Cate le Bon Joins Bradford Cox for Myths Series EP
I’ll admit, sometimes I’m a bit skeptical of the Mexican Summer Myths Series. They’ve brought together some brilliant artists, though I tend always adore 1/2 the union, and not the other…but not this time. This time its Cate le Bon and Bradford Cox. Really, this feels like a Cate tune with an outro from Bradford, if you’re going with the vocal performance alone. Still, don’t you want to fall in love with music? Cate’s voice has this crystalline quality, floating carefully; there’s this build in tension during the chorus that’s built around this perfect melody…particularly that woodwind instrument lurking (is it an oboe or a clarinet!?). Bradford closes it out with a nice spoken word as the song fades to black. It’s brilliant, as you can tell. Myths 004 will be out on November 1st.
Not too long ago, I shared a moving tune from 
I’ve got a long history with pop punk/power-pop, but stoked to find some sweet pop punk licks close to home, just a few hundred or so miles down the road in San Antonio with 
I hope you will join me in welcoming to the new artist buzz train New Orleans based songwriter 
Austin’s Masculine Pain are fairly new to the scene, though its various members are longtime staples of the music scene here. You’ll recognize the vocals of Eric Braden of Big Bill, while Nate Cardaci of Tres Oui/Literature and Tim Bond round things out. This one’s a slow-burner, building over beats and a bobbing bass line; it’s the perfect setting for Braden’s vocal delivery, matching each syllable to the movement. Dreamy guitar notes filter in from the background as Braden sings “I’m not in control.” For me, the climax comes right at the 1:50, the mood twists, guitars and synths wash in more of a dream vibe, and as the vocals match, it’s this huge wall of euphoria blasting you right in the face; I should have been expecting this. Putting great songwriters together doesn’t always work, except when it does…and here, it does.