New Dreamy Pop From She Sir

It’s no secret that we ATH kids have always been huge fans of local band She Sir and the beautiful hazy pop sounds they create.  We’ve done shows with the band over the years and tried to give them the coverage they truly deserve from music aficionados in Austin.  Today we’re very excited to be one of the first to bring you this brand spankin’ new song from the band entitled “Condensedindents”.  As we’ve said before, it would really be hard for this band to get any better, and all they do is continue to impress us with their invoative style and sound.  Keep up the good work gents.

This is first single from a new album coming early in 2013.  Stay tuned for more.

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Show Preview: Jens Lekman @ Mohawk (11.13)

Date Tuesday, November 13th
Location Mohawk
Doors 6:30 PM
Tickets $20 @ Mohawk

Those of you searching for a blissful pop evening are going to be in luck with two great acts coming to the Mohawk on Tuesday night: Jens Lekman and Taken By Trees.  It’s going to be Swedish pop at its endearing finest, especially with both bands fresh off the release of their own albums.  Jens released I Know What Love Isn’t and Taken By Trees put out Other Worlds, both winning rave reviews.  It’s an early show, so it gives you plenty of time to revel in the glory of what you’ll witness, or you can head over to Red 7 to catch Twilight Sad’s set.  Perfect Tuesday night folks. Perfect.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/01-The-End-of-the-World-Is-Bigger-Than-Love-1.mp3]

Download:Jens Lekman – The End of the World Is Bigger Than Love [MP3]

Photo Pop 2012 Preview: Rick Kern @ Red 7 (11.9)

Here’s another one of the great photographers that will be displaying and selling their photography at Photo Pop 2012 this Friday at Red 7.  If you’re lucky, Rick might give you the sexy photo of me stuffing my face with a cupcake backstage at ACL.  His photo to the left is from a GWAR shoot, and you can also read on to find out why he’s mad I called Emily Haines to just chat. Here’s Rick.  Read more

New Jam from Tiger Waves

We’ve been talking about the dudes in Tiger Waves for quite some time, like a year +, and we’re going to continue to write about them as long as the Austin group continuously write such incredible tunes.  They’ve just put up a new Digi 7″ on their BANDCAMP page, and this is one of the gems from that session.  It’s just two tracks, but their both just incredible, so there’s no reason you shouldn’t try to get ahold of them while you can.  I know the boys went recording this past summer, so hopefully we’ll have a full-length for the masses to fall in love with soon.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/01-Countryside.mp3]

New Gritty Pop From Royal Forest

Royal Forest is a band that’s been on the ATH radar for a long time now and we try to give them as much coverage as we can when the chance arises.  The band has been relatively quiet, as far as recorded material goes, but still seem to play around town on a regular basis.  Lucky for us, the band just passed over this new gritty number called “Ambulance”.  It has a solid backing beat behind some interesting hushed vocals that compliment the track quite nicely.

The band is planning on releasing a new EP of material for free on bandcamp sometime real soon.  We’ll be sure to let you know when that goes down.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Ambulance_RoyalForest.mp3]

Download: Royal Forest – Ambulance [MP3]

New Jam from TV Torso

The dudes in TV Torso have been hard at work recording various tunes over the last year, and we finally get a chance to hear some of their efforts paying off.  This tune comes from Clear Lake Strangler, which is a short EP the group currently has to offer HERE for the NYOP special.  This particular tune has a straight-forward edge with a vocal that I’m really attached to today.  I have a feeling this is just a short preview of the great stuff they have coming our way in the very near future.  The group will be releasing their new CD at Hotel Vegas this Saturday night in Austin with some other great locals, so be sure to show your local love.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/TV-Torso-Clear-Lake-Strangler.mp3

Download:TV Torso – Clear Lake Strangler [MP3]

Letting Up Despite Great Faults – Untogether

Rating: ★★★½☆

I wondered if the move from Los Angeles to Austin would have any effect on Letting Up Despite Great Faults, but it’s clear that the only thing on the horizon for the group are great things.  Their latest effort, Untogether, is a dense combination of shoe-gaze, electronica and wayward pop; it’s a tapestry of all the important sounds of our time.

“Visions” begins things with a ringing guitar that soon meets a slight keyboard before launching into a heavier haze of sounds.  Soon you’ll hear Mike Lee seemingly whisper into the microphone; I love how the lyrics are present, yet still maintain an element of distance.  It’s a tactic used frequently by the group, but it’s the musical elements that create differentiation throughout, blending genres as if they were irrelevant. “Scratch,” for instance follows the opener with a more angular guitar and keyboard stabs, all the while a pulsing rhythm broods in the background.  Sure, you can put these tunes in the same world, but they don’t necessarily have to live together.

One of the things I like about Letting Up Despite Great Faults is the band’s ability to reside in one place, musically speaking, then another, then jump off to combine it all into a creative pop tune.  For instance, you can take the dance heavy “Bulletproof Girl,” coated in electronic beats galore.  You’d think for a moment that Untogether was going to be dance-floor ready from here on out, but not so.  The following track “Details of My World” has a great bass line, allowing you to don your best boots for shaking it, but it also has this slightly jangling guitar that only increases in volume throughout the track.  They back that right up to the fuzzier “Breaking,” which is softer, yet coated in a fuller wash of atmospheric haze.  Lee’s vocals definitely take on a more gentle/intimate tone.  It all sounds so distinctive, yet tied so well together.

But, I’ll admit that the band threw me for a loop, pleasantly.  “On Your Mark” closes out Untogether with what one can only call a true guitar ballad.  Yes, the musical structure is similar, as layers of varying sound, even an echo of the vocals, drench the song.  Still, the core of the track is the vocal and carefully strummed guitar. It’s a mellow end to what, until that point, was a fairly enthusiastic record, yet I appreciate it’s reflective quality, asking you to go back and check your bearings.

Clearly Letting Up Despite Great Faults are coming into their own with this new LP.  They sound extremely comfortable with the sound that they’ve created on Untogether, and listeners will be rewarded the more time they spent.  It might take a few listens before you can completely unravel the sounds they’ve layered atop their pop-centric song structure, but you’ll be all the better for it.  Don’t sleep on this one folks; you’ll definitely regret it.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Letting-Up-Despite-Great-Faults-Visions.mp3]

Download:Letting Up Despite Great Faults – Visions [MP3]

Show Preview: Buke and Gase @ Red 7 (10/5)

Date Friday, October 5th
Location Red 7
Doors 9:00 PM
Tickets $8 from Transmission

Friday nights are always a blast, especially if you can squeeze in some well performed rock n’ roll.  One of the bands coming into town Friday, who are destined to be popular, if they’re not huge already, is Buke and Gase. Their shape-shifting indie-rock even got a Best New Music nod after announcing the release of their upcoming album, General Dome (1/29/13). If you want to be hip, and you want to be on the cusp of truly creative art, then you need to get to this show, or else your friends will mock you for being the one person who wasn’t on board with the group from the beginning.  Horse + Donkey will be opening the night, so be sure to show up around 10 PM. Here’s a hit from the band.

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Ticket Giveaway! + Dinosaur Jr. @ the Mohawk (10.4)

This is history here folks.  It’s not J. Mascis solo; it’s not some other line-up; it’s the old school SST Records line-up, fresh off the release of their newest release, I Bet On Sky.  We’re lucky that Transmission is continuing to bring such solid shows to our town, and they’re not just here to make a buck, they’re here to keep our rock n’ roll community alive and bumping.  If you want to see Dinosaur Jr. for FREE, all you have to do is leave us a number between 1-1000, and I’ll give the one closest to my number a pair of tickets to the show Thursday night.  Incredible openers (and locals) Shearwater will be opening, so show up early to make the most of your night.  We’ll pick the contest winner by 10 AM Thursday, day of show.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/01-Feel-The-Pain.mp3]

Download:Dinosaur Jr. – Feel The Pain [MP3]

If you don’t think you’ll win, you can buy tickets HERE. Doors are at 7 PM.

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