If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Santiago Dietche Despite having five members, the latest single from Austin's Sun June is a very quiet, introspective song. The instrumentation on "Everything I Had" is both sparse and lush, focusing mostly on Laura Cowell's vocals. It's a charming modern folk/indie pop song, with the music truly complementing and structured around Cowell. It's one of those songs that sounds upbeat and sunny, even though you know in your gut it's just not. Laura Cowell says of the new song: "'Everything I Had' is about feeling stuck and wishing you could go back in time. It misses when things were new and easy and full of promise.  It feels very 'Austin' to us, because things change here so quickly and it's  easy to fall into a rut and feel like the city is moving on without you. Friends are always leaving town too, so sometimes it's fun to think moving to LA or New York would solve all our problems. It's also fair to say that the ...

Photo by Santiago Dietche  Most of us are excited for 2021 simply because it's not 2020. Now we have another reason: Sun June's upcoming album! "Karen O," the first single from the Austin, TX band's new album, is a masterpiece of the whole indie/folk thing going on right now. It's a quiet, near dream pop song, that slinks about calmly, sucking the listener right in. It very slowly builds and builds into a crescendo that never quite pays off, but you're kinda glad it never did. It's a gorgeous song that will have you desperate for 2021, finally for a good reason. The band explains the new song:  "' Karen O' is one of the only songs we've written that takes place over the course of a single night, and we hope we captured what it feels like when you're completely worn out but can't bring yourself to go home and go to sleep. It's about the kind of night you let heartache swallow you whole, and you find yourself heading straight...

Photo by Gum Country Considering how much we've loved The Courtneys here at If It's Too Loud..., it's safe to say we're going to want to hear any other musical projects its members put out. Gum Country (featuring Courtney Garvin) has released a second single off their upcoming debut album, and we're in. "Tennis (I Feel Ok)" is a synth heavy lo-fi track featuring fuzzy guitars. It's impossibly upbeat without being saccharine. It's a cheerful indie rock track, which can be a rarity, but is more than welcome right now. The sheer joy of the song reflects the subject matter. It's about Garvin discovering how much she loves tennis. As she says: "Kinda goofy, but in all honesty my relationship with tennis is so meaningful to me on a spiritual level. It’s my meditation practice. The game makes you present, you're repeating movements, and finding a rhythm. And it’s so creative. I think all athletes are artists. Plus you get to be outsid...

Photo by Gum Country Gum Country (which features Courtney Gavin of The Courtneys) describe themselves as "harsh twee." Listening to their debut single, "Somewhere," they're dead on with that description. "Somewhere" has the shimmering small sound of bands like Yo La Tengo and The Magnetic Fields, but also brings in these fuzzy, buzzsaw guitars you would never associate with this type of music. It creates this interesting and unique yet familiar sound. Courtney Gavin explains the song:  "I wrote 'Somewhere' a couple years after moving to LA. It's about leaving a place that you are comfortable in and landing in a strange new one, and discovering what parts of your identity remain and which were left behind. The first line I wrote was ' haven't felt this way in a while, I can't think straight can't hide my smile, i guess this is gonna be my life for a while ', and then it was just a process of unravelling that ...