If It's Too Loud...

Britt Daniel of Spoon Photo by Ken Sears As one of the announcers said, Saturday at the Green River Festival was a marathon. I got there early for Lily Seabird and stayed late for Spoon. It was over ten hours of diverse music, from Americana and folk to cumbia to indie rock to experimental music. It was absolutely exhausting, in the best possible way as I tried to take in everything possible. Here are my highlights from day two! Lily Seabird, Backporch Stage I've been trying to see Lily Seabird live for almost three years now, and the Green River Festival finally let it happen. My expectations were high, and she and her band blew them completely away. I had meant to watch half of her set and then head over to Dean's Beans Stage for the second half of The Animeros, but I was transfixed by Seabird's set. Live she seemed to lean into her more indie rock side with folk elements. It was kind of like if Nirvana or Sonic Youth decided to try out Americana. Lily Seabird set the bar...

The Beths Photo by Ken Sears The Beths are one of our favorite and most consistent bands we've discovered while doing If It's Too Loud... Every album they've released since 2018's Future Me Hates Me has been stellar, and filled with killer song after killer song. Every time they come around, they're on a bigger stage than the time before, and they truly deserve all the attention they've been getting. This week they played their first ever Providence, RI show, and brought along fellow New Zealanders Phoebe Rings. The first time I saw The Beths was back when they played Atwood's Tavern in Cambridge. Just to show how far they've come since then, that stage wasn't much bigger than the rug singer/guitarist Elizabeth Stokes stood on at Fete Music Hall. What's best about The Beths' success is that they're still the same band. While their sound has evolved over the past eight years, you could take any song from this year's Straight Line Was a...

It's just starting to get uncomfortably cold here in New England, so we're already starting to look forward to warm temperatures. Plus, warm temperatures means festival season, and Green River Festival has given us something to look forward to in June! Their 2026 edition will take place June 19-21 at Franklin County Fairgrounds with another fantastic line up. The headliners will get the most attention, with the neotraditional country of Charley Crockett, indie rock veterans Spoon, and experimental rockers Geese. We're thrilled for the undercard of this one, with many favorites playing like The Beths, Kurt Vile & The Violators, Wednesday, Lucius, The War and Treaty, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Folk Bitch Trio, Ratboys, Sunny War, Lily Seabird, and Tre Burt! Plus, there's plenty for us to discover in the next eight months as we get ready for the festival! Three day passes for the 2026 Green River Festival are on sale now. For tickets and more information, check out the ...

Photo by Annabel Kean For their latest single, New Zealand's The Beths have released "Mother, Pray for Me." This is a heartbreaking ballad consisting of Elizabeth Stokes' vocals and guitar with just the slightest hint of organ. It's a deeply personal song for Stokes, made obvious with how intimately the song comes across. It truly feels almost confessional, and it's quite simply beautiful. The Beths are most known for huge little indie rock gems perfect for bopping along to, but "Mother, Pray for Me" is quite the opposite. Stokes' vocals and lyrics are right up front on this one, and I can't imagine it any other way. Elizabeth Stokes says of her latest single: “I cried the whole time writing it. It's not really about my mother, it's about me — what I hope our relationship is, what I think it is, what it maybe actually is, and what I can or can't expect out of it.   “My mother is a first gen Indonesian immigrant, and very Catholic....

Photo by Frances Carter We've been huge fans of The Beths for years now, and we're obviously thrilled to being you new music from the New Zealand indie rockers. Today is one of those thrilling days as the band has released a new single, "No Joy." This fits right into the indie rock meets pop sound that we've always loved from The Beths. It's catchy with lyrics and hooks that are just begging to be sung along to. It does show a little bit of a new sound from the band, with the jerky feeling of post-punk and some New Wave-esque moments as well. "No Joy" may in fact be the most fun song about the numb feeling from taking an SSRI that we've heard in ages. The Beths' bandwagon has been pretty packed for quite some time now, but we've been enjoying our time on it and wouldn't trade for anything. Singer/guitarist Elizabeth Stokes says of her band's latest single: "It's about anhedonia, which, paradoxically, was there both in the...

Photo by Frances Carter We've been heartily on the bandwagon of The Beths for a while now, and adore their version of pop-focused indie rock. They're back with new music, and while "Metal" continues with everything we love about the New Zealand band, it also sees them branching out in a different sonic direction. The new songs sees them fully diving into the world of jangle pop, but with an interesting little folk-adjacent twist. The song is completely endearing, and is sure to win over any stray fans they may not have captured yet. Despite how jangly the song is, there is something organic about the song that keeps "Metal" almost landing in the roots music category. Plus, Elizabeth Stokes' vocals and harmonizing have never sounded better than they do here. Elizabeth Stokes says of her band's latest single: “In some ways ‘Metal’ is a song about being alive and existing in a human body. That is something I have been acutely aware of in the last few ye...

Towards the end of Modest Mouse's headlining set on Saturday night, Isaac Brock commented that he can normally ignore about half of the bands during a festival, but In Between Days just kept making him want to watch every band from the very start of the day. I ended up having the same experience. When I looked at the schedule, there were some bands I wasn't that familiar with or hadn't been able to get into previously, so I figured I'd have some downtime to casually eat some food from the food trucks, or play some free classic arcade games at the pop-up arcade, but instead for ten hours (ok, at one point I did stop to shove a quesadilla in my face for five minutes) I was just blown away watching band after band after band! I got there a couple of minutes late, and Quincy's own Gypsy Moths were already rocking the Arbella Insurance stage. Their classic Boston garage rock set the stage for the festival perfectly without sounding anything like any of the other bands on...

Photo by Frances Carter Recorded during the sessions for last year's phenomenal Expert in a Dying Field , "Watching the Credits" was left off that album, but luckily The Beths have decided to release the song as a standalone single. "Watching the Credits" is an indie rock power pop song that barrels along for it's three minute run time. The song is about frontwoman Elizabeth Stokes' habit of learning about movies without watching them. What's phenomenal about this song is how cinematic it is for a three minute pop song. It's almost done in three acts with a build, a climax, and an ending. It even has some strings just to tug at your emotions. If it isn't my imagination coming up with this concept, "Watching the Credits" is a wonderfully clever song that is quickly becoming one of my all time favorites from The Beths. You can listen to "Watching the Credits" below. For more on The Beths, check out their website . Upcoming t...

Artist : The Beths Album : Expert in a Dying Field Quick Thoughts : The Beths are the best indie/alternative rock band going right now. I said it because it's true. Experts is another incredible entry in a discography of what is now three great releases, and the band shows no signs of slowing down. There's not a bad song on here, and they know how to make a tight rock song. One of the best of the summer. Songs of Note : "Silence is Golden," "Knees Deep," "Head in the Clouds," "I Told You That I Was Afraid" Artist : Tysk Tysk Task Album : You're Sorry More Quick Thoughts : There's not much I can say about Tysk Tysk Task that Ken hasn't said better in his many live reviews and song highlights. What I will add is that the band walks a fine line between careful and chaotic in a way other bands would fail, and what it means is a memorable record that has all the dark horse qualities for an album that will stick with you...

Photo by Frances Carter At this point, The Beths releasing a fantastic indie rock/pop song isn't a huge story. The New Zealand band just keeps cranking out great single after great single seemingly at ease. But something is just different about their latest. "Knees Deep" leans a little more towards the pop side of things. It's a little bit cleaner and more polished than what we normally hear from The Beths, but in a fantastic way. "Knees Deep" is the kind of song that should be a huge crossover hit, and it still could be if there is any justice in the world. It's undeniably catchy with mesmerizing guitar work. If you've somehow avoided jumping on The Beths' bandwagon so far, this one will basically force you onboard. Singer/guitarist Liz Stokes says of the new single: “ I'm the kind of person who wants to go swimming, but takes like ten minutes to get all the way into the cold water, slowly and painfully. I hate this about myself, and am kind...