Austin Sound

Austin isn’t known for its discrete seasons; sure, at some point in April the dry crackle of leaves is replaced by the blast of an angry, long-hungover sun, but patterns change so quickly day-to-day that it often seems as if winter and summer co-occur. Until the Autumn, the fourth full-length album by Austin’s The Story Of, exists in this gap between Summer and death, where nostalgia and hope seem at once lost and omnipresent. Cathartic and powerful, this album has the capacity to wear the listener out almost as fast as it lifts him up.

Opener “Berkeley” immediately bursts into a thick fog of harmonized voices with vocoded accompaniments. One may immediately notice the increase in (post-)pop sensibility on this album, but as vocalist Christman Hersha utters “don’t back off/ we got ‘em all/just where we want”; the change in style is deliberate, and one can detect this intent behind every note, even if their reasoning for doing so isn’t solidified until later in the album.

There’s something about discussing music over beer that always rides a fine line between pretension and authenticity. Among friends, bare bones honesty surfaces, and we can delve into the meat of albums circulating in these days of plentiful “indie” pop rock bands. Though there’s a dearth that’s worth a mention, fewer deserve a full play on your iPod.

Austin-via-Athens, Ohio five-piece The Story Of is part of that shiny minority, and migrating southwest 4 years ago brought their creative core closer to the fore. Candid, punchy and playful, they’re respectful of each other, as close friends always are, and though their dynamic isn’t uncommon, it nicely compliments the mélange of poppy, bright, sometimes spatial, sometimes somber rock they’ve made since 2002.

Think of this show as your chance to give SXSW a warm farewell and get back into the swing of things. The days of international attention may be over, but local music continues in force this Friday with The Story Of, Peel and The Black. We took a closer look at the show just after the jump.

The Story Of’s new video for “Wonderlust” is a mashup of what would appear to be old Cold War-era nuclear energy educational cartoons. For anyone who’s ever taken a high school science class, these will look very familiar. Ever wonder what Radium 88’s house looks like? How about what nuclear energy looks like in human form? The Story Of’s new video answers these tantalizing questions.

“Wonderlust” is off 2007’s The World’s Affair which we checked out last year. The band is playing tonight at The Parish with Experimental Aircraft and The Boxing Lesson who are releasing their debut album Wild Streaks and Windy Days.

Let’s face it, transitioning from the summer to the fall can be tricky for the avid music listener. The upbeat, dance-worthy sounds that matched up so nicely with the pretty summer days no longer feel as desirable. That doesn’t necessarily mean everyone is ready to bundle up and spend the coming months with mixtapes that consist of moody artists, but there is a need deep down for something to provide sounds that are more appropriate. With that being said, The Story Of’s The World’s Affair is seemingly the album to help with such a thing. Its sound is expansive, almost to the brink of epic, and its songwriting is accessible in a way that defines fall weather; colorful and different.