Thursday Show Spotlight: Lochness Mobsters vs LVL Up

austinThursday means the weekend is almost here, which means your body can handle hitting up a show, grabbing a drink and testing your body’s limits to get up for work on Friday.  So…here’s two shows that I definitely feel should be on your radar this evening: Lochness Mobsters tour kick off and LVL Up, Whirr.  I’m going to hit up both of these gigs…but here’s a little info to help you pick.  Lochness Mobsters are the late-night stars, closing out over at Hotel Vegas.  Taking off Friday? Spend your evening with us over here rocking the only way we know how.  Looking for an early show with a traveling band? The line-up at Mohawk with Whirr, LVL Up, Basement is killer, but doors are at 6:30, so you can get your rock on, and still make it home in time to sleep off a few Lone Stars.  Sample some tunes from my personal highlights below.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/205157756″ params=”color=ff9900&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/206639929″ params=”color=ff9900&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Camera Shy Give You Slighty Hazy Dream Pop

unnamedCamera Shy is comprised of Nick Bassett and Alexandra Morte, both of which you may know from Whirr. Together, they’ve joined forces to put their effort into this new dream pop project, which is filled with bright and clean guitar hooks and the vocals of Morte that are just a touch haze to them to give the sound a bit of depth. The track below, “Colors Radiate,” is the perfect example of a sunny dream pop song, but at the same time it’s not overdone or cliched. On the contrary, this brief track will have you swooning over the simplicity and lushness from such a straightforward pop song. Camera Shy‘s debut self titled LP is out July 14th via Run For Cover Records. Preorder it here.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/188321233″ params=”color=ff9900&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Whirr Offer Up New Song

wereThis track from Whirr is really something.  The quiet opening sets the perfect stage for the outfit to crash into your ears with a heavy-handed bit of drumming surrounded by a wall of atmospheric noise that bends and shapes its way around the soft vocal.  The recording is one of the better versions I’ve heard from the modern shoegaze-ish era, building this remarkable balance between the vocals and the instrumentation; it makes the song seem more cohesive, as if it was all one thought, rather than someone lumping in one or the other for effect.  Their album, Sway, will be released on September 23rd via Graveface Records. Austinites can check them out on Sept. 6th over at Red 7.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/164065008″ params=”color=ff9900&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Dark Tune from Whirr

whirrThis track popped up the other day, and I’ve had a really hard time getting it out of my head.  There’s something about the wash of atmospheric guitars that creates this interesting brood, while another guitar track angularly plays beneath.  I like how those guitars, however, are rather low in the mix, meaning the band could unleash fury in the live setting, or hold onto the pattern presented here.  Either way, Whirr is likely to cause a decent stir when they release their album Sway, followed by a fall tour; it’s being released on September 23rd via Graveface Records.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/154422483″ params=”color=ff9900&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]