If It's Too Loud...

I've been a fan of Joe Michelini ever since I saw his previous project River City Extension at Newport Folk Festival way back in 2011. That project may have ended, but he has a new single out with his new musical project American Trappist. "Independence Day" is an absolutely epic indie folk song. It starts off with this laid back intensity that builds so quietly that you can't even register it. Eventually it bursts into a powerful mid-tempo indie rock song. It's almost a Sonic Youth song in the way that it builds and then turns into a collage of noise, but without the feedback. Not many artists can evolve a song from a chilled out hanging out on the porch folkie to an indie rock rager, but American Trappist pulled it off magnificently.  You can listen to "Independence Day" below. The Gate , the upcoming album from American Trappist, will be out May 15. You can pre-order a copy via Bandcamp . For more on American Trappist, check out the artist's w...

Someday I'll have time to do more than just new releases. With that said, here are some new releases! Will Butler - Policy : Will Butler is a guitarist for Arcade Fire, and this is, technically, his debut album, but it's really more a collection of songs he did for a project with The Guardian . It's not a coherent piece on a whole in that regard, but the sum of its parts is pretty good, with some decent songs interspersed within. Definitely a must for Arcade Fire fans, not a waste of time for the rest of us. Fences - Lesser Oceans : I looked this one up mostly due to the fact that I liked their first album, especially "Girls With Accents." This second album, well, I don't know. It's a little all over the place, there's a Macklemore guest spot, and there's not really a song that jumps out at me here. I'm not really sure, but this might be something to skip. Joe Pug - Windfall : It's always fun when Ken sends albums over that I wa...