Big Bill

Big Bill: “Hawk” / “Trick Everybody” (Live at Mohawk)

Over the past three weeks you’ve heard plenty about our August 2024 Artist of the Month Big Bill. But be honest…have you seen them live yet? Because despite the quality of their studio recordings, the real magic happens once Big Bill sets foot onstage to a packed house.

Fortunately for those who haven’t yet witnessed the madness firsthand, KUTX Presents Big Bill next Saturday at the Mohawk alongside fellow recent Artists of the Month Grandmaster and Superfónicos plus Cloud Companion. With a bill as big and eclectic as that, you’re gonna get your money’s worth if you stick around all night. But if those other acts don’t scratch a particular itch, and you’re still on the fence about paying the price of admission just to catch Big Bill at the Mohawk, we’ll let their latest offering do the talking for us.

And that’s on behalf of one hell of an accurate sneak peak: a live music video taken from a performance at the very same venue. Sure, Big Bill’s latest, Strawberry Seed, marks a new direction for the band, but there’s no denying the crowd-pleasing cacophonies of their earlier material. So the two-tune medley of “Hawk” / “Trick Everybody” (from 2022’s Public Freakout Compilation and 2017’s Stand By Your Bill, respectively) goes just as hard as the crusty, claustrophobic house shows of Big Bill’s salad days. With frequent cuts to the crowd, the audience engagement is palpable. And with stylistic choices like non-stop jump cuts (seriously, we don’t envy anyone transcribing this to a shot list), hyper grainy resolution, and extreme close-ups, these visuals feel like they came straight out of a late ’90s skate video. And see all those folks up front meshing in with the mosh? That could be you next Saturday…

Big Bill: “Emotions”

If you’ve kept posted on Austin quartet Big Bill, you know they’re in somewhat of a post-pivot position. Yeah, after years of establishing their space in the oddball-deadpan-art-punk sector, Big Bill pulled off a risky switch to more of a ’90s-style indie rock sound with their Summer 2022 full-length Public Freakout Compilation. And while we’d never go so far as to call our bbs in B.B. “inoffensive”, the exploration of indie does add a sense of mass accessibility to Big Bill’s idiosyncratic, off-kilter aural antics and intoxicating melodies.

So given their ongoing path in that same direction, we’re already drooling over Big Bill’s upcoming third LP Strawberry Seed. See, in carving out a more “mature” niche in indie rock, Strawberry Seed actually seeks to emulate the childhood nostalgia of a kindergarten art project – less the acceptance of anxiety in adulthood and more the abstract incipience of early, blissfully unaware expression. In that pursuit of fuzzy warmth, Big Bill’s included backup singers, acoustic guitar, synthesizers, and piano to their traditionally straightforward punk arrangements.

We won’t be able to harvest the fruits of Strawberry Seed until it hits streaming June 14th, the same day Big Bill plays a free in-store performance 5PM at Waterloo Records. But if you want to get an early taste, Big Bill’s set to share some samples 9PM tonight at The Mohawk as part of a big bill that also includes Tied Up and Gustaf. And if you want to blow your mind with how much Big Bill’s sound has evolved, fire up “Emotions” – which is decidedly less like Suicide and more akin to The Black Keys trying to out-weird The Minutemen. It’ll leave you feeling a way for sure.

Big Bill: “Humanoids”

Longtime fans of Austin four-piece Big Bill no doubt still feel the effects of their unexpectedly refreshing hard left turn earlier this year. For those out of the loop, midway through 2022 Big Bill released Public Freakout Compilation, chronicling the group’s shift from their once-signature ’80s-esque angular post-punk into lackadaisical ’90s-style indie rock. But the band’s collective larger-than-life, uncouth, and off-kilter personality still shines through the arrangements, lyrics, and now…visuals.

Like a star-crossed bastard child of Charles Schultz and Charles Bukowski, today Big Bill released the music video for PFC‘s third act-opener, “Humanoids”. Animated and illustrated by Pelvis Wrestley visionary Benjamin Violet, you’d have to be a real blockhead to not love the bleakness of this heartfelt Peanuts homage. Bonus points for an end-of-year reminder of how damn good this record is front to back.

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.

Big Bill: “Coma”

Following a full decade since their foundation in 2011, Big Bill hasn’t egressed from their early eccentricities at all. The quirky quartet’s deadpan humor and disjointed song structures give even The Minutemen a run for their money, channelling fellow Austinites The Dicks and Big Boys, and everyone from Devo to Talking Heads, The B-52’s and more, guaranteeing Big Bill a path into that pantheon of punk rock.

For a four-piece as loudmouthed (in the best way) as they are, Big Bill‘s been awfully quiet since the release of their 2017 full-length Stand By Your Bill. But according to the band, they’ve been tinkering away on their newest single in that intermittent time, hashing out some of the finer points during live shows, and ultimately cranking out a track about growth, vulnerability, fury and suffering, “Coma”!