Half Dream Share New Single, Roses
Since releasing their Monster of Needing EP back in early pandemic days, Austin’s Half Dream have consistently been act to keep an eye (or ear rather?) on. Well, we’re in luck as today, we get a new single, with the promise that a debut LP is in the works for next year. And, as much as I loved the broad bedroom pop of their EP, their latest works really show how much Paige Berry has grown as a songwriter. This tune has these little guitar notes that hint at twang, but feel like little musical candles flickering behind Berry’s voice. Suddenly, the guitars take off, drums pick up speed and the whole group begins to flex their musical muscle, overlapping a guitar note here and there. Back and forth the song goes, introspective or galloping, all the while, the band just seem to be taunting us with how accomplished they’ve become. Enjoy this jam, and we look forward to hearing more from the group next year.
Strangely, I thought we covered a lot of territory last week, especially as I ran too much goodness on Friday. But, apparently we had a measly 14 songs run, plus some Levitation wrap-ups and a show-preview or two in the pages. I was excited to hear new music from both Seazoo and En Attendant Ana, both who’ve been quiet for a bit. Plus, that Field School and Heather Trost dropping Friday pretty much made the week a whole pile of awesomeness, in my book anyways. Visit if you will.
Erie Choir
Honestly, I’m pretty over lists at this point. They’re arbitrary and don’t really reflect anything but someone’s tastes, except here where they reflect the tastes of three individuals…because that’s how we roll. So, take this list with a grain of salt. These are the records we thought were the best, which mostly just means these are the ones we listened to on repeat throughout the year! Feel free to leave a comment on what you think we missed, or why we’re dumb; we love good comment trolls.
While the Chris Lipczynski and Zinskē might not be a household name just yet, I’d love to have a chance to change your mind as the band set up for the release of their debut LP, Murder Mart. For starters, Chris has this incredibly distinctive voice, bordering on grizzled, though careful to cling to melodic structures; his delivery, particularly in the chorus segments provides this extra layer of listener satisfaction. Musically, this is the spot on example of good old-fashioned indie rock. You get dueling guitar lines, riffs that drop between distorted speaker-busters and jangling angular cuts. I love how the song seems to get loud as possible without ever getting incredibly loud…plus you get this little guitar noodle just after the 1 minute mark. Everything about this, from the craft to the production just screams that this is perfect (from now on). Press play, there’s no need to go further, that other stuff just isn’t this cool!
We like to look back on Mondays, reflect on some jams we got to enjoy over the last week, particularly because its fun to see if they’ll have the longevity and make their way into the every day rotation. Plus, sometimes people just like it easy, so you can just stream all these songs and see what we wrote about last week. There were definitely some solid tunes from last week, with tons of Austin acts getting love (Big Bill, Gabe Hascall, Alexalone, Emily Wolfe), plus the usual fascination with what’s hot in Australia from Skydeck and Dag. Give it a stream, see if it fits your fancy!
It’s been nearly fifteen years since 
You know by now that I’m super into the Finnish scene, right? Well, I owe that entirely to my friend Nick, who at one point worked with