We knew little to nothing about Australian band Husky when we heard that they signed a deal with indie giant Sub Pop Records . Now that we've had a listen to some of the band's tuneage, we are offering up our support of the band and their hushed experimental folk style sound. This new song "History's Door" will also appear on the band's upcoming U.S. re-release of their album Forever So. It's purty good. Download: Husky - History's Door [MP3]
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars When I first encountered Austin's Tiger Waves , I was caught off guard by their experimental inclusion of bits of noise that eventually shifted into snippets of grandiose pop. However, on their recent release, Don't Be Yourself , the band tends to switch it the other way around-clearly indicative of a band who have grown in their songwriting capabilities. "From the Start" begins with [...]
Finally through this last round of shows. It was Friday the 13th, so I wore a hockey mask. Nah, not really. School of Seven Bells played the Mohawk . A newly refined two-piece, Benjamin Curtis and Alejandra Deheza brought along an extra keyboard player and drummer to fill out their live line up. They also brought along Exitmusic as the opener. Head past the break and you will get show notes and plenty of pics. Exitmusic - [...]
I'll get it out of the way that I'm just a bit late on reporting about Chicago based husband and wife due The Great American Canyon Band . It seems like I've had this song sitting in my inbox for quite sometime, but just sort of forgot about it till now. I am making amends on my tardiness to the band by posting their incredible new song "Burn" below. It's almost like a mellowed out version of some of the finer tunes by fellow duo Dutchess & The Duke. However you call it, I dig it. A [...]
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars When a band tosses out a five song EP, such as Grave Babies have done with Gothdammit , it's often difficult to see it as much more than a stop gap along the way to the next album. But, regardless of where this lives in the band's on-going catalogue, there are definite steps being taken here towards positive progression. "Fuck Off" is the start to this rather short affair, but in the matter of time, it's [...]
The Internet has already given some great coverage to Dana Buoy , who really is Dana from Akron Family . His debut album Summer Bodies will be coming out in a few short weeks (May 8th) via Lefse , and we're all pretty excited around here for the street date. For me, I fell for this song because of the way it builds, using atmospherics, then his voice enters, then it continues to build with a bit of a background stomp until the [...]
You've always got to support the bands everyone misses, especially when they make such incredible tracks as this one from Horrible Present . This track is from the excessively titled 54, I love you but its time to get off record the band has just released on Cakes and Tapes , and regardless of the extensive album title you're going to fall in love with this track. The darkly tinged vocals give a bit of that haunting feeling to the track, but the minimal [...]
Date Wednesday, April 18th Location Mohawk Doors 900 pm Tickets $8 from Frontgate Need a little fix of poppy garage rock on Hump Day, then I think you better do your best to make your way over to Mohawk to catch this excellent show! Opener Hunx and His Punx just released [...]
When we hung out with Twerps the other night, their bosses so to speak, Chapter Music , suggested we get to familiarize ourselves with Velcro , the next big thing to come out of Australia. The Melbourne group has released two EPs already this year, with my favorite being the first, Highest View . There's elements of bedroom electronic pop that they experiment with (fleshed out on their later EP Inadequate Lover ) on the track featured below, [...]
Date Tuesday, April 17th Location Mohawk Doors 630 pm Tickets $12 @ the Door Sometimes we don't do our best to cover all the incredible female voices out there in indie rock these days, but that being said, tonight's show at Mohawk is going to feature some of the best voices of that ilk. The headliner Chairlift has been a [...]
Everyone loves Oceanic music right? Well, here's another great outfit you should give some love to: Sherpa . They're from New Zealand, and they've just put up their new album, Lesser Flamingo . Everything about their sound is winning me over today, combining vocal harmonies with ramshackle indie pop. One of the reasons I really appreciate this track is the fact that they take a simple approach, running straight ahead with the song-no pretext or extraneous flourishes. In the end, you're left feeling uplifted and excited to have come across [...]
Yes, more show pics. I am still plowing through a backlog of photos from last week's blitz of shows. This post features shots of Ladders , Jonquil and Keep Shelly in Athens playing the Mohawk 's inside stage after the Real Estate show. And you may notice the post title above being show pics of Jonquil even though they weren't the headliner and the reason for that is Keep Shelly in Athens turned off the lights. The projected scenes lent for a [...]
Date Monday, April 16th Location 29th Street Ballroom Doors 10:00 pm Tickets Cheap If you are able to recover from the ridiculous amount of great shows in town last week, then you should make it out to 29th Street Ballroom this Monday night. One of Austin's rising acts is The Wolf , and you're going to absolutely fall in love with [...]
Virginia's The Trillions might not be on your map just yet, but they're definitely a band you'll want to familiarize yourself with today. With named influences such as the Strokes and Big Star it's easy to lump the band's sound in with the masses, but I think the vocals give them an extra touch that sets them outside the usual realms. I hear a little bit of Dr. Dog in the vocals, giving a softer underbelly to their rock tunes. They've got a new record coming out called [...]
As the end of one of my busiest weeks in months came to an end, I was really excited to see Frankie Rose over at Red 7. The show also featured several rising stars such as Dive and The Young , so we couldn't complain, especially after all the work put in to make the venue more enjoyable. Read on for our thoughts and check out Brian Gray's photos. Cheap Curls began the whole evening, though [...]
RayRay and I have long adored Mystery Jets , regardless of their sonic changes throughout the years, so I never get tired of hearing from these dudes. And, to top it off their new album Radlands , which comes out April 30th, was recorded while the band spent time here in Austin (it's even reflected in the album art). It seems the band has found a great groove with this new record, showing their progression as a group while still maintaining that fantastic pop sensibility that made me such a [...]
During a busy week in town, musically speaking, Brian and I jumped at the chance to catch one of our favorite acts, Terry Malts , as they returned to town. We moved beyond our exhaustion, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, rocking out til the bar closed. Read on for some quick thoughts on all the bands and check out Brian's photos! Rayon Beach opened up the evening, and the band just keeps on improving. It always strikes me how forcefully they [...]
The last week or so has seen the Austin Interwebs go a little haywire, with Austinist vs. Michael Corcoran in a debate on the status of Austin as anything more than mediocre. We only talk about music, so we're not going to worry about the discussions on traffic or eateries...we're just looking at the music here. I grew up in this town, and I've been actively participating in the music scene since 922, so I feel more than qualified to hold a discussion here. I do want to [...]
In a week of packed shows, Wednesday was definitely full of shows, from Spoon to Real Estate to Bowerbirds to Keep Shelley in Athens , and we found ourselves at several...actually, all but Spoon. Read on for a few brief notes on Twerps and Real Estate , and Brian Gray's excellent photos. I can't say enough positive things about Twerps . Marty's joyous on stage, their songs are really solid, especially their [...]
I've raved to everyone about Wax Idols ; their album No Future was one of my favorite records of the last year. Now, while the group is working on their new album (rumored to be on Slumberland ) they've got a awesome stop-gap 73 for you on Suicide Squeeze . The title track, "Schadenfreude" is a jagged guitar rocker, with singer Heather spinning the pop goodness just as you would expect. There's a little bit of that brattiness that [...]
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