Austin Sound

There’s not much to say after you tell the Mayor [Lee Leffingwell] that everything’s going “really ‘effing well” and he walks awkwardly away from you after a proclamation that it’s official Danny Malone Day, but Malone still manages to somehow come through. With blues-rock protégés the Steps and School of Songs in tow, Malone managed to put on a show last month at Stubb’s full of choreographed lights and dance, pomp, and his trademark folk rock worthy of a day of his own deserving. Read our interview with him here, and see photos from the show below courtesy of Will Foster.

The first words from Danny Malone’s mouth are strangely obvious as I can hear the hiss of inclement weather on the line, but he manages to give it a name, a definition as a sort of enigmatic, chance poet. It’s the kind of dry lyricism coloring the earthy tones of last year’s release, Cuddlebug, that also pervade his conversation. Not much is certain about Danny Malone — even he can attest to that. He has curious bios online, claiming he’s a number of fantastical things, but these all seem fabrications of Malone’s overactive imagination, and almost diversions from the heartfelt songwriter that listeners find in his music. What we do know is that July 29th has been officially declared Danny Malone Day here in Austin, and Malone himself remains humble and politely reticent of his local fame. Austin Sound sat down with the twenty-something songsmith to chat about his commemoration, his seemingly endless ambition as a musician, his forthcoming album, and the Parkside vs. Best Wurst controversy, about which he cares so deeply.

This past month, both Leatherbag and Danny Malone hit the road on separate tours, but managed to cross paths in Chicago to record a studio session for the great blog Hearya.com. The session was posted on Hearya’s site recently, and we recommend you head over there asap to download the new, unreleased Leatherbag tune “Here Comes Change.” Among the cuts from the session, though, our favorite is the take of “White Doves” with Danny Malone adding his distinctive vocal harmony to Randy Reynolds lead. Watch a video of the session below, and download the mp3 from Hearya.

Danny Malone has decided to expand his upcoming EP to a full-length, expected to drop sometime in September. In the meantime, here is a video for the title track off of his last EP, Baby Bleu, the French-ness of which makes no since to us, but a good song nonetheless. You can check out our review of the EP here. The video was directed by Jeremy Cohen and Christopher Morse of Hinju Productions and features the singer/songwriter (and, we think, Will Sheff doppleganger) plying his trade in various spots around Austin. Malone is currently traipsing around the Midwest, but should be back in town soon.

Once more taking stock of a solid batch of local EPs released in the past few months, we present yet another EP Round Up. This set features new material from Loxsly, whose Flashlights is an impressive step forward, Erin Ivey’s Sweet Little EP, and overdue coverage of iKiLLCaRS and Danny Malone.

Loxsly - Flashlights (SR)

It’s been a few years since Losxly has given us new tunes, but their recent EP, Flashlights, was so worth the wait. They have progressed tremendously since Cody Ground’s baby, Forecast a Brainstorm, and even the 2005 LP Maps and Organs, featuring Loxsly’s current lineup. Still maintaining that synth pop sound we all love, the quintet of Justin Douglas, Cody Ground, Garrett Johnston, John Kelly and Eric Lugo have produced four more tracks for our listening pleasure. Ground’s raspy, whisper of a voice seems stronger and more confident; which is also more representative of how they sound live.