Ones to Watch
The New Loud are a three-piece from Milwaukee who describe their sound as "Bombast. Melody. Half-Electronic. All Electric." and quite upsettingly for this reporter, there aren’t really any better combination of words that describe their sound any better. The main reason for this is that their music is all over the place.
'Can’t Stop Not Knowing' is 6-track EP, that opens out with a song that would send any person trying to pigeon-hole the band into a fixed genre into a tailspin. ‘Don’t Dance’ starts with thrashing guitars and bubbling computer effects, before pulling back the tempo and the metal sound like a mad dog on a leash to let the song twist into Delphic-style electronica. It’s confusing, but also very likeable, giving a new lease of life to an occasionally ‘emo’ sound (including fist-pumping gang chanting), with a 80’s synth-sound that is so popular right now.
Elsewhere on the EP there is a capable cover of Radiohead’s ‘2+2=5’, which is an interesting slant on the song, but not really an improvement on the original (and I’m sure The New Loud weren’t expecting it to be so). ‘Heaven’ and ‘The Short Way to Get You’ are both similar takes on the explosive start but don’t set the same standard, but all the same The New Loud are ones to watch.