Austin Sound

Car Stereo (Wars) is dropping his sophomore album tonight at the Beauty Bar. It’s called Explains It All, which is good, because we have lots of questions! Like what’s up with magnets? Someone definitely has lots of ’splainin’ to do. Below you will find the lead track from the album, awesomely titled “Whoah Dude” in what we can only assume is an homage to Joey Lawrence. This mashup is all jacked up with the Eighties, actually. Rad. Chris Rose has of course been living up in Brooklyn these days, but still manages to keep at least one Macbook here in Austin. And you know when CS(W) throws a party, is no half-assed affair - there will be free vodka and free beer (which we suppose is “while it lasts”, or tickets, or something like that to keep the BUMS out), and with the $8 cover, you get a copy of the CD, as well. But wait, there’s more! If you RSVP with our buds over at Do512, you get in for $5! And that includes sets from Neiliyo, Hot Britches, and the LCD Soundsystem tribute band All My Friends. Whoah Dude, indeed!

We don’t think you’d know it to look at him, but John Gross of local label Artifact Workshop loves to dance. Seriously, the Party Ender keeps putting out albums that seem determined, against all odds, to make Austin a veritable beat happening. Now we’ve never actually seen John Gross dance, but we like to imagine his moves to this particular song looksomething like this kid in the orange (wait for it). Artifact Workshop’s latest attempt to liven up Austin’s dancefloors is with the release of Custodian’s official debut, 7-song album. Custodian is Adreon Henry (of Single Frame fame) and Jay Bradley, and their album, Ultra-Fresh will be released this Saturday, November 21st, at Bird’s Barbershop on East 6th (of course). The party will run from 5-9, and, most importantly, FREE BEER. We don’t care how sweet your DJing is - if you want to start a dance party, throw in some free beer. Get a taste of what you’re in for below with the song “Pop-a-Lock” from Custodian, and you can pick up the limited edition special packaging there (apparently a special janitorial sponge box complete with wool scouring pads “impregnated” with soap, whatever the hell that means). And did we mention FREE BEER?

After bursting onto the Austin music scene in early 2007 with their fevered and quirky explosion of sax stacked jittery dance rock, the Laughing seemed to all but disappear. Perhaps part of the problem for the quartet was the extremely polarizing response to their debut EP, Tiger Cry, and even more, the antics of their live shows. Most reviews of the band focused less on the music and more on their image, which was either fantastic or absurd (or fantastically absurd) depending on your viewpoint. Their powderblue shirts and white denim gang vests and facepaint, and their stuffed animal white tiger mascot, overshadowed what the band was actually delivering musically. To be fair, it was an effect largely of their own making and accentuated by the tiger-themed EP, but something that audiences or crtics couldn’t seem to get past.

So how have the Laughing, returning with their sophomore EP, taken on that critical distraction?