If It's Too Loud...

Artist : Black Honey Album : A Fistful of Peaches Quick Thoughts : Been a fan of Black Honey for a bit, but wow, this album just blew me away. Lots of great rock songs from top to bottom and really not a bad listen in the bunch. In a heavy release week, this would be worth your time, never mind being one of the best of the spring. Songs of Note : "Heavy," "Out of My Mind," "Rock Bottom," "Cut the Cord," "Weirdos" Artist : The Van Pelt Album : Artisans and Merchants Quick Thoughts : I wanted to highlight this album because it's a very interesting listen this week. The best way I can describe it is if The War on Drugs was influenced more by 1980s/1990s college radio. It scratches a very specific itch for me, and I'm glad Ken sent it over to me. Really enjoyed this one. Songs of Note : "Artisans and Merchants," "Grid," "Cold Coconuts" Artist : Angel Snow Album : Yesterday is Here Quick Th...

The Van Pelt are one of those bands I remember from my college radio years, but mostly more in name than anything else. But, that's the way it seems to be with legendary indie rock bands. The New York City band are set to release their first new album in twenty six years, and there's a new single we can check out from that album. "Image of Health" is just pure post-rock and post-hardcore. I seem to remember The Van Pelt getting lumped in with a lot of late 90's emo bands, but "Image of Health" is much more along the lines of Mogwai and Slint than The Promise Ring. This is spoken word over some of the most lovely indie guitar rock you've heard in years, and it sounds like it could have come straight off 1997's Sultans of Sentiment. It may be a little slower and more mellow than The Van Pelt were in their heyday, but not by much. Frontman Chris Leo says of his band's new music: "I'm a middle-aged man now. Straightforward, cutting to th...