Austin Sound

Yesterday afternoon the Statesman reported that blues pianist, Antone’s fixture, and Austin legend Pinetop Perkins passed away at the age of 97. Perkins reportedly died at home in his sleep due to cardiac arrest. The pianist was a pillar of Austin since moving here with the aid and support of Clifford Antone in 2003, and garnered three Grammys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award. Perkins was an icon of a trifecta of Delta, Chicago and Austin blues, having played with nearly every blues legend of note from Sonny Boy Williamson to Muddy Waters. In a statement posted on the artist’s website, B.B. King called Perkins “one of the last great Mississippi bluesmen,” while Susan Antone notes appropriately, “He was a member of our family, not just the Antone’s family, but the Austin family.” Arrangements are still pending. Watch a video of Pinetop and Clifford Antone playing the Broken Spoke back in 2005 below:

So seems the Murdocks have finally had enough of us. You know, they just got really good, so it only makes sense to go out on top and thus up the pricetag on their eventual reunion show. Good business strategy. Very savvy. Of course, seeing as how it took them nearly half a decade to get their last LP out, maybe this isn’t so much a hiatus as it is a break to do some recording. Or something. Last year the local trio impressed with the release of Distortionist, but according to the band, this Thursday will mark their last show for the indeterminate future. We know how these “trial separations” go, though - first you start up the side project, and then things just fall off, and before you know it, it’s been two years since you thought about all those good old Murdocks days. It’s cool though - we can take it. The funny thing about this breakup though, is that they’re going to still dump a bunch of videos and tunes on us over the next year that they have in the attic. So what’s up guys, is this good bye or not? Don’t tease us. Either way, we’ll still be down at Emo’s on Thursday night for one final fling with Murdocks as the band unloads their “hits” from across the past decade with support from Paper Shapes, Antic Romantics and Shazz.

We remember back in the day when we started this site and all the kids loved Voxtrot. And rightfully so - they produced stellar indie pop with a disgruntled edge of wit that was all the rage back then, and their shows were packed and enthusiastic with bopping kids. But those kids have grown up, and alas, perhaps so does Voxtrot. They have of course been lying low for quite some time, with members moving on or sporting other projects here and there (Hey, what’s up with Sparrow House, Jared Van Fleet!?). But recently frontman Ramesh Srivastava decided to just go ahead and make the band’s demise official. Fair enough, that will happen. Though we only got one album and some awesome EPs and singles from Voxtrot, as Ramesh notes: “Part of doing something with love is being able to say “goodbye” at the right time.” You can read his full goodbye note on their site. Voxtrot will be doing one final run of shows, however, starting this weekend in Chicago. They’re doing 8 shows in all (including a two night stand at the Bowery in New York, who apparently still love their pop jangle!), and will be saying goodbye to Austin at Emo’s on Thursday June 3. We guess that “The Start of Something” always has to have its ending as well. Bye bye boys, and good luck.

While we were out last week recovering from the debauchery of SXSW (remember that? Great times!) some really crappy news hit the local music scene. The internet radio tastemakers at WOXY, who just moved to town at the end of last summer, had to shut down their station due to lack of funding. Apparently it’s been an issue for a while, and SXSW was their deadline to get on track, but nothing has come through so far. According to reports from the Statesman, the station was doing fine on audience size, but their parent company Future Sounds has been carrying the station while they attempt to find new funding, but to no avail. While there is still a lot of hope that some deals will come through to revive the station, this really sucks for Austin, and of course the awesome WOXY crew, who even in their short time here have done a lot for our local music scene. Here’s to hoping they can get back on the internet airwaves soon!

Throw another one on the pyre of 2010 band breakups. The Always Already, after 2 EPs, the latest of which was last year’s The Science is New, is calling it quits this weekend with one final show at the Beauty Bar. If you dig your synthy rhythms and Cure-esque crooning, you’ll probably want to be there. The local quartet offered some parting words to us when we inquired what was up, frontman Dustin Withers declaring: “Well after 5 years of playing shows, an east coast tour and west coast tour we have just grown a little tired of all the energy it takes to sustain the band. We still love each other, but when you start to grow apart it seems to take even more energy to make it work. We are also very poor and the band is a money hole, not the good kind.” True! But let’s not dwell too much on the past, as the quartet has other projects they’re working on - Louis Lemuz is playing bass with some fellow former Clap! Clap! folks in Love at Twenty, and Travis Austin is working on his next album as Mediums. As for Withers, he’s “working on my karaoke persona, PARTY DIP! and I have also begain my recoding a solo record.” Word. Get your last heady philosophical fix of the Always Already this Saturday, February 27, along with DJ Mel and Zorch.

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.

We know what you’re thinking, but how could we not go with that headline? Hey, we didn’t name the band the Pillow Queens - we just work with what y’all give us. It seems that the New Year’s resolutions of local bands was to finally give it up, and so the Pillow Queens are jumping on the bandwagon and declaring tomorrow night’s show at Trailer Space their final fling. Guess they weren’t too KooKooLegit to quit. According to Patrick Caldwell of the Statesman, the Pillow Queens was an “energized, spastic rock ‘n’ roll band that combined a keen ear for pop hooks with the loose proto-punk appeal of Television” and “Co-front man Will Slack’s gruff vocals made an ideal pairing with the goes-down-easy croon of Duncan Malashock” - which is a description we like as it’s almost exactly how we described them when we reviewed the album: “Their cool blend of witty, dark humor and spastic rock and roll is addictively entertaining…Weaves its way through the catchy sounds of 70’s pop music but remembers to pull in the energized sound of proto-punk groups like Television…Switching between the gruff, southern growl of co-frontman Will Slack and the smooth croon of his partner Duncan Malashock.” We know Patrick, words are hard, but you pull this shit all the time on any number of writers both local and national. Sure some music reviewing overlap is expected, but we’ve seen this from you since you were doing same hack schtick at the Daily Texan. (Seems like we remember an entire Golden Bear feature article that was ridiculously replicative of the Chronicle’s feature on that band that ran a month before. The DT article is not online anymore, though - a shame). We know print is dying, but you are getting paid, right? So come up with some insight of your own. So, just to make you aware, Patrick, we are reading your shit, and we read a lot of other shit too, and we would love to start a weekly (or maybe even daily!) feature of “Who is Patrick Caldwell copying now?”

But to return to our point - The Pillow Queens are quitting because Duncan apparently has bigger and better things to do, and the show at Trailer Space will start at 7:00 and also have Dave Israel and You and Me on the bill. (Not you and me, personally).

This is what happens when you try to release an EP a month, we guess. After all, that much time crammed into a house recording is bound to begin to smell bad no matter what. So Haunting Oboe Music, which as we’ve discussed before, has never really been haunting, nor oboed, is calling it a career. According to the band, the split is mutual and everybody’s cool, which is a shame, because we prefer to watch local bands go out in a blaze of instrument flinging fury on stage. There is still that chance though, as HOM does have a couple more shows that they are going to play before ceasing to be. They have two free week shows this week - one at Emo’s on Thursday, January 7 with Moth Fight, Yellow Fever, Red Leaves, and The Eastern Sea, and then again at Club DeVille on Saturday with Watch Out For Rockets. Their final blowout will go down at the Hole in the Wall on Friday January 15 with The Obsolete Machines, Salesmen, and Monarchs. They’re charging $3 for that one, but they’ll also be giving away all their stock of EPs! Woo-hoo? Apparently there is already a new band in the works from several members, so no need to get too nostalgic or anything. But here’s to hoping the band uses the social media suicide button!

Last month tragedy hit the local outfit Bankrupt and the Borrowers when their shared house burned due to a faulty powerstrip and founding member Jon Pettis was killed in the fire. As the band members attempt to recover from the deeply personal loss, the future of the group itself was uncertain, with all their upcoming gigs canceled save for the Fun Fun Fun Fest. A recent blog post on the Bankrupt myspace page, however, declares that FFFFest will, indeed, serve as the band’s final show and a tribute to Pettis. To fill out the lineup, they are receiving some help from their friends Denis O’Donnel from The Bread, Tyler Hautala from the Bridge Farmers, and Blake Van Buren from The Van Buren Boys. Bankrupt and the Borrowers take the stage at 1:00pm on Sunday.

Last week while we were out, tragedy hit one of our favorite new local bands when the house shared by Bankrupt and the Borrowers burned down, and guitarist and founding member Jon Pettis died of smoke inhalation. The fire was reportedly caused by an accidental electrical malfunction. We profiled Bankrupt and the Borrowers back in April and noted their vivacious and communal attitude, which comes through full-force on their video for “I Love You Baby.” It’s a horrible loss, compounded by the band’s losing everything as well. While the future of the band, and their scheduled Fun Fun Fun Fest appearance, has yet to be determined, they are hosting a memorial and wake for Pettis this Wednesday at the Hole in the Wall. We expect a lot of Austin’s indie community to come out to show their support as the band was immensely well liked within the scene. You can also donate to help cover Pettis’ funeral expenses on the band’s website.