austin music

Adrian Quesada: “Puedes Decir De Mi” (feat. Gaby Moreno)

Thanks to the mainstream success of Black Pumas, Adrian Quesada has become a household name internationally. But we here in Austin are already well-acquainted with Adrian’s preceding projects – be it Grupo Fantasma, Brownout/Brown Sabbath, Glorietta, and even Ocote Soul Sounds. It’s no embellishment to say that Quesada’s a musical visionary, since his ability to revive rare styles in a new context is nearly unparalleled. And although Quesada pulls all that talent out of his cranium alone, his top-tier collaborations bring those cross-genre compositions to another level. Last Friday Adrian Quesada shared Boleros Psicodélicos, a feature-laden full-length that offers some serious Pan-American appreciation. True to its title, this dozen tiptoes between traditional and trippy, ’70s-psych and century-old South-of-the-Border boleros. Check out a phenomenal interview between Adrian Quesada and The Texas Standard‘s Michael Marks all about Boleros Psicodélicos, and tear into this intercontinental achievement with a track that vaunts vocals from Guatemalan icon Gaby Moreno, “Puedes Decir De Mi”!

Brian Wolff: “Motion”

The COVID-19 pandemic has become a major milestone in the way we look at recent times, an unstable start to the 2020s. But of course we can also measure the turn of that decade by looking locally. For the last three quarters of the twenty-teens Austin was home to Fair City Fire, whose masterful heartland rock set the soundtrack for two studio full-lengths, five national tours, and even an official City of Austin declaration of “Fair City Fire Day” on August 31st, 2019. The pandemic was quick to follow, leading Fair City Fire to hiatus and eventually disbandment. However, FCF frontman Brian Wolff wasn’t all that eager to hang up an avenue for his songwriting altogether. After acclimating to the “new normal”, Wolff (along with his backing bassist Tim Moen and drummer Joe Valadez) joined forces with producer Chris “Frenchie” Smith at The Bubble last summer. Now the trio is set to unleash the fruits of their labor, The Punch EP . True to its name, these five new tracks don’t fuss around with any fluff and instead cut straight to…well…you know. Brian Wolff celebrates The Punch with a Standing Room Only EP release show 9PM this Friday at Lambert’s with opener Britny Lobas and today you can get your workweek wheels rolling with “Motion”.

Dog Island: “True Love Will Find You In The End”

If you take your pooch down to the free section of Barton Springs, you’ll recognize that Austin’s a pretty dog friendly town. You could also pick that up from show bills, considering we’re home to groups like A Giant Dog, Dog Beach Rebels, The Ghost Wolves, and the now-defunct Growl. There’s also Dog Island, the pet project of multi-instrumentalist/producer Dave Hanson, who moved here from Florida four years back. That move lined up with the release of Dog Island’s last record New Breed (2019), but the subsequent pandemic and the pain it caused provided Hanson with some new, deeply emotional songwriting fodder. The result is Only By Love, an eight-track penned in Hanson’s home studio that keeps a leash on Dog Island’s experimentation and synth work but also invites previously-untapped orchestral elements into arrangements. Only By Love dropped this morning, and Dog Island celebrates with a free, all-ages release show 7-9PM tomorrow night at Cloud Tree Gallery. Now, full disclosure, Dog Island won’t actually be playing, but they will be releasing a one-of-a-kind zine alongside performance art, installations, and an ambient electronic set from Jared J. Standish. So go ahead; tear into Only By Love, fall for Dog Island’s idiosyncratic style, and admire the optimistic curiosity captured in the Daniel Johnston cover “True Love Will Find You In The End”.

What You Will: “Time Holds Her Tongue”

What You Will isn’t the easiest band to Google, so we’ll break down the basics for you here. Chris and Jenni Wiggins started the group in 2010 as a straightforward folk duo, and after cutting their teeth at the Kerrville Folk Festival, the band’s expanded into an alternative-indie-folk-rock sextet. For the past year, Jenni and Chris have tided over listeners by uploading intimate performances at NeWorlDeli to their YouTube channel. But despite the charm of those stripped-down renditions, What You Will deserves to be experienced in full, which brings us to Nothing To See Here. Engineered by Justin Douglas at King Electric Recording right here in Austin, Nothing To See Here serves as a perfect studio debut for What You Will. True to its name, it’ll captivate your senses (no visual enhancements required) with some really well-thought out folk fusion and fantastic instrumental interplay. Nothing To See Here drops this Friday, so do What You Will with that information. But your official recommendation comes courtesy of one of the record’s rowdiest – “Time Holds Her Tongue“.

Primo the Alien: “Worlds”

Pop’s a broad spectrum, a mega-genre that pushes the boundaries of modern production but becomes plenty accessible thanks to foolproof earworm formulas. Austin singer-producer Primo the Alien is something of a pop stalwart, with a discography primarily defined by ’80s-style synth-pop. But it’s the 2020s, and Primo’s keen to keep with the times. So with the added encouragement of an Austin Music Award “Best Pop” nomination this year, Primo the Alien’s beginning to move towards contemporary electro-pop. Primo’s got a lot on their plate for 2022, including an appearance Weekend One at Austin City Limits Music Festival. Primo’s also playing For the Love of SIMS: A Benefit Concert to Support Emotional Wellness in Our Music Community 7:45pm tomorrow night at Far Out Lounge, opening for fellow KUTX favorites Max Frost and Sir Woman. However the biggest piece of news from Primo comes today courtesy of a new standalone single. Intended as an empowering anthem for women who feel marginalized in the male-dominated music industry, “Worlds” will wow you with Primo’s impeccable vocals, saturated synths, and brain-draining dubstep breakdown in its finale.

A. Sinclair: “How Things Got Done”

If you listen to our airwaves a lot, then you already know the name A. Sinclair. That’s the eponymous indie rock project of Austin multi-instrumentalist Aaron Sinclair, who doesn’t typically stick to one tempo for long and steers clear of 4/4 time as best he can. That said, A. Sinclair’s secured a reputation of accessibility, even when stripped down to the basic elements of vocals and guitar. But like countless other creatives, the COVID-19 pandemic presented A. Sinclair with plenty of songwriting fodder among the hurdles of social distancing. A. Sinclair embraced that obstacle of remote collaboration on his latest LP South Padre, working with a dozen contributors across five different states. The resulting masterpiece sounds so organic you’d never guess it was primarily conceived through voice memos, texts, and emails. South Padre came out last Friday, just in time for summer, so embrace the rising temperatures with A. Sinclair’s heated dynamics on tracks like “How Things Got Done”!

Samuel Miamuel: “Beach Dog”

There’s a specific league of creatives (let’s be honest, mainly rappers) who can’t help themselves but keep adopting new semi-official monikers. Then there’s the other extreme of strictly eponymous performers (e.g. the vast majority of country music). So there’s gotta be a sweet spot somewhere in between stage name, nickname, and birth name, right? Enter Long Island-raised singer-guitarist Samuel Kapust, known to his friends as “Sammy Miami” and billed onstage as Samuel Miamuel. Samuel Miamuel moved down to Austin in 2013 in pursuit of a degree at UT and quickly became immersed in the Live Music Capital’s culture. He’s racked up plenty of experience playing covers across Austin and Georgetown since then, but has only recently invested into his love of original songwriting. The complex harmonies and clever lyricism of Billy Joel, Father John Misty, and Paul Simon lend themselves to Samuel Miamuel’s recipe book of jazz-tinged folk-rock. And just in time for the summer, Samuel Miamuel’s graced us with a siesta-friendly slow burner that breezes between acoustic verses and distorted choruses, “Beach Dog”.

Daniel Fears: “Keep On”

It’s been a little under a year since we named Daniel Fears as our July 2021 Artist of the Month, right around the time he shared his debut EP Canopy. Since then this multi-instrumentalist-producer has had no problem selling out shows, thanks to his velvety vocals, intimate lyrics, and surreal R&B soundscapes. And although Fears’ style has been compared most frequently to that of Frank Ocean, it’s the endearing magic of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On that’s inspired Fears’ songwriting more recently.

That same sense of socially-conscious progressive-soul is present throughout Daniel Fears’ upcoming sophomore EP. His already-impeccable singing skills are somehow even stronger than on Canopy, giving Samm Henshaw and Daniel Caesar a genuine run for their money. Today Daniel Fears released the first single from that upcoming album, whose title, “Keep On”, immediately recalls the colloquial naming conventions of What’s Going On standout “Right On”. This poignant champion of pandemic-era perseverance is Fears’ most personal track to date, and staying true to the multi-media approach taken on Canopy, “Keep On” is accompanied by a gorgeous music video that features longtime KUT contributor Nadia Hamdan.

Buzzard Company: “Ghost Town Livin’ Blues”

When you first hear of a genre called “heartland rock”…what do you think of? Well according to Austin outfit Buzzard Company, its inspirations lie in blues, garage rock, psychedelia, grunge, and of course, Americana. Buzzard Company got started as a duo in 2019, but rather than let a little global pandemic pick the meat off their project, they’ve since doubled their numbers, now performing as a quartet. That said, the uncertainty of COVID’s been a major factor in Buzzard Company’s “no fluff” approach to lyrics and arrangement.

Buzzard Company spent a good portion of 2021 recording their debut EP, due out later this year. They’ll be playing a free single release show this Friday at ABGB along with The Lewd Dudes and Rankin Fetzer, who celebrates the evening with his own album release. These rambunctious birds of prey shared that new track (“Ghost Town Livin’ Blues”) with us ahead of time, so if you’re looking for a rowdy re-frame of social distancing and quarantine conditions, look no further than Buzzard Company.

Branzino: “Golden Days”

What if you took the drummer for Gary Clark Jr., the bassist for David Bowie, and one of the ringleaders of Glorietta and put them together into a new band? Well it turns out you don’t have to use your imagination for this one. Introducing Branzino! For years David Bowie/Blackstar bass player Tim Lefebvre and Gary Clark Jr. percussionist JJ Johnson built a rapport within Tedeschi Trucks’ rhythm section, but the recent inclusion of Glorietta lyricist Jason Robert Blum into the mix isn’t so much adding a third wheel as it is an extra crucial ingredient in a carefully constructed cuisine. Branzino is both roasted in ’90s-style rock and marinated with modern flavors, a sound that was refined by Arlyn Studios producer-engineer Jason Kingsland for the group’s upcoming full-length. They were set to perform tomorrow night at the 04 Center along with Blackillac, but the super trio’s now pushed the show back to July. That said you can still make the most of today’s clear Austin skies and enjoy the proto-punk-meets-’90s-indie heat on Branzino’s driving debut single, “Golden Days”.

Urban Heat: “Have You Ever”

Upton Sinclair shocked the world with the harsh, humid realities of city life in his 1906 The Jungle. More than a century later, we understand there was a bit of muckraking embellishment in the novel, but you won’t find any unnecessary exaggeration with Urban Heat. Since 2019 this Austin trio’s captivated metropolitan crowds with their energetic-yet-eerie brand of industrial post-punk and synthwave, a timeless sound perfect for a modern-day version of The Jungle.

Urban Heat’s ability to keep things dark without being overly morose is a testament to their artistry, which has landed the three-piece spots at Levitation Fest, SXSW, and perhaps most appropriately, Seattle’s Freakout Fest. But since the ongoing pandemic’s drawn extra attention to self-care, Urban Heat’s had to confront their grim preferences and take on the duty of leaving listeners with an extra sense of comfort. The result is their upcoming EP Wellness, out July 26th. With their pulsating synths, weighty vocals, and retro-soundscapes these six new songs (including “Have You Ever”) will help in that continuous healing process as best they can. So when Urban Heat comes around for their Wellness check in late July (and even earlier on May 18th at Far Out Lounge), make sure you answer the call.

KONZI: “Free Your Mind”

Indie, alt-rock, amplifiers and…apples? Yes, it’s all there for Austin quintet KONZI, who began harnessing their creative juices in early 2020 as COVID-19 triggered a global lockdown. And like countless other songwriters, the overwhelming precariousness that came with COVID convinced KONZI to pursue positivity through rock at all costs. That endearing energy is plenty evident on their upcoming self-titled debut and has already helped in the healing process following the loss of revered KONZI co-producer Daniel Sahad.

On top of the immeasurable talent and love that Sahad brought, this compelling record also received treatments from Charles Godfrey (who’s worked with Portugal. the Man and Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and The Bubble’s Chris “Frenchie” Smith. The ten daring tracks touch down in August, and today the band shares KONZI‘s second single, whose title evokes one of The Matrix‘s most beloved Morpheus-isms as well as Funkadelic’s 1970 sophomore LP. For lack of better terms, “Free Your Mind” is heavy as hell and quick to kick away any cynicism, so take it with your coffee and liberate yourself as best you can as we enter May and another work week.

waverly: “every little thing”

Wil Brookhart’s neo-classical background has given him a leg-up on his contemporaries, but it certainly hasn’t defined his sound. Now based in Austin, this Cambodian-born multi-instrumentalist first popped on the radar with his eponymously-released 2019 debut “Warden”, then dove head-first into synth-and-guitar-driven-R&B as producer for Denton’s Carley Bearden, and co-founded the national collaboration Fruit Collective last summer. This year Brookhart’s production and songwriting talents collide once again and emerge under a new handle, waverly. With waverly, Brookhart maintains a indie-pop-R&B sensibility but has complete control over melody, lyrics, and arrangement. His keen ear and masterful mixing have both in the three brief years since “Warden”, allowing his already-subdued sonics to sink in in an even more understated way. The first sultry entry into waverly’s budding, all-lowercase discography dropped today, so back off the passionate voicemails and instead soak up “every little thing”!

Comma K: “Dreams” (feat. Soulbyak)

When you think of the new generation of electronic-based producers, you probably don’t think of high school and college rock bands…but alas, that’s where many cut their teeth. That’s the path Keaton Peters took shortly after picking up the guitar at age 12, all the way until he discovered his love of production once he downloaded Ableton in 2014. Peters’ newfound influences were just as much Dilla and Kanye West as they were Fleetwood Mac and Radiohead, and his 2018 solo debut Tide of the Heart toted an alt-rock sound with teases of hip-hop elements.

Peters moved from California to Austin in 2019 where he hit the ground running with his sophomore album Bloom, but like countless other creatives, the pandemic allowed him to reevaluate his course. Over those two short years Keaton Peters has catapulted himself away from his acoustic guitar and into a world of synthesizers, only re-emerging now under the new handle Comma K. In that same vein Comma K pulls a reverse Uno card on Tide of the Heart claiming pop, electronic, and hip-hop as the primary genres while incorporating mere brushes of folk and rock. Comma K promises more material for 2022, and starts off strong with his debut single, “Dreams” featuring vocals from Oakland’s SoulByak (Soul By AK). With multi-layered synths, plenty of vocal effects, and some solid inter-artist chemistry, “Dreams” has us anticipating more gold from Comma K at the end of the ellipsis.

Donovan Keith: “Cruel Fools Eye”

The mainstream success of Black Pumas has made Austin a destination for lovers of retro R&B-soul. But of course, that style’s not strictly property of the Pumas, and certainly not the only act in town to flaunt the sound. Take for example, Donovan Keith, who moved down here from the midwest in 2009 and began unleashing some serious dance skills and killer pipes. Choreography aside, Keith and his project Soul Track Mind couldn’t stop captivating local dive bar crowds and eventually graduated to opening spots for Erykah Badu, Fastball, Tower of Power, Snarky Puppy, Enrique Iglesias and even the late, legendary Charles Bradley.

More recently though, Donovan Keith has doubled down on an eponymous solo adventure, which received a Black Fret nomination in 2018 and has continued to capture the vintage magic of mid-to-third-quarter-century funk-soul-R&B. In the next couple days, Donovan Keith drops his debut solo album Hot Off The Wire and celebrates with a release show 8PM Thursday night at Antone’s alongside Aaron Stephens and Emily Keeley. So for this cloudy week, invite Keith’s sunny vocals, call-and-response chorus singers, and warm horn riffs into your home with Hot Off The Wire‘s final lead single “Cruel Fools Eye”.

Big Bill: “Almost Everybody”

When artists take a hard left turn from their established sound it can be pretty polarizing. But if they can pull it off without losing too many of their defining characteristics…no harm, no foul, right? We’ve got high hopes for Big Bill, an Austin quartet who’s built a repertoire of quirky, ’80s-style art-punk since 2016. But much like their inspirations and predecessors, Big Bill’s moving forward with the times, entering these early 2020s by jumping on ’90s indie tones that are a little less like Minutemen and a little more like Weezer.

This pivot towards classic indie comes alongside Big Bill’s sophomore full-length Public Freakout Compilation, out June 10th. At ten tracks, Public Freakout Compilation still carries the oddball post-punk energy that made us fall in love with Big Bill in the first place, as well as some softer, slower arrangements that for some, may indicate a badge of maturity. Following last year’s bilingual single “Coma” and this February’s “Forget About Monday”, Big Bill has just released Public Freakout Compilation‘s third offering, “Almost Everybody”. It’ll be joined by a music video companion piece at the end of this week. But even without the visuals, you can get an alluring first listen to Big Bill’s new duds on the masterfully-crafted indie-rock shuffle of “Almost Everybody” below.

Otis Wilkins: “Kamakura”

There are a lot of ways to pay tribute to one’s pedigree, but few are quite as charming as keeping a family nickname alive. And in an odd sort of role reversal of Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, Austin singer-guitarist Taylor Wilkins re-appropriated his father’s college moniker “Otis” for a pet dog before adopting the handle himself. Wilkins’ has since enjoyed success as the eponymous frontman of indie-shoegaze four-piece Otis the Destroyer, and more recently with his alt-rock endeavor Otis Wilkins.

Otis Wilkins reaches into a retro-stratosphere of soundscapes relatively untouched by the Destroyer, with an emphasis on ’60s-’70s pop and rock. The project launched in 2018 with the Strangest Place EP and caught national attention with two singles the following year (“Shaker #42” and KUTX/NPR Music favorite “Joni Mitchell Was Punk”). Otis’ last offering was 2020’s “Charlene”, but after two years of pensive pandemic patience, Wilkins is finally back with more. Jack White/Widespread Panic producer Brett Orrison helped shape a new slew of singles for 2022, a sequence that starts today with “Kamakura”. Inspired by the burial place of legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa as well as the tone and narrative pacing of his iconic films, the marching band-style snare drum cadence, ethereal vocal reverb, cutting guitar solo, and heavenly synth pads of “Kamakura” all add up to a ghostly but reverent experience that transcends into immortality.

Moon Medallion: “New age let-down”

When you listen to the vast majority of bands, you tend to hear the same things: drums, bass, guitar, and of course…vocals. But considering that vocals are often just the icing on the cake, an extra level of garnish for a balanced dish, does making accessible music really require the use of a vocalist? Short answer: no. Just look towards the Austin trio Moon Medallion, who got started in 2020 in search of a lead singer. When they couldn’t find a perfect fit, Moon Medallion nixed the idea and revamped their song structures into strictly instrumentals. Since then they’ve flaunted a nocturnal talisman of punk, shoegaze, surf, post-hardcore, and the more experimental aspects of psychedelia. Last year they enchanted listeners with a string of standalone singles and a Southwestern US tour, and more recently Moon Medallion captured the waxing lunar cycle with a Beck-inspired garage-punk masterpiece, “New age let-down”. Moon Medallion’s far from waning, with more material on the way, a live performance May 21st at Indian Roller, and a West Coast tour in June.

Golden Hornet: “Bless Isomer”

Although we’ve had clearly defined political boundaries since 1836, there’s still an inseparable culture between Texas and Mexico. Whether you call it Tejano or Texican, it’s a give-and-take social process within which Austin’s Graham Reynolds has found a golden opportunity. Graham and the Golden Hornet team have already applied rock production techniques to classical arrangements and recordings for decades, but their latest endeavor, MXTX: A Cross-Border Exchange might be their biggest idea yet; MXTX features forty different artists, twenty Composers and twenty DJ-Producers, half from Mexico, half from Texas. What started with building up an open source audio sample library has finally finished with the fourteen trailblazing tracks of MXTX, but apparently these pocket symphonies aren’t a studio-exclusive experience. MXTX makes its live concert debut 8PM tomorrow night at Waterloo Park as part of Fusebox Festival and Frida Friday ATX. The event is free and open to the public, with plenty to see and hear from 4PM all the way until 10PM, so join in with the rest of Golden Hornet’s collective nest tomorrow at Waterloo and cross the border out of the work week with “Bless Isomer”.

Taylor Rae: “Never Gonna Do”

The vast majority of musical artists are plagued by their influences; either there’s a huge disparity between their sound and that of their role models, or its a cookie-cutter copy of their sound. But when you end up with something new that still has subtle hints of those inspirations…that’s what separates the milquetoast many from the truly talented. Take a listen to Taylor Rae, whose inspirations include Steely Dan, Bonnie Raitt, Simon & Garfunkel, Carole King, Jewel, and Sheryl Crow. Despite that hodge podge, Rae’s style comes across more like a blend of Grace Potter and Norah Jones. Since moving from Santa Cruz to Austin in 2018, this singer-guitarist has charmed listeners and show-goers alike with her sophisticated take on jazz, blues, folk, and rock. Last year she proved her wisdom beyond her years with her debut LP Mad Twenties, and this Sunday at 7PM she’ll tote some of those twelve tracks onstage at The Ballroom, along with Sneaky Peaches and the Fuzz. So while we navigate our own Mad Twenties of a pandemic decade, keep Taylor Rae’s most charged songs in tow, especially her dynamic, harmony-heavy folk-rock fulmination, “Never Gonna Do”.