howless - Austin Town Hall

Last Week’s Jams, Today (2.14 – 2.18)

February 21, 2022 nathan.lankford Leave a comment

What were the hot jams from last week? Well. We have them. We put them on a nice little playlist (you can complain about it later) so you could enjoy revisiting the hits. We’ve been running spotlights on SXSW artists, so you’ve got tunes from Logan Lynn, Grant Pavol and Elephant Stone, hoping it’ll catch your eye and get you to check out the interviews. Our friends in Good Looks dropped a new tune, plus we’ve got absolute rippers from Bodega and Dehd, plus some cool shit under the radar from Star Party, Salt Lake Alley, Red Pants and Howless.

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Howless Release Video for Unlucky

February 15, 2022 nathan.lankford Leave a comment

The forthcoming debut from Mexico City’s Howless is pretty high upon my list of things to come down the pipeline, and with their latest single, they step up their sound a bit here, adding in some anthemic pop flare. At first, the angular guitar work shimmers, bringing in this natural hook that’s inescapable. But, the more I listen, the more that Dominique’s vocal performance, combined with the guitars and rhythm, builds this anxiety that plays right into the lyrical concept of “self-sabotage;” there’s this edge that both listener and narrator are tight-roping upon, unsure which side of the coin will land. It’s this sort of attention to detail that allows the band to toy with the darker concepts while offering dreamy soundscapes with pop references. To Repel Ghosts will be out this Friday via Static Blooms Records.

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Last Week’s Jams, Today (1.24 – 1.28)

January 31, 2022 nathan.lankford Leave a comment

It’s always great to start out the week by looking back upon the week that was, and while perhaps not an abundance of tunes like there was the previous week, there was definitely great musical news. Papercuts announced a new LP, with two new songs from the record, and both are here for fun below! Plus, Finnish outfit Rules dropped a new single, and I just can’t stop raving about Lewsberg and Apollo Ghosts. And somehow it all gets wrapped up with a new Ducks Ltd single? I’ll take it. Revisit last week with us!

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Howless Share Rain and Ice Video

January 26, 2022 nathan.lankford Leave a comment

It’s really great to see that labels and folks around the world are reaching into the Mexican music scene, with Mexico City’s Howless being one of the more recent acts I’ve been enjoying. They’re offering up a pretty traditional post-punk meets dream pop sound, touching on those gaze guitar sounds. They’re softening the edges perfectly, however, which gives the melodic nature the dominating feature of the track, all before it brings in this heavy instrumental breakdown that leads into this soaring haunt of a vocal to close the tune out. The band will release their new album, To Repel Ghosts, on February 18th via Static Blooms Records.

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Last Week’s Jams, Today (11.15 – 11.19)

November 22, 2021 nathan.lankford Leave a comment

Well friends, this is going to be a short week, and we’ll likely run some stuff today and tomorrow, then take off the rest of the week to detox before hitting the home stretch of the year. But, like every Monday, we like to start things off just revisiting what we were able to accomplish or cover last week…so you know…here we are and stuff. We’ve got some tunes from ATH faves like Papercuts and Abram Shook, as well as some of the acts I’ve been more recently in love with like KEG or Suep. So, browse, enjoy, and hopefully you start off your week on the right foot.

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Howless Announce Debut LP

November 18, 2021 nathan.lankford Leave a comment

Mexico City is a great hub for art and culture, and its been great to see that start to make its way across into the States the last few years. Today, we’re sharing this track from Howless, a four-piece band specializing in blending noisy bits of shoegaze with the dreamier side of today’s pop music. This song begins on the pop side, using these crisp guitar lines and punctuated rhythm work that gives off the feel of New Order or the Cure; they stay here for a little bit, bringing up the melodic moments to the front of the track. The vibe gets matched with some old footage of exuberant dancers having the time of their lives, much as we hope the band is doing. Once the tune hits the 2 minute mark the noisier elements start to take over, washing the song in this heavy crash of shimmering guitar noise; I appreciate that they’ve let that blend in gradually, rather than just the typical climactic crash. If you’re digging it, the band release To Repel Ghosts via Static Blooms Records in February!

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