fuzz, and we need to hear more sooner than humanly possible. You can watch the video for "Willie Nelson Golfing Dream #3" below. There You Ain't is due out May 23 on Really Rad Records, and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp . For more on Grave Saddles, check out the band's website .

"Queer ass emo" band from Cincinnati Cataracts have a killer new single that we can all relate to the title of. "Hanging Out With Your Cat" is the kind of emo song we love here. It's without a doubt an emo song, but it still has enough of a punk edge to it to elevate the song to the next level. There is also some interesting guitar work going on in the song that keeps "Hanging Out With Your Cat" compelling. This is simply just a great punk rock/emo song that you're going to want to keep in regular rotation for quite a while. Vocalist Christian Gehring says of the band's new single: "'HOWYC' was written at the first Cataracts practice with our current line-up. The lyrics for 'HOWYC' were written about my boyfriend Soren. The song was inspired by all of the time we have spent watching Breaking Bad with his cat, and the comfort that I feel from just spending time with him." You can listen to "Hanging Out With Your Ca...

The latest from Dead Bars is going to make you instantly feel nostalgic. "Hidden Track" is an ode to finding a hidden track on a new CD, which was always on of the most thrilling discoveries to those of us raised in the compact disc era. The Seattle band's song is this jangly and upbeat song with gruff melodic punk rock vocals that sounds like it would have fit perfectly as a hidden track. These songs were typically a little more cheery and/or laid back than the rest of the album and helped ease us back into the real world after an hour of Gen-X noise and angst. "Hidden Track" is a fun song soaked in nostalgia, both lyrically and sonically.  Vocalist John Maiello says about the band's new song: “Lyrically, ‘Hidden Track’ serves as a reminder that there might be something beautiful waiting for you if you keep listening, keep trying and keep dreaming even when you think you’re at the end.” You can watch the video for "Hidden Track" below. Sinkhole EP...

Portland, OR's Swiss Army Wife keep up the longstanding emo/pop punk tradition of referencing pop culture with a song title. "Aight, I'mma Head Out" also mixes early emo with modern emo and the edge of early pop punk. The song has a little bit of the discordance you would get with bands like Jawbreaker with the smoothness and pop hooks of early 2000's pop punk bands, but vocalist/guitarist Kade Dale is unleashing this scream that is almost too in your face to not be just a little grating... in the best possible way. This is the kind of emo and pop punk (with a smidge of hardcore) that even those that pretend that they're above the genres will be forced to like. Kade Dale says of the new song: “‘ Aight’ is the first song that this iteration of Swiss Army Wife wrote together. It started from the intro riff, something Will was just playing at practice, and we kinda spun it out from there. So it’s fitting that it ended up becoming this manifesto about who we are a...