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Earlier this summer, Nate offered up a new song by Total Babes which features Cloud Nothings members Jason Gerycz and Joe Boyer. Well here’s a another new song for you called “Be So True” off the group’s upcoming LP Swimming Through Sunlight due out August 30th. We’re looking forward to getting our hands on that full length when the time comes.
Download: Total Babes – Be So True [MP3]
Here’s a new single by San Diego based psych rock band D/Wolves. The song is called “Tell Me Why” and is sort of reminescent of the rock tunes created by prolific rock band Portugal the Man. This track is intended as a single to preview their upcoming new EP this fall. We’ll shoot you more details when they are made available.
Download: D/Wolves – Tell Me Why [MP3]
| Date | Thursday, July 28th |
|---|---|
| Location | Skinny’s Ballroom |
| Doors | 1000p |
| Tickets | Super Cheap |
What !?! You haven’t caught wind of the phenomenal Leatherbag yet? Well dear Austinites, it’s time to pull your head out from beneath those rocks and get on it. The band will be hitting up Skinny’s Ballroom this Thursday night in honor of the release of their latest album, Yellow Television. This has to be the place to be on Thursday, not to mention the fact that you need to get out and help us support the local bands in town. And, if you’re a super Leatherbag fan, as you should be, then you need to get out and hit up there earlier gig that day over at End of an Ear. See you guys there!
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/01-Imitation-Generation.mp3]Download: Leatherbag – Imitation Generation [MP3]
Texas, especially in the summer time, seems to breed bands that just want to get down and play together, fully unleashing whatever sounds come to their fingers. Such is the case with up-and-comers, Equals, one of the newest in the Texas field of post-rock. While the beginning and end definitely rely upon the quieter side of the musical stream, you’ll find that there’s some chaos swirling in the middle for you, giving you precisely that level of noise many need in their instrumental rock. The group is releasing their debut self-titled EP on August 30th, and from there, they can only get bigger. Let’s do this.
Download: Equals – False Light [MP3]
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I’ll be the first to say that I can’t ever get enough of Crystal Antlers in the live setting. Their energy, the raw power of the vocals and drenched audience just never gets old. That being said, their recording material has sort of been hit or miss for me. After an EP and an album, the band return with Two-Way Mirror, and it finally seems that they’re forging new grounding, melding the tightness of their live show with promising recorded material.
“Jules Story” begins the record seemingly where Tentacles left off. There’s that marching drum beat, with killer fills, and Johnny Bell’s vocals scratching at his throat, and your ears. By no means can you consider it a bad track, it’s just not anything exceptionally new. “Seance” is where you’ll find the band branching into slightly new territory. They’ve included bits of melody that have always bubbled beneath, but this time, they’ve chosen to reveal them, clearing away the excess noise without losing the song’s power. Bell’s vocals, here, don’t seem as urgent, yet they still beg for your attention; it’s the perfect melding of their live performance and what one looks for in recorded material.
Just because they clean things up, however, doesn’t mean you’re going to lose any of that furious energy they’ve always unleashed. In the one-two punch of “By the Sawkill” and “Two-Way Mirror” you’ll see that, if anything, the cleaner approach to the recording only allows you to focus more firmly on the explosiveness within the tracks. In the past, they’ve been too dynamic for their own good, often making it hard for listeners to really focus in, but this isn’t the case on Two-Way Mirror. You can still here the experimentalism, such as the tinkering of noises while the guitar screamingly crawls through the background at the end of “By the Sawkill.” Combine that with Bell’s vocal performance on “Two Way Mirror,” and the remarkably drumming, and you’re sure to see that these excellent tracks will transmit perfectly to the live setting.
One of the problems that I found listening to the first record from Crystal Antlers is that the noise eventually bled into the ensuing noise, and tracks became indiscernible. But, my favorite track from the group lives in the heart of this record: “Fortune Telling.” It’s easy to pan it as a psychedelic moment, and maybe it is, but it’s excellent. Bell sounds incredible, and the pacing of the track is perfect, never pushing to quickly. And, it all moves perfectly into the following track, “Always Afraid.” It’s probably my favorite moment of the group to date.
Perhaps my past listens to previous Crystal Antlers were too harsh, although I always liked them enough to repeatedly seek them out live. But, with Two-Way Mirror, the band seems to have discovered the missing link between recording music and being a live animal. Bits of eloquent noise have quietly been pulled back, revealing a record with sharpness at just about every corner. It’s clear that the band still wants to push themselves, and that’s great, as long as they keep offering up the exact recipe they used during this session.
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Crystal-Antlers-Summer-Solstice.mp3]Download: Crystal Antlers – Summer Solstice [MP3]
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A few years back, when all of your favorite bands were releasing their debut albums, so was Brilliant Colors. Except whereas other bands from Slumberland Records, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, were getting their jump to the buzzband title, this band remained relatively unknown. They put out their first release, Introducing, and while receiving decent reviews, it failed to make the same jump to popularity as the other bands of the time. Now, they’re back, with relatively the same sound, trying their luck once more at striking up a following with a successful sophomore record, Again and Again.
Things kick off with “Hey Dan,” which provides the classic dream pop vibe that this whole album spins off of. Immediately, you can pick out the misty, single toned vocals of the female lead singer, Jess, floating high above the catchy guitar riffs and the faded drums. With the crash of the cymbals and the raging guitar, it is infectious music of the shoegazey variety. It’s a strong start, and possibly the strongest song on here. However, later on, there are some other gems like “Hitting Traffic,” or “Back to the Tricks,” that, when listened to on their own, rival the first song with their quality and catchiness.
However, my biggest and only qualm with this record, which may prove too detrimental for listeners, is the repetition and altogether similar songs here. There is sure as hell not a lot of variety, which may work for bands just going with the stellar single approach to the musical world, but it fails for bands like this that don’t have that one to stand above the other. Separately, there are some good songs as aforementioned, but collectively, they all mesh together in one hazy pop blob. In this way, it is far too easy to let this music fall to the background as boring; Brilliant Colors do nothing to entice, to pull you back in, after the first song.
Thus, Again and Again is not necessarily an album in which you end wanting to do what the name suggests. Sure, there isn’t a horrible song on here, but there isn’t a really grand one either. Brilliant Colors have found the mediocre middle of the road, and if that’s what you’re okay with, then, by all means, spend the afternoon with this serene pop record.
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/02-How-Much-Younger.mp3]Download: Brilliant Colors – How Much Younger [MP3]
Man, sometimes the world just collides in odd ways. Just this morning I started a book on Marquee Moon, and later, I get an email about former Dictator Thunderbolt Patterson! Next I expect a text from Debbie Harry. There’s never anything wrong with classic punk rock, and while this isn’t precisely classic, the new song from Thunderbolt definitely has its roots in the glory days. There’s a bit more polish to this track, but imagine what all the old stuff would have sounded like if only we had ProTools in 1976. This is just good honest rock n’ roll; the kind that makes you proud to be a music fan.
Download: Thunderbolt Patterson – Life’s Rich Pageant [MP3]
Admittedly, we don’t post a whole lot outside of your typical indie rock spectrum, but occasionally something just resonates with us that we have to post. Such is the case when the latest EP from Chrome Sparks hit our inbox. The Michigan native just dropped My <3 on his SITE, and you can grab it for the convenient “name your price” tag. Listening to this all afternoon, I’m reminded of Black Moth Super Rainbow, if they were good, and more accessible to your moderate constructionist listener. If, like me, you’re not typically into this sort of thing, just give it a bit of time. There’s a track titled “Miss You,” that will win over everyone’s heart easily. Okay, so all these songs have won me over today, so get on it.
Download: Chrome Spakrs – All There Is (Feat. Steffaloo) [MP3]
I’ll just go ahead and be completely honest here, and you can call me ignorant if you want, but I wouldn’t have guessed that VHS or Beta were still around. Don’t get me wrong, they’ve always been a great go to as my alter-ego DJ persona Reyluna, I just don’t feel like I’ve heard anything from them in years. Well apparently the band is still around with a album in the works entitled Diamonds and Death due out September 27th on Krian Music Group. Below you can find your first taste of that new album in the form of “Breaking Bones” that’s sure to fall in nicely with your favorite indie DJ’s set list.
Download: VHS or Beta – Breaking Bones [MP3]
Damn you Pitchfork! Your big name status always gets you the singles first! Well, that’s okay, just because you got there first doesn’t mean I can’t continue to express my adoration for Geoffrey O’Connor of the Crayon Fields. I met Geoffrey years back when he played at our showcase, and I was grateful that we were able to have a show featuring one of my favorite acts. Now, he’s got some time, and with that, he’s crafted a solo record titled Vanity is Forever coming out on Chapter Music. The first single, though I’ve heard several other tracks floating around (which I posted before P4k back in November–I’m bitter), sounds a bit like O’Connor channeling a shy Jeremy Jay, just bringing a bit more sheen to the shimmering pop. I can feel in my heart that this album’s going to be a winner.
Download: Goeffrey O’Connor – Whatever Leads Me To You [MP3]
