Float Fest takes place this coming weekend, and while the festival’s lineups have gotten progressively massive over the past few years, the honorable festival bookers have remained loyal to Austin artists.  Joining MGMT, Weezer, and Passion Pit onstage will be a slew of local musicians who represent some of Austin’s most electrifying live shows.  

Sweet Spirit – Arguably the most recognizable local act on the fest lineup, ‘Queen Sabrina’ never skimps on a live show. Raucous, empowering, and theatrical, a Sweet Spirit show is as magnetic as it is unforgettable.(4:45 PM Sunday @ Sun Stage)

Walker Lukens – One of the most creative singer/songwriters to claim Texas as home, Walker has put in the time to get where he is.  Eclectic pop diddies exude from his pores, while his hair may be the most recognizable in the austin music scene. (4 PM Sunday @ Water Stage)

Ume – A trio that levels all that stands before them, Ume emits swerving art-rock that rattles ribcages. Lead singer, Lauren ‘LL’, is a deceiving package of wanton destruction that shatters the stereotype of the girl-next-door. (3:15 PM Sunday @ Sun Stage) 

Los Coast – A soul-rock outfit on a hot streak, Los Coast is turning heads at every performance.  Trey Privott brings ‘Stax-worthy’ vocals to a swirl of multi-genre rock that ebbs and flows with volcanic zeniths. (2 PM Sunday @ Sun Stage)

King of Nothing – Originally hailing from H-Town, King of Nothing, brings enlightened rhymes to ‘Skrewed Up’ beats. Daren Napier channels the angst and pain of a life full of troubling transitions to elucidate a crisis of identity, and the music is stunning. (2 PM Saturday @ Sun Stage)

Birthed from members of Shiny Ribs and Roxy Roca, The Savage Poor embrace alternative rock guided by social idealism with a fervent undercurrent of angst. The brothers, Jeff and Ben Brown, elicit a cinematic magnetism that infects the totality of their new debut album, The Grown Ups. Plotting to release their debut at One 2 One bar on July 26th, The Savage Poor explores the gamut of emotions from drab hopelessness, to inspiring exuberance. What brings each of their songs together, is the passion found behind each guitar lick and vocal which harkens back to a simpler time. With a reputable and talented lineage, the members of The Savage Poor are set on blazing through Austin eardrums on July 26th.

 It’s a rarity to see a band hit the ground running quite like Billy King and the Bad Bad Bad have in the past few months. House shows, a Do512 event, and a few other tune up gigs have all lead up to their much-anticipated upcoming headline show at the Mohawk on July 25th. Ominous drums, twanged guitars, and the otherworldly howl of Will Reynolds all coalesce to evoke a behemoth of a sound that is as sinister as it is hard-hitting. Reynold’s impeccable vocals oscillate between a theatrical Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and a Southern-styled Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother. Bonham-esque percussion from Marty Chronister serves as the backbone from which the surgical guitar-stylings of Cam Wren spring forth, comprising equal parts power chords and face-melting solos.

 Frills and gimmicks are lacking as this trio smashes through a short but transcendent thread of songs that are now finally available on their debut EP Fever Dreamin’. The jittered punk diddy "Werewolf of Love" is an earworm of the highest order while "The Night Terror" slow-creeps into one the most cathartic choruses of recent memory. Billy King and the Bad Bad Bad don’t need time to figure themselves out, they stand ready to unleash their hell fury unto us with wicked abandon, and you’d be a fool to deny their sacrament on July 25th at Mohawk.

-Lee Ackerley

Emily Bell released her record, Kali, over a year ago but with all that has transpired since, she decided a music video would help visualize that record’s overall message – empowerment. The video alternates between shots of the Women’s March that happened earlier this year and older footage of past women’s marches. The catchy backbeat mixes equal parts Riot Grrl and mainstream rock, with literal lyrics to paint a clear message. Emily Bell continues to create accessible music while ensuring that it serves a greater purpose.

Girls That Never Die by Emily Bell on VEVO.

 A fourteen year hiatus usually proves the death knell on almost any artistic endeavor, save the ones that are fueled by an undying passion.  Knife In The Water has that passion and a healthy dose of integrity to put forth their fifth release, Reproduction. Released in March, 2017 the album is a return to their signature slow unravelling soundscapes that peak blissfully only to return to the spatial solemnity. While there are no propellers attached to this vehicle, the glide is so mesmerizing and soothing that you’ll forget where it was you had planned on going.  A tip of the hat to these music veterans who are about to head out on for most of the band, will be their first touring gig in decades.

Shoegazed and sultry, "The Claw" by Drag Me Over The Rainbow is the first single on the forthcoming debut EP from the Austin psych trio. Staccatto guitar riffs wind around soft reverbed vocals, the song then opens up into passionate choral release of frustrated energy. Boston transplant and frontman, Mat DelloRusso, understands how to use his arsenal of musical talents to create a dazed and druggy soundscape that lulls the listener into a trance before tearing through the ennui and injecting amphetamined rhythms and percussive destruction to bring his audience back down to a hard-rocking reality. While cues are taken from Shoegaze pioneers ike My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive, Drag Me Over the Rainbow is part of a more accessible Austin psych scene that refuses to flatline through each song, instead opting to implement heavy pounding choruses and thrash through bridges.  While you might hear shades of other Austin bands like the Black Angels and Holy Wave in their music, Drag Me Over the Rainbow has a unique style whose trajectory is aimed into a uniquely uncharted awesomeness. Get the full experience by seeing their live show complete with 60’s psych light projections and oils, compliments of DelloRusso.

 Psychedelic videos, college dropouts, slacker vibes all swirl together in the Austin-based surf punk band, Soaked. A true Austin creation, Soaked formed after guitarists Jimmy Minter and Maxx Eaton met hanging around East side music hotbeds like Hotel Vegas. Soaked springs from the same vein as other mischievous surf bands like Jacuzzi Boys, Diarrhea Planet, FIDLAR, and Wavves. However, the high energy live shows and sugary pop melodies carve a unique sound that got the attention of Yippee Ki Yay Records who helped release the band’s debut album, I DON’T WANNA WAKE UP TODAY. Warm reverb emanates from the simplistic yet addictive guitar sound, while the good-natured attitude of the band makes their care-free charm somewhat irresistible. A perfect score to the languid and balmy Austin Summer weather, Soaked is soon to be creeping through your poolside speakers.

-Lee Ackerley

 80’s nostalgia percolates through all fissures of this danceable synth-noir track called "Trapeze Artist Regrets. Night Drive seemingly indvertently created this tack:"Trapeze Artist Regrets was never suppose to happen. We were writing something else for a short film and became bored, so we changed the bpm, started shifting things around and all of the sudden we had this groove we liked.  We just started working backwards from there. The title came first, a sorta metaphor for disaster; it’s about watching someone you care about make the same mistake over and over again and not being able to do anything about it. Just hoping they pull through.”

Comprised of Rodney Connell and Brandon Duhon, Night Drive is a Texas-based electro duo who draw inspiration from sci-fi and modern electropop. “Trapeze Artist Regrets” is from their debut self-titled record, which will be out on June 16^th. Having toured alongside CHVRCHES, Austra, Robert DeLong, and Miami Horror, Night Drive is getting ready to hit the stages again. 

 Do you dig virgins? You will after you hear the brand new self titled EP from the Born Again Virgins.

    I had the distinct pleasure of listening to the EP ahead of the official release and I was quite impressed. But perhaps impressed is not the right word. Impressed is what I might be if this were the band’s 3rd or 4th release… Rather I was blown away that what I was hearing was the debut release from this band!

    Some of the most distinctive qualities of the Virgins’ music exist in pairs. Their EP has a very mature sound while maintaining the raw energy one might expect from an initial release. The vocals are incredible, nay badass, without losing the femininity of vocalist Anna Roenigk. The melodies, rhythms, and grooves of Chris Garrigues on guitar, Taylor Turner on bass, and Paul Piñon on drums are a striking blend of punk-grunge power with softer sounds and progressions. The juxtaposition of sounds hearkens back to the good ol’ days of bands like the Pixies yet the Virgins still present fresh, unique, and contemporarily relevant music. If you only go to one EP release this year make it the Born Again Virgins May 19, 9pm at Hole in the Wall. Be there or be square!

-Cory Huennekens

In many ways musical exploration seems to mirror global exploration in that most of of the world has been charted and mapped. Some might even go so far as to say the heady days of musical experimentation which figured so prominently in the 1960’s has sunk into a digital bog of repetitive mimicry. Like Sir Earnest Shackleton and Colonel Percy Fawcett before them the Cuckoos are showing the world that the spirit of adventure, exploration, and experimentation are very much alive and well. This is nowhere more evident than the Cuckoos recent collaboration with Alan Salomon on a remix of “Get It On”.

    The Cuckoos psychedelic rock DNA (think The Doors and Pink Floyd) has been written about ad infinitum, however the recent treatment of "Get It On" speaks volumes about the progressive spirit of the band. While it is easy to channel past and contemporary sounds, the Cuckoos have found a way to marry the two and that requires substantial courage and creativity. Make sure to check out the "Get It On" remix and keep an eye out for the future musical explorations of the Cuckoos.



-Cory Huennekens

Jesse Jerome Jenkins V (Pure X) has embarked on a solo adventure that explores dreamy instrumentation and self-recording that renders an enigmatic but oddly charming sound. "De-pression" is the second single from Jesse’s debut solo LP, Hard Sky. Self-recorded in Corpus Christi, TX.  Jesse has a knack for atmospheric and playful melodies that slowly drift through saturated soundscapes.  His bouyant vocals bring levity to the languid instrumentation but succeeds in creating an earworm that beckons the listener to continue on.

Toma is tracking towards an exciting year. The quartet just released their debut album, Aroma, and it’s not too early to say that something special is brewing. One of the band’s first singles "Going Nowhere" is indicative of the band’s ethos and influences – deftly drawing from an eclectic trove of influences, yet ultimately rendering addictive originality. James Petralli, of White Denim, adds polish to the confectioned pop that exudes urgent excitement with a tinge of psychedelia. Singer/guitarist, Willy Jay, displays faded yet poignant vocals that sail over an italo-influenced synth line, while Jake Hiebert’s urgent backbeat injects adrenaline into the dance-laden track. "Going Nowhere", and Aroma as a whole, has an undebiable infectiousness that merely scratches the surface of what seems to be a deep well of potential that Toma has in store. Lets not put the cart before the horse, but given the quality of their music, it certainly seems like this should be the band’s last self-released album.