Shopping - "Why Wait?"

Back in May, we reviewed the new album from Shopping and Jeff commented that he was "... looking forward to what comes next." Good news for Shopping fans: The band just announced their second album, just over a month after the release of their debut. Why Choose is scheduled for release on October 2 on FatCat Records. You can already listen to the first single, "Why Wait?" I was a little hesitant based on how quickly after the first album this one will be, but 'Why Wait?" is a killer post-punk song in the vein of Gang of Four. It recognizes that sometimes less is more and a backbeat can be more danceable. 

You can listen to "Why Wait?" below. Shopping have also recently announced some US dates to coincide with the release of Why Choose. Check those out below the song. For more information, check out their Facebook and Twitter.


October 16 - Music Hall of Williamsburg, New York, NY
October 19 - Great Scott, Allston, MA
October 20 - The Monkey House, Winoosk, VT
October 22 - The Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto, Canada
October 24 - Subterranean, Chicago, IL
October 28 - 7th St Entry, Minneapolis, MN

First Listen: New Releases for July 10

The Friday New Release Era has begun!

Album of the Week

Artist: Adrian Younge and Ghostface Killah
Album: Twelve Reasons to Die II
Quick Description: A continuation of a thematic project between the Wu-Tang member and a soul musician.
Why You Should Listen: You like good rap music from established stars, you are into acts that take thematic chances, you still believe that the Wu Tang Clan ain't nothin' to... well, you know.
Overall Thoughts: In the last year, we've seen a lot of solo work from Wu Tang members, and this one is just as good as any of them. I keep waiting for them to stumble out of the gate, but, 20 years later, they still have it.
Recommendation: As the album of the week, it's a must-listen. As a 2015 rap album, it's a must listen. As an interesting release it's a must listen.

Artist: EZTV
Album: Calling Out
Quick Description: More throwback power pop in a debut album.
Why You Should Listen: You love throwback acts, you're not bored by the retro phase we're in.
Overall Thoughts: For me, this is nothing entirely special, but it's also a pretty good listen on a whole.
Recommendation: Give this one a listen if you're into the sort of thing this is trying to pull off.

Artist: Heather Woods Broderick
Album: Glider
Quick Description: Second album from a "post folk" artist with ties to Horse Feathers and Sharon Van Etten.
Why You Should Listen: You like your folk music a little left of center, you can tolerate some weirdness within your folk songs.
Overall Thoughts: While this has a lot going for it, it does have its moments where things just don't really work. They're more than offset by some truly solid songs, but as a cohesive whole it's ultimately an uneven attempt.
Recommendation: In a slow week release-wise, there's more than enough here to like and warrant a listen.

Artist: Owl City
Album: Mobile Orchestra
Quick Description: Pop electronica with a big dollop of Jesus.
Why You Should Listen: If you've liked Owl City's output and overtly Christian overtones don't bother you.
Overall Thoughts: There is nothing wrong with religious music, and Owl City's beliefs have not been a secret. Still, on a mainstream album this overt, combined with what is frankly a tired sound coming from the band, this doesn't leave much to like.
Recommendation: Skip it.

Artist: Civil Twilight
Album: Story of an Immigrant
Quick Description: Well-produced indie rock with shades of Muse and Grizzly Bear.
Why You Should Listen: More thoughtful, deliberate rock music is your style and grand musical gestures do not make you think of prog rock.
Overall Thoughts: I've been a fan since "Letters From the Sky," and Civil Twilight's brand of epic rock music hits a good chord with me. This is another solid release from a band that's been very consistent over the years.
Recommendation: It may not be for everyone, but it's worth a listen.

Artist: Little Boots
Album: Working Girl
Quick Description: Ambitious-sounding third album from the Europop starlet.
Why You Should Listen: You like well-crafted pop songs that feel mainstream but can still surprise you.
Overall Thoughts: It's hard to not compare Little Boots to her early work like "Remedy" and "Stuck in Repeat," and Little Boots's biggest struggle is fighting for placement against the similar acts that, in many ways, are doing more interesting things. It's a good, possibly great, album, but, outside of the aesthetic, it fails to truly stand out.
Recommendation: An obvious listen, but the true question will be its longevity.

Artist: Veruca Salt
Album: Ghost Notes
Quick Description: A reunion album from the 1990s alt-rock band.
Why You Should Listen: You recognize how awesome and underrated Veruca Salt were in the 1990s, "Volcano Girls" was a mixtape staple for you.
Overall Thoughts: It's great to have Veruca Salt back. The downside to this album is that it never quite hits the peaks you want it to. It feels restrained and missing that final gear that would bring it into overdrive. A number of good songs rescue this one, and while I'm not as down on this as Ken is (who called it "boring"), I ultimately wish this album was just doing a lot more.
Recommendation: Give it a spin, if only to find the pieces you like.

Artist: It Hugs Back
Album: Slow Wave
Quick Description: Dreamy indie rock/pop with hushed lyrics and a deliberate pace.
Why You Should Listen: You found dreamy indie pop really awesome a decade ago, you can appreciate the occasional 7+ minute song with long instrumental breaks.
Overall Thoughts: While I know this isn't the first It Hugs Back album I've heard, the band itself still feels new and fresh even if the sound doesn't. This is absolutely a "not for everyone" album, but it hits a lot of right notes for me, a person who loved this sort of thing during/right after college.
Recommendation: Fire this one up, and you'll know if you like it within the first two minutes.

Live Shows: Green River Festival, Greenfield Community College, Greenfield, MA 7/11/15

Rubblebucket
Photo by Ken Sears

Green River Festival is something I've been meaning to get to for years now and just haven't gotten around to. This year, I finally made it to the festival on Saturday, and I doubt I'll be missing it ever again. In its 29th year, it's quietly become western MA's prestige festival, drawing national and local acts. The festival is insanely well run, with a wide variety of food trucks numbering in the dozens, free water stations, and alternate activities besides just music. They had an arts and crafts area for kids, shuttle buses to bring festival goers to a swimming area, and hot air balloon rides. Saturday was sold out, but at no point did the grounds feel claustrophobic at all. There was still even room in the fields for frisbee games and kids to run around. It was also the only festival I've ever been to where beer wasn't just limited to a cramped tent way off in the corner. Beer was allowed everywhere you were. It's a small thing, but it just shows how laid back the entire event is.

But, let's get to the music. The first artist I caught was Charlie Parr on the Four Rivers Stage. I had never heard of Charlie Parr before Green River, and I'm really glad I have. Hailing from Minnesota, he's one of those folk/roots artists that perfectly captures the authenticity of the style. The performance was just him on guitar or banjo, but the songs felt fully fleshed out with a full band even though he was only accompanied by his own foot stomps. 

Polaris
Photo by Ken Sears

I was too old for The Adventures of Pete & Pete when it first aired, so I don't have the same nostalgic feelings many others in the audience had for Polaris, who served as the band on the show and performed the theme song. Luckily, Polaris are a fantastic 90s indie band in their own right. They do sporadic performances, and Green River was one of their few 2015 shows. Fronted by Mark Mulcahy, who sounds like a cheerier Lou Reed, the band played some of the best songs you would ever hear on a kid's show, including "Hey Sandy," the show's theme song, and "Summerbaby." Even if you have no nostalgia for 90s kids shows, Polaris stands up purely as a fantastic jangly 90s indie band. If they do any more touring after this, you'll want to check them out.

Langhorne Slim & The Law
Photo by Ken Sears

Next I headed up to the Green River stage for Langhorne Slim & The Law. Langhorne Slim is one of the premier artists in the blossoming folk/punk scene, dancing along the border between poppy folk songs and harder edged rock. It's a great mix, and Langhorne Slim is a natural frontman. The songs bounced between the energetic, upbeat pop of "The Way We Move" and harder rock songs. He was the first artist of the day that truly pulled the crowd in. It's easy to see why: The man puts on a great show. For a band that typically plays 500 seat venues, they're making the transition to festival audiences quite well. Expect huge things from them soon.

J Mascis
Photo by Ken Sears

J Mascis is a western MA legend, and he made his Green River Festival debut on Sunday. A solo J Mascis show is always interesting, because you never quite know if you're going to get purely acoustic or if he's going to pull some pedals out and bring the Dinosaur Jr noise to the show. It started off pretty and acoustic, but during Dinosaur Jr's "Little Fury Things" he brought out a wall of noise that many in the crowd did not expect, especially during a solo performance. It's always fun when a solo artist can be the loudest/noisiest of the day, but with Mascis, you expect it. He was joined by Polaris's Mark Mulcahy for some of his set, which makes sense considering Mulcahy plays and sings on Mascis's 2014 album Tied to a Star. He also played a cover at his wife's request so that the audience would have at least one song they recognized. Ironically, it was the one song he played that afternoon I didn't know.

Lydia Loveless
Photo by Ken Sears

Unfortunately I wasn't able to catch all of Mascis's set because I had to head down to the Four River Stage for Lydia Loveless. Our obsession with Loveless is well documented on this blog, and I was thrilled to finally see her live. Live she's even harder to pigeonhole than her albums, careening between country, rock, and punk at a breakneck pace. Her band includes a heavy metal bassist and a noise rock guitarist, which adds to her whole sound. She joked about being so accustomed to playing tiny clubs at night that she wasn't used to seeing the sun and didn't know how to handle the large space of the festival. It did show a bit, but her just rolled out of bed look and attitude just fit right into her whole sound and mystique. Songs like "Really Wanna See You" and "Wine Lips" might work best in a bar around midnight, but she still put on enough of a show that new fans swarmed the merch table immediately after.

Back on the Green River Stage, we caught the rest of Booker T. Jones' set. Booker T is obviously a legend, best known as the frontman of Booker T. & The MG's. The man turns 71 later this year, and hopefully the younger bands caught his set, since you never would have guessed his age. Playing mostly funk and soul covers ("Respect," "Purple Rain," Hey Joe") Booker T. put on a workshop of how to last into your later years as a touring musician. He's the type of artist I might never have seen outside of a festival. Everyone at Green River on Saturday is better off having seen him play.

tUnE-yArDs
Photo by Ken Sears

tUnE-yArDs are the hardest to describe artist at the entire weekend of Green River. Led by Merrill Garbus, a New England native and alumni of Smith College in nearby Northampton, MA, it was a hodge podge of bizarre, mostly made up of human voice and drumbeats. Garbus stayed behind a hybrid drum set and keyboard for her set, joined by a guitarist, drummer, and background singer. She utilized a ton of loop effects, and barely stood still for her set. One highlight was "Gangsta" from 2011's WHOKILL, using looped vocals for the songs's police siren effects. She is one of those artists you don't think could translate live, but after seeing her, live might be the only way.

Rubblebucket
Photo by Ken Sears

Rubblebucket were one of those bands I never truly gave a shot to, dismissing them as a jam band. I have no idea where I got that idea, but holy crap was I wrong. Sure, they have some jam band elements, but they are another indescribable sound, mixing dance with ska and indie rock. Playing after dark, they had the good fortune of adding illuminated hot air balloons as a backdrop adding to their heavily visual show. Singer and multi-instrumentalist Kalmia Traver almost never stopped moving while she danced, sang, jumped around, played keyboards, saxophone, jumped into the crowd, and expelled more energy than my six year old at a birthday party. They had an insane light and smoke show during their entire set, with highlights being "Carousel Ride" and "Came Out of a Lady." At one point they brought an entire armada of aliens on stage to dance. At another the trumpet player rode an audience member's shoulders throughout the crowd. It could have all been dismissed as gimmicky, if Rubblebucket weren't so good.

The Green River Festival may be done for the year, but they will be back in 2016. Join their mailing list on their website to make sure you get in for next year. It's been the best kept secret in the New England festival scene for decades. It won't be for much longer.

The Rubs - The Rubs Are Trash

Hailing from Chicago are The Rubs. Lead by Joey Rubbish (who also plays all the instruments on The Rubs' upcoming debut album, The Rubs Are Trash), the band has this great blend of trashy garage punk that borrows extremely heavily from 1960s pop fronted by an upbeat Elvis Costello. Basically, it's a dirty version of Get Happy. This is really evident in "Until He's Mine," which sounds like the most lo-fi band to never come out of 1964. "Round We Go" is much faster, but still keeps the fun energy of the band, while "What Did I Do?" brings the fuzzed out noise in a big way.

The Rubs Are Trash is due out July 27th. You can order it off The Rubs' Bandcamp. To get some more information on The Rubs, check out their website, Twitter, and Facebook.

Friday Freebies: Langhorne Slim & The Law - The Way the Spirit Moves

We haven't done a Friday Freebies for a while, and this one comes at a great time. Just as we're gearing up for this weekend's Green River Festival, one of the artists playing on Saturday has a free release on NoiseTrade. Langhorne Slim & The Law have a new album coming out (The Spirit Moves, due out August 7th), but in the meantime you can download The Way the Spirit Moves for free! The Way the Spirit Moves contains three songs from the upcoming album as well as three songs from 2012's The Way We Move. It's a perfect primer if you're just discovering Langhorne Slim's energetic folk rock, or if you've been a fan but just want a preview of the new album. Either way, it's free!

You can download The Way the Spirit Moves on NoiseTrade. For more information on Langhorne Slim & The Law, head on over to his website. If you're in the New England area, there are still tickets left for this weekend's Green River Festival in Greenfield, MA.

J. Allen - "Bring Her Back Home" b/w "L.B.C."

Brooklyn shouldn't be known for country-folk, but it might be after listening to the new release from J. Allen. "Bring Her Back" home is absolutely brilliant without breaking new ground. Allen shows the vulnerability of Vic Chesnutt (which I don't say lightly) but skewing more towards the center. It's the rare release that can satisfy fans of Dylan, Jason Isbell, and Of Monsters and Men. "Fall Out of Love" is a simple epic that brings back memories of southern school damces in the 60s I can't possibly have. Do yourself a favor and check out this release.

For more information on J. Allen, head on over to his website. You can also check out the full release of "Bring Her Back Home" on Bandcamp. There's also a live version of "Bring Her Back Home" for your enjoyment below.

Benjamin Booker Covers "Walkin' After Midnight"

Photo by Ken Sears

Covers are one of our favorite things here at If It's Too Loud..., so The A.V. Club's AV Undercover is cherished every season. This week they bring us Benjamin Booker (my personal favorite album from last year) performing Patsy Cline's absolute classic "Walkin' After Midnight." It's a perfect cover, staying completely true to the feel of the original while adding his own touch to it. You get classic country mixed with Booker's blend of Detroit protopunk Delta blues. If you don't love this, you have no soul.

Watch Benjamin Booker's performance of "Walkin' After Midnight" below. Head on over to The A.V. Club to see all of their AV Undercover performances, and Benjamin Booker's website for more information on him.

David Wax Museum Launch an Indiegogo Campaign

Photo by Todd Roeth

David Wax Museum are a blog favorite here, so we feel like we should let you all know about their freshly launched Indiegogo campaign. They're looking to help fund the completion of their new album, Guesthouse, along with major fall touring plans. They raised $35,000 in 2012 when they were funding Knock Knock Get Up, so that is the goal this time around. They have the standard reward tiers with digital downloads, signed cds, t-shirts, etc. You can also get some pretty cool unique rewards, like a private Skype concert, VIP live experience, a song written for you, and either a duo or full band house concert (weddings aren't allowed, so there goes my dream of having them play my wedding). 

To check out all the details of the campaign, head on over to their Indiegogo page. For some more information on David Wax Museum, there is always their website.

Salem Wolves - "More Weight!"

Giles Corey was convicted of being a witch during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. While many victims were hung, Corey was subjected to pressing since he refused to enter a guilty or innocent plea. He was stripped naked, laid in a pit, and had heavy stones placed on boards on his chest. For two days the sheriff asked him to plead guilty or innocent to witchcraft. Corey replied with only two words each time: "More weight." More rocks were added each time, until Corey died after two days of this torture.

Leave it to Salem Wolves to immortalize Corey's last words in song. "More Weight!" is a groovey hard rocker that reminds me of Death From Above 1979 as a garage rock band. It's fast and heavy like 60s hard rock. It's a fitting tribute to America's first rebellious badass.

If you're not too old to be able to drop everything and go to a show last minute, Salem Wolves are playing at TT the Bear's in Cambridge tonight (Tuesday). Also, TT's closes forever in 18 days, so get there and say goodbye while you can. If you can't make it tonight, they also play KOTO in Salem, MA Friday night. For more information on Salem Wolves, check out their Facebook and Bandcamp. Listen to "More Weight!" below.

Quarterly Report: (Some) Albums We Missed

Here are some of the highlights of things we missed over the second quarter of 2015.

T. Hardy Morris - Hardy and the Hardknocks Drowning on a Mountaintop: T. Hardy Morris had a great solo record a few years ago, stepping out from his bandmates with the great Dead Confederate. This album...well, I don't know. It's super weird and strange, and I don't even think I have a lot of good things to say about it. It feels like a sort of project/thematic project that just doesn't click for me at all. If you're a huge fan of his, give this a listen, but you might want to let this one slide.

Pomplamoose - Besides: Internet darlings Pomplamoose offer up a new collection of covers and what might be originals/original takes. I feel like they've been around forever, and I still love a lot of what they do, but taken as a full set as opposed to one-off videos can sometimes feel a little grating or tiring. Throw this one on shuffle, maybe.

Fist City - Everything is a Mess: Fist City comes from Europe with a loud, angsty punkish debut that reminded me a lot of Savages in a few ways. Like a lot of modern punk, this may not be for everyone, but this one definitely stuck with me as I listened to it. It is really an album that deserves the buzz it's been getting, though, and if bands like Savages are your thing? You'll dig this.

Leon Bridges - Coming Home: Everything about this album screams 1970s-era soul, and the album is a definite throwback to the Sam Cooke/Otis Redding style. This is undoubtedly a good thing across the board, and the only danger is the assumption that it may be improperly pigeon-holed or overlooked by other throwback-style pop acts today. This deserves some time in your rotation no matter what your tastes tend to trend toward.

Cory McAbee - Small Star Seminar: Cory McAbee was the lead singer behind The Billy Nayer Show, a weird artsy music project I loved. Small Star Seminar is a similarly artsy/musical project with some songs that really remind me of Billy Nayer as well as some of the directions that group was going. I'll be honest - unless you're a Billy Nayer fan or have some appreciation for off-the-beaten-path art stuff, this is probably going to just be weird for you, but if you, like me, were wondering what The Billy Nayer Show was up to, give this a listen.

Zella Day - Kicker: I'm kind of obsessed with this fairly straightforward pop album. It's not the same sort of dark pop that seems to be taking over, but there's enough interesting stuff to set it apart from a lot of the more mainstream stuff. Essentially, listen to the single "Hypnotic." If that doesn't grab you, nothing will.

Fawn Larson - The Sway: I wrote about how I fell in love with one of Fawn Larson's songs a while back, and I can say that the album is just as good. A solid mix of folk and Americana, a bit of bite to go with the bark, and a beautiful voice means this is arguably one of the better releases of the year so far. Mandatory listen.

The Barr Brothers - Alta Falls: I didn't know of The Barr Brothers until Kathleen Edwards raved about "Never Been a Captain" on Twitter. The whole EP is a nice, soft, ethereal folky piece, and is really worth a few minutes of your time.

Alison Wonderland - Run: Alison Wonderland is a DJ that has her first album, and it's a pretty great pop record with a lot of dance music sensibilities. I'm partial to "Cold," myself, but in what has been a glut of pop/dance records as of late, this does have a tendency to stand out at times. I do hope this takes off for her.

Striking Matches - Nothing But the Silence: Striking Matches appears to be another attempt to capitalize on the Civil Wars-sized hole in the music industry right now. This duo rocks out a little more, but the album, while solid, still feels more than a little too polished on a whole. It doesn't meet expectations, but if you can put those aside...

Clem Snide - Girls Come First: A decade ago, Clem Snide was a favorite band of mine. 7 years ago, my wife and I used "There is Nothing" as our first dance at our wedding. I don't really recognize what this band is doing anymore, unfortunately, and even if I could be fine with the changes, I simply don't find it compelling anymore. Give it a listen if you're curious, but...

Looper - Offgrid:Offline: Getting a new Looper album this year was a pleasant surprise, and it is both reminiscent of their old work while continuing to sound at least a little bit up with the times in the indie/electronic world. "Oh, Skinny Legs" is still the early highlight, but the interest level here might be more based around whether Looper existed beyond commercials for you a decade ago.

Chastity Belt - Time To Go Home: Chastity Belt has a reputation of sorts that this album seems to want to shake. More indie pop than punk, less profane and more thoughtful, this is an interesting listen on that accord but not always a fun or good one. I've listened to this a few times now and I still can't quite pinpoint how I feel about it, but it's definitely one to perhaps give a shot.

Dead Sara - Pleasure to Meet You: Dead Sara is really a sort of throwback rock band in a sense, but none of it really works. I don't feel like the tongue is in cheek, and it just comes across as weird and ridiculous to me. Others who enjoy straightforward mainstream rock might find some interest in this, but for me, it was a solid pass.









Also recently released and perhaps of interest:

* Kehlani - You Should Be Here
* Vultures - God Damn
* Caravan of Thieves - Kiss Kiss
* Villagers - Daring Arithmetic
* Doldrums - The Air Conditioned Nightmare
* Shinyribs - Okra Candy
* Miami Horrors - All Possible Futures