If It's Too Loud...

This past weekend saw the return of The Town and The City Festival to downtown Lowell over Friday and Saturday. With such a stacked line up and so many bands to see, it was impossible to see them all, or even every band you wanted to see. I tried to take in as much as possible, had to make some tough decisions (or had some made for me), and had a fantastic two nights of music. I started off my night at Smokehouse Tavern to see The Only Things, , Muck and the Mires, and Linnea's Garden. I've been listening to The Only Things for years now, but this was my first time finally seeing the Lowell band live. I missed a few songs of their set, but from what I saw they out on a great show. Just some solid punk and garage rock and roll played by a group of guys just having fun with it. They closed with a cover of The Replacements' "Bastard of Young," which fit right in with their own songs. Next up for me was Muck and the Mires. I'm always shocked that the Boston garage...

According to their Bandcamp profile, "The Only Things are a rock and roll band from Lowell, MA." That sums up their new album, Don't Get It. The album is comprised of eight songs that blend anthemic arena ready classic rock, the noise and distortion of indie rock, and garage punk. It's a loud and raucous collection of songs that is just pure fun. It's a combination of artists like Bruce Springsteen, Sebadoh, and Frank Turner. A song like "Heartbreaker" is a perfect example of this. It's a loud and fast mostly straightforward rocker, but as it goes on it gets weirder with off tuned guitar solos and seems to be crumbling into a disaster of discordance. But then it rights itself and just rocks out the rest of the way. Don't Get It  is the perfect rock album for those of us that love the unique sounds of indie rock but have a soft spot for anthemic arena rock. You can listen to "Heartbreaker" below. Don't Get It is available for the ...

Lowell, MA's The Only Things specialize in this giant slightly off-kilter power pop, and you're not going to get a better example than their new single. "Kiss Fans" is about being... well... fans of the band Kiss. It's the kind of song that definitely shows off their devotion to the band (and not just because they repeat "I wanna rock and roll all night" throughout the song) by mimicking their big rock sound. Of course, this is The Only Things here, so it's not exactly an arena rocker. "Kiss Fans" reimagines a Kiss that decided to go indie in the 90's and start over in dingy rock clubs. It's the perfect version of Kiss for those of us that aren't exactly Kiss fans. You can listen to "Kiss Fans" below. The song is available for the choose your price option on Bandcamp along with a cover of Poison's "Talk Dirty to Me" that is as straightforward as it is bizarro. If you choose the free option, be sure to fo...

It's been a little while since we've heard from Massachusetts's own The Only Things, but luckily for us all they're back with a new seven song album! You Can't Rush Genius is decidedly less pop punk than 2018's Dandelion . The title track still has the gang vocals in the previous album, but it's a little more 90's alternative. In fact, there is some dirty as hell twangy guitar in here, so it reminds me a little of Cracker's country side, but a really sloppy (in the best way) version of that. The next song, "Head Down," brings in some brattier pop punk vocals, but still a sloppy, grungy alt-country sound to the music. The remaining five songs keep to this bizarre style (with varying levels of obvious country influence) that shouldn't work at all, but somehow comes out perfectly in the hands of The Only Things. You can listen to "Could It/Couldn't" below. You Can't Rush Genius , the new album from The Only Things, is...

The one nice thing about discovering a band almost a year after their most recent release is that you don't have to wait as long for their next release. Back in March we told you about  Hitlist, the May 2017 release for The Only Things. While everyone in the know had to wait a little over a year for the follow up, we only had to wait three months! Dandelion  picks up right where Hitlist  left off. It's seven songs of loud, clever, and fun rock. A song like "Windows" is a bouncy, hard hitting song with some of the catchiest and most melodic gang vocals we've ever heard. It's right on the line of pop punk, but pop punk you won't be embarrassed to listen to. That seems to be the main theme of the songs on Dandelion : A lot of hard rock can be kind of cringe-worthy. But songs like "Now I Know" and "Arrows" don't end up that way. The Only Things have created an album that rocks, but not in a dumb, childish way. It's a rare thing...

Every now and then we stumble on a release from a band way after it's released, sometimes a year or so after it's been released. Most times I'll let it slide and let you folks know about more current releases, but sometimes I discover something that I feel that I need to tell you about. The latest release from The Only Things is one of those ones. Released back in May 2017, Hitlist  is a blast of good old fashioned alt-rock that the universe seems to be lacking these days. It's part The Replacements, part Archers of Loaf, and part Dropkick Murphys. It's hard rock without being overly aggro and alternative without being twee. If you've been missing guitar heavy rock that just rocks, you're going to love this EP. You can listen to "The Quiet Man" below. The latest (albeit almost a year old) release from The Only Things, Hitlist , is available now as a free download on their Bandcamp . As always, if you download this for free, at least give them...