This is fine.
During a busy week in town, musically speaking, Brian and I jumped at the chance to catch one of our favorite acts, Terry Malts, as they returned to town. We moved beyond our exhaustion, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, rocking out til the bar closed.
Read on for some quick thoughts on all the bands and check out Brian’s photos!
In a week of packed shows, Wednesday was definitely full of shows, from Spoon to Real Estate to Bowerbirds to Keep Shelley in Athens, and we found ourselves at several…actually, all but Spoon. Read on for a few brief notes on Twerps and Real Estate, and Brian Gray’s excellent photos.
I’ve raved to everyone about Wax Idols; their album No Future was one of my favorite records of the last year. Now, while the group is working on their new album (rumored to be on Slumberland) they’ve got a awesome stop-gap 7″ for you on Suicide Squeeze. The title track, “Schadenfreude” is a jagged guitar rocker, with singer Heather spinning the pop goodness just as you would expect. There’s a little bit of that brattiness that makes her such a furious frontwoman, but the chorus alone is worth the cost of the 7 inch. You should definitely pay attention to this too underrated group.
Download: Wax Idols – Schadenfreude [MP3]
Every time I listen to Deer Tick, I definitely get the feeling of listening to early Lucero–not a bad thing at all. They’ve got that same attitude of country-tinged pop song writings with a little bit of a punk rock attitude in everything they do. It makes for a listen that a lot of people can get behind, which is good considering the group is hitting the road in support of their new Tim EP. This EP includes four new songs, and even a date in Austin on 4/29, so we’re happy to offer up this track today in hopes it’ll lead you to a pleasant weekend.
Download: Deer Tick – Born At Zero [MP3]
This song from Stepdad is so ridiculously good that I had to share it with you. It starts off with this electronic meandering, sort of like what you get from later Animal Collective, but then it unites with trickling pop structure…going back and forth. You’ll find this song opening the band’s new album, Wildlife Pop, which comes out on June 12 via Black Bell Records. Starting off an album like this is dangerous, but I have a feeling that the group can live up to the expectations. If you’re looking for a pop tune that combines swirling gang vocals with electronic pulses, then get into this jam right now!
Download: Stepdad – Must Land Running [MP3]
Seeing as we rep Austin, we’re really happy to share this new track from Little Radar, one of the city’s rising stars. The group will be offering up their new album Up In Arms on April 29th, and this is our first taste of the effort. The guitars are a little bit on the traditional rocking indie side, but the softly delivered vocals give a nice contrast to the musical tones, creating a really powerful hook that displays the band’s abilities to rock it out. With a history that includes Berklee School of Music, it’s clear the group has the talent to take us all by storm.
Download:Little Radar – Spitfire [MP3]
Tons of stuff is going on in the musical landscape of the UK, so excuse me if I hype on another recent discovery, Tigercats. This group is as energetic as anything that’s come across the Atlantic, at least if we go by the track below. Said song is featured on the band’s new record, Isle of Dogs, which definitely features some odd song names (Kim and Thurston for example). While some songs sound a bit like Los Campesinos I like the brightened exuberance of this track as soon as I stumbled upon it. Definitely an easy way to cheer you up.
Download: Tigercats – Full Moon Reggae Party [MP3]
It’s been a great couple of weeks for Austin artists (depsite Michael C.’s hatred); releases by Whitman, Zoltars, Literature and leaks of songs by Eastern Sea, Little Radar (coming tomorrow) and now Deep Time. Formerly the group was known as Yellow Fever here in our fair city, but as they’ve signed to Hardly Art, it’s time to move on up in the world–and move in new directions. As Deep Time, the duo will release a self-titled debut as a sign of new things to come; it’ll be in stores on July 10th. I really like the sound of Jennifer’s voice on this track, and it’s definitely a stronger (if only in production) sound for the group. Congrats Austin…seems like you’ve got a lot going on afterall.
Download: Deep Time – Clouds [MP3]
You’ve gotta love sprawling pop tracks, especially when you find them by accident. Such is the case when I came across this new tune from Banquet, off the Impasse EP. For almost two minutes, the song quietly moves along, patiently waiting its own little explosion. The careful construction of the opening moments soon makes way for the explosion that erupts in a brief bit of pop bliss. If you like what you hear, then you can get your hands on the EP pretty quickly by heading over to Banquet’s site, or you can just give the whole EP a nice listen. I likes.
Download: Banquet – Impasse [MP3]
 Date |
Wednesday, April 11th |
|---|---|
| Location | The Parish |
| Doors | 800 pm |
| Tickets | $15 from Frontgate |
The week’s picking up folks, and Wednesday is definitely a doozy. One of the shows we think is worth your time is checking out the Bowerbirds over at the Parish. I fell in love with their most recent release, The Clearing, which has the group sounding at their best. Their sound is sort of quieted folk music, so you couldn’t ask for a better venue than going over to the Parish to catch the group. I have a feeling they’ll be giving an incredibly emotional performance that will leave you talking about it for quite some time. Dry the River will be opening the evening, so be sure to get their early, as they are another act worthy of your attention.
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/01-Tuck-the-Darkness-In-1.mp3]Download:Bowerbirds – Tuck the Darkness In [MP3]
