Song of the Day

Song of the Day > All Episodes

September 5, 2022

The Beaches: “Orpheus”

By: Jack Anderson

Like the Jan Brady of national holidays, Labor Day is an oft-overlooked middle child between the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving. So, quick bit of “birthday” trivia; although it’s American-manufactured, some historians believe Labor Day may have been inspired by Toronto’s worker-centric parades held in 1882. Which means we ought to recognize our neighbors to the North and celebrate with some continental solidarity. However, if you got screwed out of the long weekend for whatever reason, you can find a instant escape with The Beaches.

Their namesake canonically pays tribute to a shared neighborhood, but it also evokes the quartet’s willingness to bury college plans in the sand and fully invest themselves in their music. Nowadays, in light of more than 50 million stream on Spotify alone, three JUNO Awards, and fanship from Elton John, it’s damn near impossible to cast doubt on that decade-old decision. Lately, however, inspired by the likes of Austin’s own Dayglow, The Beaches have seemed to heed changing tides and begun testing deeper waters of indie pop after years in the rock sandbar. This questionable shift comes right after the full-length merge of The Beaches last two EPs and a U.S. tour kicking off next month, but as we’ve learned before, it’s best to trust The Beaches’ intuition. Considering the pulsing, Phoenix-esque, indie pop masterpiece “Orpheus” that just came out? Give ’em all the resources in the world for them to do whatever the hell they want.


Episodes

October 24, 2025

The John-Pauls: “Eep Eep”

Yesterday, I watched a video of a guy unsuccessfully attempting to get a beached dolphin back into the ocean, and as luck would have it, today I get to write about a song from a dolphin’s POV. And a louche little devil they are. “Eep Eep” is the appropriately named title and single from the […]

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October 22, 2025

Moonkill: “Full Stop”

I’m not sure there’s a better way to say you’re basically a space punk band than to name yourselves MoonKill, and, hey, that’s exactly what this Austin quartet has done. But it’s not like floating-in-space post punk; it’s more like if the Thunderdome had a Tatooine location. They’ve been busy back in the studio working […]

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October 20, 2025

Spill Tab: “Hold Me” [Backstage at ACL Fest]

ACL Fest may be but a flicker in your rearview mirror at this point, but our ACL Fest content is still poppin’ fresh. LA’s Claire Chicha is Spill Tab, a lo-fi alt pop project focused on incorporating rhythms from across time and the globe and nestling them warmly in her dulcet, mezzo soprano jazz vocals. […]

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October 17, 2025

Go Fever: “Amagosa” [Live in Studio 1A]

They’re back, baby! After a several-year hiatus, the Aussie-meets-Austin rock group Go Fever returns to retake Austin by storm. Known for putting out banger after absolute banger, their “vibrant jungle print, but in rock music” brand with earwormy hooks and lyrics that warrant an English-class close read have been profoundly missed across Austin’s stages. With […]

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October 16, 2025

Girl Tones: “Blame” [Backstage At ACL Fest]

From cellos and pianos to guitars and drums. So goes the story for classically trained musicians (and sisters) Kenzie and Laila Crowe, and together the duo are Girl Tones, a project set on unlocking the secrets of the universe to discover what it is to become more than mere sentient beings. The nascent indie rock […]

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October 15, 2025

Briscoe: “Saving Grace” [Backstage at ACL Fest]

Austin duo Briscoe made their musical imprint back in 2023 with their coming-of-age in the Texas Hill Country debut West of It All. Now having toured extensively (“from Canada to Cancun”), their latest album Heat of July is a different type of coming-of-age output for the folk-rock duo, literally written on the road largely without […]

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October 14, 2025

Aaron Page: “Lord Knows” [Backstage at ACL Fest]

Houston’s Aaron Page is a rising star. The R&B artist recently released his debut EP Before I Go, a meditation on vulnerability and conversations that lead to life’s great romantic pivots, for better, worse, or just more confusing. He stopped by our tent backstage at ACL Fest to perform his viral hit “Lord Knows,” a […]

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October 10, 2025

Lucius: “Mad Love” [Backstage at ACL Fest]

Lush melodies, decadent fashions, and a good hang to boot. L.A.’s Lucius is no stranger to the KUTX airwaves or Studio 1A, and we always get excited with antici….pation. And they delivered. Not only did they stop by to hypnotize us with a deeply lovely performance of “Mad Love,” a song from the group’s eponymously […]

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