garage

Tiny Specks: “Danger Oso”

Fun’s not just for Friday anymore. Mondays need need fun too. Maybe even more than Friday…or Wednesday. And your dose of Monday dopamine comes from Austin’s Tiny Specks. Members Vanessa Gonzalez, Nikki Preciado, and Brian Cox have been members of many bands of many sounds over the years, but when the three came together, a beautiful synthesis occurred, and what they’ve manifested is some self-coined space-punk-pop.

The trio’s debut EP First Contact, recorded with Matt Parmenter at Ice Cream Factory Studios, showcases their creative egalitarian approach to song writing, allowing each member’s own brand to be stamped on and woven into the clever, chuckle-inducing fabric the group has woven.

“Danger Oso,” is, in fact, a fun quick tune about a dangerous bear. Un oso peligroso. It’s pithy garage rock at its best. And they pack a lot into this quick romp, oscillating between straightahead punk energy to moments of almost psychedelic tranquility with babbling water overlayed with drippy surf chords. Even Garfield would crack a smile on a Monday for this song.

Subpar Snatch: “Juicy Booty”

In the casual hookup community, even lovers with the highest body counts (especially those outside cis-hetero norms) might agree; it’s not size, shape, presence, or lack of specific anatomical features that make the biggest impression after the act. No, the quality of your “bits” may actually come second to a sense of enthusiasm when turning what could’ve been a vapid interaction into an unforgettable encounter. You know…”the motion of the ocean” and all that.

Sorry. We’re not trying to give anyone the ick. We just needed a little foreplay before introducing you to Subpar Snatch. First off, “Supbar Snatch” ain’t a bait-and-switch…like if a middle aged man named Richard were to go by “Mid Dick”; check their labian logo lest you misinterpret the band’s handle. Secondly, this Austin ménage à trois of mania and talent has managed to standout in the turbulent world of punk and garage shows which, whether in liminal concrete spaces or on sticky dive bar stages, are usually messy encounters full of technical missteps, sloppy techniques, hair getting caught in things, and performances so short they often climax before the crowd’s hardly half-cocked.

Haven’t slid into Subpar Snatch live in concert yet? Let ’em satisfy you this Pride Month with a gig next Wednesday at Still Austin Whiskey Co. for Gay Heat: Benefit for Equality Texas and a single and music video release show 11:30PM tomorrow night at Chess Club, with openers Sunspite at 10 and Bat Lips at 10:45, plus closers Hell Fury a quarter past midnight. And that new single, “Juicy Booty” is one of the trio’s most aggressive and accessible to date. With a pristine mix that preserves that in-garage gusto, a start-and-stop instrumental riff that’ll make you pull something in the pit, a half time bridge breakdown that edges towards a big finish, and individual intensities that layer together perfectly, “Juicy Booty” is a succulent, stimulating testament to what makes this three-piece anything but subpar…and why denying naughty song titles is plain asinine.

The Harlequins: “TIME”

Relationships of all kinds deserve commemoration. Whether it’s with romantic partners or creative projects, after the initial handful of anniversaries, every fifth one merits something grandiose. This year Cincinnati three-piece The Harlequins celebrate their first decade and a half together, with the most recent third of that period spent writing and recording their next album, fittingly entitled TIME.

TIME may be The Harlequins eighth installment overall, but it retains the wonky and angular indie-garage psych-rock that made 2009’s Baron von Headless a must-listen. And since it’s practically guaranteed that TIME Magazine‘s gonna name Volodymyr Zelenskyy as their “Person of the Year”, if you’re expecting a TIME-related surprise, you’d better mark off your calendar for the record release, September 2nd. So with exactly one month to go ’til TIME, and with the toppling trippy-ness of its lead single “The Tower” already becoming a beacon on streaming, today The Harlequins treat us to the album’s brilliantly languid title track – one that perfectly captures the temporal disjointedness of its subject matter.