If It's Too Loud...

I'm not sure if it's exactly a cover when the original singer is singing the entire song, but when legendary rockers The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs bring in the legendary Cherie Currie for a version of The Runaways' "Cherry Bomb," how can we not pay attention? I'm going to assume we all know the original iconic song, and The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs nail the song perfectly. This is just no nonsense garage rock and roll mixed with OG punk rock in the best possible way. If you think you're going to like this cover, you definitely will.  Cherie Currie says of The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs: "I love the Cheetahs version of 'Cherry Bomb.' I met Frank and Dino early on, liked them from the start, and have stayed friends ever since. Frank Meyer has turned me on to so many memorable gigs, sessions, and people during our three decades of friendship. He is an exceptional player, performer, singer and song writer. A selfless human being that I am so pr...

Photo via Facebook You might have noticed the drastic difference in sound between the indie folk of Tysk Tysk Task's excellent 2020 album   Everybody's Worried About It  and the singles they've released this year that are more indie grunge. The Lowell band's latest single, "Ocean Now," seems to be a bridge between the two sounds. The new single starts off more light and dreamlike, with melancholy surf guitar. As beautiful as the song is, there is something quite mournful about it. Sometimes there is beauty in pain, and "Ocean Now" reflects this. With all the intense noise in previous singles "Rosegold" and "Colors," it's easy to forget how captivating frontwoman Samantha Hartsel's vocals can be. With this new single, Hartsel's vocals are right up front and the focus of the song. And then the crushing noise comes in, all while keeping the mournful quality of "Ocean Now" intact. Hartsel's fuzzed out guitars...

Photo by Johnny Corona Jr Whenever I write about ska punk, I always expect to get some sort of backlash, but I never do. As reviled as the genre is in some circles, it could be because most current up and coming ska punk bands have this great DIY feel. They're certainly not doing it because it's the hip trend, but because they love the music. Our latest discovery is Codename: Rocky. The Southern California based band (because of course they are) has released a new single, "Silos." This new song has all of the horns and fun that you need in a ska song, but Codename: Rocky have a little bit of an edge to them that you might not expect. This is while still having a strong classic pop punk and emo sound. "Silos" could have this great juxtaposition because of the socially relevant subject matter embedded in a fun sounding song. If you want your ska punk to have a little bit of grit along with the bounce and shine and would love emo if it wasn't traditionally ...

Photo via Facebook It's not every artist that could pull off an instrumental, banjo only song for their latest single, but most artists aren't Nora Brown. The seventeen year old banjo prodigy has released a version of "Wild Goose Chase" that is just her on banjo, and the result is stunning. Just Brown's playing is completely captivating. Somehow with just banjo the song is heartbreaking and haunting, completely sucking in the listener the way most artists fail to with a full band and vocals. It feels kind of corny to say, but "Wild Goose Chase" is a story told through just a single instrument. Nora Brown is set to have a long career, and we can't wait to see where she goes from here. In a Facebook post, Nora Brown says of her new single: "Classic #virgilanderson track. A pretty regional tune. In the liner notes of his record, Virgil said he first heard this one as a teenager while at a logging camp. This one sometimes goes by Lost Gander."...

Photo by Mass Bass Media Boston's Luxury Deathtrap have released a monster of a single with "Evolve." "Evolve" is a dark, moody alt-rock song that slowly burns for its six minute run time. It's a little too loud to truly be a power ballad, but it's at least power ballad adjacent. It's the kind of song that is such a slow burner that you almost don't even realize when it has erupted into a truly epic burst of noise, at least until it slows back down. "Evolve" is like a less arena ready version of Placebo. This is such a huge sound for a relatively new band that we can't wait to hear more. Guitarist Nicholas McGowan says of the new song: “‘Evolve’ is a song that centers around growth and tells a story of a person who has found themselves in a proverbial hell and has to grow to get out. I often write songs that reflect my experience and project it on a character but it always comes back and slaps me in the face. I take an experience an...

To celebrate hip hop's birthday, Irish collective Stylistic Murder commissioned legendary MCs KRS-One, AZ, and O.C. on the song "Represent the Real." The song is a perfect tribute to hip hop as an artform. It has a ton of references to the old school days of hip hop (including record scratches and classic hip hop samples) but it doesn't sound like a throwback song. "Represent the Real" is a modern song that pays tribute to the past. Plus, any time we get a new verse from KRS-One is something to celebrate.  You can listen to "Represent the Real" below. For more on KRS-One, check out his Twitter . You can find AZ's Twitter here , and O.C.'s here .

Artist : The Vandoliers Album : The Vandoliers Quick Thoughts : We've been fans of The Vandoliers for a while, and this latest album is yet another great rootsy effort. They're so good at what they do in so many ways that it's difficult to find much fault in it, but it's just such a fun, classic sounding listen in many regards that it's difficult to find much fault in it. If you like the country flavor of things, give this a listen. Songs of Note : "The Lighthouse," "Bless Your Drunken Heart," "I Hope Your Heartache's a Hit" Artist : Dead Horses Album : Brady Street Quick Thoughts : Dead Horses have been around for a while, but I'm new to them. This album impressed me over and over again, and I loved so many songs from it - it's the sort of listenable folk that should be more popular than it is, and I don't know why it took me so long to discover them. You will fall in love with this album, I'm pretty cert...

When I first heard about the Courtney Barnett curated Here and There Festival, I knew I wanted to attend. Courtney Barnett putting together a travelling festival with a revolving group of artists playing? When I saw our local one was being held at Mass MoCA in North Adams, which is one of my favorite festival venues, and was going to be one of the larger all day ones, and also included Hana Vu, Faye Webster, The Beths, and Lucy Dacus, all of which are artists I'll go see any time they play in the area? How could I miss this? Despite having a logistical mishap on the way and missing Hana Vu, I was in great spirits. Besides the amazing musical line up, that was one of the great joys of Here and There: Everyone was happy. There was no aggression from everyone, everyone was nice and polite to each other, and everyone was just thrilled to be there. Even in the photo pit the vibe was just chill and friendly. I overheard two young women saying they drove twelve hours to be the...

Photo by Vy Pham Cincinnati, OH's Bailey Miller has a unique take on the electronic/ambient musical genre. Her latest single, "222," is a laid back sonic soundscape of odd noises and her vocals. Miller keeps a much more organic sound than you typically hear with electronic music. A lot of the instrumentation sounds more acoustic and folk than computer generated, which gives "222" a more organic feel. It almost lands more in the experimental folk category, but not quite. As beautiful as Miller has made this song, it's still a challenging listen at times. It's great to hear the beauty of experimental music and not just the noise. You can listen to "222" below. Still Water is due out September 2 on Whited Sepulchre Records. The album can be pre-ordered here . For more on Bailey Miller, check out the artist on Instagram . Still Water by Bailey Miller

On a fairly last minute whim, I ended up heading down to Pawtucket, RI to see Tysk Tysk Task at the News Cafe. Sure, this would be the... fifth (?) time I've seen them since April, but Samantha Hartsel and Danni Gannon just keep improving with every show while still tinkering with songs each and every time. If I had a free Friday night, how could I miss it? Opening the show was Car Girlfriend. They had a very raw funk meets metal and alt-rock sound. Some songs were almost pure funk while others were almost pure metal, with other songs being nearly every step in between. Plus, with vocalist Garrett Hopkins mostly rapping during songs, it reminded me of a very, very early Red Hot Chili Peppers. Not many bands can pull off the party band vibe while still blasting an angry song called "Cop Killer" (not a Body Count cover, by the way), but Car Girlfriend pulled it off. Next up was JVK, which I can't tell if it's a solo project or a band based on their social media. JVK...

Photo by Harry Sklans Chico Romano, the New Jersey based artist formerly known as Professor Caveman) has released a new single under his new moniker. "Who Said" doesn't quite sound like anything else being made in 2022... or really any time at all. If I was forced to choose a decade, I'd go with the 1970's, but that's mostly because "Who Said" has a strong 70's funk meets Motown R&B feel. It's also fused with Tropicalia and vintage soul, with the whole thing giving off a bedroom pop texture. Chico Romano has crafted this wonderfully classic and vintage jam that still retains a modern indie/DIY vibe. Chico Romano says of the new single: "Have you ever been mistaken for somebody else? Chico tells his tale of love and confusion in this fantastical prog-funk ballad." You can listen to "Who Said" below. Vol. 5 is due out October 7. For more on Chico Romano, check out the artist's Bandcamp .

Photo via Facebook We're fans of beabadoobee here at If It's Too Loud... Pretty sure Jeff is the bigger fan as I'm still pretending I don't love pop, even Bea Laus' blend of alt-pop. But even the most curmudgeonly aging Gen-Xer won't be able to resist beabadoobee's cover of The Sundays' iconic "Here's Where the Story Ends." Recorded for SiriusXM's Alt Nation, it's just beabadoobee's vocals and two acoustic guitars, and my dear lord... this is just dreamily perfect. I'm not sure if beabadoobee is doing it purposefully or not, but her voice almost perfectly matches Harriet Wheeler's on the original, right down to her inflections. The best part about this is The Sundays might get a little resurgence as The Kids go and check out the original. You can watch beabadoobee cover "Here's Where the Story Ends" below. For more on beabadoobee, check out the artist's website .

Photo by Jillian Clark While the previous single from Mightmare, the indie rock/dark pop project from Sarah Shook, was decidedly more indie rock, their latest single lean much harder into pop. "Easy" is a laid back indie pop song. It's relatively bare bones in the world of pop, and much more synth heavy than anything we've heard from Shook previously. It kind of sounds like an unreleased demo from one of your favorite 80's synth bands, recorded while they were just writing the song and before the huge hit sound was built into it. Of course, "Easy" is much more polished than a demo, but it has that stripped down and laid back vibe. Sarah Shook says of their new single and video: “[The single] is easily the most lighthearted song I've written. I felt like anime was the perfect way to tease the innocence and agony of exploring a new love interest.” You can watch the video for "Easy" below. Cruel Liars is due out October 14 on Kill Rock Stars, ...

Portland, ME's SeepeopleS is described as an "anti-genre alt project," and there is certainly no arguing that. The group, led by Will Bradford, has released a new single which might be one of the hardest songs I've ever had to describe. "Lots of People" is at times this oddly hypnotic psychedelic track that sounds like it could be at home at an electronic music festival and a jam band concert, and at others like it's more along the lines of alt-pop or alt-folk. And "Lots of People" keeps a strong indie rock feel all throughout its nearly six minute length. This is a batshit kind of song that never ends up in trainwreck territory despite its lack of genre... or inclusion of virtually every genre. You can watch the video for "Lots of People" below. Field Guide for Survival in this Dying World is due out October 7. For more on SeepeopleS, check out the artist's Facebook and Twitter .

J. Geils Band is just one of those bands I really need to make more of an effort to get into. Being a huge supporter of the Boston music scene, it's a deep shame that I haven't gotten more into them, especially considering how many artists I love and respect regularly cover their songs. The latest is Andrea Gillis, who has released a rollicking cover of "I Don't Need You No More." Gillis's version is a little more smooth and modern, and is mostly missing the 1970's grime. (Hey, in the 70's everything was a little sleazy, especially Boston.) You can feel the love Andrea Gillis has for J. Geils Band in this cover, and it sounds like it was an absolute blast to record. Peter Wolf, the writer of "I Don't Need You No More," gives his thoughts on Andrea Gillis's cover: “Andrea Gillis takes this Geils’ tune and rocks the house with it in a way that Etta James might ‘ve done…She kicks it high!” You can listen to Andrea Gillis's version of...