This is fine.
I mentioned in the Interpol review how busy it was last week for Austin’s music audience. The tours are touring again.
I’ll keep the review for this pretty brief. I have a big gallery of Cut Copy laying down the hits at Stubbs, trying some new stuff and refreshing the classics. Along for the ride was Suzanne Kraft, thoughtfully crafted songs that served to set the stage.
Click through for a few thoughts and pics a plenty…
What’s a weekend? Is it Blursday yet? As we try to reopen, we must also try to be safe.
Cut Copy provides a beautiful slow jam to ease into whatever evening you think it is and remind you that “Love Is All We Share”.
“It was written a year ago about the anxieties of imagined future times, as technology becomes more all-consuming. But in light of recent events, the song took on an eerie significance. Now, with our immediate future uncertain and people the world over self-isolating, love more than ever, feels like one of the best things we can share. – Cut Copy”
Sanctuary Lakes is the new project of Tim Hoey (Cut Copy) and Andrew Szekeres (Midnight Juggernauts). Their debut album under this name apparently came together internationally, as Hoey in Brooklyn sent some early sketches to Szekeres in Melbourne, and Sanctuary Lakes came together by working on the tracks back and forth. You can acquaint yourself with the result of this collaboration on “The Long Fade Away,” which is a quiet bedroom/ dream pop tune that’s mirrored by the desolation presented in the desert landscape of the video. The track is subtle but evocative–synth and vocals wash over you in gentle waves. Take a peek below and get stoked for the release of their self titled debut LP, which will be out on June 21 via Cutters Records.
Last weekend started off with a dance party. Friday may have been the single nicest day of the year; it was like nature was air conditioned. What better way to celebrate than with a show at Stubb’s? How about a little Cut Copy to add to that pleasantry? How about a solid opener like Kauf?
The show wasn’t a total sell out, but it got close which is not really surprising given they were at SxSW. Cut Copy was sharing some new jams surrounded by all the hits. This was the second date of the actual tour after a few small fest sets and aforementioned SxSW action.
Did you go? Did you miss it? Click through and let’s review while viewing all the photos together…
If you don’t know anything about me, know that I will go see Cut Copy any chance I get. Of non-Austin bands, I’d say they are the one band I have seen more times than any other. That kinda snuck up on me. Sure, they played one exclusive party during SxSW and did some DJ sets, but tonight, they play Stubb’s, the unofficial home of Cut Copy in America. I am curious if they are just hanging about, playing Dallas last night, but being almost two weeks removed from SxSW, you have to wonder if they were doing some recording here?
But they are the known here. How about I give some love to the opener? Kauf has been in and out of The Bucket playlist over on Soundcloud. I use that playlist to mix newer faves into other playlists when entertaining. The song featured below is called “Pacify”, a song with an understated elegance that builds, ebbs and peaks before release; Nicole shared it on ATH in late 2016. Maybe also check out “A Ruin”. Hopefully, it will push you over the edge to pick up a ticket, show up early and dance with us.
Tickets: HERE
Time for more photos from the Great Lawn. Thanks for coming.
The Saturday edition of photos features a new local supergroup, a not local supergroup, some singers and song-writers, local heroes and super dance pop. We also pepper in some tribute time for Tom Petty. We heard plenty of Petty covers over the weekend, but the best thing was shutting down all the stages for a moment to playback his rendition of “Freefallin'” from a headlining set a few years back as skydivers jumped out of plane above the festival and floated down with sparkler boots. It was giant sing-along, lighters up.
Bands captured – Ought, Mobley, Capyac, Traveller, Car Seat Headrest, Dreamcar, Thundercat, Angel Olsen, Cut Copy and Spoon
I’m not quite sure a lot of people Stateside have heard of No Zu…unless they picked up the Cut Copy compilation Oceans Apart from awhile back. But, the groove on this track from the Melbourne artists will surely perk up some ears here. First, there’s that throbbing pulse, yet you can also hear the influence of so many other areas like big band to 80s pop music. It’s an interesting pastiche, and one that should come across as rather refreshing in a genre that can often grow stale. You can grab this new single from the band’s new label, Chapter Music, or wait for their next LP on the label early next year; it’s titled Afterlife.
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Ben Browning is in Cut Copy. I love Cut Copy. What to do when one of the gents does some solo work? Usually it ends up being derivative of the band, but this isn’t the case. It is a very simple and clean synth disco jam, slightly surfy and plenty bright.
“Make It Easy” is the first track available from the pending release called Turns. The record is due in the summer on Yellow Year Records.
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Sometimes you have to pay the toll. The heat was taking the toll. Stubb’s is probably just a little too small to host Cut Copy these days. The band is stuck in popularity in the gap that Austin can’t quite handle and I doubt Cedar Park Center would be a popular destination for an indie-pop electro Aussie dance party.
Damn. It was hot. We sweat, we dance, we sweat more. We wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Click through for a couple more thoughts and plenty of pics.
Rating: 
Whenever a band that has been around for longer than ten years puts out a new album, there is always the question of what they will do to keep things fresh but maintain the style that brought you to love them. However, this hasn’t seemed to really troubled Cut Copy’s Dan Whitford, as his synth dance based samplings keep on attracting more and more fans. This time around, the band has taken the hypnotic approach to their tunes, which compliments their sound quite nicely.
If you couldn’t tell from the brightly colored album artwork, or even the title of the record, the first taste of this fourth LP, “Intro,” should clue you in to where this band is going. Consisting of some highly altered, deep set and robotic vocals telling you briefly to do as the album’s title suggests, and “Free Your Mind,” serving as the beginning of the hypnosis. On the following title track, the Australian group opens up things for real with their driving dance beat and layered synthesizer patterns. As per Cut Copy’s style, the sound starts off with some base sounds: high-hat sounding percussion and Whitford’s nasal-toned voice, stand out immediately. Then, they build on themselves, adding piano, bongo-sounding percussion, other female vocals chiming in with some “oh, yea’s.” Overall, you get this jungle-esque groove that builds to a choral crescendo, which should have fans happy, as it’s a pretty typical sound for this group.
This cult-ish movement for the group doesn’t stop here, but continues through the album. Of course, if you buy into the hypnotics of the record, it feels great; each song keeps your body moving, but if you don’t completely fall under the spell first presented, it takes a little while for you to get into Free Your Mind; the heavy presence of not so subliminal messaging is a bit overwhelming at points, but there are still some great tracks on the record. Immediate standouts include “In Memory Capsule,” that shows off a slower side, albeit still dance-able, tune that asks “can you feel it/once in a lifetime?” raising the theme of going through the motions of emotions versus actually feeling something. Another hotspot on the record is “Meet Me in the House of Love,” in which driving waves of never-ceasing synth drones and a high intensity beat is asking you to shake it.
Really, this album makes me want to get up and dance in whatever state or location I’m in. It’s quite difficult to not bob your head to these synth dance pop tracks, so if that’s what they meant by ‘Free Your Mind,’ then by all means they’ve succeeded.
