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Living in Austin, I sometimes forget just how many great bands come out of this city, so I love it when I stumble across one such as Mirror Travel who is bound to make waves. Formerly known as Follow That Bird, this trio is made up of Lauren Green as front woman on guitar and vocals, Paul Brinkley on bass and backing vocals and Tiffanie Lanmon going to town on the drums. Together, they come together to give you Mexico, their first proper release as a group, and not to mention a stunning display of good old rock and roll with a hint of dreamy elements to bring you into the present.
First, they present you with an ambient introductory track comprised of delicate guitar sound, a shaker for percussion, and some other gentle sounds to warm you up to the sound. Immediately, it strikes me as the lead into of an Explosions in the Sky track, but “Sands” is just about as mellow as it gets before they kick into their punch-you-in the face, dare-I-say psychedelic rock, like the calm before the desert storm. “I Want You To Know,” begins purely with a killer bass line and a finally you get a taste of the real cutting guitars and the raspy vocals of Green. Her voice is pure power, staking its claim amidst the buzz of the guitar and evoking a cross between Stevie Nicks and Dolores O’Riordan at points. The vocals don’t seem to be especially mixed above the instrumental parts of the songs, but sound as if she is in another room and you’re just lucky enough to have stumbled upon the sound and stayed because you liked it so much.
This group isn’t only about melting your face with their angular guitar sound and kick ass vocals coming from the front woman, but they’re also here to make you dance, as any good rock and roll band should. Infectious tune, “Parties” comes fourth up on the album and will have you humming along with the choral hook while you’re jamming. Not to forget the ending of the song in which the guitar cuts out for a fast second and some rolling drum work in the background gives the song that build to put it over the top from good to grand. If you’re going to listen to only one song off this record, make sure it is “Parties,” as it’s bound to be one of the best tracks of the year.
Though it seems to only listen to one song from this effort would be a crime. I dare you to find a track you don’t like on Mexico; it’s easy to put this album on repeat and listen to it for days. In fact, that’s what I have been doing and will continue to do so. Look out Austin, as well as the indie world—here comes Mirror Travel.
Man. Austin had a pretty incredible year; it was a far better year than I’ve encountered recently, making my ears, mind and heart quite proud of our hometown. While it’s obviously difficult to get in on every single band in Austin, I made a list of the albums that were most impactful throughout the year, 2013. I purposefully left off EPs and singles, not because I didn’t enjoy those, but because this is a list of top ALBUMS! I’m sorry to those we left off, and encourage you all to send us your music as we continue our push to be a great voice for Austin music. Without further ado…this is how we do it. Read more
