If It's Too Loud...

We're obviously huge fans of Sarah Shook & The Disarmers here at If It's Too Loud..., and I've been gushing about Gorman Bechard's Lydia Loveless documentary for the past two years. Once I saw that his new documentary about Sarah Shook & The Disarmers was having its world premiere at the Boston Independent Film Festival, I knew I had to clear out my plans to check it out.  It's going to be pretty easy to draw comparisons to Who is Lydia Loveless? and What it Takes: film en douze tableaux  as it is to compare Lydia Loveless and Sarah Shook & The Disarmers, so let's get that out of the way now. Both are directed by Gorman Bechard. Both are about bands fronted by a female with mostly older male band members. Both play a version of alt country heavily infused with rock and punk. Both are on Bloodshot Records. The main difference between these films is structure and subject matter. Who is Lydia Loveless? had three acts: The first focused on Lydia hers...

Today is packed with highly anticipated album releases. For us, one of the most anticipated releases of all is the latest from Sarah Shook + The Disarmers, Sidelong . This morning I woke up to an email from NoiseT r ade offering me some free music from Sarah Shook & The Disarmers. Songs From Sidelong + More  includes three songs from Sidelong  as well as three songs from Sarah Shook's 2013 solo album, Seven.  We've been raving about the songs we've heard so far from Sidelong . Her deep down country sound mixed with punk and indie rock resonates hard for us. I had never heard anything from her solo album, so being able to hear a few songs from that release is welcome. Those three are more traditional alt-country. Sidelong is the album that sets Sarah Shook & The Disarmers up as a completely unique sound. You can get your copy of Songs From Sidelong + More  over at Noisetrade . After listening to these songs, you're going to want to get your own copy of Sid...

Photo by poprockphotography "The Nail" is the song for people who say they love real country. It's a rollicking, rambling song about a terrible relationship filled with lots of arguing and drinking that you know is going to end, you just don't know who will end it first. But it's fun and exciting, so you stick with it for now. As with all good country, "The Nail" is fun sounding but lyrically it's depressing as can be. Plus, it fits right into the standard definition of outlaw country since it's probably a little too rocking for country and a little too country for rock. Plus, Sarah Shook's voice, while it does have a great twang to it, is a little too rough for country and would probably fit in better with an indie rock band. But, for those of us raised on indie rock who slowly grew to accept and love country in adulthood, Sarah Shook & The Disarmers couldn't be more perfect. You can listen to "The Nail" below, along ...

Photo by poprockphotography Country punk is kind of a thing right now, combining the twang of country with the attitude of punk. But no one is quite doing the country punk (or alt country, or outlaw country) thing quite like Sarah Shook & The Disarmers. "Keep the Home Fires Burnin'" is definitely not mainstream country. There's far too much old school twang without it being old timey. The obvious comparison would be their label mate Lydia Loveless, but while Loveless has more of a punk attitude, Shook has this odd 90s indie rock sensibility. Think Guided By Voices going country. For quite possibly the first time, "Keep the Home Fires Burnin'" has guitars that both twang and fuzz.  Sarah Shook & The Disarmers' first record for Bloodshot Records, Sidelong , will be out on April 28. You can listen to "Keep the Home Fires Burnin'" below. To pre-order Sidelong , go to Bloodshot Records . For more on Sarah Shook & The Disa...