Austin Sound

Here’s something weird: The Happen-Ins aren’t doing anything remotely new or innovative on their self titled debut album, yet somehow they seem like a fun fresh breath of air. Maybe it’s because the album features instructions for “things to consider before, during, and after listening to this record” – and those things, in the end, will apparently and assuredly result in “palpitations, perspirations, and motivations to stomp the floor”. Maybe it’s because The Happen-Ins just sound like they’re having fun playing old school rock and roll. Or maybe it’s because, along with having a sense of humor, swagger, and melody, The Happen-Ins play the music your parents (or, shit, grandparents in some of your cases) might have loved, but they don’t sound worn out like the grooves on a dusty old Creedence record. Their debut affair practically bursts from the speakers, with exuberance that is all too often missing from their peers’ recordings.

Fresh out of the gate after forming earlier this year, the Happen-Ins have been grooving into the local scene with a rollicking retro vibe, swaggering country rock that follows in the harmonizing roots of the Band, Flying Burrito Brothers, and the Rolling Stones. In other words, the quartet dusts up some stellar originals that sound infectiously familiar but with their own contemporary pop twists. Their sound is no surprise given the make-up of the band, which includes former Deadringer Sean Faires, psych-folker John Michael Dayspring, The Belleville Outfit’s Jonathon Konya on percussion, and former Lomita frontman and recent pedal steel extraordinaire, Ricky Ray Jackson. The group is working out some recordings at this moment, and you can download one of their first demos below, but we can’t imagine a better lineup to see them play with than this Friday, May 1 at the Scoot Inn with Brothers and Sisters, the Black, J.C. & Company, and Karrie Hopper.