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!
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]
After almost forgetting about the band, I’ve gotta say that I’m really digging this new tune “Even the Blind” from London based outfit Echo Lake. The song has this beautiful mellow quality to it, but then will punch you in the face with a sudden burst of energy. This song and nine more will be available on the band’s upcoming LP Wild Peace available June 26th on Slumberland Records. Check it out and enjoy.
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/04-Even-The-Blind-2.mp3]Download: Echo Lake – Even The Blind [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]
Digging this new song “Come to Know” from L.A. quartet Hands that just premiered over on Nylon and wanted to share it with you fine peeps. It’s a pretty busy track with many intricate parts going on at the same time that somehow seem to mesh well as the song builds towards it’s climax near the mid point. The band actually just released a new EP Massive Context a couple of days ago, so you should check that out if you’re feeling this one. You can also stream that whole thing over on Soundcloud if you’re so inclined. You better be.
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/03-Come-To-Know.mp3]Download: Hands – Come To Know [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]
A couple of weeks ago we ran a brand new song from Scottish rock band Holy Esque called “Prophet of Privilege” and Nate and I immediately were drawn to the band. As Nathan already commented, singer Pat Hynes is again the stand out on this track “Ladybird Love” as he seems to get so worked up that he can barely get out the next word. The guy obviously brings some major emotion and passion to his music and we all love that. As previously mentioned, the band has a new self-titled EP coming out April 23rd. Pick it up.
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/01-Ladybird-Love.mp3]Download: Holy Esque – Ladybird Love [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]
