Last Week’s Jams (11.10 – 11.14)
In a week where paywall was all the buzz in the indie rock world, we just did what we did. We opened the emails, we listened to the songs, and we tried to give you an idea of what you may or may not like…and we did it for free, for the love of the game! We had new music from Jason Balla aka Accessory, and the beautiful tones of Bill Callahan makes an appearance this week too! SXSW announced its first few musicians, and happy to see my homies in the All American Rejects as the opening of the festival. Club 8 offered up one of their monthly gems, while our friends at Keeled Scales announced the signing of Hiding Places. A lot to share this week, and you don’t have to pay for any of it! Enjoy!
While the previous week seemed like the music biz was doing their typical song and dance, closing down releasees to focus on the lists and what nots. But, this week picked up, at least on my end, as we covered tons of new releases and new singles. There were a couple of out-of-the-blue announcements that I was grateful to enjoy, like brand new Just Joans and Kiwi Jr, both of whom just dropped some straight bangers into my mix. I really loved the new Pansy single, as its one of the more special tunes in the mix this week…and that Hirons single had its own way of captivating too. Along with all that, it was good to see Natalie Jane Hill back in the fold, as well as Emma Russack. Little bit of everything for you, so dig on.
During this time of the year, there’s slim pickings in terms of what’s out there, as labels and bands prepare to kind of whole up for the Winter, but we still have a really solid collection of jams for you. For starters, B. Gray and I met long, long ago at a Twilight Sad show at the OG Emos here in Austin (not the blasphemous new spot), so their new song gets precedent to show our love. We were really stoked to see our Internet pal Matt Kivel, currently of Austin, drop a single form his forthcoming LP, so that, of course, shows up. Then there’s just quality hit after hit, with Diles Que No Maten and Twin Shadow and Vilde and Devin Shaffer (sorry for the polysyndeton). There’s a little bit for you all!
Not sure what it was, but for some reason, just didn’t get a ton of new stuff out into the world last week, though I’ll admit, sometimes life takes precedence. We were fortunate enough to grab some new tracks from our favorite Austin acts like Annabelle Chairlegs and Daphne Tunes, not to mention a little show coverage for Nations of Language/Deeper over at Mohawk too. There was some new stuff I thought was really special from No Lonesome and Hush, and then Optic Sink dropped a slow burner that I’ve had on repeat for a few days now. Feel like last week was very much a quality over quantity, but you be the judge.
There was a lot of really great music, and in all likelihood, we’re nearing the end of the yearly cycle, where I expect to kind of see a flutter of singles then the lists will pop up! On our end, we covered a lot of the ATX this week, with new stuff from Jet Cemetery, Don’t Get Lemon, Gus Baldwin and Living Set. There were some new tunes that really rocked me, like Deathcat‘s pop punk masterpiece, not to mention the new Winged Wheel noise pop piece. Even managed to find some room for old favorites like Living Hour, Pia Fraus and Bubblegum Lemonade among the masses! Crank this playlist up, as it starts with a banger from Possible Humans.
As we poured through B. Gray’s photo coverage of Levitation, we also were able to get in some pretty solid tracks, even a premiere here and there, so a pretty busy week on our side. We did some Austin repping with that new Mugger tune on Friday, if you dare to let it rip! Dropped brand new stuff from Strange Passage, Marni and the Lions Constellation, all which are worthy of your listening. Plus, even got to stretch our taste a bit with the likes of Greg Weeks, Devin Shaffer and Magic Fig, so feel free to step outside the confines of today’s indie rock playlist!
It was a hectic week on my end, and RayRay up and left town (to travel to Detroit!), so I snuck in a bunch of gems I think you’ll really enjoy, all of them presented in a little playlist for your pleasure. I was stoked to see our friends in Pop Filter back with a new album and single, so be sure to listen to “Dirt Road Anthem.” Also in the unexpected great news realm, Tony Molina has a new LP on the way, and well, we’ve opted to include all 3 of the singles he released, as there’s never a bad time for Tony! We got UK stuff too, with new Pynch, Adults and Teenage Tom Petties, so that’s at least three continents represented in this 20 track collection for you all!
ATH got her groove back! Okay, maybe not entirely, but feel like we’ve gotten some solid coverage this week, bringing you some stuff that the other hit promoters might have missed. I wanted to start the playlist off this week with the new single from Massage, as that track made me rush out and count my quarters to grab a copy. RayRay reminded us that Shy Boys are still a force to be reckoned with, while B.Gray is out there encouraging those remaining tickets for Levitation to get picked up. Otherwise, we’re a little all over the place, stylistically, moving between the post-punk of Optic Sink and electronica of Sam Prekop to the quiet beauty of Greg Jamie; there’s a little something for everyone if you click play below!