As you all bandy your drunken, foot-weary selves between the various and endle shows of the international fuckfest of music that is South By, take a sec here and put your Austin eyeballs upon something good and local for (hopefully not) once during this festival. There are few acts that I as an Austin music lover can think of personally that are as appropriate to pump during SXSW than Shmu, who has just released a new music video for track “Diamonds” that’s as candid as it is endearing as it is trippy.

Playing his own brand of wildly psychedelic hyperpop, and as half of the iconic Austin act Zorch, Shmu aka Sam Chown is responsible for both some of the city’s most interesting and weird (while being very structured and thought out) music in the last decade, not to mention having a hand in GTZ Records as well as one of Austin’s best underground venues in the Museum of Human Achievement.

“Diamonds” comes to us from Shmu’s gleeful and bright Shhh!!!! album from late 2015, and it’s a track that embodies the heavily layered guitar and hard matte drums sound that Sam is known for, though it’s actually pretty understated (in a nice way) for a Shmu track. The video is very anti-typical, very anti-SXSW band in fact, being a heavily cut-up and visually warped series of live clips, both from the man’s shows and his wanderings around (mostly in what looks like New Orleans). Zorch SXSW parties have been infamous for years for being where the true blue weirdos and corporate-ditching music fans went to get outright rowdy as a ferret tripping in a ball pit, so to drop this video so close to our city’s most capitalistic of holidays seems quite appropriate.

Take a listen and a look below, and if you can ever make it to any show Shmu or Zorch-related, make sure you do just that with your local-lovin’ ass.

Moving Panoramas is an all-girl Austin trio that explores dreamy soundscapes with fuzzed guitars and pained and emotive lyrics, and they have have continued to impress since their debut LP  One released last October. We’ve got the second single off One for you today, a bittersweet track called “Radar” that initially appears pleasantly uplifting, but the sweet sound is later tempered by the melancholic vocals of Leslie Sisson. The mood, seemingly subtle at first, eventually permeates the track and becomes intoxicating with its melodic potency. Just like their songs, Moving Panoramas is a band that seems demure at first, but their building brilliance wins over listeners in the end. See if they win you over with “Radar” below.

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Lee Ackerley
(catch more of Lee’s work at Slackerlee.com)

Damn, those Bishops are some hip-ass, musical-ass, Austin-ass kids. We showed you their stellar chilled out (but brained up) debut track ‘Blood Ring’ a few weeks ago, and dang if the trio hasn’t gone and put a nice video to the music already. In it we see the three family members strolling with confidence, and some real fine clothing, through Austin’s streets, most particularly in a striking scene going down the middle of the iconic 183 underpass. These kids are solid from the beats to the look to the way they step toward the ever-receding camera with understated assuredness in their own abilities, and this is likely be the first of many glimpses of these three faces of the future of Austin hip-hop that the city will get. Be one of the first on this good, good shit by taking a look below, and follow The Bishops at their FB page for more as this triad of dangerously talented kin release it.

Boisterous, versatile, and bursting with energy, Purple is a fun-loving trio of mischievous musical adventurers that steps over genre boundaries with grace and ease. Having issued their debut album (409) to a more than receptive audience last year, Purple’s upcoming April release Bodacious should shine even brighter with enhanced production from label Play It Again Sam. The album’s first single “Bliss” embraces a dream pop-influenced intro, a stark departure from Purple’s norm, but it then comes full circle to the band’s rebellious, angst-riddled rock roots. Purple has tightened and manicured their sound to mirror other power pop groups like The Joy Formidable or Two Door Cinema Club, but their gritty Texan rock roots defiantly show through as well on this release, and we dig it at The Deli. Check it out on ‘Bliss” below, and watch their Facebook page for info on how to pick up the full Bodacious album soon.

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Lee Ackerley
(catch more of Lee’s work at Slackerlee.com)

Festival season is in the air! We have SXSW right around the bend, Euphoria shortly after, a psychedelic rockers paradise, Levitation Fest, and numerous others all stuffed into a couple months. So prepare yourself, let your damn hair down, let your freak flag fly, and tune in to some of our top notch local bands.

One group to put on your list that will undoubtedly put on wondrous show if you’re able to make it out to see them is the rock group Torino Black. Formally known as Stella. The North, this powerful and grungy rock band is making some noise, and bangin’ some heads here in the Austin music scene. Torino Black is a badass rock n’ roll band based right here out of Austin Texas that was originally founded by lead singer Sisi Berry, and lead guitarist Saul Arteta in 2013. Since then they have added Matt Onkst on Bass guitar and Adrian Blanco with the heartbeat on the drums, and have really honed in a sound as unique as their name.

So, After a 3 month tour in Europe and generating a lot of attention, they might as well keep shit rollin’ and drop an EP! Coming up on Saturday March 5, 2016, Torino Black will have a release show at The Parish Austin right on 6th street for the debut of their EP Food for a Therapist. Buy tickets ahead of time to secure a spot at Eventbrite, or take your chances at the door, but I do not recommend you miss this show.

The delicious grungy guitar riffs coming from guitarist Saul Arteta are guaranteed to electrify your fuckin’ body and make you bang your head and dance till you’re dizzy and drunk. You will want to do it all over again when you hear that lovely orotund voice come from Sisi Berry, their lead singer, whose powerful vocals are assured to knock you right on your ass and longing for more. For those of you that can’t wait and want a lil’ teaser, check out the song ‘Fire’ off the new EP and stream it as many times as you would like; this ballsy, heavy hitting song is a perfect preview of what’s to come, and hopefully a nice driving song to push you through the week. Get listening, and rocking, below.

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Taylor Mangiameli

It may look like we’re posting about a new artist here, but (as many of you probably already know) Bayonne is an artist we at The Deli Austin are well familiar with; in fact, he graced the cover of our SXSW print issue just one year ago. Back then this artist went by his real-world name of Roger Sellers, but he’s now taken the lovely name of Bayonne, which we think is rather fitting indeed for his beautiful music.

Speaking of, Bayonne put out another drippingly gorgeous new track into the ether under his new moniker about a month ago in order to prepare the ears of the world for his upcoming album Primitives, his debut full-length as Bayonne. Bayonne is known for his single-man looping mastery, and this single, called “Appeals,” has him at his very loopiest best, layering synth-wrought bells, thudding drum beats, understated guitar, crowdsound vocal sample and his own voice over a bright, summery piano melody that rises and falls and rises again like a fluttering feather in the wind. It’s quite beautiful, especially at its heavily but delicately layered climax, and it shows that Bayonne may have a new name, but he is a musician who has worked hard for years to hone his particular sound into something all his own, and all sorts of good.

We can’t wait for the full release, which comes sometime in the next month going by his Facebook posts. You can pre-order it at Bayonne’s website here, whereyou can also check out his extensive tour list, which includes SX shows (at Waterloo Records, Container Bar, Barracuda and The Driskill) and a Spring tour all across the nation.

We don’t often post live recordings, but this is some live-played raucous ass shit worth hearing y’all. The Boleys submitted to us as psych rock, and some of their other tracks fit that bill a bit closer, but what we’re hearing on the particular track we’re presenting you today is some fine, fucking hard post-hardcore/post-punk noisy freak out guitar music. It’s really a banner season right now for hard music in Austin, with acts like Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Popper Burns, Super Thief, Sailor Poon and more making it clear that this isn’t just an indiefolk, pretty psych city, and it looks like we’ve got one more very talented trio to add to that ever-growing, ever-distorted roster with The Boleys.

In standout track “Learning” from their recently released live DaveTV.org recordings thick, thudding bass and snappy post-hardcore snare drive a diabolical pace that is matched and even exceeded in ferocity by lead shrieker Ethan Boley’s maniacal questioning self-aware (and self-deprecating) nihilistic vocals that remind me of Slint, if Slint went more with a punk structure. Raw, fierce emotion buzzes and thrashes in “Learning” just as the guitars do, and it all comes together for a very fresh and fiery take on the ole noise music thing, and we fucking love it. Oh, and if this trio weren’t interesting enough, they’re all from one family (thus the name), which is just cool and weird for a hard-ass band like this. You can check out the vicious punk-punch-packer of a track below, and head over to their SoundCloud for more from this session, which features a pretty diverse range of sounds from the band in question.

You’ve probably noticed, but shit is damn weird out there in America these days. In the midst of all the violence, oppression and division comes new Austin hip-hop act OTC3 (Out There Conscious Commercial Concepts) with a deeply striking new music video calling for us all to band together and fight the evils in this modern world. Called “Black Rose,” this video is striking both visually and mentally, pairing a gorgeous high contrast look of all blacks and whites with a high concept message of people of all colors- black, white, brown and everything else there is- joining in solidarity against oppression and injustice. “We don’t want to fight/We will, we will, we will” sings featured artist and soulstress Tree G in the song’s hook, which plays over the rooted, heartfelt reggae bass that is the track’s backbone. It’s just some good come together music with a nice 90s hip-hop style “talking straight to the viewer,” up in the camera approach, plus some nice interpretive dancing and a very fun little funksoul part at the end. It looks like they filmed that part right out in the middle of a downtown street, and much of the rest on the steps of the Texas State Capitol itself, lending an immediacy of place and a further edge to an already powerful video. It’s heady, it’s good soulful shit, and it bodes well for this trio that just came together themselves last year. We look forward to seeing more from OTC3, and we stand with them in their mission of solidarity and change for the good of all people. Check it below.

Lots of good rock comes out of the whole “suburban youthful malaise” thing, and one of our recent Artist of the Month winners Paperback brings a damn good entry into that subgenre of indie with their hard guitar album Nervous Energy. It’s a bit Weezer in the subjects and guitar, a bit Sparta in the energy and structure, a bit Neutral Milk Hotel in the vocals, a taste of Pixies artiness and a whole lot of good indie rock fun overall. The tracks are often about relationships, but in that post-pomo, beyond cynicism and nihilism space where there’s a mature and thoughtful tiredness that you often get in that 90s/2000s era in indie that Paperback builds on. The songs are about just trying to scrape out a good relationship in a tiring, weird reality, and they do a fine job of it with ballsy-honest looks at romance and the world it tries to live in, an approach that isn’t hurt one bit by this band’s aptitude for vivid imagery and description. The suburban anthem-loving crowd is sure to dig Paperback’s newest output here, as is anyone with a thing for oldschool indie that really does rock. Track “Cat” is a real standout of “Teenage Dirtbag”-esque angsty awesome, so make sure to give that a listen below y’all, and let the fuzzy, screaming guitar and slacker lyricism back into your indie rock.

John Valley is on a roll. The local videographer and producer recently made two stellar videos for Sweet Spirit with “Baby Doll” and “Baby When I Close My Eyes," and John’s kept the momentum rolling with his work on another equally captivating video, this time “Sex & Drugs”  just released by A Giant Dog. The video portrays the band as wintery minstrels stuck in a snowglobe at the mercy of a maniacal child who wreaks havoc by violently shaking the globe, a subtle allusion to the song’s lyrical theme of lost youth. Valley seems to relish in creating videos that portray the beautiful, glamorous, and alluring, and he then injects diabolical twists that turn the picturesque quickly awry. The track here is a lot of fun as well, very punchy and self-aware indie with a punkish vibe and a nonstop, frantic drive that is one to really jam out to, and hard. It’s an excellent showing from both band and Valley, and it’s a perfect example of what a music video really should be. Check it out below.

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Lee Ackerley

@slackerleemusic

Whew boy y’all! The Readers’ Poll for the 2015 Austin Deli Artist of the Year contest has done gone and finished, and what a hell of a thing it was. We deeply appreciate all of the nominated artists and the fans taking the time to put your votes in, and we think the results are pretty darn interesting.

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1. Wonderbitch

Wonderbitch takes the whole shebang for the Readers’ Poll after mobilizing their fan base, which is obviously ravenous for the hard prog-psych riffs and heady concepts this group offers up. Wonderbitch made a big splash on the scene in 2015 with their eponymous record, and it’s obvious that it hit big with the fans from the way they voted their little clicking fingers off for the group.

 

2. The Cuckoos

Young psych rockers dominate this list, and none are younger or of a purer old-school psych sound than The Cuckoos. A very new band, big things loom in the future for this Doors-esque act that elicited some truly impassioned commenting from fans on their poll page. It was close there for a while, but a steady push of voting bolstered by a late-game surge saw The Cuckoos take the crown in the Psych Rock category this year.

 

3. Daniel Eyes & The Vibes

Few bands have shot to local glory as quickly as Daniel Eyes & The Vibes, whose first EP is barely a month old but who already have a huge fan base in the city. Riding some intense hype from live shows and early singles, this true rock ‘n roll band has stormed through Austin this Winter, and it’s very likely you’ll be hearing their name no matter the season for a while to come.

 

4. The Bishops

The all-family silky smooth hip-hop act The Bishops has barely been around in its current form, but the three members each have a damned extensive catalog of top notch music as solo artists and in collaborations, often with each other. They’ve barely been together officially as a named trio, but heads around the city and far beyond have had the beats and the bars from these kids on repeat for a while. This group is pretty much destined to hit it big- they almost certainly have by far the most listens on SoundCloud across their four accounts out of any of our nominees bar none)- so if you voted for them here, feel proud of yourself for getting in on the ground floor with one of the city, and the nation’s, most exciting young groups.

 

5. Kev Bev & the Woodland Creatures

Apparently the answer in fair ole Austin to that timeless musical question, “Who wants the funk?” is “We want the funk.” Welp, it’s a good thing then that Kev Bev & the Woodland Creatures are here to turn this mother out with their big funk jams. Turning out big time is also what their fans did to the Hip Hop + Funk poll, where they slid in just barely behind newcomers The Bishops to take second in that poll and fifth overall. In terms of just straight-up fun music, Kev Bev et al. are second to none in the city, however, nor do they slack on the number of members front. This is the kind of band that almost needs to be seen live to really know them, and luckily for us all, that’s an opportunity Kev Bev & The Woodland Creatures provide in spades to the city of Austin.

 

6. The Halfways

The Halfways found themselves in a hell of a contest against upstarts The Cuckoos in the Psychcategory, and it’s not a damn little piece of surprising to us that they made our top 6 after the year they’ve had. Excellent, frequent shows, a few dead-on newpsych singles and one of the best-received and more critically acclaimed records in the city with EP The Halfways were what led this band to dominance in the burgeoning Austin psych scene this year, but in reality, it’s the hazy, dreamworld sound they cull from the ether to play in your ears like a hippy in a good sunny field that make them one of the top acts working in Austin today.

 

Honorable Mention: The Cover Letter, Sophia Johnson, Annabelle Chairlegs

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Once again: enormous and buttery thanks to all of the acts and bands who promoted the poll, and to all of you loverly fans out there with your awesome ears to hear this good stuff with and your fingers to choose what you like the best. You really da bes.

By the way, if you’re interested in the details of each poll by category and would like to see how it all went down, here are the links to each genre’s results:

ALT ROCK – FOLK ROCK – HIP HOP + FUNK – INDIE POP – INDIE ROCK – PSYCH – PUNK/METAL – ROOTS MUSIC – SINGER-SONGWRITER

Congrats to everyone who came up big in the poll, and stay tuned to this site to find out what act is our overall Deli Austin 2015 Artist of the Year. We’ll be releasing that as soon as we add the tally together for the juror votes and the Readers’ Poll combined, and we guarantee it’ll be some damn fine music.

It is Austin, after all.

The Deli Austin Staff

Sharks In The Deep End is an Austin quintet with a uniquely developed sound that melds jilted New Wave vocals with infectious dance-pop, and they’re currently gearing up to release their debut LP Killin Machine (April 22). The first single off of that debut album is called “Shadows In The Sunset,” and it’s a smart fusion of eclectic influences that rattles along to the urgent warble of vocalist Tucker Jameson. The secret weapon of Sharks In The Deep End is the pounding punk influence that adds backbone to the pop melodies and doesn’t allow the listener to become complacent for a second. If the full Killin Machine album proves to have the same alchemy as Sharks In The Deep End’s first single, then it should be a special debut. Catch the single below, and if you see this today (February 18), you can get an eyeful of these guys at their very first show ever tonight at 8pm at Studio C.

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Lee Ackerley
@slackerleemusic