Song of the Day

Song of the Day > All Episodes

August 15, 2023

West 22nd: “Sweet!”

By: Jack Anderson

If this intense summer heat is starting to fry your synapses and your mind is in need of a holiday…but you don’t really have time on the calendar or money in the budget for proper R&R, there’s a broad sonic convoy right here in town that’ll take your brain places, for sure. We’re talking about Austin quintet West 22nd. Based on the campus-adjacent coordinates in their handle, you can probably guess where West 22nd got their start. But it’s worth mentioning that the five members have home state backgrounds ranging from Georgia to California, a critical piece of West 22nd’s “cross-country road trip” aesthetic within their indie-folk-rock excursions. For those staying connected with the Live Music Capital from outside the city limits, let West 22nd take you All The Way Home this Friday with their debut EP that shares the title. For the locals, West 22nd commemorates the occasion with a release show 8PM that same evening at Mohawk indoors alongside Daydream Twins, Knox Write, and Sounds by Moonbby. And for everyone, West 22nd simmers and shimmers on All The Way Home‘s latest lead single, “Sweet!”. Simple kick drum and snare rim, easy-strolling bass, and soft-swaying six-string warm this arrangement up before impassioned pipes bring this thing to a peak, but the inter-instrumental energy across this relatively complex song structure is really what escalates “Sweet!” past vapid and saccharine and into satiating and sanguine.

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May 5, 2024

Jana Mila: “Somebody New”

In an environment as dense and competitive as Americana, a unique set of lens can really help you stand out. But if that habitat appears even remotely unnatural to others, every little bit of local color improves your odds of surviving in the long run. Meet Jana Mila. Mila’s Amsterdam upbringing was spent in the […]

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May 2, 2024

Mikky & The Doom: “Garbage, USA”

In most situations, if you got it, flaunt it. But in an industry that demands infinitely more from your ears than from your eyes, if the hottest person on the planet doesn’t have the pipes to match their looks, they probably don’t have a shot at succeeding as a singer. So let’s talk newcomer Mikky […]

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May 2, 2024

Henry the Archer: “ViolinT”

If this late Spring’s got your spirits shook up and you’re looking for some renewed motivation to tend to your garden (be it literal or figurative), we’ve got a DFW act that’ll make you go hard in the yard. And that’s on behalf of singer-guitarist-keyboardist R. Hennessy, AKA “Henry O”, who’s been hitting the mark […]

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May 1, 2024

Emily Shirley: “Morning Light”

It’s the classic end to an encounter. You meet someone new. Sparks seemingly fly. You have fun for a night. But when you wake up ready to tell your new boo you’d like to see ’em again…they’re long gone. Hell, and in the modern era, that might all happen on just on an app alone. […]

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April 30, 2024

Grandmaster: “Castle Door”

Watch out, Golden Dawn Arkestra…there’s a new costumed collective in town, and they’re hunting for for fresh converts! But instead of frenetic Afro-inspired dance grooves, these fanatics have so far stuck to the slower side of ’70s-style jazz funk rock; think War whisked together with Steely Dan. Not that you’d be able to tell from […]

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April 29, 2024

Trip Cigs: “Comeback Kid”

When a seasoned musician wades out of their genre comfort zone, you love to hear it. Because the technical expertise, jam stamina, and songwriting skills are already in place, but opening the gate to different inspirations and influences is always a welcome breath of fresh air. So let’s talk Rod Gator, who – as you […]

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April 24, 2024

Viben: “Pablo Picasso”

Lyrics are a fickle field. You can be wordy as hell, hoping that at least one line sticks in listener’s minds. Or, you could just loop the hell out of some barebones sentences – guaranteed to have a lot more hypnotic staying power through sheer repetition, especially in the realm of dance music. Now let’s […]

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April 24, 2024

Rett Smith: “Sunsets”

In terms of musical association, at least outside the world of film soundtracks, U.S. southwestern scenery often gets associated with country. But there’s a certain psychedelic quality to our regional deserts that we just love to see artists embrace. Folks like Rett Smith, based here in Austin, but bred out of West Texas, so you […]

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