Spoon – Got Nuffin’ (Merge)

Spoon unloaded a little summer surprise for fans in the form of their new Got Nuffin’ EP, a three song burst to bolster fans until the release of their next album. While there are plenty of fans out there that will eat up the EP, aside from the title track, there’s not all that much to get excited about. “Got Nuffin’” feels like classic Spoon from the start, kicking off with Jim Eno’s distinctive pummeling pulse on the drums, and cut with a blunt guitar line. Britt Daniel’s scratched pop vocals scrape along the surface, breaking for a few guitar thrills, between his declaration on the chorus of “I got nuffin’ to lose but darkness and shadows, Got nuffin to lose but loneliness and patterns.” His delivery is simultaneously unnerved and excited at the realization, which gives the song a good edge. Unfortunately, the EP’s appeal pretty much ends there. “Tweakers” is a hollowed out instrumental bit of wankery that sounds like some stuff they scraped off the studio floor to offer some insight into their process, basically a percussive loop that layers on raw keys and distortion in a seemingly pointless manner. It would be cool if this develops into a full song somewhere down the line, but as it is, the tune doesn’t even pass muster as interesting. As it drifts into closer “Stroke Their Brains,” the experiments began to flair in the vein of Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. It’s bit ragged and garagey, filled with eerie ambient tones underneath the beat and hard strummed guitar, while Daniel’s voice floats back in forth in the mix, diving into reverb and self-harmonies.
- Doug Freeman

Websites:
www.spoontheband.com
Myspace

Literature – Literature (SR)

Literature’s credentials are pretty impeccable, almost a Natrix Natrix supergroup. Fronted by Nathan Cardaci, with Moth! Fight!’s Kevin Adickes, Natrix founder Seth Whaland, and Ghost Night’s Steven Garcia contributing to the quintet, the band comes off as a rugged mix of the Modern Lovers and Gang of Four with a nice pop aftertaste. While the recording is somewhat rough, the infectious punch of the songs still comes through, especially on the jaunty lilt of “Lily as an Afterthought.” Opener “Apples” slowly builds up from dual guitars to Cardaci’s lazily monotoned and buried vocals drawling, “Get ready, get able, we’re gonna get signed to a bigger label, one that knows just what we mean.” It’s an hilarious and catchy tune, mostly because of the discrepancy between the ambitious sentiments and laconic, enervated vocals. Live, Cardaci leads the band with a jittery, schizophrenic energy, which fits these tunes well, especially the cut between his shouted, unraveling yelps on the post-punky “The Prime Meridian” and the smooth accompanying arrangement. Closer “Grifted” is a bit more accessible, though the recording drowns and roughs up Cardaci’s vocals too much. While Cardaci figures out how best to deliver his singing style, however, he can rest assured his band is unloading some fantastically catchy music behind him, making Literature worth keeping an eye and ear on as they continue to pull it together.
- Doug Freeman

Websites:
Myspace

The Authors – The Authors (SR)

It’s odd to knock a debut for being too polished, but that’s the case for much of the Authors’ eponymous first EP. The quartet largely seems to drift in the wake of early-2000’s New York bands with a kind of innocuous re-waxing of guitar-based new wave. That’s not to say their tunes are bad, just that they largely lack an edge to cling onto. At their best, there are touches of the National and Spoon, but these are rare glimpes. Opener “Lions” sounds like the Police behind Justin Prater’s crooning, while “Tonight” drives down into more subdued and moodier dark-wave territory. The hypnotically repetitive guitar gives away the NYC influence, which spikes completely to the fore in the indie-dance pulse of “Put It On” as it jumps from Spoon-sque to a chorus ripped from the Strokes or Hot Hot Heat. Closer “Dig a Hole” follows the same guitar formula, but sped up into a frenzy that bounces off of Prater’s alternating elongated and staccotoed singing. The Authors are big on bridges, and nearly every song seems to want to fight itself for how it should unfold – if the album were a bit more raw, this could produce some interesting tension, but as precisely produced as the EP is, it often sounds more like the band trying to do too much and be too clever with songs that aren’t exciting or strong enough to support those kinds of movements. That being said, however, if the Authors can home in on their direction, they certainly seem to have the talent and ambition to produce something that sticks.
- Doug Freeman

Websites:
Myspace

Your Kisses Cause Crashes – Deer in Headlights (SR)

I have a love/hate relationship with Deer in Headlights. Upon the first listen, I honestly hated it: I thought it was cliché, typical indie pop that I’ve heard many times before. Upon repeated listens, certain elements of the quartet’s debut started to grow on me, and although I can appreciate what Your Kisses Cause Crashes is offering, there are still some issues with the five-song EP that leave a lot to be desired. Most objectionable is the over-bearing melody synthesizers driven to the point where it becomes distracting, especially at moments when the vocals are drowned out by the keyboards. Andy Kaminski’s vocals rings like a higher pitched Ben Gibbard, especially on the way that “You Suffer Egos” blends his voice smoothly into the various melodies. On paper, all the different melodies in one song looks like a recipe for disaster, but Your Kisses Cause Crashes executes the combination effortlessly on this track, but that’s the pinnacle of the EP. For now, if Your Kisses Cause Crashes seek recognition within or even beyond the saturated Austin music scene, they are going to need to dig a little deeper in their creativity and fine-tune their writing style to give them more than just a clever band name.
- Sarah Vasquez

Websites:
Myspace

Way back in 2007, Skiesfalling released the debut, Mindbreaths from their EXPLP series, which caught our attention with their mix of ambient, electro and post-rock instrumentalism. While all the sessions were recorded between 2005-2006, they have just offered up the second LP in their series, Heroic Dose for free download, and are prepping the third and final release in the series, called The Intelligent Other for this winter.

The group explains the series thusly: “The EXPEP series is a post conception meaning that we came up with the idea to do this series after we had many exceptional, improvisational recorded pieces from our studio that in turn would be very diificult to replicate into rehearsed performances. These pieces simply blossomed out of the moment with no pre-written parts or even a discussion as to what we were attempting to do. Improvisation in its purest sense of tapping in and letting go. These pieces also fare more toward the ambient and experimental vein of Skiesfalling’s sound.”

You can get a teaser of the upcoming album on their myspace. As for Heroic Dose, it’s six tracks spread across over 40 minutes, and is a lot edgier than their earlier release. But perhaps even more exciting than Skiesfalling finally releasing these EXPEP tracks into the world, is that they are almost finished with their first “official” album, meaning that these are composed numbers and reflect more of the band’s live set. That album will be called The Landscape is Changed, and their hoping to have it out by this fall.

Download Heroic Dose here.

Websites:
www.sonicsoundwave
Myspace

Website:
www.funfunfunfest.com

A recent surge of electronic-based independent music has marked an absence of some of the most basic elements of bands. Guitars, drums, bass – once the staples and centerpieces of bands have played second fiddle to the synthesizers and keyboards, which once functioned as little more than the extra bells and whistles to a song. Electro and synth-pop inspired music can be found at every corner, from the underground to the mainstream airwaves. Like all trends, however, the constant barrage of the genre can begin to wear thin. That’s where Monahans step in. Amidst bands with engineered, electric sounds, Monahans’ second album and debut for Misra, Dim the Aurora, takes a back-to-basics sound as simple and secluded as the West Texas sand dunes that the band is named after. Monahans has wholly encompassed the traditional American rock, while simultaneously making it relevant and fresh for a modern music scene.

Although Monahans have all the elements of a typical alternative rock band, the group’s centerpiece does not rely in a brooding, lead singer and guitarist, but rather circles around the drumming. Songs like the opening jaunt “It’s Enough to Leave You,” are tailored to fit Roberto Sanchez’s drums, which in this case have a punchy persistence. At times, the drums forcefully dictate the direction of the song, dragging along guitars, bass and even vocals as back-up. Even on slow-tempo songs Sanchez takes a prominence that, at the very least, is on par with the guitars. This unique focal point serves as a double-edged sword, sometimes masking worthy counterparts. Sparkling guitar hooks and soaring vocals peek out from behind preemptive drumming, as on the title track and “Fit for Fire,” where lovely chorus harmonies and Greg Vanderpool’s warm vocalization steal the lead, if only for a brief time.

There is a sprinkling of instrumental breaks throughout Dim the Aurora. While these provide breathing room, they can quickly turn into a need for a track skip. The first break, “Night #3,” begins as a frantic melee of sound, but quickly loses its mystique with the realization that the entanglement of instruments is somewhat repetitious within itself. The second instrumental pursuit, “Over Fields,” calls for lyrics over its simplistic rhythm, but receives no backing aside from tribal hums. There is anticipation throughout “Over Fields,” a preparation for a take-off into something more that never comes. The song remains singularly leveled, remaining almost virtually the same at any given point in the song. Beginning to round out the album is the 21-minute, all instrumental voyage “Terrene.” Although a nice thought “Terrene”, which easily comprises one-third of the album, is not a song as much as a random cacophony. The length works against Monahans further, as the 21 minute time frame gives listeners a few moments to contemplate the sure greatness of the closer, which, despite its thoughtful ambience, is not necessarily worthy of such a build-up.

Dim the Aurora personifies all facets of alternative rock, a move into more driving territory beyond the ambiance of debut Low Pining or country bend of their previous Milton Mapes efforts. Their lonely, gruff callings are effortlessly charming, and provide a refreshing break from the over-engineered masses, and what is maybe a little too much confidence in the appeal of one-dimensional tunes can be easily forgiven by the cleanly executed alt-rock goodies.

Websites:
www.monahans.net
Myspace

Even though this video was self-made, it’s pretty good. Some of that credit has to surely just go to the quality Chris Brecht’s songwriting itself, with “Night Highway 99″ one of the more impressive songs on his debut from last year, The Great Ride. (Some of the credit also should probably go to Brecht’s girlfriend who was apparently ok with him filming her in the bathroom, ahem.) Brecht’s imagistic narratives and languid drawl reel the listener in with a Dylan-esque aplomb, and backed by his band of Dead Flowers, he’s been known to throw down some kick ass country-rock. That will likely be the case tonight, June 30, when he takes over the Mohawk with an awesome lineup that includes Leo Rondeau, who impressed us with tales Down at the End of the Bar, and former Sound Off featured artist, Mike and the Moonpies. As an added bonus, we just discovered that Brecht has put up a bunch of older recordings on his Myspace page for download, including some unreleased stuff. Video for “Night Highway 99″ below:

Websites:
www.chrisbrecht.com
Myspace

Last Thursday, garage rock legend and founder of the Seeds Sky Saxon passed away here in Austin, where he and his wife Sabrina had relocated only a few months before. Saxon, born Richard Marsh, reportedly died of kidney and heart failure due to an undiagnosed internal infection. Although he had spent only a short time here in Austin, and news of his passing was eclipsed by other celebrity deaths last week, he had already left a mark on the city with his music and his presence, especially in his headlining set at the Psych Fest in March with locals Shapes Have Fangs backing him as the World Spirits. (Watch a video of the performance below).

In conjunction with memorials being held in LA, Northern California, and Utah, his wife Sabrina is holding an open tribute this Sunday, July 5 at the Scoot Inn. The service starts at 6:00pm sharp, and folks are invited to bring their dogs (on leashes) as apparently Saxon was renowned dog lover. In lieu of flowers, donations are being asked for to help with cremation costs and the dissemination of Saxon’s ashes in Hawaii.

Saxon and the Seeds’ legacy will be preserved in a number of upcoming projects, most notably a documentary about the Seeds that is set to be released next year. There is also a wealth of recorded material that has yet to be released.

Reviewing an album isn’t an easy task; sometimes, it seems like reviewing an album is harder and more arduous (or at least time consuming) than writing and recording one. Case in point: Coma in Algiers’ sophomore release, Your Heart Your Body. One of the more established noise rockers in a city more attuned towards country and blues rock, Coma in Algiers is a tough nut to crack, a hard meal to digest, and an acid tab slow to absorb. Keyboardist/vocalist Killshire and keyboardist/bassist/vocalist Archbold’s founding inspirational moment is self described as how the two of them were “listening to the Electric Eels and were full of disgust & joy for their lack of talent” — and it’s hard to know if that’s the Electric Eels lack of talent or Killshire and Archbold’s own self assessment.

Fast-forward a few years to a second release of bone rattling garage rock and it’s clear that Coma in Algiers isn’t lacking for noise making talent. On Your Heart Your Body, the band cuts through twelve tracks that were purportedly recorded live in one session. It may have taken the band only hours to record the album, but it’ll take listeners days (if not weeks or months) to unwrap the chaos. The amazing thing is that since the album was recorded live, there likely aren’t many (if any) overdubs yet even on the most simplistic of songs (such as opener “Why Why Why”), it sounds like there are 10 (and not 5) musicians doing their thing. The songs are just accessible enough as garage rock, technically proficient to sound like a controlled maelstrom, and veering and lurching enough to keep things interesting.

Stylistically, Coma in Algiers runs the gamut on Your Heart Your Body and no one will ever confuse them of being a one trick pony. On the aforementioned album opener as well as songs like “Something’s Amiss”, Coma in Algiers sounds like a great garage punk band following in the footsteps of bands like Dead Moon. Then again, maybe the band shouldn’t be so disgusted with their own talent, because on songs like “Come Fall” and “Possess It”, the band runs off on some sort of dark no wave trip that will likely scare the shit out of children everywhere. And that’s not even mentioning the howls, moans, grunts, and screams on “Trojan Horse”. A churning psychedelic tribal beatdown of what was probably once a simpler-kinder-gentler rocker, “Trojan Horse” is a fantastic climax and reward for a few hours in the studio, a week mainlining a record for a review, or a lifetime creating havoc with instruments.

Website:
Myspace

Websites:
www.austinlizards.com
Myspace

Profile: Los Bad Apples

Year Formed:

October 2007

Members/Instruments played:

Anita Benner - lead singer & songwriter

Zeale - emcee

Aldo Ramon - bass

Greg Jones - Guitar

Joseph Serrato - Sax, keys, laptop

Honorary Bad Apple: DJ Chicken George (he took Joseph’s place on tour with us to the Middle East)

Former Bands/Side Projects:

Anita - as for what pays the bills, I worked at Dell for 9yrs in various sales and marketing roles, and currently I’m a Music Design Consultant for the sensory branding firm, DMX. My first band was a Bossa Nova duo called Aquarela. My 2nd was a 10-piece Salsa group called Morena Flor. Now, In addition to LBA I am collaborating with several wonderful local artists including Haydn Vitera (we wrote the song “The Way I’d Love You” which has been getting radio play on 92.5) and Vallejo. I recently wrote a song with Asdru Sierra (lead singer and founder of the multi Grammy-winning group Ozomatli). We recorded a rough take in the bathroom of La Quinta

Zeale - also fronts Boombox and has a successful solo project

Greg Jones - has shared the stage with artists such as Cubanismo, Ozomatli, Blues Traveler, Brave Combo, Horace Silver and The Rebirth Brass Band. Greg has produced music for commercials, webcasts and film, and for the last 3 years has run the guitar program at Victoria College.

Joseph Serrato - occasionally performs with Boombox as well has heavy hitters Jason Mraz and Christian Castro. Joseph works full-time for Apple.

Aldo Ramon - often joins cumbia legends Los Super Reyes on their Latin American concerts where they play to sold out stadiums of screaming fans. Aldo also works full-time for Apple and stays busy chasing his 4 daughters around.

Albums:

2009 - “Los Bad Apples” (independently released)

Influences:

Our influences range from Jazz legends like Sarah Vaughn and Coltrane to traditional Latin artists like Celia Cruz and Oscar D’Leon (who we opened for last year). I love Brazilian singers Marisa Monte and Bebel Gilberto (both of whom I’ve been fortunate enough to meet). Zeale is a Talib Kweli fan and he just opened for him at Emo’s this week! We’re huge fans of the Black Eyed Peas (we’re often compared to them as their Latin counterpart) and of course, what artist hasn’t been influenced by Michael Jackson? I’m still in denial.

Strangest comment or comparison ever made about your music:

one magazine proclaimed that “Los Bad Apples will be to Latin Hip Hop what Selena was to Tejano”. I don’t relate to Tejano music and our sound isn’t remotely similar to Selena’s but if we ever reach her level of fame we’ll be THRILLED!

Favorite local bands:

My friend James Kinney is going to be huge. He’s got a similar style as John Legend and he just got signed to the biggest R&B/Hip Hop management company in the country, so catch him here in town while you can! I also love Cienfuegos (they played at my wedding) and Suzanna Choffel has a captivating voice.

Upcoming shows scheduled:

July 3rd @ Lamberts…9:30pm

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

The Black Eyed Peas or No Doubt!

Austin Sound questions:
Everyone in the band has such diverse and rich musical backgrounds. Does the songwriting ever get chaotic trying to wrangle all the influences together?

YES. Just this week Joseph and I were debating our different interpretations of a track he produced. I had written a melody & lyrics with a retro Swing feel (similar to Christina Aguilera’s Back to Basics album), but he had interpreted it as an edgier Hip Hop song – less melody & more attitude.

We read that y’all have some pretty awesome collaborations in the works - can you tell us anything about them yet?

Don’t want to comment too much yet, but I will say that it’s awesome to attract the attention of people you admire. To have the opportunity to work with them is surreal!

Song Introduction:

“Pobre Corazon” is the song I chose to feature because it was just featured prominently on the MTV reality show Paris Hilton’s My New BFF! The song is the story of how I came to date my ex (who is a member of the Grammy-nominated band Grupo Fantasma). I’ll refrain from divulging additional details!

Sound Off:

Just as our musical style spans a wide range of influences, my mission through music is to promote diversity. It’s our racial, ethnic, linguistic, religious, sexual, cultural and political differences that make us all interesting and unique. Unfortunately it’s also these differences which cause so many of the troubles we encounter on a personal and global level. My hope is that by promoting diversity through our music and message, we’ll help in a small way to bridge those divides.

Mp3 from Los Bad Apples:
Pobre Corazon

Websites:
http://losbadapples.com
Myspace

For the past several years, Chris Rose has packed the dancefloors here in Austin with Car Stereo (Wars) phenomenal mashups, but tonight he bids adieu to the scene for bright lights of New York City. We know, who would want to leave this wonderful weather, right?! Tonight’s show at the Beauty Bar will no doubt be a packed, sweaty, crazy dance party, with lots of great tunes (Rose has promised some awesome new MJ mixes) and folks out to see Car Stereo (Wars) go bumping out in style. We posed a few questions to Rose to find out what’s next for him, and what’s in store for tonight. Also on the bill at the Beauty Bar are locals Neiliyo and Zeale, along with the phenomenal freestyling of Astronautalis. Car Stereo (Wars) goes on round midnight, and that party will probably roll until the noise police come to shut it down! Also, if you happen to be up in Chicago for Lollapalooza in August, you’ll be able to catch him one more time at the big fest. Jump for some words of wisdom.

Austin Sound: What has prompted your move to NYC, and what are you planning on doing up there?

Chris Rose: Well I’ve always wanted to live in New York, ever since I was a kid. I’ve been planning on going for several years, but just kept delaying it because I love Austin so much. And I needed to finish up my last few credits at school. I’ve done that now, so it just seemed like the right time.

I still plan on DJing some up there, maybe release another album. But the main reason for the move is because I want to pursue television/comedy writing. New York is the only place besides LA you can do that.

AS: You’ve had some pretty crazy and great shows the past few years - what have been some of your favorite Car Stereo (Wars) moments?

CR: Sure. My all time favorite show was Fun Fun Fun Fest 2007. The stage was so cool, it was the perfect time of evening, everyone there was awesome and having a great time, and I had a bunch of my friends on stage dressed as Pirates dancing.

Some of my other favorite shows - going out to Marfa with Ghostland Observatory to play at the ballroom and seeing 70 year old cowboys dancing with 20 something hipsters / playing a tiny club in Madrid, Spain but seeing everyone there loving it / getting added at the last minute to play in a cave with Bill Murray.

AS: What do you have planned for the big blowout Friday?

CR: hmmm. Well I’m really trying to work in the “Top That” rap from Teen Witch somehow. Astronautalis and Neiliyo will be joining me during my set at some point, maybe for a freestyle or something. who knows.

AS: Finally, we’re wondering what’s your plan for keeping it Austin cool up there among the hipsterati of NYC?

CR: Haah. Well, I’m planning on bringing about 10 jars of El Chile salsa with me. And I’m going to try to start up my country night somewhere in Brooklyn. Other than that, I think I’ll just have to figure it out as I go along.

Website:
Myspace