If It's Too Loud...

Another slow week. Artist : Laura Stevenson Album : The Big Freeze Quick Description : Newest album from a favorite here and elsewhere. Why You Should Listen : Laura Stevenson continues to pull together compelling record after compelling record. Overall Thoughts : The Big Freeze is ultimately an exercise in managing expectations. Stevenson comes from a punk background, she hit our radar with some great indie pop in “Master of Art,” and some of her best songs have been more upbeat and louder on a whole. This new album is very introspective and, in many cases, definitely isn’t shielding anything from the meaning or intentions behind the music. This does not make for a bad album; in fact, it’s a very good one. But my struggle, on first listen, was trying to balance what I want from Laura Stevenson compared to what this album is. This is more her Sea Change , in a sense, and it absolutely works (and the soaring harmonies alongside some stark instrumentation is just gorgeous), ...

A great way to get our attention is to include the phrase "Like Motorhead Covering The Hives" in your email subject line. That quote comes from NME, and it's about Norway's Wet Dreams. Wet Dreams is made up of members of FOAMMM, Warp Riders, De Marvells, and Death By Unga Bunga. When you see a band is named Wet Dreams, and they're being compared to Motorhead and The Hives, you pretty much know what you're going to get. "Bad Boy" is a big, loud rock song. It's a thrashy, distorted power punk song that leans a little more towards The Hives than Motorhead, but it's not quite as polished as The Hives. It's as if the polish has been worn off a little by excess use. Basically, it's impossible to not love this song. You can watch the video for "Bad Boy" below. The debut self-titled album from Wet Dreams will be out on March 29 on Black Pop Records. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on Wet Dreams, check them out on Faceb...