The ACL Lineup Is Here

One of Austin’s favorite festivals has announced their 2018 Lineup. We already know that ACL Festival will happen on October 5-7 and October 12-14…but now we know what we’re getting! Personal highlights include David Byrne and Metallica/Deftones (I’ve recently been traveling down a secret metal wormhole with a lot of teenage reminiscence). A return of The National is never a bad thing, as they’ve delivered some of my favorite ACL moments in the past. B. Gray will be super stoked on Sylvan Esso and CHVRCHES. We’re also bound to love some of the acts lurking at the bottom of the list, like Sharon Van Etten, or my pick of the fest, Shame! If this whole thing is up your alley, then perhaps you’ll want to grab some tickets right HERE.

BGRAY NOTE: Post was staged before the full announce, let’s take a moment to react. The variation and diversity here is the best it has been in years. Sir Paul McCartney, Metallica, David Byrne, Twin Shadow, St Vincent, The Breeders, Blood Orange, Arctic Monkeys, Sharon Van Etten, Janelle Monae, Childish Gambino, Father John Misty – this is the best lineup on this side of the Atlantic. Get those three days now, cuz who knows if one-days will even be made available.

SXSW Awards – 2018

Your friendly neighborhood ATH staff members have emerged from SXSW week and I think we’re all finally ready to reminiscence on what transpired. As we’ve done in the past, it seems like a perfect time to hand out some awards for the festival with superlatives that we made up like 5 minutes ago. Keep in mind we saw a lot of bands, had a bit to drink, and ventured out to more venues than we can possibly remember. So buckle up, hit the jump and see who we deemed worthy and deserving of our very prestigious awards.

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Check Out Dead Oceans New Signing, Shame

Shame signs to Dead Oceans with a ton of UK hype behind them. It’s definitely going to be interesting hearing out the rest of the band’s tunes come across; this single’s great, but you could see an album of like-minded tracks wearing you out. It works around a bit of call-and-response punk ethos, though you can clearly hear that the band has a pop-centric focus…be it in the chorus or in some of the guitar sounds. It’s a good introduction, but we’ll hold out on full fandom until their debut drops in 2018.

Tough Age Soon to Release New LP

After relocating to Toronto, Tough Age have already dropped one 7″, with news coming that the group are set to release a new LP on October 20th. The fuzz on this tune is delightful, especially when you’ve got the angular pop from the guitar dancing all around. All the while, Penny takes on her careful howl, delivering each line with such assuredness that you better believe the band mean business. This number bounces back and forth, with just enough edge to keep the cool kids happy. Look for Shame to hit your local stores via Mint Records in late October.

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