Austin Sound

You know, one of the weird and wonderful things about Austin is that on any given day, it seems you’re libel to come across something like the making of this video on your neighborhood street. Bankrupt and the Borrowers (who should really be cashing in on that timely name in this economy) just released a video for their blues-burning tune “I Love You Baby,” and they’ve a assembled a bevy of Austin musicians to help them serenade the streets. Among the bands making cameos for you to look for are locals The Bread, Follow That Bird!, Bridge Farmers, The Van Buren Boys, and HoboMouth. The Video was put together by AJ Miranda in one massive take (what’s up with the one shot approach that seems to be all the rage these days?), and you can check it out below. Bankrupt and the Borrowers will be at Momo’s this Thursday, April 2, if you want some awesome recession roots commiseration.

Austin isn’t known for its discrete seasons; sure, at some point in April the dry crackle of leaves is replaced by the blast of an angry, long-hungover sun, but patterns change so quickly day-to-day that it often seems as if winter and summer co-occur. Until the Autumn, the fourth full-length album by Austin’s The Story Of, exists in this gap between Summer and death, where nostalgia and hope seem at once lost and omnipresent. Cathartic and powerful, this album has the capacity to wear the listener out almost as fast as it lifts him up.

Opener “Berkeley” immediately bursts into a thick fog of harmonized voices with vocoded accompaniments. One may immediately notice the increase in (post-)pop sensibility on this album, but as vocalist Christman Hersha utters “don’t back off/ we got ‘em all/just where we want”; the change in style is deliberate, and one can detect this intent behind every note, even if their reasoning for doing so isn’t solidified until later in the album.

For the past two years, at least, we’ve been waiting for the Strange Boys official debut album. We’ve watched them transform from infectiously sloppy and slurry garage licks to an incredibly tight quartet, laying down impeccable grooves as they seemed to sweep through an underground history of rock & roll. All this is simply by way of an intro to say that we’ve been impressed by the Strange Boys and loved their live shows, quite literally watched them grow up on stage here in Austin, but still nothing quite prepared us for how amazingly good this debut album is. Sure, the familiar elements are there that make And Girls Club distinctly a Strange Boys album – deciphering Ryan Sambol’s laconic vocals is usually a futile exercise, but also a completely unnecessary one. His voice slides and rolls completely comfortably within the rhythms unloaded by brother Philip on bass, Greg Enlow’s guitar, and Matt Hammer holding down the drums. From the opening burst of “Woe Is You and Me” to the shivering blues-based closer “Death and All the Rest,” there is hardly a moment on the 16 track disc that doesn’t support the notion that the Strange Boys are the best new band in Austin.

The ACL Fest has pushed back it’s weekend festival date to October this year, which should hopefully cool down Zilker Park a bit. This year’s Fest will take place October 2-4, and though no one in the lineup has been confirmed at all, the Stateman’s blog has been swirling with overheard speculation for the past week. But whether those rumors pan out or not, the early bird tickets will be onsale on April 7, though the price has yet to be announced. We’ll keep you posted.

Word just got out that the headliner for this year’s Forty Acres Fest, which until now had been kept rather hush-hush, will be Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.  You might recognize the band from your hip indie friend’s bookcase, or even from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (which NBC won’t let you watch online because [...]

Bill Callahan will be releasing his follow up to the stunning 2007 debut under his own name, Woke on a Whaleheart, on April 14 via Drag City. Recorded out in Plano and titled I Wish We Were An Eagle, the preliminary reports hold it to be every bit as surprising and impressive as Whaleheart. He let loose an mp3 of new song “Eid Ma Clack Shaw” (no, we have no clue what that means), and yeah, it’s good. Download it out below.

We’ve had the week to recover and return to the real world after SXSW, but this is Austin, so even after the last week’s whirlwind, there is still a ton of live music not to be missed going on this weekend. Get back on your horse, boy, because this weekend the Dicks reunion hits Red River, there’s an ideal local lineup Antone’s, some country and soul shaded shows on Saturday, and some experimental goodness on tap for your Sunday comedown. Here it is, your weekend preview, “still is still movin’” post-SXSW edition!

Well, here’s one way to build up some punk cred for your bad-ass female rock trio. The Houston Chronicle reports (via Statesman) that over the past weekend, two of the ladies from San Antonio’s Girl in a Coma got in a dust-up with Houston police. There still doesn’t seem to be too many details, but was was reported sounds pretty nuts:

The Zest of Yore are definitely among our favorite local rejects, and the quartet recently released a video for “The Rejects” off of their Quality of Life debut. The video was created by local filmaker Chad Treanor, who manages to put together this in one awesome, continuous shot. The thing looks stellar and you can check it out below. Zest of Yore will be playing the Zilker Fest in the Botanical Gardens at Zilker Park this Sunday, March 29.

Who knew Alt. Country was still around? I thought the genre had died out almost as quickly as it came in. Austin based San Saba County is setting new roots in the Alt. Country family tree, though. Branching from their obvious Uncle Tupelo influence, lead singer John Saba’s Farrar-esque growl tackles the pain of memory and redemption in their third release …Though Cheating was Never and Option. Most Alt. Country records obviously lend themselves to heartache, frustration, or nights of heavy drinking, but Cheating breathes new life into these old conventions. Still staying true to their forefathers, San Saba County leans slightly towards the more pop side of rock-n-roll while still maintaining its hard edged ways. With sweet and endearing melodies and simplistic song structures, the quartet accomplishes a record that is not just enjoyable to listen to but has a lasting effect on the listener’s memory - conjuring up old memories of frustration and love loss that can only be seen clearly in hindsight.