Skirts Announce Debut Album for Double Double Whammy

Just a few hours North of us here in Austin, you’ll find Skirts, the project led by songwriter Alex Montenegro. Interestingly, while I can see Alex’s approach fitting into a scene with acts like labelmate Lomelda, her sound also seems rooted in North Texas sounds. The guitar work has this quiet feel, but a close ear hears it brimming with this fullness, this weighted sound that’s huge, reminding me of Bedhead, in a sense. All this to say, there’s the perfect contrast between Montenegro’s crisp crystalline voice and the brooding nature of the guitar work throughout, all of it fitting perfectly into this grainy family footage video. The band will be releasing their debut Great Big Wild Oak via Double Double Whammy on July 30th.

ATX Spotlight: Hidden Ritual Share New Jam

unnamed-9A quick search tells me that we have somehow never shared any music from Austin based group Hidden Ritual. Today I fix this error by giving you their new track “Rat”. I’m immediately reminded here of some earlier Wolf Parade sounds if they went straight lo-fi pop. Hopefully that makes a little bit of sense to you music fans out there…. Either way, enjoy the track and share some love for Hidden Rituals.

This track appears on Always due out on October 21st via Monofonus Press.

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Indiepop Magic from Red Sleeping Beauty

alwaysWhat!? 15 years later and Red Sleeping Beauty come back to the indiepop scene with one of my favorite tracks of the summer?! As soon as I pressed play on this track, I knew I was in love. It’s got a pretty simple synth line opening the track, pushing the song forward as the vocals make their way into your ears.  Niklas has the perfect voice too to make the song reach those maximum heights of pop melody.  I’m sorry but this song is just fucking brilliant; I’m probably going to play it all day long. Look for this track to appear on a new 7″ for Shelflife on September 11th.

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