If It's Too Loud...

Doing Anything this Weekend? is a 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. And since we're in outdoor music season, these events are weather permitting. If you're looking for last minute plans this weekend, we recommend: Friday May 10 The Forest Effect, Ruin the Night, and The Magic City at Warehouse XI, Somerville, MA Sarah Shook & The Disarmers and Nicolette and the Nobodies at The Cut, Gloucester, MA Fishbone's Angelo Moore, Threat Level Burgundy, and The Agonizers at Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center, Greenfield, MA Margaret Glaspy and Ryan Lerman at The Stone Church, Brattleboro, VT BURP, WarGraves, The Downhauls, and GhostWaves at Thirsty First, Lowell, MA Saturday May 11 Walte...

Photo by Jillian Clark Mightmare, Sarah Shook's dark pop/indie rock project, has a new single we can check out. As with previous singles, "Enemy" is a complete change of musical direction that we're used to from Sarah Shook & The Disarmers. This is a dark and brooding song that somehow still ends up being more than a little bit pop. There's an interesting 90's alt-rock goes goth and modern alt-pop vibe with "Enemy." We've been huge fans of the Disarmers and everything they've put out, and while this is completely different it's great to see an artist like Sarah Shook branch out into an entirely new sound, especially when it's this great. Sarah Shook says of their new song: “When I started working on ‘Enemy’ I was thinking about how people can be so vindictive during breakups and how pointless it is. It got me wondering if a breakup somehow triggers something deeper in us psychologically, like a fundamental fear of being forgotten ...

Photo by Chad Cochran Last month we brought you "Talkin' to Myself" from Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, describing it sounding like early Tom Petty. It was more of a classic rock sound with some elements of country and New Wave. (You know... like Tom Petty.) Their follow up release brings back the country with a vengeance. If anything, "No Mistakes" might be the most country song that Sarah Shook & the Disarmers have ever released. This is the country from your youth, the kind your dad made you listen to on long drives. It sounds more like someone trying to update a Johnny Cash classic in the 1970's than anything released in this century. If that appeals to you, you're probably already a fan of this band. If you're not already, welcome to the bandwagon! You're gonna love it here. You can watch the video for "No Mistakes" below. Nightroamer is due out February 18 on Thirty Tigers. You can pre-order the album here . For more on Sara...

Photo by Chad Cochran It's been almost four years since Sarah Shook & the Disarmers released their last album Years. The band recorded the follow up in early 2020, but... we all know what happened there. In that time, the band has moved to a new label, and Shook has come out as nonbinary. The first single off the upcoming album also shows off a new sound for the band. While Sidelong and Years  were quintessential country punk and alt-country, "Talkin' To Myself" is much more straight up rock. Sure, there's a little twang to the song, but there's a lot more jangle to the guitars and maybe even a little New Wave thrown in there. It reminds me of early Tom Petty, which makes sense since it's combining straightforward rock with country and New Wave. It's the kind of tweaked sound that helps keep us excited to hear more from a favorite artist. You can watch the video for "Talkin' To Myself" below. Nightroamer is due out February 18 on Thir...