Austin Sound

We do love our Dylan covers, but Royal Forest has one upped that by putting out a free, two song dose for download of Dylan’s “You’re a Big Girl Now” with Neil Young’s “Borrowed Tune”! Royal Forest is of course the re-branded quintet Loxly, who thankfully chose the new, less-taken name last year. Now they’re gearing up for a new LP which will be out sometime this summer. Both of the cover tunes are pretty lo-fi and a little trippy, which you might expect from a band who recorded their last tuneusing a four track powered by a car battery. If we had to compare it to anything, it would probably be some Jeff Tweedy outtakes or something. Royal Forest doesn’t currently have any gigs lined up until SXSW, but you can check out the Dylan ditty below, and get them both for free download from the band’s bandcamp page.

It’s a rainy afternoon here in Austin today, so why not see if All in the Golden Afternoon can brighten things up a bit. The dreamy psych duo has been trying their damnedest to get their debut LP and follow up to their 2008 EP out for a while now, but have unfortunately run into the typical label frustrations. So for now, Magic Lighthouse on the Infinite Sea is available for digital download, or you can pre-order the vinyl and still get the download on January 15. In the meantime, you can get a taste for the duo’s (actually a trio for this song, thanks to some keyboards from Chad Merritt) new music with a download of “Gulf Coast Highway” below. The album also apparently features some additional help from the Octopus Project’s Yvonne Lambert, which we assume means some hot theremin action! Unfortunately it doesn’t look like All in the Golden Afternoon have any local gigs coming up, though if you happen to find yourself in Croatia at the end of March - well, then you probably have bigger problems to worry about than catching AitGA.

Last month, former Lions frontman Matt Drenik took off to Portland to record his new solo project, Battleme. But Austin is like the mafia: just when you thought you were out, it will pull you back in. We’re not sure if Drenik has officially returned to our little nook of Texas from the wilds of the Northwest autumn, but this Saturday he will be playing his first official show as Battleme here in Austin when he joins impressive Chicago songwriter Joe Pug at the Cactus Cafe. There might even be some of the new Battleme EPs, titled Big Score, on hand, but if not, you can still get a little taste of Drenik’s folky turn with “I Got Fire” for download below. The Portland tryst reported resulted in recording over forty songs, which include the Battleme tunes that Drenik is putting out on his own Get Loud label (ironic, we think), but also another full band project that has already found a home somewhere and will come out sometime next year. So, there is all that going on. Whew. Battleme hits the Cactus stage at 8:30.

The physical release of Sunset’s new album, Loveshines But The Moon Is Shining Too, comes out tomorrow as 2LP opus, and Bill Baird and company have offered up the lead track for download to celebrate. This follows on the heels of the previous two tracks released back in July, but seeing as how this will be Sunset’s 5th album in three years, which more than most bands put out in their entire career, the band seems to have plenty of tunes to share. The music in Bill Baird’s head must out, one way or another. The good news is that Sunset keeps getting better and better. The band just returned from a little west coast jaunt, but doesn’t currently have any homecoming dates line up that we can find. Download “Heavy Light” below, and order the album from the fine folks at Autobus Records here.

We’re not sure if Matt Drenik has any first hand experience with psycho wards or not, but it really wouldn’t surprise anyone that has seen a Lions’ show. Unfortunately, it seems we’ll be losing Drenik, and the Lions, for a while as the frontman will be moving to Portland later this month (hopefully just temporarily). Before he heads off for the great Northwest, though, he’s determined to make us all remember his contributions to the Austin music scene with one final Lions blowout show at Emo’s on October 15, and perhaps even more exciting, a reunion of his and Lions drummer Jake Perlman’s the Good Looks, who will “Let the Needle Drop” once again this Friday, October 1 at Trophy’s. The Good Looks broke up back in 2005, with Drenik creating Lions shortly thereafter, and you can get a taste for the band’s glam-punk style below with the tune “Pycho Wards.” As for Drenik, he’ll be busy with his new solo project BattleMe, and you can download the song “No Time for Blood” from that effort here. Download the Good Looks’ “Psycho Wards” below:

It’s been a few years since we’ve heard new recordings from Graham Weber, so we’re excited to get a taste of what the local songwriter has been working on with the demo for “Baltimore.” This comes from a new album Weber has in the hopper but that hasn’t yet been fully mixed, but will hopefully see release sometime next year. And the sparse demo is perfectly fine for allowing Weber’s excellent songwriting to shine through. More importantly, however, is that tonight Weber will be officially celebrating his 30th birthday with, of course, Grahamstock at the United States Art Authority. Because what else is an artist to do when he rounds into the ripe old age of his third decade? - other than move to Austin and start playing the Saxon Pub, of course. Weber’s put together a nice little lineup for the show, which is only $5 and will benefit the non-profit Choices Cafe. Joining him on the bill are Leatherbag, Austin Collins and the Rainbirds, So Long Problems, Southpaw Jones, and Ricky Stein, with the show kicking off at around 8:00pm. Hopefully we’ll get to hear a lot of Weber’s new material as he’s joined by “Grahamstock All Star Band,” but you can download the demo of the stunning “Baltimore” below.

Wow B&W Years, this sounds awesome. After popping and grooving around on their debut album and last year’s Nursery Myths EP, The Black and White Years seems to be coming out hard for their sophomore LP, Patterns. The first single, “Up!”, which you can download below, jumps right into Yeasayer territory with some swirling beatastic rhythms. The 13 song offering from the quartet will be released officially November 16, and if this track is any indication, we’re in for a real treat here. Two more songs are up on their myspace and they are equally full of electro-noodling, though with Butler’s swooning croon easing the pulse a bit. Given the success they had off of their debut, it’s refreshing to hear them keep pushing themselves into some new sounds with the follow-up, and we’re excited to see how this comes together live. The Black and White Years’ next show is lined up to be their CD release at the ND on November 12.

Why, yes; yes you will be damned. We’ve resigned ourselves to our fate, but how ’bout you? Caleb Coy’s here to help if you’re having trouble. The Headdress focal point, better known for his sparse, reverbed psych with that outfit, is releasing a solo album with which he lets his Texas roots shine, attempting to conjure some of his iconic folk heroes like Blaze Foley and Townes Van Zandt, though he kinda reminds us of a more mellow William Elliott Whitmore. Called Wild Desert Rose, the album showcases Coy’s more traditional songwriting in slow Texan drawl. The recording seems intentionally rough, but actually makes the quality of the songs that much more rawly powerful. Wild Desert Rose was released today on Yer Bird (and we assume available at finer independent record stores, or digitally here). You can download the track “I’ll Be Damned” below, and though Coy doesn’t seem to currently have a show on the books excepts for some dates out in California next month, hopefully he’ll find a room to strum for us somewhere in the near future.

After staking their claim with 2009’s Big Strike in Silver City, Frank Smith is wasting no time in moving forward. They’re shooting to have a new album out this October, which is tentatively titled Nineteen. According to the quartet’s myspace, the album seems to have been originally titled Takers, but they apparently changed it so as not to create confusion with this Oscar-worthy screen-gem. After all, who can compete with Matt Dillon? We’re not sure why it’s called Nineteen instead, but we’re glad to know it’s at least of legal age, especially given the song “L.O.V.E.” that they have shared for download below. There’s a lot here that folks familiar with Frank Smith will dig in the tune - the loping alt-country rhythm, subtle steel, and of course, Aaron Sinclair’s direly graveled vocals. But what has always made Frank Smith so interesting is the unexpected turns they make, and “L.O.V.E.” is no exception. The quiet harmonies and hushed high range that band shifts into in the middle of the song is a surprise, and downright eerie - making us very curious what the rest of the album will sound like. We’ll have a chance to find out tomorrow, September 3, as the band will deliver some of those tunes at the Mohawk with a nice lineup of the Mynabirds and Crooked Fingers. Check out “L.O.V.E.” below.

If you haven’t been following Monahans’ mp3 a month project as they build up to a new album, you’re really missing out. Go here and get all six tracks that they currently have up while you can. Their latest song, “I Break the Silence”, offers up some excellent work from drummer Roberto Sanchez, who is literally a primary driving force behind Monahans’ sound, turning Greg Vanderpool and company’s sound into epic dimensions. The song is purportedly inspired and derived from accounts about “Wounded Knee,” but it’s still pretty impressionistic in usual Monahans’ style. The quartet’s third album, composed of these songs and possibly more, should be out early next year if all goes to schedule, and they will next be playing live in Austin in late September with a show at the Parish, which should be a great room for their encompassing sound. Check out “I Break the Silence” below.