Haint Blue - "Bear the Burden"

Photo by Rachel Verhaaren

Baltimore's Haint Blue might be releasing the first great album of 2019. Right now we can only hear one song off of it, but "Bear the Burden" is great. First, we all love a great backstory for an album. Overgrown is about frontman Mike Cohn's ten year struggle to flee the fundamentalist faith he was raised in and then overcoming drug addiction. The backstory aside, there is "Bear the Burden." The single goes through phases while remaining a solid whole. There is something for everyone who likes Americana here. There is plenty of traditional instrumentation, but it's also a completely fresh and modern take on the genre. Haint Blue keeps it poppy enough for the mainstream arena rocking folk fans, but it's also just odd enough for anyone who wants some experimentation in their music. It's a brilliant all-encompassing song, and you'll be able to tell everyone that you started listening to them way back when.

You can listen to "Bear the Burden" below. Overgrown, the new album from Haint Blue, will be out on February 15. For more on Haint Blue, be sure to check out their website. Current tour dates are below the song.


Saturday 2/23 @ Frozen Harbor Festival, Baltimore MD
Monday 3/4 @ 49 West, Annapolis, MD
Friday 3/8 @ Dante's, Frostburg, MD
Friday 3/15 @ Metro Gallery Baltimore, MD (Album Release Show)
Saturday 3/23 @ Front Royal Brewery, Front Royal VA

Lewsberg - "Terrible"

Photo by Tommy Ventevogel

Rotterdam's Lewsberg are set to re-release their debut album, and since we've never heard it before, we can pretend it's brand new. One of the lead singles, "Terrible," would be called a slacker anthem if it was released 25 years ago. It has this incredibly laid back vibe despite having a quiet intensity. It just chugs along at it's own set pace, meandering slightly but not much. It reminds me a lot of Pavement meets DEVO. That would be until the guitar solo kicks in. The late guitar solo has the crazed energy/laid back feel of a J Mascis solo. Plus, with a opening line like "“I’m about to do something terrible, I’m about to do something nice," how more early 90's slacker can you possibly get?

You can watch the video for "Terrible" below. Lewsberg's self-titled debut album will be out February 1 on Cargo Records Distribution. For more on Lewsberg, be sure to check out their website.

Eerie Wanda - "Sleepy Eyes"

Photo by Raphael Irie

The newest single from Eerie Wanda isn't quite as lonely or dark as "Moon" is. Instead, "Sleepy Eyes" is almost boisterous and jubilant. Almost. "Sleepy Eyes" is decidedly more upbeat, and almost a dance song, if you can consider anything this minimalist and singer/songwriter-y a dance song. It certainly doesn't start out this way. It starts off with some insanely stark guitar work until Marina Tadic's vocals start. Slowly more and more instruments start meandering in, until you finally get an almost dance party. Almost.

You can watch the video for "Sleepy Eyes" below. Pet Town, the new album from Eerie Wanda, will be out January 25 on Joyful Noise. For more on Eerie Wanda, be sure to check out their Facebook and Twitter.

Forgotten Fridays: Whale - All Disco Dance Must End in Broken Bones

Forgotten Fridays is an occasional feature here at If It’s Too Loud... where we go back and find the lost records of our glory days. We played these on our college radio shows, put them on countless mix tapes, and then forgot they existed. We go back and remind you of their existence, and help decide if they were any good.

1998 was my first ever time at CMJ New Music Marathon, and my first ever show was a Virgin Records showcase with Gomez, Placebo, and Whale. Whale went on first. Singer Cia Berg was onstage with just one other member of the band playing keys. They performed their first song that way, and it being 1998 and all, it seemed pretty much right. A ton of electronica leaning bands in 1998 did live performances that way. It was pleasant and all, but I braced myself for a pretty dull 30-45 minutes. Then, a bunch of 80's metal looking dudes ran onto the stage, put on instruments, and rocked out the rest of Whale's set.

I had this in mind while listening to Whale's 20 year old album All Disco Dance Must End in Broken Bones. Whale aren't nearly as electronica as I remember them being. They definitely have a distinctly rock sound. Well, rock morphed by late 90's Britpop with the metal influence all Swedish bands tend to have. The album starts off much more fun and less serious than I remember with songs like "Deliver the Juice." It's immediately followed up by "Roadkill," which sounds like Portishead with all sense of groove eliminated. "Losing CTRL" has full on flashes of hard rock. That seems to be the story with All Disco Dance Must End in Broken Bones. It's by no means a bad album. But it just never seems to be able to fully commit to either being chilled electronica or full on rock. They're more interesting and fun when they let their metal flag fly, much like how their live show was. Unfortunately, metal wasn't very big in 1998 so they tried for more of an electronic sound. This leads to All Disco Dance Must End in Broken Bones just making you want to listen to bands that did that sound better.

Friday Freebie: SkyTigers - Disasterbation

Recorded over the past three years, the latest EP from SkyTigers tweaks their sound just a tiny bit. It's still loud, thrashy hardcore, but Disasterbation has a bit more of a rock 'n' roll sound that Appetite for Reconstruction didn't quite have. Even before I realized that the last song is a cover of "Ace of Spades," I felt that the entire EP sounded like a more hardcore version of Motorhead. Plus, there are some of my favorite song titles of all time included here: "Nobody Puts Baby in a Dumpster (Stillborn in the U.S.A.)" and "Keep Christ in Christmas (and Out of Rock n' Roll)." Sorry we're a few days late on that last one.

You can listen to SkyTigers's version of "Ace of Spades" below. The other songs are equally as good if not better. We just really love covers here. You can download Disasterbation for free on the band's Bandcamp. If you do download a copy for free, at least give them a like/follow on Facebook and Twitter.

The Weepies Cover Bruce Springsteen (on ukulele)

I've had a longstanding complicated relationship with Bruce Springsteen. I spent most of my life hating his music and dismissing it as overblown stadium rock. Then I discovered Nebraska and became obsessed. With Nebraska. I've expanded a bit with albums like Greetings from Asbury Park, but most of his work I just can't get into. I prefer Springsteen the folk troubadour and not Springsteen the stadium rocker.

This is why Born to Uke may be perfect for me. Born to Run is the epitome of Springsteen the stadium rocker, but Born to Uke has various artists limiting their versions of the songs from Born to Run with only ukulele, bass, vocals, and percussion. The first up is The Weepies with their take on "Backstreets." They strip it down to just vocals and ukulele, and the result is exactly what I want with my Springsteen. It's a down to absolute basics folk song without even a shred of pomp or huge rock star. This I can get into.

You can listen to The Weepies's version of "Backstreets" below. Born to Uke will also feature Born to Run songs performed by Sara Watkins, Emily Saliers of Indigo Girls, and more. All proceeds will benefit Little Kids Rock, which funds music education in underprivileged schools. For more on the album, be sure to head over to www.borntouke.com.

Burly - "Infinite Broken"

Photo by Irene O'Leary

The latest single from upstate NY's Burly is an interesting one. "Infinite Broken" is a hazy and almost lazy rambling little pop song that sounds like a primarily folk band trying their hand at jazz. I don't think you'll find a more laid back song this year. The song is driven by saxophone but has more stumbling stops (in the best possible way) than you could ever imagine. The mood of the song fits the lyrics as it is about a "...  long winter and of solitude decaying into loneliness." 

You can listen to "Infinite Broken" below. Self Titled Demon, the debut EP from Burly, will be out January 25 on Five Kill Records. You can pre-order the EP via Burly's Bandcamp. For more on Burly, check out their website. Their upcoming tour dates are below the song.


January 18 - Gug's - Glen's Falls, NY
January 25 - Troy Arts Center - Troy, NY
February 2 - Elixir 16 - Troy, NY
February 18 - The Low Beat - Albany, NY

Baabes - "Won't Be Back"

Boston's Baabes are back with a new single. "Won't Be Back" is just pure rock and roll, in that it's loud, fast, and sleazy. It's completely in your face garage rock with plenty of proto punk influence. This isn't the sheeny kind of garage rock that filled hundreds of "Rock is Back!" headlines in the early 00's. There isn't anything sheeny about "Won't Be Back." It's The Stooges meets The Lyres, but they somehow squeeze just the slightest bit of hooks in there to make it catchy and ever so close to being accessible. But, they stop just short of that so it's just about perfect.

You can listen to "Won't Be Back" below. For more on Baabes, be sure to check out their Bandcamp and Facebook.

Monday Mix: Jeff's Favorite Songs of 2018

Me: "Jeff, you gotta do the mix for Monday before Christmas.

Also me: "On it."

Also also me: "Hey, I liked a lot of songs this year. Gonna be hard to narrow it down to 30."

Also also also me: "Screw it, do 40."

Also also also also me: "Dude, you added 67 to the playlist."

Also also also also also me: "Fine, I'll try to cut it to 50."

Also also also also also also me: "There's no way I'm cutting 'The Hamilton Polka' from this."

So yeah. Here's 51 songs for the year. Shuffle and enjoy!

Friday Freebie: Sufjan Stevens - Song for Christmas

In what will most likely be our final Christmas post (unless Jeff has something up his sleeve), to use a cliche we saved the best for last. Or I received an email about this just this morning... Sufjan Stevens has been releasing amazing Christmas music for years now. Right now via NoiseTrade you can download his 2006 Christmas album Songs for Christmas. This album is 42 songs long, so this is quite the freebie this week! I'm going to assume any reader of If It's Too Loud... has at least a passing knowledge of Stevens's Christmas music, but if not, they are these brilliantly whimsical pieces of holiday music that can make even the Grinchiest among us want to cover every single part of your house with Christmas lights. 

You can download the 42 song Songs for Christmas right now via NoiseTrade. If you're still hesitant, check out "It's Christmas! Let's Be Glad!" below. For more on Sufjan Stevens, check out his website.