If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Kara Donnelly Last month we brought you American Trappist's "Independence Day" since we loved the epic indie rock meets indie folk sound. They're back with "Losing My Grip," and for this one they dropped the folk side of things. When the band released this song, two of the bands they listed for "RIYL" were Sonic Youth and My Morning Jacket. Well... they nailed it. "Losing My Grip" has the aggression if not quite the noise of early Sonic Youth and maybe a bit of the psychedelia tinged with folk of My Morning Jacket. The closest I hear to actual folk is the way the instrumental ending seems to ramble on in the way a Bob Dylan song does. It's a surprisingly huge old school indie rock song that bridges the gap between two of indie rock's titans. It's something anyone who reads If It's Too Loud... needs to hear. You can listen to "Losing My Grip" below. The Gate , the upcoming album from American Trappi...

I've been a fan of Joe Michelini ever since I saw his previous project River City Extension at Newport Folk Festival way back in 2011. That project may have ended, but he has a new single out with his new musical project American Trappist. "Independence Day" is an absolutely epic indie folk song. It starts off with this laid back intensity that builds so quietly that you can't even register it. Eventually it bursts into a powerful mid-tempo indie rock song. It's almost a Sonic Youth song in the way that it builds and then turns into a collage of noise, but without the feedback. Not many artists can evolve a song from a chilled out hanging out on the porch folkie to an indie rock rager, but American Trappist pulled it off magnificently.  You can listen to "Independence Day" below. The Gate , the upcoming album from American Trappist, will be out May 15. You can pre-order a copy via Bandcamp . For more on American Trappist, check out the artist's w...