The Strange Boys sophomore album, Be Brave, is due out later this month, and while not as shockingly fantastic as their debut last year, it’s still pretty damn great. The band has oddly been rather tight with the official details/leaks of the album, with only one song up on their myspace, and no official mp3s or anything released into the wild. But at least they have finally made a video for the title track. Well, kinda made a video, if you can consider lo-fi footage of the kids sittin’ around and motorboatin’ their mouths, watching dogs hump legs, and getting mugged in the streets a video - you know, basically just another day in the life of Strange Boys? Chances are that that life might change here soon with their upcoming massive tour, which includes a nice little stint with Spoon. They’ll be kicking all of that off at Emo’s February 19 and then running up the west coast until SXSW. Check out the video below:

Website:
Myspace

Ahhhh, it’s the sensitive side of Lions. Maybe? The local mayhem wranglers sent us this new track, which they say was recorded for a SXSW comp, and we’re not exactly sure what to make of it. Or better yet, what would those Sons of Anarchy make of it!? But then Lions seems to love to throw us curve balls, so maybe we shouldn’t be surprised, or perhaps we should have seen it coming considering their recent Dylan foray. Either way, though, “No Time for Blood” is a pretty awesome song. Doubt this is going be a Guitar Hero standard or anything, though. Otherwise, the Lions seem to be laying pretty low, waiting to pounce on SXSW. But check out the new song below:

Mp3:
No Time for Blood

Websites:
www.lionstheband.com
Myspace

Night One of the three pack of shows celebrating the release of Casual Victim Pile could not have gone off much better for curator Gerard Cosloy, Matador Records, and – most importantly – the five bands representing the Beerland-centric compilation. Sure, it might have been more reassuring to see their home turf packed with only familiar faces, but no one was complaining that many in the full house were hearing (and enjoying) the tunes for the first time. Blasting out five tight, blistering sets on a chilly evening, The Persimmons, The Distant Seconds, Kingdom of Suicide Lovers, Dikes of Holland and Follow That Bird generally did their fans, friends, and the Austin underground proud.

Being chosen as the openers for the opening night of a series of shows like this is kind of an honor in its own right. It’s like being the starting pitcher on opening day or that first impression on a first date- don’t fuck it up. The Persimmons certainly did not fuck it up. The trio yelped and hustled through tunes that crossed The Ramones-on-speed with a herd of angry rhinos. And, to top it off, The Persimmons closed their set by rotating instruments over the course of the final three songs. The wave of the future: multi-instrumentalist punks.

The Distant Seconds, hot off the release of a split vinyl with Beautiful Supermachines, probably sounded a bit more comforting for the Beerland neophytes in the crowd who were expecting less-garage-and-more-indie territory to be covered. The mix of new songs and cuts from their phenomenal debut Spectral Evidence showcased Matt Baab’s cutting guitar work and ability to write taught indie rock hooks. Unlike the overt energy of The Persimmons, The Distant Seconds brought the crowd to a boil with twisting basslines and swirling keyboards.

Unfortunately, the Kingdom of Suicide Lovers stumbled out of the block and took some of the energy out of the room. Sounding like a cross between Sonic Youth and Repeater-era Fugazi, the band struggled slightly to match their predecessors’ highs. At times – particularly as their set’s end drew closer — the band locked in and hit a pulsing groove around Kelsey Wickliffe and Paul Streckfus’ buzzing guitars.

There’s got to be a great way to describe Dikes of Holland and given the difficultly in doing so, there’s a good chance the band is on to something interesting. Much talked about – if overheard conversations are to be believed — there were definitely some major expectations in the room and, ultimately, very few disappointed folks. Sometimes the Dikes of Holland sounded like the bastard child of Jay Reatard and The Buzzcocks; other times they sounded like carnival music in a nightmare.. as played by Jay Reatard’s backing band. Partially frightening, definitely exhilarating, to say the least.

Finally, as the night drew to a close, Follow That Bird — probably the most diminutive band playing – brought the biggest sound to the small room. Lauren Green’s primal roar continues to evolve and grow with each passing show, blossoming into a beautiful guttural release with each syllable. Equally at home between riotgrrls and bluesy bar rock, Follow That Bird should, could, and will soon be a fixture for some label (Matador or otherwise). After a night of eclectic sounds, the trio sounded just right for the early morning exit.

All in all, Night One was – as one person said – just like a lot of nights at Beerland. Just this time, there were a lot more people there. Just one third of the way into the party it’s obvious: with or without a compilation release, this kind of celebration of the unsung and unheralded bands of Red River should happen more often.

Holy shit, this is funny. The video for St. Vincent’s “Laughing With a Mouth Full of Blood” debuted today on something called Myspace, and it seems she’s recruited Car­rie Brown­stein and Fred Armisen to be her fans. We’re not exactly sure who is who though, so maybe you can tell. What’s funny is we tried to stage this same thing with Annie Clark - luring her into our living room for a solo performance - but all we got was a restraining order. So it goes. Now St. Vincent has gotten all big time NYC SNL NPR, so we might have to stop writing about her all the time here on Austin Sound. Except we won’t, because it’s the only way we’re allowed to legally still cyberstalk her. Clark is currently touring, but there don’t seem to be any stops down here in her former stomping grounds. (According to her myspace, however, she does have a show tonight at an intriguing venue in Vancouver called “venue.” Could that possibly be real? We really hope so - Canadians are so meta). Check out the awesome video below:

Websites:
www.ilovestvincent.com
Myspace

It’s startling to hear a band so decided in their sound on a first album. You expect them to be scattered and unsure of themselves — to have almost unwittingly stumbled upon something to be perfected in future albums. But Candi and the Strangers self-titled debut LP seems to have such an assured character already. There’s something intentionally seductive layered into Candy and the Strangers LP - a permeation of sex into dark, driving, indie-rock, which makes for good listening by principle (think of the successes of international act the XX, or the awkwardly erotic phonetics of Nico with the Velvet Underground.) A little tension is good, and Candi and the Strangers seem to revel in the fusing of dark, bedroom-style synth-pop with breathy, subdued, near-hypnotic female vocals.

Throughout the LP, they retain a stark take on indie-rock through fits of arcadian, sun-tanned ballads about boys, and other brooding numbers that expand in ambient melancholy. Often, the latter is an undertone of the former threading a nice dichotomy of optimistic innocence (read: naïveté) and real world despondency into the heart of this record.

It’s apparent on the first track, “Tetsu”. The synth and drums kick in deceptively ominous until the entire track shimmers to a major mode turn in Samantha Constant’s fleeting and feminine melody. Tonally, “Tetsu” lays ground for the rest of the album, which dutifully leads us into the mechanical and ethereal “MRI”. Constant’s panache to breathily and lustfully sing the mantra “you are the best part of me” over the song’s eerie, monochromatic, and siren-like rock sounds is completely natural, so much so that other tracks like “The Future isn’t What it Used to Be”, “She Walks in Beauty”, and “Pictures” (excepting the punchy guitar work) become common sounding re-hashes for such a sonically expansive aesthetic.

But for every dark undertone, Candi and the Strangers are sure to counter with melody and lyric of a positive nature. Unlike other indie/pop/electro rock acts, such as Austin’s Octopus Project, Candi and the Strangers play more straightforward, 4-minute, verse-chorus-verse-chorus songs, which allow the space for such pop driven writing to thrive. Where they could be drawing the listener deeper into their sonic landscapes (which they do on the wordless “Isabella Blue’s Crash Landing”) CatS likes to give their music a certain amount of accessibility. They capitalize on such opportunities with songs like “Sunshine” and “Sensitive Kid”, both cut from the same bubble-gum-on-my-shoe, boy meets girl persona that make their darker and meditated material more contrastingly stark.

Candi and the Strangers have crafted an album based on the art of contrast. For every dark and foreboding note in the LP, there is a poppy and happy-sounding release, mostly via the vocal work of Samantha Constant. And for a debut release, Candi and the Strangers have demonstrated that they have stumbled upon a decisive sound - not one that is completely without homage, but still wholly made their own on the LP.

Websites:
www.candiandthestrangers.com
Myspace

Profile: Woven Bones

Year Formed:

2008

Members/Instruments played:

Andrew Burr (vocals guitar) Matthew Nichols (bass) the revolving door (drums)

Former Bands/Side Projects:

N/A

Albums:

needless records 7″ single “janie”
sweet rot records 7″ single “your sorcery”
hozac 7″ single “with you alone”
zoo music 12″ ep “the minus touch”
upcoming HoZac Records debut LP june 2010

Influences:

the obvious

Strangest comment or comparison ever made about your music:

??

Favorite local bands:

Harlem, Strange Boys, Shapes Have Fangs, Golden Boys

Favorite local venue:

Beerland/Mohawk

Upcoming shows scheduled:

Feb 5 beerland casual victim pile

Shows over the next month that you’re excited to see:

I don’t even know what’s up with february besides the casual victim pile shows, we’re looking forward to sxsw beyond that.

Some of your favorite albums from the past year:

Well both the Hozac 7″ and Captured Tracks EP by Dum Dum Girls and the “No Seasons” LP by Jacuzzi Boys.

Ideal band (past or present) to open for on a national tour:

Stooges

Austin Sound questions:

Y’all are wrapping up the recording of your first LP - What can y’all tell us about it?

More hooks, hopefully more fidelity, but still true bones.

Y’all recently covered the Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” for the latest Yeti comp. So who’s boyfriend do y’all really want to be?

Well, a sweet heart that wants to love a poor punk like any one of us.

Song Introduction:

“Janie” is about a girl……..

Sound Off:

Shave Austin’s beards cause they are weird.

Mp3:
Janie

Websites:
www.wovenbones.com
Myspace

Over the weekend, the University of Texas announced that it will be shutting down the Cactus Cafe, which, if nothing else, showed just how many songwriters are on Twitter. Set to shutter the foundational venue in August, UT will reportedly save about $122,000 by depleting our music scene (along with discontinuing their Informal Classes). This is coupled with a proposal from UT President Powers to raise tuition by almost another 4%. Pay more, get less. It’s a winning combination. We wouldn’t be surprised if UT throws all those signed show posters up for auction - it could help pay a couple more bucks to Mack Brown or something. Naturally, to combat Powers’ move, there is a Facebook campaign and Twitter account - it’s like the Iranian Revolution all over again! In all seriousness though, Powers will be holding a town hall “Tower Talk” tomorrow, February 2 so you can go and scream at him (that’s how town halls work these days, right?). It’s from 4-6 p.m. in the Avaya Auditorium, room 2.302, in the ACES Building. Powers’ invitation says “I look forward to seeing you,” but we bet he really isn’t looking forward to this at all.

Hmm, sounds dangerous. Built By Snow are getting all Weird Science with their latest tune, “Beta-Ray Love.” Of course, that’s not really new for our favorite local geek-poppers. The tune is actually pretty sparse for BBS since it’s still in demo mode (beta?), but it still folds in the requisite synth and upbeat bop. The band also has another tune up for download on their website if you sign up for their mailing list - quid pro quo you bunch of freeloaders! This is really the first we’ve heard from the BBS boys in a while, but that appears to be because JP Pfertner, who sings and plays keys (oh, wait - they all sing and play keys!), recently had a kid. Congrats! We totally expect to start hearing some LeapFrog samples make their way into the songs. Is that what kids are into now, or do babies now come with iPads pre-installed? We’re not sure how all this works because our parents pulled us from those classes in middle school. Anyway, Built By Snow are apparently trying to rustle up some SXSW gigs, like everyone else in town, but don’t have anything currently scheduled. Check out “Beta-Ray Love” below:

Mp3:
Beta-Ray Love

Websites:
www.builtbysnow.com
Myspace

As we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, one of our favorite local blogs, Ultra8201 is turning 4 this Thursday night, which is impressive, because that’s something like 20 in blog years! Naturally, there will be booze. And music. The party will be tweeted. But we have no idea what to expect when real and virtual worlds collide! Maybe it will be like Avatar? Maybe the space-time continuum will fold in on itself? It seems like there should be some kind of joke here about how many bloggers it takes to change a lightbulb or something - maybe y’all can help us out in the comments. Anyway, you should come out to the Ghost Room tonight and support not only Ultra8201, but the local blogosphere in general. On the bill are New Roman Times, The Authors, and Politics. There will also be between set awesomeness from the Redboys, a crazy pair of kids that Ultra8201 is determined to make us all love. Check out an interview with Richard over at the Austinist. Party gets rolling ’round 9:00 tonight.

If you haven’t yet voted in the Austin Chronicle’s Austin Music Poll, you have until Friday, so best get on your horse. After all, how else can we keep Bob Schneider fans from sandbagging every category!? You can vote online, or fill in the ballot in the Chronicle and mail it in (apparently there is a “postal system” that can send physical items, except you have to pay for it - crazy, we know!). So who exactly is everyone voting for this year? Who is Austin’s Band of the Year, or more importantly, New Band of the Year! You really should vote, or else Margaret Moser will just award all the category winners herself, which means only teenage bands will get any awards. Also, the Chronicle is running their second Sound Wars competition right now, and the deadline to enter your song into that is TODAY! The voting runs from January 28 to February 15. Winners get some free ad space in the Chronicle during SXSW and on their website, as well as $250. Looks like the Tiny Tin Hearts aren’t eligible because they won the last one. Oh well.