Reigning Austin odd pop champions and 2014’s Deli Austin Artist of the Year Holiday Mountain are back to whack you upside the brain with a new and ultra-colorful music video that’ll get your summer party going. The vid, for new hard-dancing quirky ass pop song ‘Cómo Te Llamas,’ is all future fashion, exaggerated butts ‘n boobs and Holiday Mountain lead Laura Patiño using her trademark voice to ask what your name is while heading a troupe of brightly bedecked dancers (clothes designed by up-and-coming Austin fashion house Witchxxdoctor) through a surreal J-pop infused world of fun that has been put together by director Brittany Reeber. Holiday Mountain has been cemented as one of Austin’s groups most willing to flirt with pure pop music, while also being one of the acts most willing to push creative boundaries, and as you’ll see below, they’re still driving hard in that lane here in the middle of 2016. Get your weird on below, y’all.

The Deli Austin is superduper pumped up to bring you lovers of music, especially those with a taste for something a little off-kilter, one hell of a premiere today! From that quirky band that used to be named after Persian stew, and which now goes by Strange Mother, comes the delightfully dynamic Young Buck EP.

This here record is four tracks of gleeful oddball indie pop, its influences and genres all swirled together in a mad pop music science experiment run by a pack of giddy, ultra-talented weirdos. You’ll hear bits of tejano, a ballroom jazzy thing, some avant 70s rock noisiness and more, all mixed in with the heavy dose of indie freak rock that is Strange Mother’s signature sound. The resulting concoction is a little Deerhoof, a little Evangelicals, a little Man Man, even a little Tull or Zappa, and all good, old-fashioned, full-blown creative experimentation in the form of fun and catchy pop songs.

Like any good weirdo pop, there’s a lot to unwrap in Young Buck, if you’re looking to dive into something technical, but Strange Mother has also shown (again) with this record that they can make artsy weirdo avant pop that’s super accessible and just plain great to jam out to. That’s honestly a real damn hard thing to do, and the ease with which these guys accomplish it puts Strange Mother at the front of the pack when it comes to Austin bands that are pushing the envelope, but who can also structure out a seriously complex piece of music.

This is the first this absolutely excellent EP has seen the public, so be one of the first to arrive at this mad party Strange Mother has invited us to by listening below, and check the band out at their Facebook for more from one of Austin’s most creatively ambitious and most technically skilled bands right now.

Austin-based guitarist Chase Spruiell has gathered his bandmates once more (Mark Hawley on guitar, Nate Lugo on bass, and Gabe Garcia with drums) to create this newest album from up-and-coming indie punk rock band, Free Kittens & Bread. The jovial group’s newest effort, called American Miserablist, was released through Bad Wolf Recordings, and it is eleven short punkish songs that will give you the perfect amount of rush.

Standing opposed to the lighthearted humor of their band name, each song from the album is marked by some sad, ornate lyrics. It’s kind-of an emo alternative- a great break-up album that provides listeners with a good mix of slow and fast songs for any situation that might have one down, but without the screaming and all those not-always welcome emo trappings. That’s nice for those of us who don’t really get the emo thing, as that genre and country have a pretty good lockdown on the sentimental break-up racket, which just isn’t that fair. If nothing else, that alone is worth appreciating this excellent piece of local indie/folky/punky rock music.

If you’re going through a rough patch, give a listen below, and maybe set a few of those sorrows free with some music that gets where you’re at.

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Chandana Kamaraj

The result of the latest collaboration between Dana Falconberry and her band Medicine Bow is the folksy album From the Forest Came the Fire (Modern Outsider), in which Falconberry tells tales of her days exploring the forests. Released this past April, this effort is one more quality addition to Falconberry’s repertoire of lyrical tunes with vivid imagery of nature and wildlife.

Each song from “From the Forest Came the Fire” is beautifully composed and filled with rich textures paired with elegant harmonies. On these tunes pushed by unbroken rhythm, Falconberry (who has experience playing classical music) effortlessly describes the uniqueness and tranquility of the landscapes in the United States.

Falconberry brings Medicine Bow along with her on this aural journey, said band being a musically diverse group of expert players that consists of Karla Manzur (keys), Gina Dvorak (banjo, guitar), Lindsey Verrill (cello), Christopher Cox (bass), and Mathhew Shepherd. With this group, Falconberry is able to retain the traditional sounds of a folk tune, while also experimenting outside those boundaries to bring out a truly fresh sound.

Along with using strings and humming to enhance her music, Falconberry takes us through an ethereal and passionate experience lyrically, as she takes up the rivers, trees, and mountains as characters to describe her story. One comes away from this lyrically-focused music feeling closer to nature, which seems to be Falconberry’s very point in making it.

If you too would like to vicariously explore the enigmas of nature through music, give three selected tracks from the album a listen below, and check the groups’ Facebook for their current tour dates to hear it performed live.

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Chandana Kamaraj

The laid-back indie rock band Hovvdy came out with their newest album Taster (Merdurhaus and Sports Days Records) on April 15, proving again with the new record just how easily slacker rock can toy with emotions.

This (now) four-piece band started out with just Will Taylor and Charlie Martin at first, both of whom were originally drummers, but in recent days they’ve added Sam Jacobson (bass), and Andrew Stevens (drums) and have expanded their sound heavily. With the emphasis on rhythm heard in tracks like “Note” and “Can’t Wait,” Hovvdy sets a tempo that allows the audience to really think about what the band is doing with that nostalgic vibe they are so great at. One unique aspect of this record is the fact that the band has recorded some of these tracks as iPhone voice memos first, which is also how “Problem” and “In My Head” happened from Hovvdy’s initial EP. The compressed sound in the resulting product gives this album a raw and DIY feel that extends deep into the music, and this interesting recording method creates a mood that is fitting for the slacker act’s intimate and personal lyrics.

If you need music to listen to when you’re out on the road lettingyour hair get swept away by the wind, Taster is the perfect soundtrack for that moment, especially standouts “Meg” and “Try Hard”. The album gives you space to reflect on yourself, and it’s hard to avoid the music taking you back through your memories, good and bad, which is the sign of a mature and well-made piece of art.

Listen below, and see if you feel the same way.

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Chandana Kamaraj

Good Talk’s eponymous debut album at first comes across as straightforward, likable, and above all “summery," but a few more listens reveals unordinary layers. Indie-rock business-as-usual soon takes a turn into a languid cover of “Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music. That’s right. The musical. Julie Andrews would be turning over in her grave if she weren’t still alive.

Easily drawing comparisons to the Front Bottoms and Modern Baseball, with a splash of Pinegrove, Good Talk never gets too jittery on this record, staying solidly upbeat without sacrificing the summery vibes promised in album opener “Heart Attack.” The sunniest track out of the bunch is (unsurprisingly) “Sunny Ray,” which features a noodly guitar lick that combines with vocals for a Sesame-Street style nonsense syllable sing-along.

Pretty much everyone has a favorite Summer playlist lurking in the depths of their Spotify (possibly called something like “Summer Jams ’16,” or "Summer!!!!” or “Margaritas!" if you’re really cool) but believe us when we say Good Talk’s album is one that (really, honestly, truly) belongs on yours.

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Katy Kirby
(Katy Kirby’s own excellent music can be found here)

Austin’s local "Would rather be surfing" band Summer Salt has hit the e-waves this last two weeks with their first video from late 2015’s excellent Going Native EP, namely for their eponymous song "Summer Salt." True to form, "Summer Salt," and Summer Salt themselves on said track, are, welp, beachy as fuck, and it’s in a really fun way that comes complete with a heavy 50s reverby guitar sound that goes 2000s indie in the noodling.

Summer Salt is one of those acts that leaves little to catch on mentally- no politics or hard emotions or attempts at edginess- which is a delightful thing in their case. Their songs, including the one in this video (and the video itself, for that matter), are just fun, relaxing and full of the feel-goods, and as much as we like hard music, you gotta have some of this as well to balance it out, right? Considering that Summer Salt is just damn good at it, and makes their chilled out sounds with thorough artful craft and imaginative talent, we think the answer to that question is an emphatic yes. Check out the video below, and listen to the rest of the EP here.

A Giant Dog is a white hot indie rock and roll band right now. That, if you hadn’t noticed, is pretty rare these days, when subgenre is king, and when just so much has already been done in the genre that "authentic" and "unique" are terms that instantly raise hackles. But, with new video "Sleep When Dead," which follows right on the heels of their deeply good video for "Sex & Drugs," A Giant Dog have obviously plugged right into that elusive current of pure rock and roll electricity that has always powered the real, true good stuff.

Filmed in the iconic Old Austin venue Carousel Lounge, "Sleep When Dead," like "Sex & Drugs" before it, is a sonic blast of the band’s gleefully, irreverently mature take on rock and roll, depicting a troupe of veteran rock weirdos getting down like only those kind of people can, with a bit of an Ugly Duckling, the Punk Version plot thrown in.

What A Giant Dog is doing with this recent music, being rock vets themselves, is pretty awesome, and difficult. They’re writing manic, thundering rock songs that are thoroughly self-conscious and make the culture and performance of the very thing they’re doing in the song the subject of the song. Doing that without getting cliché, pretentious or losing the feeling of being an actually good song outside of its subject is incredibly hard.

To maintain that kind of balance, you have to be living on that edge between the wisdom and refinement of maturity and the youthful freneticism that is the spirit that rock was born of, and considering their recent output both aesthetically and in regards to subject, that sweet spot of rock is right where A Giant Dog is living, and thriving, right now. They can do that, because, as a band that’s been active for 8+ years, they’ve seen it all, and now they’re pumping that back out to you in a head-bangingly enjoyable package.

Check out the new video before, and see "Sex & Drugs" here. They’re both well worth it, and will undoubtedly be stuck in your head for a good long while.

Psych-soul, avant-garde, and completely Austin, Golden Dawn Arkestra keeps up with the motto, “Keep Austin Weird.” Influences of Sun Ra are in their sound and appearance, as they dress in outrageous, larger-than-life costumes and play music that crashes like thunderous waves of sound. With new track ‘Disko’ from recent album Stargazer, Golden Dawn Arkestra captures their identity in a funk groove sure to shake some hips.

The band was formed by band leader, Topaz McGarrigle, also known as, Zapot Mgwana (who, interestingly, was told at a young age to be the son of Sun Ra), and they’ve taken on an identity of an out of this world band, one filled with a brass and horn section, provocative drums, a mesmerizing dance troupe and costumes of colorful regal robes that dazzle onlookers as much as their music does.

‘Disko’ in particular delivers GDA’s distinct sound with fast paced funk, psych guitars, booming brass and a contagious groove. A gradual build up of horns leads into harrowing key playing, and the track is all the while kept moving with percussion that deliver fast punches. All of these elements of sound then mesh perfectly with the deep whispering vocals paired with the echoing funk that dares you to dance.

Golden Dawn Arkestra’s cosmic sound is something you don’t just listen to, it’s an experience, one that draws you in and doesn’t let go. Check out their song below and be sure to catch them this summer on June 18 at the Solstice Festival along with an incredible Austin-focused lineup!
 

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Andrew Conroy

Looks like there’s a new voice on the Austin synthpop scene, and boy is it a dreamy one. Solo artist New Youth, also known as Silas Acosta, has released his first single "Soft Eyes" this month, and it is a beautiful bit of lazy-day summer pop. Acosta is obviously a big fan of 80s pop, especially of the British synths and jangle guitars variety, and he layers airy elements of that lovely era on one another and over his breathy voice in the track in a way that speaks perfectly to the easy, carefree romance that the song’s title calls to mind.

It’s a song that will immediately appeal to the fan of 80s indie pop, as it will to anyone with a taste for the dreamy, and it’s a very nice debut for this young artist. We’re looking forward to seeing what else New Youth will bring to the table, hopefully soon, but until then, get a listen below to the song that well might be the soundtrack for a whole lot of Austin spring lovers this year.

Slomo Drags’ new EP out of Already Dead Tapes and Records is complex indie pop that’s a little transgressive when it comes to the rules of that genre, and it’s a record that should do a lot for the band’s popularity both locally and nationally. In that way it reminds me heavily of Elephant 6, especially of Montreal, in its approach to rich song creation, this eponymous EP is five songs of gleefully busy psychedelic indie pop, and like that legendary band, Slomo Drags seems interested in making music to love this weird life to and does a great job accomplishing that goal here.

In addition to the “pretty + odd” thing full of anormal song structures and 60s influenced vocal layerings that they get from of Montreal, Slomo Drags also channels a few other classic 2000s indie acts here, including using big screechy Deerhoof-ish guitar wind-ups and a healthy dose of local funky indie with some Spoon-like attitude added to the sound. Now, if I were to have read that a current band was living in the spirit of these now-aging acts at their height, I’d have been a little worried that the sound in question wouldn’t be as fresh or engaging as it once was, but it takes about five seconds of opener “Going Out of Business” to know that thought is dead wrong.

This kind of music is just as good and just as fun in 2016 as it was in the mid 2000s, mostly because Slomo Drags seriously know how to put together a shitlload of song elements nicely to make something that is crammed full of moving pieces, but which is tight and arranged in well-thought out way that guides you through the layers of musical activity with skill and grace. The expert construction of these tunes leaves you able to just focus on the fun of the album and ride on its central aesthetic. It’s great fun each time you listen, and that structuring allows you to pick out great little parts to focus on with each play-through, as if the tracks taken together were a big, wild psychedelic party that you’re viewing through a giddy first-person recording taken by the band, and they’re showing you all these cool things happening for just a moment. For me at least, it creates a sense of a true, good, colorful fun time going on all around me, and that’s a feeling that it’s been a while since I got from modern indie music.

For a band to be able to create something as bursting with energy and slathered in creative layers as this EP is without things getting messy or completely breaking down, the members of that band have to be each be fully on top of their own musical game and yet still be totally in sync with each other member, and that’s just the groove that Slomo Drags seems to be living comfortably inside of right now. This is a damn fine piece of pop music that both references and transcends the extensive history of the Venn diagram crossover between pop and indie rock, and it’s one of the most thoroughly remarkable and enjoyable records out yet this year in Austin.

Listen below, and make sure to give every track a good once or twice over, because, in a way that feels directly rebellious to our current singles and SoundCloud culture, every track on here is seriously good stand-out music that could thrive on its own, but which does even better in the context of the whole record.

A while back, Austin up-and-comer Plato III released a new track called "Womankind," a heady piece with a nice beat that puts the burden on men when it comes to our treatment of women in this world, which we thought was another very interesting and well-produced track for the budding artist. “Womankind” was a follow-up to the artist’s killer take on fame that was track and video "Natalie Portman," and now Plato’s kept up this pattern of releasing beautiful and poignant music videos for each of his few, but highly polished tracks by dropping a new video take on "Womankind."

The video here is, unsurprisingly, thoughtful and gorgeously rendered. It features a single stunning woman, presented as a being of intense power and beauty without referencing her sexually at all even, and this is difficult, when she is shown fully nude. The woman in question is shown dancing with confidence and skill through a raw natural setting, which doesn’t feel like a contrast at all to her humanity, but instead feels exactly fitting. She’s not fighting against nature, she is nature, a literal embodiment of it. That this woman is pregnant while moving like a lithe nature goddess isn’t brought to the forefront of the video until the last half of the video, a powerful way to underscore the point of both track and video; that we’ve really stepped away as humans from valuing the incredible power and beauty of women outside of seeing them sexually. That they are our givers of life.

It’s truly a nice piece of work both musically and in its film incarnation, and as such it’s just more proof that Plato III is an artist worth both listening to and keeping an eye on. Put your own eyes to work below, and keep up with Plato at his Facebook page here, where he often gives meaningful commentary and context for his work.