Tag: austin

Weekend Show Spotlight for Austin

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As per usual for this time of the year, there’s a powerhouse of rock n’ roll shows in Austin. Some featuring great local acts, others featuring great touring bills. Check out our suggestions.

Friday:

Big Bill/Pollen Rx Tour Kick Off with Caroline Says, Being Dead @ the Electric Church – 9 PM

A Place to Bury Strangers, Prettiest Eyes, Xetas, Jo Passed @ Barracuda – 9 PM

Dezorah, Honey and Salt, Through a Glass Darkly, Claire Puckett @ Swan Dive – 9:30 PM

Saturday:

PT Banks, Tres Oui, Ama, Spirit Ghost @ Spiderhouse Ballroom – 8 PM

The Posies, Terra Lightfoot, Marmalakes @ the Parish

Speedy Ortiz, Anna Burch @ Barracuda – 7:30 PM

Sunday:

Peach Kelli Pop, Go Fever, Mean Jolene @ Cheer Up Charlies – 7 PM

New Track from Why Bonnie

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We were fortunate enough to have Why Bonnie play our SXSW show this year; they wowed us and the many in attendance, assuring their steady rise. And after their In Water EP, the band are ready to drop 5 more tunes for you. Our first listen has the band offering up a more billowy dream number, casually letting the guitars build into this huge wall of atmospherics behind Blair’s stellar vocal performance. It’s great to see the band building on their early success and fleshing out their sound even more. If this band isn’t on your radar already, I don’t know how to help you. But, Nightgown will be out on cassette courtesy of Sports Day Records on June 20th.

Sungod Announces New LP

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Austin’s Sungod have just announced the release of a new full length titled Wave Refraction; it’s of course being released by powerhouse label Holodeck Records. The lead single from the LP is “Hypnotism,” which features the digitally hypnotic video we’ve got streaming below. When turning to the music, perhaps you’d be best served to combine two elements of modern indie that we’re all familiar with at this point. One, you’ve got the instrumental electronica that all Holodeck fans love: two, you’ve got this Grizzly Bear underbelly beneath. It ends up leaving you with this blissed out expansiveness, like traveling through space, or so I imagine. The album will drop on August 24th.

Weekend ATX Shows

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It’s a really busy time of year, just before it gets ungodly hot. Well, it’s already ungodly hot, but so be it. There’s tons of great acts to catch, so we’ll give you our suggestions below.

Friday:

Cutlture Wars, Marmalakes @ Stubbs – 9 PM

Carry Illinois EP Release w/Andy, Middlespoon and DJ Girlfriend @ Cheer Ups – 10 PM

Saturday:

Okkervil River, Benjamin Lazar Davis @ Mohawk – 8 PM

Name Sayers Album Release w/ Feverbones, Brickwaller, DJ Ramesh – 10 PM

Total Abuse, Missing Pages, Crooked Bangs, Lace @ Beerland – 8 PM

Caleb de Casper Video Release w/ Goth Dad @ The Electric Church – 9 PM

Golden Dawn Arkestra Drop New Tune

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For awhile now, Golden Dawn Arkestra has captivated Austin (and beyond) with their live performances. Their latest single from their forthcoming LP seems to capture that spirit in the video; they somehow manage to capture the bizarre in the most splendid fashion. Musically, this seems like the apex of their powers, bringing a sort of acid-infused psychedelia that rises and falls in all the right spaces. As the song fades away, the lyrics almost seem like an afterthought, with the slight occurrence of brooding pop lurking just beneath the song’s surface. The band will drop their latest Children of the Sun via Nine Mile on June 1st.

The Young Mothers Announce New LP

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Every day I’m surrounded by 13 year olds claiming Post Malone as the best “rapper” around; I always throw some old school reference to my favorite lyricists from when I was a kid (Rakim, Jeru). But, when referencing modern hip-hop, aside from a few releases, I’ve been bored, but that doesn’t look to be the case with this new Young Mothers LP. It opens with this classic vibe, like layered samples, yet from the get-go, that distant xylophone shows something extra in the sound; the rhymes steps in, hitting quick and to the point. Honestly, I’d be keen on all that; it’s like a hyper-active old school vibe, but what really caught me was how they just turn around and blow it all out. Pulling in frantic jazz squawks and off-beat drumming, illustrating that even your hip-hop could use some spicing up. The new LP, titled Morose, will drop on June 22nd via Self Sabotage.

Lola Tried Release New LP Tonight at Hotel Vegas

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First off, you can also catch Lola Tried over at Waterloo Records at 5; there will be free Lagunitas. Second, the band’s new album celebrates its release over at Hotel Vegas, and we highly suggest your attendance. For starters, the band works super hard, not only for themselves, but to see others within the Austin “scene” become successful; it’s high time they got their day in the limelight. This is their debut LP, and you’ll be impressed by how accomplished they sound…probably from all that damned hard work! Plus, the show included perennial powerhouse, Ringo Deathstarr, Duncan Fellows and ATH Records’ own Blushing. And if you do listen, please go buy the record, so they can make another one. Here’s one of the jams off their new LP!

Nada Surf Show Review @ 3Ten ACL

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Sometime in 1996, I bought the first Nada Surf LP. Yes, I bought it for that one song. But, unbeknownst to me, it was the start of my love affair with the band.

But, admittedly, I wouldn’t fall in love with the group until 2003, with the quiet release of Let Go. Notable releases from the same year included Echoes by the Rapture and Meadowlands by the Wrens (among countless others). Somehow, this LP has always stuck by me; of every record released in 2003 it’s the one I still listen to the most (with Ted Leo and the Wrens right behind). It was the perfect pop album, coming at the perfect time in my life.

Saturday night, Nada Surf brought that entire album to life. Surprisingly, I still know every single word to that album, and I sang along throughout the entirety of the first set, other than La Pour Ca (I don’t speak French). Personal favorites like “Blonde on Blonde” sounded as crisp as ever, and I was reminded just how much I love “Killian’s Red.” It’s funny, the ominous tones of that track never quite clicked as much as they did beneath the fog machine and blue lighting of 3Ten. Still, the band went through it in a business-like fashion, never missing a beat, with a few moments of charm added in like Ira and Daniel sharing a mic to open with Blizzard of 77′ backing vocals.

The latter half of the set was filled to the brim with countless numbers from the band’s past and present, even throwing in a Joy Division medley for a moment to charm the audience. And when they ended the evening, it never really ended, as they took it all out to the streets for a late evening serenade. Pretty sure every one left the evening reflective and pleased.

And for what its worth, my night ended with me feeling grateful for all the pop bands still hanging in out there. Nada Surf may never have gotten the critical acclaim, but they just kept writing great songs. They’re still here writing, whilst trends and hip acts have faded away. And as for Saturday night, they gave us a little of it all, reminding me of a never-ending love affair that began in 1996 at the Best Buy near my house.

Pleased to Meet You Teen Pope

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Occasionally really great music escapes me, even from the confines of our own fair city, but I won’t let this Teen Pope slide on by. From the minute I pressed play, there was this old school vibe a la the Feelies, all jangling and sweet. But, going forward, they weren’t a one-trick pony, offering up a DIY ethos backed by an intangible tenacity. Their four song EP is filled with these little nuggets of fun, including hooks and bubbling cool; I definitely think I found a new local band to fawn over for the next little while. Join me in jamming their Going to Vegas EP.

Pollen RX Are Back

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Sunbelt Emptiness should be required listening for all humans, so get on that HERE. But, more importantly, Pollen Rx are back with new music! The group, as ever, remain undeniably catchy; I love how the surfy guitars work to set the scene for Maud’s vocal performance. Perhaps more important is the message the band is brandishing; the band describe this tune as their response to the ‘pervasive sexualization of women and the elevation of young women.’ It’s one of the things that make Pollen Rx so vital in our musical scene; they can deliver a hook as good as any other, but its important to note that there’s always an underlying message. Austinites will recognize this tune as a standout of the band’s recent live performances, but the rest of you should check out their tour dates as they head out in June on their way up to Chicago and back!

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