Bringing the jams
Jared Boulanger has been a long-time friend of the site, and so it seems fitting we start off our 2019 with another Austin Story, this one from the leader of Sour Notes/Memory Keepers, wherein he talks about hardships and being grateful. And, if you’re interested in hearing Jared’s work live, he has two shows for our infamous Free Week: January 1st at Volstead and January 5th at Barracuda! Read on to hear Jared’s story. Read more
Austin, TX based band The Sour Notes have long been in the music game in our town and have long been talked about on ATH. With that said, you now understand when we receive new music from the band, it’s going up on our website. Well our good amigo Jared just sent over a new single/video from his band and we are the first to share it with the world. You’ll find the rocking and rolling new single “Welcome to the Club” below. The Austin music scene is alive and well.
This single appears on a new 7″ single from The Sour Notes entitled Finest Sour. Purchase here!
We’ll be out and about the rest of the week to view the things during SxSW so remember to check out the twitter and our various instagram accounts.
Either you missed the big Austin Town Hall vs. Side One Track One party, or perhaps you were there and want to relive it. Check out the gallery after the break that features faces, bands, instruments, lights, beverages, scenes and moods from the day and night at Hotel Vegas. Highlights for me were Glaze, Nite, El Lago, BLXPLTN, Tres Oui, Daphne Tunes and Marmalakes. Find these bands during SxSW. You’ll be happy if you do.
The Sour Notes just recently released their latest album, Darkest Sour, but they’re not stopping there. Encouraged by participation in various “hoot nites” in Austin, the band have recorded a full album worth of covers titled This Is Not Our Music. Today, we happy bring you their cover of “Gloria” by Patti Smith (well, it was by THEM, but they’re doing the Patti Smith rendition). Jared does a great job with his performance, pulling off the natural bravado of Smith in every delivered note. For me, the best thing is that it gives us a glimpse into the minds of the band. We all love to pigeonhole bands, tell them who their influences are, but here we have a band stepping out and saying, here’s what we love! I’m excited to hear some versions of Jawbreaker and Wire that they’ll have out soon enough!
Today’s the day you’ve all been waiting for, the announcement of our annual AustinTownHall vs Side One Track One SXSW party. We’re throwing down at Hotel Vegas/Volstead again, and we’ve booked a pretty solid lineup of acts. We’ve got some bands with huge buzz like Caroline Says or Why Bonnie, a handful of ATH Records artists…and we even got in a few out of town acts like Nite and El Lago. Best news of all? It’s absolutely free, so all you have to do is come on over and just enjoy yourselves…there’s something for everybody. Show kicks off at 2 PM and lasts all day and night. Plus, we love you, so you don’t even have to RSVP! Check out the event page, and plan ahead, you’ll be here all day!
Local Austin favorites The Sour Notes are gearing up for the release of their next LP, Darkest Sour...and good news for you is we have a brand new single to share with you, and it might just be the band’s best track yet! “On Yer Mark” walks on the poppier side of indie rock, dwelling in that light-hearted realm that’s been owned by acts such as The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. The guitar chords have that angular jangle while keyboards push through the crowd. Jared Boulanger’s voice has the perfect softness to ride the song out, especially when we get the female accompaniment to polish off the pop substance. I’m just sitting here smiling, and I’m sure you’ll be doing the same. Plus, if you’re in Austin, the band play Thursday evening over at Cheer Up Charlies…and I’m sure their set will include many new hits for your ears!
Photo Credit: Vineet Gordhandas
There’s always a brief lull right before the storm, except this year, there isn’t. There’s tons of shows with Austin band’s all over town, and tonight I encourage you to head to Cheer Up Charlies to catch the Wildfires EP release. The band offers you pop music via a kaleidoscope of dreaminess and shoegaze elements. I’m really excited to hear the band’s EP in full, but for now we’ll let you stream this brand new song they’ve got for you. Plus, there’s other local greats on the bill like The Sour Notes, The Zoltars (who just released their 3rd album recently) and Telepods. The weather’s been great, so why not enjoy your evening with great tunes.
It’s that time once again folks, the weekend! Now, SXSW is nigh so we sort of (not really) understand if you want to stay home out of the somehow still cold weather. But if you’re like us and just can’t resist the live tunes, here’s a list of the shows, in no particular order that you shouldn’t be missing tonight and tomorrow night.
Check the jump for listings.
It’s that time of year when we all toss up our arbitrary lists of what we think is best, and seeing as we’re based here in Austin, we opted to go with our Top 15 Austin Albums first. Why 15? Well, there were a lot of great releases all over the place, covering different styles, and appealing to our different writers. Sure, the list isn’t perfect, and it doesn’t reflect singles and EPs, as that could get entirely too crazy. I included links to the labels so you can buy these albums from the hard-working folks in our town. Also…there are two releases on our label, but I have no qualms about that; I didn’t set out to put out a bad LP, so obviously, they’re going to be in here. And without further meaningless words…here’s the best records from Austin that you should already own!
I could sit here and wax poetic about the hard-working folks in Austin’s The Sour Notes, but that probably wouldn’t do me any favors, or them for that matter. What is important is that today we bring you a stream of the band’s brand new album, Do What May. The record features guest spots from tons of locals like Sabrina Ellis and Brendan Bond, and it’s likely to help the band gain more traction as they brace for a much-anticipated gig at this year’s Fun Fun Fun Fest. In the mean time, you can help them celebrate this Saturday at Cheer Up Charlies (more info HERE). Enough of all that; here’s their great new LP.
