Jack Anderson

While words like “Americana”, “country”, “blues” and “soul” come close, the stylings of singer-songwriter Adam Hood are best described as “southern music”.

Hailing from Opelika, Alabama and currently based out of Northport, Hood began playing live shows at the age of sixteen and in just the past decade has become a full-blown prince of performance and a bastion of blue collar lyricism. The uplifting charm behind Hood’s live tracks return to a studio sound with his upcoming full-length Somewhere In Between.

Stripped-down and lacking over-produced studio superficiality, Somewhere in Between brings the steamy southern sounds directly to your headphones, car stereo or living room, and will have you hankering for another listen the moment its over. Last Saturday Hood kicked off a fall national tour in support of Somewhere in Between, continuing through December with lots of stops across the Lone Star State! Somewhere in Between comes out October 12th and here’s a preview featuring Brent Cobb, “She Don’t Love Me”!

There’s no use in denying the aural ancestry behind the name Lucy Wainwright Roche.

She’s the daughter of Loudon Wainwright III and Suzzy Roche (of The Roches), not to mention the half-sibling of Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wainwright, so it’s safe to say she flourishes from her folk-friendly family. Lucy has released two albums with her mother Suzzy and one with her half-sister Martha, but she’s also made quite a name for herself with her own solo singer-songwriter career.

In just a few days, Lucy Wainwright Roche releases her first solo album in five years and third solo album overall, Little Beast. The thirteen songs on Little Beast fuse everything Lucy has learned about folk over the years and you can hear it in its entirety this Friday. Lucy Wainwright Roche stops by the Paramount next Thursday, but for now here’s one of the album’s two lead singles, “Soft Line”!

A few years back, four girls met at music school and began composing together by age nine. Now at sixteen, this Sydney group has finally shared their indie pop sound as Erthlings, and they’re quickly gaining ground. Yes, they’re young, but they’re already seasoned veterans of songwriting with their fair share of life experiences and observations about the world around them.

These adolescent Australians have been touring in support of fellow KUTX favorite G Flip, but only after releasing their debut studio single. It’s only the beginning for Erthlings and we’re hoping for world domination in the near future. For now you can make your Friday extra fresh with Erthlings’ inaugural track, “Bridges”!

Photo: Dani Hansen

What do you do when you despise an entire genre? Sure, you could simply abandon it and move on with your life OR you could reinvent it in a way that sounds good to you! For electronic music, Los Angeles multi-instrumentalist and producer Lucas Nathan has done exactly that, beginning with his project Zonotope™ and continuing with his current moniker, Jerry Paper. Since 2010 Nathan has had four full-lengths as Zonotope™ and just as many as Jerry Paper; if you dive into Nathan’s discography you can expect high concepts, rituals, alter egos and alternate universes all used towards a discovery of self.

With that impressive body of work, it’s almost puzzling to consider the infantile title of his fifth album as Jerry Paper, Like A Baby. It’s a baker’s dozen of ornate electronic excellence, complete with all the vocal, instrumental, and production quirks we love about Nathan. Like A Baby doesn’t drop until October 12th (around the same time he stops by Austin with his fellow Stones Throwers) but lucky for us, Jerry released another new single this past Tuesday and it’s one that’ll make you say, “My God”!

Building a bridge between upbeat and tripped-out, Nashville quartet Arlie puts the surreal back in psych-pop.

They’ve only been around the past couple years but today, after teasing the music world with only a few spaced out singles, Arlie has finally released their debut EP, the appropriately titled wait. You can count on lush soundscapes and infectious melodies throughout wait and right now you can put an end to the anticipation with the EP’s lead synth-soaked single, “barcelona boots“!

Meshing neo-folk flavors and ambient auras, Melbourne singer-songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist Harp Samuels is the peace you need in your life. Last year Samuels made a big impact with his debut album, Wanting, and just this past weekend he shared his sophomore record, Breathe. Inspired by the loss of Samuels’ parents, the nine original compositions on Breathe are alphabetically ordered from “Away” to “Inglenook” and pay tribute to feelings of tension, hope and wanderlust.

This latest offering from Samuels is an unabashed musical journey, and you can take the first step with the album’s title track, “Breathe”!

Take a look at this name: Slothrust. Your gut tells you it’s “Slow Thrust” but as a matter of fact, it’s “Sloth Rust”. Pronunciation aside, this Boston three-piece has spent the past decade oxidizing audiences with their gritty, grungy style of alternative garage rock.

There’s no doubting the growth that vocalist-guitarist Leah Wellbaum, drummer Will Gorin and bassist Kyle Bann have undergone since 2010, best heard on their latest record, The Pact. These twelve new tunes bask in the glory of hi-fi production and kick off the next phase for Slothrust, who are already in the midst of a lengthy international tour. The Pact came out last Friday so immerse yourself with new Slothrust and start off with the album opener from The Pact, “Double Down”.

If you hear the name “Black Belt Eagle Scout“, your first association might not be, “radical indigenous queer feminist”. Whatever connotations you may have had, Portland’s Katherine Paul has taken the title as her own, complete with a sash full of musical merit badges. Paul’s time growing on a small Swinomish reservation in Washington gave her early insight to the spiritual importance of music, especially in connecting with her ancestors in the modern day. Mix that with a grunge obsession, masterful knowledge of guitar and drums and a comfortable place in the Portland scene and you’ve got everything we love about BBES.

Today Paul releases Black Belt Eagle Scout’s sophomore album, Mother of My Children, an eight-track that weaves together experiences of loss, frustration, and dreaming. Ease into the weekend, shake off the work stress and when you have a chance, “Just Lie Down”.

The music of Brooklynite Howard Feibusch and his eponymous group Howard has come a long way since the 2015 debut album, Religion. Religion formed itself around bedroom recordings and samples but proved only to be the beginning for Howard’s sonics. By the time the band released their electronic-heavy EP Recycle, Howard had become a fully fledged four-piece, ready to tackle a new project in Feibusch’s brand new studio.

That project, (Howard’s second full-length) Together Alone takes shape as eleven genre-hopping tracks, rounded out with a full band sound and backed by some Daptone horns to boot. Together Alone comes out tomorrow and to tide you over the next twenty four hours, here’s “Oh Dear Brother”!

Photo: Sonya Kitchell

Despite the ever-changing ebb and flow of hip hop on the whole, Miami trio ¡Mayday! has maintained a hold over a sea of crowds for nearly a full decade now. First formed in 2009 the group has had the privilege of performing alongside the likes of Lil Wayne and Tech N9ne, always promising to bring a dedicated dance energy to the floor with them.

Just last week ¡Mayday! dropped their latest album South of 5th, a full-length tribute to their hometown, complete with sweaty summer vibes and reggae riddims. One day after the record release ¡Mayday! kicked off a two-month national tour, continuing this Saturday at Flamingo Cantina. Get warmed up for the weekend early with the penultimate song on South of 5th featuring fellow Miami lyricist Stige, “Time Is Up”!

Fronted by keyboardist-vocalist Kate Mattison (but clocking in at three lead singers), the music of New York-based sextet 79.5 is hard to categorize, other than “high energy”. Bouncing between jazz, soul, funk, disco, house and everywhere in between, 79.5 has been moving crowds and shaking foundations since their first days in 2012.

79.5 translates their live concert energy to the studio with their debut album Predictions coming out September 28th. Predictions features production work from Leon Michels (Lana Del Ray, Lee Fields, The Arcs) and eleven new songs that’ll make you sweat, jump and maybe even holler! The record doesn’t drop for another couple weeks but fear not, two of the album’s tracks are ready for your listening pleasure, including the second single, “Boy Don’t Be Afraid”!

Guitarist-vocalist Gilberto Rodriguez has become somewhat of an authority figure on contemporary Chicano soul, beginning with his 2015 debut LP. These days he’s backed by a Bay Area four-piece and joined by a couple guest vocalists, who bill themselves collectively as Gilberto Rodriguez y Los Intocables.

With Rodriguez at the helm, Los Intocables hold their own with prominent Afro-Latin percussion, lush trumpet arrangements and bold bass lines. Gilberto Rodriguez y Los Intocables just released their first full-length as a band, Sabor Maracuyá Desnuda, a record sizzling with Afro-Caribbean ambiance. Check out one of the album’s more ethereal numbers and sink into the weekend with “Sentimiento Azulejo”.

With groups like Mother Falcon and Sip Sip on unofficial hiatus, suckers for stage-filling acts might feel a hair unfulfilled. Thankfully the local “fresh pop” group Sometimes A Legend is here to to toe the line between horn-heavy, semi-sensual and ridiculously raucous. Founded in 2015 by keyboardist-vocalist Bowman Maze, the members of Sometimes A Legend (AKA SAL or SALCORP) rank between six and eight onstage, each filling out the harmonics and dynamics of Maze’s intricate arrangements.

Sometimes A Legend has recently undergone some slight lineup changes, but that hasn’t done anything to their charming spirit and camaraderie! The band just shared It Is Physical, an EP of live recordings topped off with a new single that brings their live energy to the studio. You can expect that same passion from SAL on their debut full-length, tentatively set for a January 2019 release. In the meantime, prepare yourself for a counterpart music video for the aforementioned new single, “Adrenaline”.

Long Island-born, Brooklyn-based five-piece Mr Twin Sister (FKA Twin Sister) is…simply put…really weird. In the decade they’ve been together Mr Twin Sister has put out two full-lengths , three EPs and has undertaken a series of tours. All throughout their time together in-studio and onstage, they’ve been bulking up their brand of electric indie-psych pop-funk-whatever…you know, their brand.

It’s been a couple years since we’ve seen double from our favorite New York doppelgängers! That said the group just released a few new numbers! Mr Twin Sister recently shared their triple A-side/single B-side Power of Two/Echo Arms, and a heckuva fun new single before that. It’s only a month until Mr Twin Sister hits the road for yet another tour and today you can enjoy a free download of that aforementioned single, “Jaipur”!

Charlie Faye. Betty Soo. Akina Adderley. Three local vocalists with their own individual talents, bound together by a mutual love of ’60s pop. Faye’s been here for almost a full decade but only in the past couple years has she recruited the help of Soo and Adderley to form their ode to retro “girl groups”, Charlie Faye & The Fayettes.

The Fayettes released their debut self-titled LP in 2016 and today they unfurl the beginning of their next chapter. Their brand new single goes even further into the realm of retro pop, so much that they give The Ronettes a run for their money! You can enjoy the single release show this Thursday at Antone’s but until then, here’s a buoyant blend of familiar and new from Charlie Faye & The Fayettes, “I Don’t Need No Baby”!

– Jack Anderson

[Photo: Eryn Brooke]

The past couple years have undeniably been a labor of love for Austin psych-pop five-piece Chakra Kahn. Though most of the band’s members find origin in local dark wave outfit KNIFIGHT, Chakra Kahn maintains a completely different vessel of pop-rock sounds that flirt between retro and futuristic. The group has taken their affinity for creating compelling soundscapes and is pushing the psychedelic envelope exponentially further with a brand new full-length album!

Stillness is Motion puts Chakra Kahn on a sonic midpoint between Flaming Lips, Supertramp, Mac Demarco and ELO, with layers on layers of perfect performances all stacked together into one upbeat (yet introspective and socially conscious) experience. Stillness is Motion comes out on September 21st and the vinyl release party is October 13th at Barracuda. Whether you’re busy this Labor Day or taking it easy, you’re in for a powerful psych-pop premiere of a previously unheard track from Chakra Kahn, “Retrograde Movement”!

She’s a master of guitar, vocals, piano, trumpet…the list goes on and on for up-and-coming Melbourne multi-instrumentalist Tash Sultana. Having turned to a life of busking towards the end of her high school days, the still-young Sultana truly is a one-woman band with a ton of talent tucked away in her gig bag.

Sultana’s first offering, the Notion EP, was released in 2016 and today she shares her debut full-length, Flow State. Clocking in at just over an hour, Flow State is a baker’s dozen of Sultana originals that find middle ground between psych, alternative, lo-fi, pop, R&B and beyond. Some will break your heart. Some just plain bang. It is simply, a singular Sultana experience. The weekend is welcoming you with open arms, so spark up that late summer positive energy with “Big Smoke”!

With three LPs and just as many EPs since 2010, there’s a good chance you already know Jack Tatum’s dream pop platform Wild Nothing. Though this Virginia-based act performs live as a ensemble, Tatum remains the sole songwriter and after playing frontman for a decade, he’s bigger, bolder and more colorful than ever before.

This week marks the release of Wild Nothing’s brilliant fourth full-length, Indigo. Indigo comes out tomorrow and Wild Nothing joins us in town at the Mohawk in late October. Shake off the work week blues with a free download of Indigo‘s lead single, “Letting Go“!

In case you missed Montreal’s Matt Holubowski, this week’s the perfect chance to catch up! Ever since this bilingual singer released his debut album Ogen Old Man in 2014, Holubowski has been luring listeners into his forest of lo-fi folk-enriched sounds, made all-the-more dreamy through its charming imperfections and on-off French-English lyrics.

Holubowski’s second album Solitudes came out two years ago but he’s revisiting the full-length in tandem with its follow-up EP Epilogue by way of a re-release. The deluxe version of Solitudes comes out on Friday before Holubowski embarks on a two-month international tour. Right now though let’s look back with Matt on one of Solitudes’ heavier selections, “The King“.