If It's Too Loud...

Artist : Snooper Album : Worldwide Quick Thoughts : Some great, great, GREAT power pop punk here. It's a whirlwind of sound that feels super tight from start to finish, doesn't take itself too seriously (example: their cover of "Come Together"), and you just come away from this feeling like they're a band that has found their spot and plan to occupy it for some time. A great listen this week. Songs of Note : "Company Car," "Hologram," "Worldwide," "Star 6 9," "Come Together," "Blockhead" Artist : Rocket Album : R is for Rocket Quick Thoughts : Ken sent this one over and this is a new act for me. Melodic indie rock, for sure, but will probably draw positive comparisons to Speedy Ortiz and the sort of 90s grunce / alt-rock that influences it. "Crossing Fingers" won me over immediately, but the whole album is worth your time. Songs of Note : "Crossing Fingers," "Another ...

Photo by Tanner Deutsch Of all the bands doing the 90's inspired alt-rock thing in 2025, we have a little soft spot for Rocket. The Los Angeles band has a new single out, and while it might have its roots in the mid 90's, "Another Second Chance" sounds like 2025. It's an incredibly catchy and infectious rock song that sounds like summer lingering on. It's reminiscent of the period in the 90's where grunge was starting to fade out and a more pop focused sound was taking over. "Another Second Chance" sounds like if Letters to Cleo had formed in southern California and not Boston. As poppy as the track may be, there is plenty of alt-rock distortion to keep everything interesting. Desi Scaglione (guitar) says of the band's upcoming album: “Recording the second half of the album eight months after the first half gave us a lot of time to think about what we were doing. We ended up re-recording three songs because we felt like we could just do bette...

Photo by Tanner Deutsch Rocket have been making 90's inspired alt-rock, but their latest single ups the ante on that sound. "Wide Awake" is a mixture of shoegaze fuzz and the more jagged style of guitars that made me love Sonic Youth. Singer/bassist Alithea Tuttle's vocals have a dreamlike quality suited to dream pop or shoegaze, which contrasts delightfully with the more aggressive parts of the song. Despite not truly sounding like a song made in the 90's, "Wide Awake" has so many elements of that decade to give you little bursts of nostalgia. Plus, the video for the song is like a cross between Blur's "Charmless Man" and Beastie Boys' "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)," in case you need a little more nostalgia thrown in. Rocket say of their new single: “R is for Rocket is about relationships, the most important part of life; relationships with your friends, your parents, your girlfriend or boyfriend, and most impo...

Photo by Jaxon Whittington Los Angeles' Rocket is comprised of friends that have known each other as far back as preschool, with the band forming while they were in high school. Their latest single, "Crossing Fingers," hearkens back to the alt-rock of the 90's. It's a giant rock song with huge guitars and drums, and vocals that do that 90's slacker thing perfectly. It's more along the lines of the mainstream side of alt-rock (think Veruca Salt's Eight Arms to Hold You ), but that's certainly not a bad thing, particularly when a song is this great. "Crossing Fingers" is hook heavy, melodic alt-rock banger, and if you have any nostalgia for the mid-90's, you're going to adore this one. Alithea Tuttle (vocals/bass) says her band's latest single... “... is the story of falling so deep into a partnership with someone and bearing the weight of the fear of messing it all up.  Knowing that changing for them would mean sacrificing your...

Photo by Holly Whitaker A lot of bands get compared to Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. Rocket are one of the few bands that actually deserve it. The Los Angeles band recently released "Take Your Aim," an absolutely huge alt-rocker. From the opening guitar squeal, everything about the song is huge. The guitars are epic, and the drums are monstrous. There's a fuzz throughout the entire song that makes it a little more Dinosaur Jr than Sonic Youth. The only real difference is that "Take Your Aim" is a little more radio friendly than those other bands. The pop hooks give it a kind of Veruca Salt sound, and we're certainly not complaining about that. Once you get to that guitar solo (?), you'll be completely won over. Alithea Tuttle (bass/vocals) says that her band's new song is about: “... the indignant response to feeling misunderstood or taken advantage of by someone but not being able to confront them about it.  It’s about a friendship that was built upo...