If It's Too Loud...

Doing Anything Fun this Weekend? is a new feature here at If It's Too Loud... where we feature some live shows in and on the far outskirts of the Boston area. Our main rules are that they have to be reasonably priced shows that you can attend last minute. They'll feature If It's Too Loud... approved bands, and we'll provide event links when possible. If you're looking for last minute plans this weekend, we recommend: Friday, February 2 PonyBoy, Muzzins, Minibeast, and The Z-Boys at The Parlour, Providence, RI Princess Bleach, Miracle Blood, and Burr, DNB Craft Kitchen, New Bedford, MA Baabes, Salem Wolves, Sexx Fix, and Komodo Rojo at Deep Cuts, Medford, MA Recent History, Kid Gulliver, and Eyrie House Ruins at JJ's Tavern, Florence, MA The Wolff Sisters and Hush Club at The Press Room, Portsmouth, NH Saturday, February 3 Gut Health, Miracle Blood, Fox Canadian, Superjerk, and Berm at Hotel Vernon, Worcester, MA  Happy Little Clouds, Crow Follow, and Cold Expect...

I've long held the belief that bands in Western Massachusetts have a specific sound even if they're in different genres. There's just a Western MA "thing" that's hard to define, but once you listen to bands like Dinosaur Jr and And the Kids... long enough, it starts to creep in. Our newest Western MA discovery is Recent History. Their latest single, "What I Need," definitely has that Pioneer Valley sound. It sounds like mid 90's indie rock just as it started mixing with a more pop sound and before it started losing its edge to becoming pure pop. For Boston music fans of a certain age, it's going to remind us a lot of The Gravel Pit. But "What I Need" has a surprising amount of thrash and metal to it. Well... surprising until you realize that Recent History was formed by Glen Fant, formerly of Bang Camaro. Suddenly their sound makes perfect sense. You can listen to "What I Need" below. For more on Recent History, be sure to...

Photo courtesy of The New Year The New Year has long been one of those bands I keep meaning to get into, but always seem to get distracted. The main appeal to me is the inclusion of the criminally underrated Chris Brokaw on drums, even though I'm more familiar with him on guitar. Plus, add in Matt and Bubba Kadane from Bedhead, and you have the makings of an obscure indie rock supergroup. Luckily for me (and everyone else), The New Year have a new album coming out in April, their first in nine years! The first single off the new album, "Recent History," is this perfect blend of laid back but intense indie rock. It starts off with a long, 1:30 slowly building instrumental, to the point where you start to assume it's an all instrumental song. And then the vocals come in. It's not soft enough to be whispering, and it's a little too much singing to be speaking. If you came of age to the 90s indie scene, you're going to love this. Snow , the new album f...