austin music

Night Drive: “Summerwaves”

Although Houston and Dallas are indisputably the hubs of such, car cruising culture is alive and thriving all over the Lone Star State. And while swangin’ looks best before dusk, these triple digit temps tormenting Texas have been making it tough to tempt daylight, even with top down. And especially if you’re less about “Tops Drop” and “Diamonds & Wood” and more into the Miami Vice or Kung Fury soundtracks…this is where the prospect of a good ol’ Night Drive shines. Back when we named Night Drive as our May 2017 Artist of the Month, we knew right away that these Austinite-Houstonians’ retro-bred blend of post-punk and synth-pop wasn’t just moonlighting for a sole getaway score. No, by the time their eponymous LP hit our airwaves, the pair had already spent the past half decade shaping their sound and shifting up their skills from Night Drive’s 2013 debut EP Position I. Now that 2017’s Night Drive marks an approximate midpoint between Position I and the present…there were only so many lanes for Night Drive to explore next. With the addition of a third member, Night Drive drops their sequentially titled sophomore EP Position II this Fall. Produced by Rick Rubin protege Phillip Broussard, these six new songs step away from Night Drive’s remix routines and instead embrace a less-formulaic middle ground between their strongest sounds. Position II drops August 4th ahead of a release show the following evening at The Parish with openers Haunt Me and Holy Wire and the record’s lead single just cut the engine on this stagnant Texas heatwave. Alongside its VHS-on-LSD music video, the record’s lead single “Summerwaves” veers past the saturated vaporwave aesthetic in favor of something timeless and authentic. Like if Joy Division hopped across the pond with a mouthful of MDMA, rented a Testarossa, and started plowing past rows of palm trees, “Summerwaves” is an ideal track both for piston-pushing under the sweltering sun and gentle swerving under the stars.

Blakchyl: “White Tee Shirt”

Among the many lessons we’ve learned from classic rock history, something that stands out against to current trends is the polarity of solo offshoots. Ozzy’s exit created flak within Black Sabbath’s massive fandom, David Lee Roth’s departure from Van Halen led to the havoc of Van Hagar, and Sting’s egress from The Police still hurts for some. But aside from the occasional social media beef, most hip-hop heads will turn their heads with eager ears to hear a contributor to a beloved collective break out on their own – even if it’s just to assess their intrinsic talent. On top of that, Austin’s rap scene plays less of a cutthroat competition and more of a supportive cohort. So imagine the excitement that was spurred at the start of 2019 – two years after Austin outfit Mindz of a Different Kind shared their last LP BORDERLINEZ – when MDK heavy-hitter BLakchyl dropped her debut EP On Paper. BLakchyl followed it up that same fall with the Tåsi collaboration East 10th before graduating up to her feature-laden full-length H02d in the pandemic’s early days. Last October BLakchyl introduced us to yet another collabo – this one with Nez Tha Villain – entitled G.E.N.I.U.S.. Throughout it all, MDK’s been close by and more than willing to hop in-studio with BLakchyl, no matter that it’s technically outside the ensemble’s umbrella. Today, as she continues to navigate the intersectionality of Queer Black womanhood in Central Texas, BLakchyl boldly steps into the world of singing with her sophomore solo EP Call me sometimes. This ambitious album precedes a live appearance 5PM next Wednesday at Waterloo Records for THE DROP and what we hope is the next big springboard in BLakchyl’s still-burgeoning career. The brief, R&B-beveled brilliance of “White Tee Shirt”, whose fabric seamlessly stretches between autotuned hooks and breathy verses, at least earns BLakchyl some extra respectable stripes in this promising solo ascent.

Primo the Alien: “Move”

With only one week left in LGBTQ+ Pride Month, we gotta get in as much queer representation as possible. So on the verge of Pride in Local Music tomorrow afternoon and evening, today we’re highlighting one of Austin’s most eccentric musical personalities, Primo the Alien. Aside from recent strides like making their ACL Fest debut last October and descending down to KUTX’s Rock the Park concert series a couple weeks later, this intergalactic master-of-MIDI and celestial synth-wizard has an incredibly prolific studio output – a Milky Way of singles often complemented by vibrant music videos. Style-wise, the synthesizer and MIDI sampler are always close at hand, so it makes sense that this singer-producer orbits around all things pop – synth-pop, electro-pop, dance-pop, you name it. Ahead of their slot 7PM tomorrow on Pride in Local Music’s main stage for the festival’s fourth celebration, this morning Primo dropped their fifth single of the year. Far from lost time at just shy of three-and-a-half minutes, “Move” will abduct your headspace with Tropical House chords, tasteful retro synth tones, perfectly-saturated beats that beg for the dance floor, and of course Primo’s indestructible, superstar-nearing-supernova singing.

Stone Wheels: “High in the 90’s”

While “Old Austin” is best embodied by Willie Nelson, Townes Van Zandt, and Armadillo World Headquarters, thankfully there are plenty of other old souls still permeating that “country hippie” aesthetic of decades past. Take for instance singer-guitarist Andrew Gerfers and his homegrown quintet Stone Wheels, who shared their first studio single back in 2015 and dropped their eponymous debut full-length in 2018. Listening to Stone Wheels is like cracking open a time capsule from an alternate 1960s where the Lone Star State was lacquered over with LSD and polishing it with the clarity of modern production. Complete with beatnik principles, “flower child” connections to nature, and far out counterculture ruminations, Stone Wheels has stayed true to their hedonistic country spokes straight through the COVID-19 pandemic. And just yesterday, following up their 2021 EP From the Forest to the Sea, Stone Wheels ushered in the official start of summer with a new standalone single. Less of a heatwave warning and more of an Orange Sunshine-tanned flashback to cooler days (especially with the recent passing of Austin icon Teresa Taylor), “High in the 90’s” blows off the forecast and takes you on a rolling four-and-a-half-minute piece of musical meteorology, a lackadaisical Cosmic Americana masterpiece that’ll will lift your spirits, whatever the weather.

Lady Chops & The Goddamn Jam: “Funeral Clown”

This whole week is shaping up to be a trying triple-digit scorcher, a bold barge-in of that iconic Lone Star sun. But if you’re the type who prefers to keep their sights locked onto their sneakers rather than ever glance up at the horizon, we’ve got something that’ll stick your soles straight to the pavement. We’re talking about Lady Chops & The Goddamn Jam, fronted by Lady Chops herself, singer Bethony Harnden. Backed by a tight three-piece with diverse musical tastes and backgrounds, Lady Chops & The Goddamn Jam served up their stealthy lo-fi debut single “Up To You” in the summer of 2020, stepping up the production value with the sparsely arranged “End All Be All” that October. This year, ahead of their first studio full-length, Time, the quartet’s given us sneak peeks at an impressive pace, with lead tracks trickling out in February, March, and April. Just like its title, the release date for Time is still uncertain. But thanks to tastefully restrained sonics that erupt like Pagliacci, a chord progression up to par with Broadway and opera, and disciplined vocal and instrumental performances that almost sound effortless, the record’s fourth single “Funeral Clown” will for sure keep your spirits cool enough for the foreseeable heatwave.

ROXY ROCA: “The Nomad”

Here in the Live Music Capital of the World, we’re blessed to have an abundance of different genres, but truth be told, at the end of the day, rock is God in Austin, Texas. And while Austin does attract a vast rolodex of rockers, the city limits can also surprisingly shape previously non-rock sounds. Like, look at ROXY ROCA. When ROXY ROCA first got started a little over a decade back, they placed themselves predominantly in the funk-soul-R&B box. But by the time they teamed up with Chris “Frenchie” Smith to produce their sophomore LP A Better Way, the quartet not only acquiesced but fully embraced a harder-rocking repertoire. In any event, these rough riffers have continued to put on one hell of a show, even in the thralls of COVID. Well, this Fall, ROXY ROCA returns with their third full-length Greasy. On this record ROXY ROCA’s steady wheels of change are slicked with both the straight-up rock of 2018’s A Better Way and the retro-soul of 2015’s Ain’t Nothin’ Fancy. By blending classic rock with roots R&B, ROXY ROCA creates an oily middle ground that oozes over generations of different styles. Today, following up this April’s “Yazoo Queen”, the four-piece unfurls Greasy‘s sophomore lead single, “The Nomad”. Lathered up in blues rock testosterone with guttural vocals, rugged guitar, piercing percussion and bottom-dwelling bass work that keeps the whole thing together, “The Nomad” will keep meanderin’ around your mind well after your first listen.

Good Field: “Full Pool”

Back in 2018, we started the year off strong with our January Artist of the Month Good Field. The Austin quartet, their enthralling third full-length Surface Tension, and their easy-going brand of slacker indie-Americana perfectly embodied the worry-free character of the “before times”. But since the start of COVID, Good Field’s been noticeably quiet. Maybe that’s because Good Field’s been in the weeds of their fourth LP, Coyote. This seven-song collection follows up their seemingly-standalone October 2020 studio single “Coyote (Living Free)”, which now serves as the album closer and title track. Toting tunes like “Passengers”, “Airliner”, and “Lost in Morelos”, Coyote comes across as less of a yipping menace and more of a slinky, crepuscular traveler, fitting for a four-piece originally from rural West Texas. Coyote crests the horizon on November 3rd and Good Field takes the stage 10PM tomorrow night at C-Boy’s Heart & Soul, followed by Star Parks at 11:15PM and The Point just after midnight. And today Good Field’s graciously given us an early glimpse at Coyote from afar. Although its title instantly reminds us of Surface Tension, “Full Pool”‘s character doesn’t exactly reflect that last record’s shimmering indie rock liquidity. Instead, in a wooded trot or a sandy gallop, “Full Pool” takes its time and stalks listeners with cosmic Americana, like an infectious vector between Deer Tick and 2009-era Grizzly Bear.

Lauren Lakis: “Terror Tears”

When an actor gets their first big break out in L.A., most folks can quickly differentiate between the pretty faces and those with a burning creative core underneath. A dead giveaway for the latter? Other than a luminous performance that transcends the screen and leaves a lasting impact on the audience…maybe the most obvious tell is passionately and outwardly pursuing a separate discipline.

Just take a look at Lauren Lakis. The Baltimore native’s ever-growing feature-length filmography began in 2011, and while taking the whole singer-songwriter thing seriously probably did cross her mind several times, it really wasn’t until Lakis relocated from Los Angeles to Austin about ten years back that she doubled down on her musicianship. Lakis stayed busy at the turn of the last decade with her 2018 debut LP Ferocious, 2019’s Sad Girl Breakfast EP, and Daughter Language from 2021, not to mention recent live appearances at SXSW and Levitation alongside the likes of KUTX airwave alumni Holy Wave and Ringo Deathstarr.

Seemingly unable to take an extended siesta at this stage in her career, Lauren Lakis has been building hype around her third full-length A Fiesta and a Hell, out later this fall. This album perfectly preserves Lauren’s legacy as a rockstar stuck in a hard place with an authentically-emotional, infectiously-magnetic take on the shoegaze genre, as heard already on its delectably droning, reptilian crawl of a first glimpse, “Take My Hand“. Today, A Fiesta and a Hell‘s sophomore offering lobs Lakis’ already-leering mystique straight back to the late-’70s/early-mid-’80s golden age of post-punk goth rock with a stern ultimatum surrounding the divisive tactics of mainstream media and the capitalism that backs it. “Terror Tears” fearlessly lets the mascara flow freely and floods the ducts with deft retro dynamics, sweet-yet-sinister verses that strike a contrast from its animosity-anchored choruses, and a fuzzy-beyond-belief bridge section chock-full of vocal delay, that, altogether, expands Lakis’ purview to an almost satirical sense of sick dystopian schadenfreude.

Fort Never: “Take A Look At Us Now”

You might’ve seen recent headlines about Fort Hood changing their name to Fort Cavazos. Which, apolitically speaking, is fascinating because there was also an outfit right here in town under the same name who pulled pretty much the same move almost a decade back. But even before the Austin trio formerly known as Fort Hood adopted a new handle, the idea of rebranding amidst disappointment was already ripe in their minds. You see, before vocalist Chantell Moody moved to Austin, she felt emotionally destitute in Des Moines. Although she traveled light when relocating to the Live Music Capital, a set of pipes just as immense as her heart helped her achieve frontwoman status with The Digital Wild. After linking up with producer Timmie Rook, the pair began collaborating as Fort Hood and relaunched themselves as Fort Never with the recruitment of drummer Deano Cote in the mid-2010s. In the Fall of 2017, The three-piece dropped their debut 8-track Home, a garrison of Portishead-esque trip-hop, electronic dub, lo-fi folk and experimental arrangements in the vein of tUnEyArds. At the turn of the 2020s, Fort Never unfurled a pair of singles, the second of which enjoyed a Mobley remix in 2021. Well last weekend, Fort Never came strutting out of the portcullis with an absolute beauty. Sounding like Citizen Cope on a double dose of dopamine, “Take A Look At Us Now” (alongside its music video) wows with a languid boom bap beat, calm yet confident piano chords, pensive guitar, strings that give “Bitter Sweet Symphony” a run for its money, and a masterful vocal performance rivaling that of Roses Gabor all in just under five minutes.

Henry Invisible: “Dance Music Saves” (feat. Bernard Purdie)

For die-hard Steely Dan fans such as myself, the name Bernard Purdie is instantly recognizable; he invented the Purdie shuffle! So for someone that so casually blew the perfectionist minds of Becker and Fagen with his rhythmic genius back in the late ’70s, Bernie’s bar for collaborating is obvious purdy high. Which brings us to Henry Roland. Historically billing himself as Henry + The Invisibles, Roland semi-recently dropped the “backing band” portion of his handle in favor of something that better represents his one-man multi-instrumentalist endeavor, Henry Invisible. On top of his repertoire as a master singer, bassist, guitarist, and Native Instruments extraordinaire, one of Henry Invisible’s biggest assets is his ability to make seamless loops on the fly, a testament to his talents in keeping time and inherent understanding of groove building. Henry’s virtual weekly “Lovestream” kept us affable company at the start of the pandemic, and fortunately for us, those dozens of original jams have been taking shape as fine-polished studio singles. These days, with the mainstream resurgence of house music, we take the “four-to-the-floor” bass drum on the downbeat/hi-hat on the upbeat disco drum beat for granted. But when someone who essentially invented that style enters the studio with a young blood like Roland, all the life and nuance comes bounding back. With Purdie’s presence, “Dance Music Saves” is just that: pure disco-funk music in its fittest form, complete with the classic accouterments like gliding falsetto strings, simplistic lyrics that become hypnotic chants, stank face-inducing slap bass, sexy electric piano chords, and of course, those driving drums. Catch all that and more in person at Henry Invisible’s Friday residency at Meridian, kicking off this weekend.

Black Sheep Optimists: “Questions and Lies”

Our Saturday night specialty show The Breaks does a great job of highlighting Austin hip-hop. But naturally, stuff is bound to slip through the cracks, especially when it comes to events before broadcast. That brings us to Austin three-piece Black Sheep Optimists, who’ve been bending genre norms since the start of the pandemic. The trio dropped their debut EP Book One in that uncertain summer of 2020, a four-track tour de force of trunk-rattling ’90s-style beats, rapid-fire rhymes that seamlessly tie braggadocio and introspection together, and two top-tier collaborations from right here in our local community – with KUTX favorites Kalu James and Jackie Venson.

Subsequent BSO singles have veered into more modern sonic territory, with a higher level of production to match their earnest ugly-duckling-turned-alpha-underdog aesthetic. But the spirit of collaboration is still alive and well, as heard on last September’s joint with Kaylin Karr “Lost Boys” and a new single that just came out today. For the latter, the fellas have teamed up with certified Austin shredder Matt Muehling for a four-and-a-half-minute mad dash ahead of BSO’s upcoming sophomore record Book 2.

So shear into the weekend with “Questions and Lies” and take part in the Black Sheep Optimists’ flock this evening at The Hive off Menchaca if you can. “Q&L”‘s live instrumentation gives its looping drum break a ton of extra weight, deft flirtations with vocal effects pump up the already-lurid lyrics, the chorus is nothing short of epic, and Muehling’s nimble guitar work will have you making some serious stank face throughout. Just don’t flatline til the tune’s over.

Sidney Scott: “Maybe You Were Right”

Historically, a native Austinite status set you on an accessible, auspicious trajectory towards making music. But of course, as tech culture eclipses the “weird” Live Music Capital character that Austin’s clung on to since the ’70s, it just doesn’t happen as much any more. So while simply being born within the city limits isn’t enough to guarantee the songwriter’s lifestyle, having musical parents sure as heck helps. See: Sidney Scott. Raised by a professional singer and a professional woodwind player, Sidney’s childhood in the Scott household was always chock full of good tunes. So when Sidney started discovering her own pipes, her folks weren’t necessarily looking to maintain a family legacy in music…but they certainly weren’t hypocrites either; they encouraged Sidney to follow her own passion, and we’re awfully glad they did. In 2021 Sidney Scott shared a pair of standalone studio singles, showing off her proclivity for soul, jazz, folk, and blues, not to mention an incredible grasp on vocal performance. Today, as part of her patient plans to drop her debut EP tentatively in 2024, Sidney Scott gives us a sneak peek at her unique hybridizing process. What began as an iPhone voice memo attempting to capture the best of both Brandi Carlile and Lake Street Dive was fully fleshed out by seasoned Austin producer Ray Prim and a form-fitting four-piece backing band. This latest original is a sensuous piece of gospel-soul that from its first organ-vocal unison through its sparkling firecracker choruses, billowed arrangement nuances, and Shirley Bassey-meets-Amy Winehouse final falsetto vibrato, years from now, when looking back at those of us who recognized Scott’s promising potential, might just make you say “Maybe You Were Right”

Genuine Leather: “Tear It Down”

When the handle “Genuine Leather” first catches your eye, a number of potentials present themselves; like Genuine Leather could easily be the name of a Kiss-era glam metal outfit, a bunch of Ramones-esque punks, a Berghain-inspired Western European dance DJ, or even just a dusty posse of country cowboys. Well, consider those expectations subverted, ’cause Genuine Leather is actually the alias of Austin-based lo-fi synth-pop multi-instrumentalist producer Chris Galis. Born to a Fort Worth community where commercial rock radio was king, Galis only got into more adventurous acts like The Beatles and Radiohead when he started studying jazz bass and classical music in college. By the time he founded Genuine Leather after graduation in 2011, Galis’ instrumental expertise had broadened out to synth and guitar, and his pop music vocabulary had expanded from Wilco and Prince all the way to Talking Heads and Tears for Fears. Gen Leath’s ability to contextualize those Gen X jukebox hits within a modern lens has allowed Galis to tan adjacent hides (be they indie rock, post-punk, or folk) into well-fitted, genre-defying garments across three EPs and three full-lengths. Well, hot off being signed to a London label and having already shared two singles in 2023, Genuine Leather is gearing up for the release of their fourth EP, Genuine Pleasure, out later this Fall. As heard on February’s “Promises” and April’s “Even If I Could”, Genuine Pleasure gels effects-filled synth pop together with ’70s yacht rock guitar and some f***ing killer contemporary flavors. Today Genuine Leather lends us the third of Genuine Pleasure‘s six songs, “Tear It Down”, a Tame-Impala-meets-Toro-Y-Moi wrecking ball of psych-pop. Bookended by long-swelling, heavily-modulated synth chords, “Tear It Down” creates a must-hear atmospheric foundation before pulling the rug out and letting loose with some of the slickest pop-rock we’ve heard come out of Austin in a minute.

Dad’s Home: “Automatic Reply: No Thanks”

Ever since punk rock took off in the late ’70s, it’s expanded and matured into a ton of subgenres. Its kiddo pop-punk, on the other hand, is more like a Lost Boy from Neverland; it never grew up and that’s the way we like it. So when we look at the robust roster of pop-punk acts right here in our city limits, it fills us with a one-of-a-kind juvenile joy.

Embodying that theme of youth is Austin quintet Dad’s Home. Although its five members had already cut their teeth in groups like Quiet Company, Kingsley, Cruiserweight, and Closet Drama, Dad’s Home didn’t kick off until last summer. Following the concrete-scuffed footsteps of their pop-punk forefathers, Dad’s Home dropped their delightfully-uncouth debut EP My Sitcom Life on New Year’s Eve, almost as a resolution to keep following their favorite genre’s fast and fun formulas.

But since punk depends most on its live performance aspect, Dad’s Home riles up some more of that paternal testosterone with a show 9PM this Thursday at The Mohawk along with Bad Lives, Space Tan, and Midcard. The occasion? “Automatic Reply: No Thanks” – an emotional rollercoaster over perfect palm muting, superb group vocals, insane drum fills and a sense of instrumental unity which reminds us that being loud doesn’t signal a lack of taste.

KindKeith: “EVERYTHING FALLS INTO PLACE” (feat. 8bit_gf)

Happy Pride Month! As an advocate, it’s beyond encouraging to hear so many openly Queer Austinites sharing their art, spreading the love, and scoring pretty good opportunities here in our fair city. In that respect, we’ve got a live show recommendation to kick off June in proper form. It comes on behalf of singer-producer KindKeith, who first emerged with their 2019 single “Veronica’s Mom”. KindKeith’s sound has since matured over the course of two EPs and one full-length, cementing a genre-fluid, drizzled-in-synth style that sits somewhere between Thundercat and SiR. Picking up where last summer’s DON’T TALK TO ME >:( left off, KindKeith recently teamed up with Austin’s 8bit_gf for kind of a sonic curveball compared with prior expectations. While 8bit_gf’s debut streaming single “4NG3L W 4 9UN” basks in between hyperpop and drum n bass and KindKeith’s last EP leans on laid back grooves, “EVERYTHING FALLS INTO PLACE“ cranks the beat repeat effect way up to carve a glitchy niche outside KindKeith’s trademark R&B. The pair celebrate with a release show tomorrow night at Swan Dive; 8bit_gf gets it started at 9:30 followed by Yonah B and EddieAngel before KindKeith wraps things up just after midnight. Til then, enjoy the start of June with a tune inspired by mutual early-twenties struggles with sexuality and gender identity. Between its unorthodox triplet percussion, 8bit_gf’s pitched up pipes and some extra glittery guitar that engorges before grinding the whole song to a halt, “EVERYTHING FALLS INTO PLACE” is a modern waltz of frustration, revelation, and acceptance.

American Dreamer: “Medicine Hat”

We all know that Austin’s far outgrown its once humble status as a cool college town. So with the current tech culture/Live Music Capital dichotomy, it’s no wonder we also often overlook institutions right in our own backyard. But we can’t forget about the Butler School of Music at UT Austin, which attracts, molds, and produces a ton of talent. For instance, there’s Austin folk quartet American Dreamer, who first met as grad students at Butler and began collaborating in the mid-2010s. With collective decades of formal training under their belt, this festival-proven four-piece builds on an already impressive ability to play off one another, leading to nuanced in-the-pocket arrangements that just keep getting better and better. Although their 2016 debut Restless Nights may have explored harder, more modern regions of Americana rock, 2018’s Go Where You Go and subsequent singles, ripe with themes of travel and nature, champion our continent’s rich roots music history. With American Dreamer’s upcoming third full-length, the songs steer further away from percussion than ever before, giving us some of the band’s most transportive and string-rich tunes to date, as already heard on 2023’s “Little Bird”, “Railway Bound for Mercy”, and “Heaven’s Child”. American Dreamer drops July 14th with a release show that same evening at the 04 Center and the record’s final lead single “Medicine Hat” (though lyrically pining over a missed loved one) will take you straight to the porch of a rustic Alberta cabin thanks to wanderlust-inspiring chords and a wilderness-thick dynamic range embedded in synchronous instrumental interplay and blossoming vocal harmonies.

The Best Around: “Lie to Me”

When decades of dominos fall before some of your finest work, it’s hard not to feel like fate led you to this moment. Just look at Austin songwriter Camron Rushin, whose grandfather worked with Lefty Frizzell producer Jim Beck way back in the ’50s. Within Rushin’s generation, there’d been about a ten-year-long break between artistic projects, but once he started sharing sketches with multi-instrumentalists Todd Pruner and Jon Merz at the start of the pandemic, the foundation was laid for The Best Around. If you couldn’t guess from the trio’s handle or their cutout ransom note/collage visual aesthetic, they’re not brazenly boasting about their abilities; they’re more navigating life like triplet Daniel-sans perfecting their musical martial art one waxing tune at a time. In wearing belts of both performer and audience member, The Best Around show up to the ongoing competition that is our Live Music Capital with a diverse style of art-rock. Last Friday The Best Around rolled out their ninth studio single total and first of 2023, one that features harmony vocals from Emma Kate, percussion from Josh Halpern and mastering from Cacophony Recorders’ Erik Wofford. A melancholy masterpiece from its first downbeat through its pre-chorus falsetto and cosmic Americana instrumental bridge all the way to its concluding chord, “Lie to Me” might honestly be The Best Around’s very best to date.

Bourgeois Mystics: “Gentrification of Planet Earth”

One of the biggest obstacles to a longstanding passion project is that when you get sidelined by the harsh realities of life, sometimes it’s too tough to keep creating. And amidst skyrocketing housing costs coupled with the deficit of live opportunities in the immediate aftermath of COVID, actively gigging with a band while living within Austin’s city limits simply isn’t the way it was ten years ago.

That brings us to Bourgeois Mystics, an art-funk hip-hop collective who first got together in 2014. Amplified by each individual opulent alter ego, this eclectic sextet has spent the past decade wowing crowds with high-energy, theatrical performances and upbeat originals that steer way clear of taking themselves seriously. Yet in 2023, splitting the bill six ways with some members already residing in satellite cities, the actuality of exorbitant rent prices and getting the gang together in one room is nowhere near as feasible as it used to be.

As such, Bourgeois Mystics have made the tough decision to go on indefinite hiatus. But as an Austin staple with as lively as theirs, of course they’re going out with a bang. This weekend Bourgeois Mystics release their second (and for now, final) full-length Gentrification of Planet Earth. While Gentrification finds the semi-fictional figures on 2017’s Eureka! now transformed into hideous Kafka-esque monsters and cartoonish song titles replaced with thematic, feature-laden fireballs, the zany energy that makes Bourgeois Mystics so great is well intact. The LP drops on Friday and Bourgeois Mystics commemorates the end of this era with a farewell show 9PM that same evening at The Parish with openers Lena Luca and Cilantro Boombox.

So while you plan out your pre-game for Gentrification of Planet Earth, dig into the album’s title track, one that sounds like Technotronic, !!!, and The B-52’s split a sack of high-grade salvia, downed some disco biscuits, and giggled their way into this fine-tuned piece of “funk-n-gunk” greatness. True to its name, “Gentrification” districts this three-and-a-half minute dance mania off into clearly defined individual sections for the funkiest piece of gerrymandering you’ll hear this year.

Tina Piranha: “A Budding Interest in Treason”

The power of lyrical impact can be timeless, but as great as words over melody can be, there’s a whole different appeal to sans-lyrical explorations. For example, when added onto styles like funk or soul, the genre modifier “cinematic” usually tips listeners off to a strictly instrumental experience, where the lack of lyrics not only allows extra space for meditation, but also opens up your imagination to fill in the blanks – be it with visuals, Rod Serling-esque internal monologue, or just abstract emotional reactions to exotic sounds.

A top notch purveyor of such is Austin’s Tina Piranha, whose eight-player appetite chomps out the rarest bits of ’60s soundtracks, Turkish psychedelia, Ethiopian jazz and beyond into accessible, bite-sized soul tracks. Last year Tina Piranha teamed up with Grammy winner Beto Martinez to record and mix the octet’s debut EP Komissar 13, the ultimate horn-heavy score for any wannabe jet-setting G Men with too many jazz cigarettes on hand. This year, in an effort to change up the sonic scenery, Tina Piranha’s joined forces with Quiet Company’s Matt Parmenter, who’s already ushered in four new singles within the past five months.

With that rapid of output, Tina Piranha’s definitely far from having their fill for 2023, so keep your ears peeled on your preferred streaming platform. ‘Til next month’s meal, go ahead and take “A Budding Interest in Treason”. Just don’t let your boss catch you working on your midcentury espionage spec script.

Space Trayn: “Red Lipstick”

When a budding band is high off their own early momentum…at least not in an overt back-patting way or one in which they take themselves way too seriously…the grinning can get contagious. Take for example Austin three-piece Space Trayn, whose nuanced brand of ’70s-inspired funk-jazz-rock stations itself somewhere between Todd Rundgren and Steely Dan. Chiefly conducted by singer-guitarist Jerome Vivino, with Justin Murawski and Nané veteran Jordan Espinoza coupling behind, Space Trayn’s debut 2021 EP Not So Fast rode the rails of classic soul and soft yacht rock with four cars of genre bending tones.

On Space Trayn’s sophomore follow-up We Have Lyftoff (produced and mixed by Austin treasure Chris “Frenchie” Smith), the trio beams full steam ahead at an even higher octane; these five jet-fueled originals cross tracks of ’90s-alternative, psychedelia-drenched jams, turn of the millennium indie rock and even some Parliament-adjacent prog-disco, complete with some mind blowing solos just before the record grinds to a halt. We Have Lyftoff dropped at the tail end of April, but if you’re looking for a good time this evening, even after blasting the new Space Trayn at volume 11, you’re in luck. Space Trayn takes the stage at 10PM tonight at The 13th Floor, preceded by Elijah Delgado and followed by Upper Level Lows at 11PM and Polarizado at midnight. So in the spirit of these fun-lovin’ buds, come as you are and settle in for a great time. But if you wanna be extra, let Space Trayn doll you up before you drop out with the classic psych rock crimson of “Red Lipstick”.