Taylor Wallace

CLUB: “Sunshine”

Austin’s CLUB COMA are electrifying. Ebbing between dark electro -pop, high-octane rock, and a little bit of funk (sometimes all in the same song), the trio brings the party to the stage. And when you know the members come from Austin groups Ume, Boyfrndz, and Stiletto Feels, your eyes unfocus just enough to see the whole magic eye image.

After working with Spoon’s Jim Eno in the production seat for their debut album in 2023, their upcoming sophomore album receives the touch of Danny Reisch, who mixed the song around evacuations from the L.A. wildfires in January.

“Sunshine” is the full tamale when it comes to the moods of CLUB COMA: after a grand swell of an industrial opening, the floor opens on what you think is going to be a dark dance track, then boom, fuzzy guitar riffs spring into action, giving way to a high-energy solo before the songs backs down into a slick, funky bass solo. As the energy oscillates, your ear stays engaged, looking for the next trick or pivot.

“Sunshine” is the title track off CLUB COMA’s new album, out this summer.

Club Coma SXSW shows:
– Monday, March 10 – Empire (Music/Tech Mashup Party) @ 6:15PM — ENTER TO WIN ENTRY
– Monday, March 10 – Hotel Vegas @ 8:45PM (Free Entry)
– Thursday, March 13 – Chess Club (Nine Mile Touring Showcase) @ 4PM (Free entry)

Redbud: “Pink Pear”

Redbud started as a passion (and let’s be real, therapy) project for Katie Claghorn during the pandemic. Following the release of the group’s debut EP Long Night in 2023, Redbud has been blossoming. At this point, it’s becoming increasingly harder to find people who haven’t heard of Redbud.

The group returns with their follow-up album All Chorus next month, and they’ve been kind enough to give us a little taste. Specifically, they’ve given us a pink pear. The new song shows the indie pop group’s growth and graduated cohesion amongst themselves. “Pink Pear” shows experiments in new directions for Redbud, adding more intricate layers and an edge to their sound. But the slightly blurred, catchy hooks and Claghorn’s ethereal voice remain at the center.

And the band remains booked and busy. Redbud has five shows next week during SXSW, the first one being next Tuesday afternoon far away from the SXSW crowds at Double Trouble on North Loop.

“Pink Pear” is out now. All Chorus is out April 25th.

Redbud Upcoming Shows:
Tues 3/11 @ Double Trouble (103 N Loop Blvd E)
Thurs 3/13 @ Love, Tito’s (215 Lavaca St.)
Sat 3/15 @ Inn Cahoots (1221 E 6th St.)
Sun 3/16 @ The Long Time (5707 Dunlap Rd N)

Magic City Hippies: “Little Bit of Love” (ft. Antwaun Stanley)

When you go through a break-up the traditional thing to do is to pull in, find solace in your platonic relationships, and try new things. Very new things. Like, perhaps, uprooting yourself clear across the country to make your next album.

Magic City Hippies follow tradition with their new album Enemies. In the three years since the group’s Water Your Garden release, each member has experienced the loss of a significant romantic relationship, and they’ve poured that energy into their latest album that among other things, saw the Miami trio head west for L.A..

“Little Bit of Love” highlights the group’s study in staying true to their Miami-inspired funk roots while having fun with wild production experimentation and songwriting that beats close to the heart. Together, the energy creates a sense of persevering, not merely existing; introspective songs about hard feelings don’t have to be downers. Especially in our darkest times, we sometimes need something relatable, but upbeat. And to seal it all together, they’ve brought in longtime Vulfpeck collaborator Antwuan Stanley.

“Little Bit Of Love” is on Enemies, out now. You can see Magic City Hippies tomorrow night at Stubb’s with fellow Miami band Mustard Service (Austin’s the Capitol plays aftershow indoors).

J’cuuzi: “How 2 Get Everything You’ve Always Wanted 4 Free (Forever)”[PREMIERE]

Austin’s J’cuuzi are about as avantgarde as you can get. Or as I like to call them pop-vantgarde. They’re too electronic to be post-punk, too post-punk to be considered electronic, and a hair too melodic to be straight noise rock. But it’s hot, wild, and maybe a little dangerous, like a jacuzzi.

Their live shows match their songwriting: performing on a stage made to look like a scantily clad apartment filled with its members strutting outrageous, matching homemade costumes that could be described as sideshow couture. All the while, their insatiable high-octane energy locks you in.

“How 2 Get Everything You’ve Always Wanted 4 Free (Forever)” is a raucous, metallic beat-driven tune, growling against the woes of late stage capitalism and their solutions to it and your teetering happiness.

“How 2 Get Everything You’ve Always Wanted 4 Free (Forever)” is out now.

Brittany Banowsky: “Two Sunglass Town” (Song Confessional)

If you’ve been paying attention to KUTX the last few years, you’re aware that we have a number of podcasts. One of them is Song Confessional, an effort led by Walker Lukens and Zac Catanzaro where they collect anonymous, wild stories or “confessions” from people then have a musician write a song about the confession.

Sometimes Walker and Zac will select a confession and put out an open call to their listeners to submit a song. This is the winner from their latest contest.

Austin songwriter Brittany Banowsky penned “Two Sunglass Town” a downtempo indie pop tune based on a confession about moving to a small town and days later winding-up on the front page of the newspaper for evading cops on a motorcycle for not wearing the proper eye gear. The kicker: the family had just moved there after his father had accepted a job as a dean at the town college.

You can find the full archive of Song Confessional episodes here. And you can make your own confession in the booth next week during KUTX Live at Scholz Garten.

Pink Must: “Morphe Sun”

When a project is born from a mutual love of PJ Harvey, you know I’m all in. Pink Must began with this love shared from half a country away, but once Mari Maurice Rubio and Lynn Avery, better known as More Eaze and Iceblink respectively, were both located in Brooklyn, it was game on.

As Avery’s moniker insinuates, the duo have crafted an album with several 90’s genre-bending elements. It’s a lot like PJ Harvey wrote songs with one of the decade’s premier trip-hop groups like Massive Attack or Portishead. But then they sometimes throw-in things like strings against a vocoder, again, subverting every expectation, even as you think you’re catching on.

Post-punk and trip-hop blend beautifully on the album’s first track “Morphe Sun.” Instead of a melodic earworm, you get a solid beat keeping center on a laid-back song that waxes and wanes between different tempos and pockets of sounds for your ear to swing between.

“Morphe Sun,” from Pink Must, out now.

Illiterate Light: “Payphone”

The Ohio duo Illiterate Light have been making music together for a decade: starting from humble pastoral beginnings making music while working on a farm in the Shenandoah Valle, to their latest album Arches, which saw the band splitting time between Ohio and Hollywood’s Sunset Sound, a room formerly graced by Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney with producer Joe Chiccarelli, who totes the Strokes and Beck on his CV.

In the six years since their debut album, Illiterate Light has only continued to make music that fits their headspace, whether that takes the form of something more psychedelic or garage rock. And Arches is their most live-feeling album to date, infusing the studio with the raucous, chaotic energy brought to their shows by their fans. It’s truly a love letter to them.

That energy can be experienced tonight in person at Mohawk on Red River with Philadelphia’s Caioga.

Marlei Dismuke: “Fantasy”

Born in Houston, partially raised in Plano, and now an Austin resident, Marlei Dismuke has been writing and performing music since she started piano lessons at age five. Writing songs for her brothers turned into composing music for family musicals complete with choreography, and eventually truly honing her craft in high school and college, performing everything from jazz to pop to opera.

Dismuke’s myriad of musical interests pour through her songs that sometimes leans a little pop and others a little R&B, but there’s little bits of all of her talent baked in. “Fantasy” is a sultry bi-curious anthem, celebrating the female figure while being caught-up in that all-too-relatable moment of, “what do I do with these feelings?”.

“Fantasy” is out now.

Anastasia Hera: “Ambitions” (Live in Studio 1A)

Austin’s Anastasia Hera has been blending her brand of rap and R&B for almost fifteen years. In addition to releasing her own solo work, leading her group Anastasia and the Heroes, and putting her mark on various other projects, she’s also the founder of CAKE (Creativity, Abundance, Knowledge, Education), a non-profit empowering and educating women pursuing music careers.

Her deft lyrics, sultry vocals, and smooth, earwormy beats have led her to becoming our February Artist of the Month. And, just announced today, she’s part of our line-up for KUTX Live at Scholz Garten during SXSW next month.

As our Artist of the Month, she recently stopped by our Studio 1A to share songs from her latest album Way Outside. And now, you get a taste of what’s to come on the stage at Scholz.

“Ambitions” is on Way Outside, out now.

Wabi Sabi and the Sweet Littles: “Nile Walk”

Austin’s Sam Hernandez has always seen life through a different prism. Colors, textures, and the planes of reality are subjective and mere suggestions. Influenced by the bubbly music of the 50s and 60s as well as an early penchant for Jim Henson and his muppets, Hernandez writes lovely songs to capture a familiar but not quite tangible plane of existence with the band Wabi Sabi and the Sweet Littles.

As the lore behind Wabi Sabi and the Sweet Littles goes, the band was born from a clever, inspirational gnome Hernandez met on a casual walk to the grocery store. Speaking on the tenants of the ancient Asian aesthetic and philosophy of wabi sabi, relating that art can be incomplete and impermanent. And in that way, Hernandez found freedom.

“Nile Walk” is a fun retro-pop tune full of little, weird gifts, like a flute bringing a flair of whimsy and animal sounds for that altered- Henson-like full effect. It’s weird, it’s fun, it’s joyful, exactly as intended.

“Nile Walk” is the debut track from Wabi Sabi and the Sweet Littles, out now.

Donnel McLohon: “Serenata”

Austin’s Donnel McLohon, founder of the storytelling blog the Austin Bluebonnet, has it down when it comes to great singer-songwriter tunes knotched-up with soft, catchy hooks, but on his debut EP You Were Adored, he held some space to push his boundaries, write on pure instinct, and let the music flow.

That track is “Serenata,” sprung from the vision of “Al Green meets mariachi.” The inspirations shine through with the mariachi instrumentation and groove matched with the smoothed out, slowed-down energy you’d expect from Green. The song never stands still, rather it feels like the song has a life of its own, going where it needs, savoring the moment, and taking its time to feel itself, and in doing so, it feels effortless.

Jane Ellen Bryant: “My Corner of the World”

When I think of Jane Ellen Bryant, the first thing that comes to mind is her vocal tool box. She’s not just a great singer; the control she has over her voice and the tricks she’s able to do with it are show stopping. She’s shows off this mastery in both the dance pop duo Jane Leo and her own solo work.

After the rousing success of Jane Leo, Bryant has returned to her solo work, but she’s brought in partner Daniel Leopold (the other half of Jane Leo) to fully actualize the next chapter of her music. Pivoting from her country pop style to a brooding singer-songwriter tone, “My Corner of the World” is a slow, reflective exercise stemming from her Saturn’s return, that lovely thing that happens around your late twenties where everything you’ve been running from or have known comes to a head and you, hopefully, go through a growth and ego death period where you redefine what’s important in your life, who you are, and who you want to be. I mean, Gwen Stefani wrote an entire No Doubt album about this.

“My Corner of the World” is out now.

Craig Finn: “People of Substance”

Since the early 90’s, years before the Hold Steady was a twinkle in his eye, Craig Finn has been laying down his legacy. Now over 20 albums deep into his discography, he’s set to release his 6^th solo album Always Been this April.

Finn calls Always Been his most narrative album to date, dropping into the protagonist’s life during a trying time: seeking a livelihood as a clergy man despite his lack of faith and his rise and fall in the process. It could almost be the sequel to MJ Lenderman’s Manning Fireworks.

“People of Substance” is the lead single from the upcoming album, both produced by Adam Granduciel of the War on Drugs and backed by the band taking-up the session position. It drops us in at the journey’s beginning, writing to a former lover about taking inventory of his life, making peace and taking accountability, and alluding to what’s to come.

“People of Substance” is from Always Been, out April 4^th.

Persona 749: “Stereo Girl”

From the hockey rink of the University of Utah to the mean streets of New York City comes Persona 749. After being inspired through music heard at college parties, Landon Langenbrunner and Che Landikusic started writing music, but without real direction, they were making music from a place of fun, playing around in the sandbox until something stuck. What came out of that experimentation is a fun quintet blending rock and new wave for a full-party band experience.

“Stereo Girl” is dancy tune that bumps around the ring with varying degrees of energy: when you think chaos is about to erupt, Persona 749 brings it back to center with a catchy hook…or a cowbell. And I’d reckon they’ve come full circle, now being the band on every college party playlist.

“Stereo Girl” is from the upcoming album JOCK ROCK, out February 28th.

Maddy Kirgo: “Spare”

New Orleans’s Maddy Kirgo writes music not only akin to the eclectic, all-embracing attitude of the Big Easy, but also to the sounds currently pouring out of its venues, or in her case, the buskers on the corner. To that end, her sounds simultaneously evokes the California country rock sounds of the nudie suit era and the contemporary indie art pop sounds of artists like Weyes Blood or Faye Webster. And nearly seven years since her last release, she dropped Shadow On My Light late last year.

“Spare” is the first track on Shadow On My Light, opening the album’s theme of finding joy and just feeling good. Her soprano voice floats around her mellow, sun-soaked melody, setting the mood for the next half hour.

Maddy Kirgo performs this Friday at Hole in the Wall with Austin’s Fishplate and Dallas’s Brody Price.

MIEN: “Evil People” (Live In Studio 1A)

We all know that when an artist is featured on a song, it’s likely that they recorded it remote and sent the track to the main artist. But how does it work when you’re a quartet and only 2 of y’all live in the same place?

To ask the members of Austin experimental psych band MIEN, it’s a lot of time, patience, and enthusiastic participation. Alex Maas of Black Angels fame leads MIEN alongside Golden Dawn Arkestra’s Rob Kidd here in Austin while the group’s other members, John Mark Lapham and Rishi Dhir call Abilene and Montreal home respectively. And what started as a fun recording project on the side became a fully realized band after their debut song “Black Habit” proved to us and them that there are still many unturned stones in the psych realm, sparking the tank and turning gasoline into energy.

Now back with their sophomore album MIIEN, that’s M-I-I-E-N, out this April, the band came together in person for a Studio 1A before they hit the road for a UK tour this spring.

Kowloon: “Heart Begins With You”

L.A.’s Kowloon is truly a one-man operation. Songwriting? Him. Instrumentation? Him. Recording, production? Yep, all Kowloon.

Backed by a full library of effects and music gadgets from various eras, Kowloon released a string of singles last year, demonstrating his affinity for the darkwave sounds of the 80s a la the Cure and Bronski Beat. Ahead of his sophomore album out later this year, Kowloon has gifted us “Heart Begins With You,” a song that leans more towards current indie pop than a fresh take on the past, like a laid back TC Superstar. But that relatable bleeding heart power runs through. And despite the song’s overall laidback energy, no part is simple or just there to check a box. And remember, it’s all him.

“Heart Begins With You” is out now.

Tommy Francisco: “Tommy’s Groove”

Even a piping hot bowl of tokontsu ramen can’t fully shake-off today’s bone chill, but maybe the headspace of partying on a yacht in Mallorca can.

Austin native Tommy Francisco hit the scene in 2020 with “Fever,” giving him an international audience and proving his ability to blend his Latin and Indigenous backgrounds into a brand of R&B and pop that speaks to the general human experience.

After charting at #2 on the R&B iTunes charts in 2024 with this EP In My Feelings, he’s back with V.I.P., and he’s put us on this list.

“Tommy’s Groove,” is a smooth, lively romp of yacht R&B. Like a collab between Chromeo and Michael McDonald. But don’t worry, Tommy’s Groove is lactose intolerant: no cheese, all linen-suit boogie.

“Tommy’s Groove” is from V.I.P., out now.

Serebii: “Verrans Corner”

Auckland, New Zealand’s Callum Mower, known as Serebii, has always focused on pushing forward. Forward musically, forward personally, and now, forward into naked vulnerability.

Serebii’s upcoming album Dime finds Mower at his most vulnerable. Historically, Mower has relied on his mastery of instruments and production with others, namely fellow New Zealander Arjuna Oakes, but he’s approached this album with deep introspection to produce something breaming with self-expression with his own vocals front and center.

That challenge and exposure have suited him well: it’s neo-soul with a capital S-O-U-L. Not only is Dime Serebii’s most realized and moving album yet, but he’s made it into one, unified, statement. Tracks are mere suggestions. So, let’s catch one of those stops.

“Verrans Corner” is on Dime, out March 28th on Innovative Leisure.

Slept All Day: “Asteria”

Austin duo Slept All Day may be new on the scene, but don’t sleep on them. Together, the two create moving soundscapes a la Bonobo and Washed Out. And they use their vocals as an element of the scape instead of its driving force. And despite the electronic instrumentation and vocal effects, the music is very terrestrial, like pairing psilocybin with a sunset seen from an oceanside cliff.

Slept All Day recently crowdfunded enough money to take their music east to play stages across Japan (in fact, they’re leaving on a jet plane today!). But they’ve left us with a parting gift, a song from their debut album Learning How to Sink.

“Asteria” is on Learning How to Sink, out now.