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December 7, 2022

waverly: “overcomplicated” (feat. mHart)

Song of the Day

By: Jack Anderson

Trap-pop. It’s decidedly a young person’s game. I mean sure, you’ve got “older” folks like Drake and Doja Cat purveying it on the Billboard charts but really, the target demographic and the generation who’s going to take it to the next level are people in their teens and twenties. Which brings us to Wil Brookhart. Born in Cambodia and now based right here in Austin, Brookhart’s been no stranger to collaborations in recent years; a continuing contributor and Artist Instructor for Mother Falcon Music Lab, this multi-instrumentalist/producer has also helped shape the sound of Carley Bearden, fruit collective, and most recently Casie Luong. Throughout all those endeavors, Brookhar balanced guitar-driven indie with MIDI-textured R&B, but his jump from producer to solo songwriter is really what propelled Brookhart into the big top of pop trapeze within the past year. That shift coincided with the adoption of a new handle, waverly, and the release of four standalone singles since April. Electric guitar is still the central instrument, but beats, bass, synth pads, and now, Brookhart’s processed-yet-velvety vocals complement these otherwise-spacious arrangements. Today, on Brookhart’s 24th birthday, waverly stirs a little bit of Juice WRLD into a three-minute sonic smoothie. Unmarred by complex techniques or convoluted chord changes, the simplicity of “overcomplicated” (compared with its emotional weight) is what guarantees it to be an enduring, widely-accessible earworm.

December 6, 2022

Daily Worker: “Irish Goodbye”

Song of the Day

By: Jack Anderson

Austin area indie-rock/guitar-pop connoisseurs ought to be well acquainted with the legendary experimental outfit Cotton Mather. The core members of Cotton Mather have kept each other company for a little over two decades, albeit non-consecutive ones. And yet you might still be unfamiliar with Cotton Mather co-founder Harold Whit Williams’ solo endeavor, Daily Worker.

To call this prize-winning author-poet-guitarist prolific is putting it mildly; in less than half a decade Daily Worker has put out more than a dozen full-lengths, including the Shelter In Tapes lo-fi four-track series. Each new addition is an absolute jackpot of jangle pop chock-full of moving ruminations, a trend set to continue with Autofiction.

Autofiction drops February 3rd, but Daily Worker’s already released the LP’s first two tracks as a 45, with a full band release show 6:30pm this Friday at Love Wheel Records. Visually, its A-Side (which doubles as Autofiction‘s album opener) brings a bit of ’60s psychedelia to the cemetery. And despite its title, “Irish Goodbye” gushes Eastern energy with sitar-inspired lead guitar riffs that’d have George Harrison sticking around for more.

December 5, 2022

July Talk: “Human Side”

Song of the Day

By: Jack Anderson

You’ve heard of Christmas in July…but July Talk in December? No, your calendar’s not having an existential crisis. But if you want new music at home and live in person, today we’ve got a recommendation and premiere all packed into one.

Chances are, you’ve never experienced anything quite like July Talk. For the past decade this spectacle of a Toronto sextet has electrified crowds with a relatively unconventional lineup in the indie rock realm; two fronting vocalists, bewitchingly balanced bass and guitar, and most recently the addition of a second drummer. Their 2012 eponymous debut proved right away that July Talk’s raucous chemistry isn’t constricted to the stage, and their full-length formulas have only become more and more refined at a pace of about one record every four years.

But true to their name, July Talk’s identity is an ongoing conversation. While the band’s back-and-forth fury is certainly still there, themes of rebirth, renewed strength, and voicing dissent dominate their fourth LP, Remember Never Before. This masterfully-inventive eleven-track drops January 20th, and July Talk wraps up a week-long U.S. tomorrow night in Dallas. Tonight at 9PM July Talk takes the stage at Antone’s along with Austinites Darkbird for an 18+ show. So if you want to rock out with these ACL Fest veterans, you can squad up to Antone’s OR let it all out on Remember Never Before‘s latest! Buckle up, ’cause from its sparse first downbeat all the way to its cacophonic final chord, “Human Side” is a helluva sendoff to 2022.

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