If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Jason Thrasher Just when you think it's impossible to be more excited about a new solo song from Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers, turns out the song also features Waxahatchee. "The Forks of Cypress" is exactly what we want and expect to hear from a Patterson Hood solo song. It's much more quiet and folky than the vast majority of what Drive-By Truckers have released, but this is going to land right into what you love if you're already a fan. Of course, as with anything Hood does musically, "The Forks of Cypress" doesn't quite fit into any specific category. At first listen, it seems like a fairly standard and straightforward alt-country meets folk song, but the more you listen the more you start hearing. We can't wait to hear Patterson Hood's first solo album in twelve years, especially after hearing "The Forks of Cypress." Patterson Hood says of his latest single: “ The Forks of Cypress a real place, a few miles just n...

The Green River Festival is one of our favorites of the year. It always seemed to slide under the radar no matter how great their line up has been, but the past few years have seen it get national attention. They've announced the initial line up of their 2025 edition, and this one is certain to make Green River a destination festival. Headlining the 2025 Green River Festival are indie rockers Mt. Joy, Australian phenom Courtney Barnett, and the already legendary Waxatacheee! They also have current indie favorite MJ Lenderman and the intriguing pairing of Julien Baker and TORRES! Aside from that are other If It's Too Loud... favorites such as Kathleen Edwards, AJ Lee & Blue Summit, and Merce Lemon. As always there are bands we're not as familiar with, but we have seven months to do our research and become enamored with new favorites! The Green River Festival will take place June 20-22 at Franklin County Fairgrounds in Greenfield, MA. "Plan Ahead" packages are n...

Artist : GIFT Album : Momentary Presence Quick Thoughts : A psychy, fuzzy affair that stood out in the early goings this week. This debut checks a lot of specific indie boxes for me, and the result is a truly interesting effort. A great listen, and one worth the time in a busy week. Songs of Note : "Gumball Garden," "Pez" Artist : Plains Album : I Walked With You a Ways Quick Thoughts : Plains is a new roots project from Jess Williamson and Katie Crutchfield/Waxahatchee, and it's great. It's an honest homage to Americana without feeling overdone, and if you didn't know the personalities aligned with this you'd probably think Plains is the Next Big Thing. Don't miss out on this one, it's absolutely one of the best of the week. Songs of Note : "Summer Sun," "Problem With It," "No Record of Wrongs" Artist : PVA Album : BLUSH Quick Thoughts : I can't say I knew who PVA was prior to this week, but this...

A new song from Superchunk is enough to get excited about. Now imagine if Superchunk brought in more indie rock royalty to help them out with the song. That is exactly what is happening with "Erasure," the new song from the Chapel Hill legends. Not only have they brought in Stephin Merritt (The Magnetic Fields, Future Bible Heroes), but they also have Waxahatchee's Katie Crutchfield, both supplying backing vocals. That in and of itself is beyond thrilling, but the song is also fantastic just on it's own. It's that brand of bouncy but just noisy enough indie pop rock that Superchunk pretty much invented. When you do something as brilliantly as Superchunk do this sound, why screw with a perfect formula? You can listen to "Erasure" below. Superchunk's new album, What a Time to Be Alive , will be out February 16, obviously on Merge Records. It can be pre-ordered here . For more on Superchunk, check out their website .

Album of the Week : Artist : Waxahatchee Album : Out in the Storm Quick Description : Latest from the indie singer-songwriter. Why You Should Listen : Katie Crutchfield has improved with every album under the Waxahatchee moniker, and this is her best yet. Overall Thoughts : I don't know how to describe this, even now, because Waxahatchee has always filled its own little nook in the indie world. Trying to compare it to anything else is a little bit of a challenge, and that's fine - at its core, it's a unique indie listen, and this is no different. But this album also gives us songs like "Silver" and "Never Been Wrong" that speak to a positive evolution in her sound that just works for me. I can't recommend this enough, and I hope it has some solid staying power. Recommendation : Easily the best of the week. Artist : RAC Album : EGO Quick Description : Turntablist/DJs continue their pop ways. Why You Should Listen : They've traditio...

Not the greatest week... The Mountain Goats - Beat the Champ : On the surface, this album should be my favorite thing in the world, combining The Mountain Goats with professional wrestling. The unfortunate truth is that the album peters out really quickly, with the high points being "The Legend of Chavo Guerrero" and "Foreign Object," and the rest being kind of unmemorable. I may have gone into this with higher expectations than I should have, but this is an album I wanted to love and barely like at this point. It's unfortunate. Say Lou Lou - Lucid Dreaming : Say Lou Lou (formerly Saint Lou Lou) is the project of the twin daughters of the lead singer of The Church from back in the 1980s. Lucid Dreaming is sort of the low-key electro-pop I love, and the album is generally good but never seems to take that leap into something greater throughout. I've liked what I've heard up to this point, and the album isn't bad at all (especially in a b...