Review – Aloud (Great Scott)
Allston Pudding
Show review
“…Aloud are an ambitious lot, and not in the sense that you might apply the word to Jellyfish or Benjamin Britten. As rock stars of the Olde variety, their currency is in hooks, verve, and vitality. They tour constantly. In a way which is alien to our take-it-or-leave-it culture of post-Pavement indie rock, they want to be heard. … With an attitude drawn directly from U2′s War, they’re a band not just playing for their private Nibbana, but for the communion between the stage and the people, the song and the listener.”
Mp3 of the Week: Aloud “10th Anniversary EP” — tonight @ Great Scott
The Boston Phoenix (Boston, MA)
Show preview
“…Aloud are Boston DIY defined. … Three albums… and endless tours zigzagging the country later, the heartbeat of Aloud celebrates 10 years of tunes tonight at Great Scott on a bill with Spirit Kid, Oranjuly, and Brooklyn’s the Wicked Tomorrow. …Raw, honest, and, in the end, a damn fine rock and roll band doing it on their terms.”
Two for the road
The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
Album review/interview
“Exile is a slow but powerful burn…. Layers of piano, euphonium, trumpet, and even a string section … create a multitextured template for songs that roam and veer from ruminative (‘Burning Bright’) to strident (‘Counterfeit Star’) to quietly harrowing and haunted (‘To Die at Sea’).”
Aloud – The Cash and the Pearls
Ryan’s Smashing Life
Song premiere
“[Aloud has ] the kind of dynamic that is impossible for a music critic, indeed any music lover, not to respect. …All that became even more clear over the last twelve months, a time period which saw lead vocalists/guitarists and newlywed songwriters Jen de la Osa and Henry Beguiristain craft the album, Exile, their best material to date, tour the country on a shoestring budget and push creative boundaries.”
Dog Ears Music: Volume Forty
The Huffington Post
Album review
“…Ardent indie-rock quartet [Aloud's] high-energy female and male vocal leads are ear-catching, and their melodies sink in.” (Phil Ramone)
Aloud at the Metro Gallery in Baltimore
Driftwood Magazine (Baltimore, MD)
Show review
“A year later, on a little jaunt down the east coast in anticipation of the November 1st release of their new single ‘The Cash and the Pearls,’ the band seems to have taken the middle road between the two extremes, pumping post-punk fury into the songs from Exile and adding sophistocated softer textures to their back catalog. Aloud’s live sound is simple and classic: lived-in harmonies from Henry Beguiristain and Jen de la Osa, crashing guitars, and a no-nonsense rhythm section.”
Anniversary Show Crush: Aloud / Spirit Kid / The Wicked Tomorrow / Oranjuly
Boston Band Crush
Show preview
“… [It’s] cliché to say it; but damn, time flies. Having seen them countless times over the years, we’re always struck by the level of energy and enthusiasm that they bring to their live performance. The songs are layered and carefully crafted to begin with, meticulously penned and practiced to perfection. When it’s time to play live, the quiet and unassuming duo of Henry Beguiristain and Jen de la Osa explode in a torrent of riffs and soaring vocals, playing off of each other in a way that only comes from being bandmates for such a long time.”
Aloud-er than bombs: The Exile era gets kickstarted with a party in the Fens
The Boston Phoenix (Boston, MA)
Show review
“Imagine getting married, selling off all your random material crap, and heading out on tour? Aloud are living the dream. ‘Instead of buying a house, we’re touring cross-country,’ says de la Osa, laughing.”
Aloud – Exile (CD)
NeuFutur Magazine
Album review
“Down to members Jennifer de la Osa and Henry Beguiristain, both who share vocal and guitar duties (and occasionally pick up the bass or play piano or glockenspiel), the band turns in their strongest effort yet with Exile, their third release.”
7 ½ of 10 stars
Aloud – Exile
Stereo Subversion
Album review
“…a studied, measured grace is fully explored on tracks that hinge on exposed vocals and carefully crafted lyrics. …The plunge into slightly new depths is a mostly successful one and proves that this northeastern duo deserved to be followed.”
Aloud – Exile
DigBoston (Boston, MA)
Album review
“Jen de la Osa and Henry Beguiristain have made a name for themselves with the searing vocals and straight-forward rock efforts of 2008′s Fan The Fury. With Exile… Aloud has delivered a stunning, multifaceted opus, proving that Beguiristain can do more than bust guitar strings and de la Osa is hardly just another girl screaming into a microphone.”
Aloud
Performer Magazine (National)
Cover feature
“Aloud’s cycle has been buoyed from the beginning by their superb songwriting and performing skills. Jen de la Osa is a dynamo on stage and on record. She’s a petite woman with a larger-than-life voice and her guitar playing seemingly has its own personality with all its side notes and pick-slides. Her vocals are one of the hallmarks of Aloud’s sound; powerful enough to blow the doors down, yet accurate enough to blow just the right doors down. Partner Beguiristain’s work has its own personality, one that counterpoints de la Osa’s bombast and raw power. Whereas de la Osa rides a chariot of blood and thunder, Beguiristain simply sidles up to your ear with an almost conversational style of lyric and melody.”
Aloud Turns 10
Red Bull Soundstage
Interview
“It’s pretty nice to know we’ve made it this far especially when a lot of the bands we grew up around have started to break up. … We’ve gone from this group of kids with no van and too many songs to a well oiled functioning touring band….”
Aloud (Friday March 16th…)
Wardenclyffe Gallery (Austin, TX)
Album review/show preview
“And as if maintaining focus on one creative project for a decade isn’t impressive enough, they’ve also done several national tours (opening for bands such as The French Kicks, Mando Daio and Flatfoot 56), and have released three albums, ‘Exile’ being the latest. … I’ve listened to ‘Exile’ a few times now during this week’s unexpected heavy rains, and I think it is a great record — compelling, at once moody and decadent, richly arranged and well-produced, it contains many stories that feel half-viewed, perhaps through smoky glass, as of lives only partially understood.”
Aloud
Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME)
Song preview
“[Aloud ] create a unique blend of folk and rock. Don’t let the folk fool you. It’s more in the voice than in the actual music. You can hear the likings of Carole King to Joan Jett when Jen de la Osa steps in front of the microphone. The same can be said when Henry takes the lead, his vocals cutting through and pulling you in with a clearness that is missing in most of the rock n roll you listen to today.”
Aloud – Garfield Artworks
Pittsburgh Music Review (Pittsburgh, PA)
Interview
“‘Mainly we’d like to continue making records and hoping they’re better than the previous as well as playing as many tours as possible. Recording and touring means we’re working and we like to be busy.’”
Aloud – Off Broadway
Eleven Magazine (St. Louis, MO)
Album review/show preview
“Favoring introspection over rock, lyricism over bombast, the new (and better) production retreats from the space Aloud used to occupy. It is lush but reserved. The album patiently navigates moody and desperate waters, cresting opportunistically on songs like ‘Counterfeit Star’…. The Aloud of Exile is no less engaging than before; the evacuated space doesn’t create distance from the band, but instead invites you to join in the dialogue. Expect Aloud to be as up-close as ever, but even more intimate.”
CD Review: Aloud – Exile
Atlanta Music Guide (Atlanta, GA)
Album review
“Beguiristain now gently strums on his guitars and mandolins, and de la Osa demonstrates that her voice is as beautiful as it is raucous. With Exile, Aloud have redefined themselves as a moody and melodic [group ].”
Duo Shares Songwriting, Singing Duties
Journal Santa Fe (Santa Fe, NM)
Interview/show preview
“Aloud has been placed on numerous critics’ ‘it’ lists, but Beguiristain says the group’s focus is elsewhere. ‘We try not to pay attention to a lot of the critics,’ he said. ‘We’re just trying to make music the way we want to.’”
Aloud Boils Down Sound
Amarillo Globe News (Amarillo, TX)
Interview/show preview
“‘We usually include a lot of loud rock ‘n’ roll,’ said band member Henry Beguiristain. ‘But this time, we started with the basic elements, an acoustic guitar and vocals, then added only what we thought was absolutely necessary to the sound of the song.’”
CD Review: Aloud – Exile
Salt Lake City Weekly (Salt Lake City, UT)
Album review
Exile is “…an album of expansive, orchestral pop, and as finely tuned as the production might be, it still relies on the distinct boy/girl harmonies of de la Osa and Beguiristain to succeed. And it does.”
Indie Takeover: One CD and Two seven-inchers
Reviewer Magazine (San Francisco, CA)
Album review
“Aloud are nothing if not an original sounding band: there’s nothing ‘retro’ about them, even if they use regular instruments for the most part and don’t create all the sounds with a computer program they still crank out some fresh, new material that stands up on its own.”
An appealing musical smorgasbord
The Sun Herald (Southern Mississippi)
Album review
“Exile is the most sophisticated, experimental album Aloud has recorded… Lovers of layered, lovely old-style pop will enjoy this one.”
4 stars