WHAT'S BEEN IN OUR INBOX! LOUD HOUND, HERMAN HITSON, GATHERERS, MARY HOOD, ASTROSAUR


Our inbox is over flowing again so we are letting you good people know exactly what is new and available out there in the music world. Today is a weird one, we got everything from the Blues and Folk to Metal and Post Hardcore. Overall I just want you good people to know how much shit I sift through to bring you the better stuff that we get. So I know we score a lot of the singles pretty high in this column but that's because we passed on hundreds of other submissions to bring you this batch. So love them, add them to your playlist, we're telling you, THIS-IS-THE-GOOD-STUFF. If you want to see your band on one of these lists, send us streaming music and as short bio. 

Band: LOUD HOUND

BloodMakesNoise Rating: 9.9/10

Genre: Indie Pop

What the band says they sound like: LOUD HOUND's Tommy Florio says, "'Magnet' is a love song. It is about falling head over heels in love, working together with your partner as team and helping each other out when you need them most. My relationship is constantly inspiring me to be better person." Influenced by artists of all genres and eras, such as Bright Eyes, Modest Mouse, Cage The Elephant, Beruit and Tame Impala, Loud Hound’s sound is not easy to pin down, yet Tommy's lo-fi guitar sound and lyrical topics seem to be the common denominator.

What we think they sound like:  I hear a lot of this bands influences like Beirut, The Shins, Modest Mouse and Bright Eyes but it's thrown into a blender with more modern sounding acts like Geowulf and MGMT to make an overall sound that is fresh and new but also feels classic and like you've heard it before. This has great melody and slick production, there is nothing I don't enjoy about this track. Like this is one of those tracks that is just infectious and can play on a loop anytime and it sets a serene mood. 

Songs to add to your playlist: Magnet

Band:  HERMAN HITSON

BloodMakesNoise Rating: 8.2/10

Genre:  Blues, Rock N Roll

What the band says they sound like:  The guitarist has lived a wild life, learning the blues growing up in Georgia and then starting in a doo-wop band; hitting the chitlin circuit with the likes of James Brown, Joe Tex, Bobby Womack, Wilson Pickett, Sam Cooke, Lee Moses; collaborating with his close friend Jimi Hendrix—and then mourning his loss; converting to the Nation of Islam and hanging with Muhammad Ali; getting clean from hard drugs; working as an actor in films; getting wrongly accused of murder; painting as well as performing; and opening for the Allman Bros with Lee Moses.

What we think they sound like:   Fuck Yes! This is the real deal honest to god blues from a man who's been around a long time. This is so good, this is what you get when you hone your craft for years. This is not the kind of thing a 20 year old writes, this is the kind of thing you write after the long journey to get established as somewhat of an icon. As Herman expresses "Let The God's Sing" it's just electric and is instantly classic. As with any aging performer his voice does sound worn on songs that are a little more upbeat like "Aint No Other Way" but the music is solid and the band he has backing him is stellar. 

Songs to add to your playlist: Let The God's Sing, Aint No Other Way, Back Door Man

Band:  GATHERERS

BloodMakesNoise Rating: 9.5/10

Genre:  Post Punk, Post Hardcore, Emo 

What the band says they sound like:  Gatherers possess all the attributes that so many bands making heavier rock strive to master and incorporate into their sound. The five piece effortlessly blend melody with dynamic and fluid movements between guitars and drums that push the speakers to their limits, and softer reflective interludes that further highlight the incredible range of singer Rich Weinberger’s vocals, pipes that might likely evoke Chino Moreno or an early career Jeremy Egnik. Today the band share the new single “gift horse”, which features vocals from Geoff Rickly

What we think they sound like:   At moments it's tuneless and chaotic and at other moments it's as driving with a late 90's Alt vibe in the vein of Failure or Sunny Day Real Estate. The screams of Geoff Rickly take me back to the "Waiting" album and that really seems to be the era Gatherers is striving for. At moments it has a groove like Fugazi but at other moments it's grinding and heavy like Thursday and other early 2000's post hardcore acts. I'm digging this band and I've heard the name but never properly sat down to check them out. It also has a real Deftones feel but more indie aesthetic than that. Enjoyed it immensely. 

Songs to add to your playlist: Gift Horse

Band:  MARY HOOD

BloodMakesNoise Rating:  9.7/10

Genre:  Indie Folk

What the band says they sound like:  Direct email from the band with no press release.

What we think they sound like:  This is really well done folk and unlike a lot of what gets called folk these days, this sounds written to be played on acoustic guitar as the first choice and not just like someone who can't put together a band strumming away. The picking patterns on every track are astoundingly great and the songs are contemporary but if you ask me to describe why I don't know if I can. It's a little bit like if Billie Eilish was a folk artist. Honestly almost the entire EP has played and I love every song. Light Pollution and Lake Sebago are the stand outs to me but there isn't anything on this that isn't really well done. The vocal is genuine and heartfelt, can't ask for anything more. On tracks like "Flicker" it's like the artist is sitting in the chair next to you playing her song, no bells or whistles, holding my attention with her voice and guitar. Not a lot of artists can do that. 

Songs to add to your playlist: Light Pollution, Come Back Earth, Lake Sebago, Flicker, Hourglass 

Band:  ASTROSAUR

BloodMakesNoise Rating:  8.2/10

Genre:  Metal

What the band says they sound like:  Somewhere between the late 1990s and the early 2010s, the rif largely disappeared from mainstream rock & pop. Its transformative power – the rif as a means to transport the listener into another dimension – became an art cherished only in the underground of rock and metal. One of the strong proponents of that transformative power is ASTROSAUR, an overlooked gem in the international heavy psyche rock and post- metal scene. The Norwegian power trio has been employing the rif as their principal mode of transport since their 2017 debut album Fade In // Space Out. Now, with the release of their third album Portals, ASTROSAUR are sounding more expansive and convincing than ever, delivering an intuitive exploration of the infnite powered by soaring guitars and surging grooves.

What we think they sound like:  This is what I appreciate about this, it's metal as fuck and complex like Slayer or DragonForce but without vocals. Metal vocals sometimes suck shit when they sound like some fat guy trying to eat the microphone. This goes from all out chaotic fast metal to a more serene Metallica-esque bridge that has intricate guitar work as the song builds back up half way through this 8 minute epic. The trippy HR Geiger-ish loop video along with it is great too. I feel like this is the kind of metal that also older metalheads might really dig because it's got melody and form. I have to say it's great that a band can write an 8 minute epic like this and not get repetitive, but instead take the song in all sorts of interesting places all within the span of one track. 

Songs to add to your playlist: Black Hole Earth

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