Song of the Day

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July 5, 2023

Radiator King: “Hammer & Nails”

By: Jack Anderson

The number of different ways in which musicians were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic almost rivals the amount of virus variants we ended up uncovering. But broadly put, by April 2020, music makers faced a three-prong fork in the road: 1) reluctantly shelve their passion until an “all clear” eventually arrived, 2) maximize the sudden bevy of free time and continue to write new material, or, by far most commonly, 3) slow down along with the rest of the society, re-evaluate what makes your music unique, and let the uncertainty of those early times better inform the future path of your project.

Boston-to-NYC-to-LA singer-guitarist Adam Silvestri went with option three for his punk/blues endeavor Radiator King. Which makes sense since the momentum of Radiator King really picked up with the addition of Violent Femmes/Dresden Dolls drummer Brian Viglione and Alexander Burke before the release of the 2017 LP A Hollow Triumph After All. That title, alongside August 2020’s Unborn Ghosts both proved poignant in the new context of the quarantined turn of the 2020s. And with the exception of the following August’s Live at EastWest Studios, the court of Radiator King’s been awfully quiet.

Fortunately, as the world adjusts to a “post-pandemic” mindset, these royal heaters still tote the tools to tear the roof off their practice space. And even better, more synergic songwriting has begun flowing through the trio in this bold new iteration. Their latest single “Hammer & Nails” hones in on a hodgepodge of heavy-hitters like late-’90s era Bob Dylan, Nick Cave, and Tom Waits, albeit with Silvestri, Viglione, and Burke’s signature flairs; robust vocals, calculated, full-force percussion work, and straight up ripping Hammond B3, respectively. Its largely monochromatic music video with extreme close up camera work right in the grill of vintage equipment provides a moody juxtaposition against archival overlays including classic psychedelic eyeballs, nuclear weapons tests, and silent film footage, almost like a film noir version of an acid test.


Episodes

February 7, 2025

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February 5, 2025

Small Engine Fire: “Good Old Day”

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February 4, 2025

Her Mana: “Oh This Moment” (ft. Sarita and Gene Evaro Jr.)

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February 3, 2025

Gus Baldwin & the Sketch: “(She’s Gone) Arigato”

After many years of winning the hearts and ears of Austin music lovers both as a solo artist and as a member of the psych outfit Acid Carousel, Gus Baldwin’s name has been in the mouths of bookers and promoters for years, and more recently, he formed Gus Baldwin & the Sketch. And while it […]

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January 31, 2025

Glassreel: “Myself Included” [PREMIERE]

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January 30, 2025

Lola Tried: “Degrader”

If Mama tried to steer you right, Lola Tried is here to steer you wrong. So very, very wrong. Known for masterfully blending the emo hooks of teenage Millennial yore with garage and power-pop sensibilities, the group has always been like the adult charcuterie board to pop-punk’s Lunchable. After nearly a decade under those influences, […]

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January 29, 2025

Valley Flower: “Run Buddy”

Rolling into Austin like a quiet, yet alluring fog from the Midwest and Appalachia is Valley Flower, a groovy bluegrass quintet that brilliantly weaves in those regional influences to offer something a little different to the stalwart, homegrown scene here in Austin. And 2024 was very fertile for Valley Flower. They opened for several national […]

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