Photo by Katrina Barber
Marmalakes have been an Austin underground mainstay for the greater part of a decade, a household name with anyone who kicks it with the city’s indie scene. Formed through the friendship of lifelong buds Chase Weinacht and Josh Halpern, Marmalakes are folk-pop fun without sacrificing the integrity of their storytelling or songwriting, even when they’re slow and meditative. Their words are honest and their music is effortlessly smooth and endlessly interesting, like a good peanut butter that sticks in your head instead of your mouth. Pointing to the complicated and talented minds behind two of this city’s most warm-spirited musicians, their music has the singular ability to float about as soft, introspective indie-folk then appropriately inject growling electric guitars or bubbly keysmelodies to add texture to the Marmalake’s surface. At long last, following a handful of EPs and many, many shows and tours, comes the group’s long-anticipated debut full-length Please Don’t Stop, out in May. Their infectious tuneage is punctuated by their real-life energy, abundant in their live performances and heartily evident in their new video for one of the group’s softer, melodic songs, “Not Gonna Control You,” shot last week with KUTX’s multimedia team.
“Not Gonna Control You” appears on Please Don’t Stop, out May 11th via Austin Town Hall Records. Pre-order available now.
Upcoming (non-SXSW official) Marmalakes shows:
Sunday, Mar 9: Spiderhouse || All the Friends Ball
Thursday, Mar 15th: Kitty Cohen’s || Noisy Ghost PR & Graveface Records SXSW
Saturday, Mar 17: Butterfly Bar || w/ Carry Illinois and Star Parks
Sunday, Mar 25: Flat Track Coffee || Vinyl Party
-Taylor Wallace// Host, Thursdays 8p-11p & Saturdays 2p-6p; Producer, Eklektikos with John Aielli