Category: News

Haunting Indie Pop from Swiss Alps

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I love when you spend all day browsing through new tunes, and suddenly you stumble on something that just absolutely fits your idealized vision of the day.  For me, I this new song from Swiss Alps, which is from their recently released EP, is exactly where I found my heart.  I began my day in a bit of rain, so the dark quality of the recording was perfectly fitting, but I can’t help but envision the brightness pushed through by those sharp jangling guitar lines.  If you like what you hear, I suggest getting involved with the band a little bit and picking up their new tunes!

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/02-Penpals.mp3]

Download:Swiss Alps – Penpals [MP3]

Show Preview: Ola Podrida @ Mohawk (12/18)

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Date 12/18/12
Location Mohawk
Doors 9pm
Tickets $6 @ door

It’s the holiday season so quality shows can be hard to come by, but a headlining show at the Mohawk by local favorite Ola Podrida is an exception to this rule.  Rumor has it that Dave and crew are playing some new tunes from an album they just finished so fans of the band should definitely check this one out.  Opening support is provided by My Golden Calf and A.D. Blood.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/WV67_YFB.mp3]

Download: Ola Podrida – Your Father’s Basement [MP3]

Dog Bite Forever, Until A New Song…

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Dog Bite was the band lucky enough to avoid the downpour during their opening slot at The Mohawk for Washed Out’s last stop in Austin. I liked their set and in retrospect by listening to the recent tracks hitting the intarwebs, I like them more than I did at the show. I need a do over.

Anyway, Phil Jones is leading the band into 2013, Velvet Changes dropping 2/5 via Carpark. This is the second song from the pending LP and is a bit gazier and hazier. The song premiered over at Paste with a download via the Soundcloud embed there.

The band will be in town in support of Toro Y Moi @ Emo’s East on 2/2/13.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Dog-Bite-Forever-Until.mp3]

Download:Dog Bite – Forever, Until [MP3 @ Paste]

Show Preview: My Jerusalem @ Stubbs (12/16)

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Date 12/16/12
Location Stubbs
Doors 8pm
Tickets $7 @ Frontgate

It’s been a big year for local band My Jerusalem.  They just dropped their impeccable album Preachers, have done some light touring, and have been picking up some positive national press.  Sunday evening is a chance to get on board and support local music with a show on the Stubbs inside stage featuring the up and coming group.  It’s an even better show with ATH approved local songwriter Frank Smith providing the opening support for the evening.  Should be a good one.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/My-Jerusalem-Mono.mp3]

Download: My Jerusalem – Mono [MP3]

Welcome Back! Big Dipper

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Just a few years ago, Merge Records ran a 3-disc retrospective on the career of Big Dipper…Boston’s nerdy power-poppers.  Inspired by the reception, the band went back into the studio to record Big Dipper Crashes on the Platinum Planet.  It’s filled with their trademark jangling cum twangy guitars and a bit of nerdom in the lyrical content.  You just don’t get better than bands like this, at least if you’re asking me. Oh, and if you needed further proof of their excellence, they’ve got the full support of Robert Pollard…and that guy is a pretty big deal.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/BigDipper_01v1_LordScrumptious.mp3]

Download:Big Dipper – Lord Scrumptious [MP3]

Another Sweet Gem from Widowspeak

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As we get closer to the release date of the upcoming album from Widowspeak more tunes are slowly coming to light.  Musically, my first listen to this track made me think the band would be much more forceful, and sonically, I think I’m right.  But, Molly Hamilton’s voice still has that sultry hushed tone to it, even while an edgy guitar cuts in and out of the track.  I get the feeling that the group is really going to just throw their hands in the air and seek any direction they desire on Almanac.  You can get your hands on the record come January 22nd of the New Year.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/70842870″ params=”show_artwork=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Let’s Talk Free Week

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Date 1/2/13-1/12/13
Location All Over
Doors TBD
Tickets Free (duh)


The schedule is pending, but the list of artists signed on to do Free Week this year is long and impressive, much like my morning commute.

Created as a way to treat the locals to some locals while the kids were home for the holidays, Free Week continues to expand adding numbers to the venue list and performer count. This year will be pretty big, a Free Week and a half actually, occupying the Transmission locations of The Mohawk, Holy Mountain, Beerland and Red7. Peep the poster of artists for the festivities on Red River, chock full of Austin Town Hall Faves including Tiger Waves, Shivery Shakes, Fleshlights, TV Torso, Orthy and Grape St.

Stay tuned for schedules and be ready to hit the streets.

One event’s schedule I know for sure is Modern Outsider’s Free Week show on 1/4 at Emo’s East featuring Ume, The Calm Blue Sea, The Black and White Years and My Jerusalem. Get details and say you’re going here.

Alternative Jam from Bear Ceuse

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Sometimes you just need to grow your hair out and revel in the industrious glory that was the 90s alternative rock scene; you know, before alternative became a bad word.  Bear Ceuse are a band eager to live in that nostalgic period, though with the revitalized careers of Superchunk and Dinosaur Jr, it’s not really a throwback at all.  The guitars have just the right amount of distortion, especially during the screaming guitar solo, and the vocals are calm and collected.  It’s the perfect way to introduce you to the group that will be putting out Don Domestique via Medical Records on February 26th of next year.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/bear-ceuse-entertain-me.mp3]

Download:Bear Ceuse – Entertain Me [MP3]

More New Tunes from Holopaw

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Those of you looking for a sprawling bit of carefully orchestrated pop are going to fawn over Academy Songs, Volume 1, the newest record from Florida’s Holopaw.  On their latest single, the vocals are what seem to draw me in, going back and forth between a careful whisper and a rising bit of force.  This is one of the more gentle tunes on the record, which will see a release from Misra on January 15th.  The band carefully builds the sound, with lightly rolling drums filling in the negative space with perfect precision.  It’s slow opening only makes the emphatic release of tension more special as the song continues to unfold.  This release can’t come soon enough.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Discotheque.mp3]

 

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