Looking much more like Matthew Sweet or other jangle pop hipsters with his sleek black outfits and his neatly styled light brunette hair (no cowboy hat/no facial hair) than the country music performer that he is, native Austin singer-songwriter and guitarist Terry McBride possesses a strong sense of his unique self. In the crowded and competitive country music genre, his new 3-song single containing live versions of songs from his 2020 album “Rebels & Angels” is bound to make a splash. 

For starters, his credentials simply out-rock everyone else’s: at various times, he’s both a bass and a lead guitarist, the luminaries he’s toured with include Jimmy Dale Gilmore, Rosie Flores and Delbert McClinton and he’s written hits with Brooks & Dunn, George Strait, Reba McEntire and other stars from 1995 throughout the 2000’s. For Brooks & Dunn alone, he has co-written 25 tunes! And he’s not emceeing the CMT award show every damn year??

Thing is, with the exception of some all-too short years with his cult-status band McBride & The Ride, Terry McBride has been content behind the scenes, always the bridesmaid and never the bride. However a listen to “Terry McBride: Live At The Castle” reveals that his credentials supporting other musical celebrities do indeed translate onto his first solo album last year and now his first live tunes single this year. 

McBride’s sense of humor and overall upbeat music and lyrics got a lot of practice and became part of his identity when he wrote songs with Brooks & Dunn. Can you say “ah-oooh-oooh/play me some country” from Brooks & Dunn’s “Play Me Some Country”? Yes he co-wrote that smash hit, a song that ranks up there with John Anderson’s “Swinging” as one of the funniest country tunes ever. On McBride’s “She Shows Up”, he approaches the situation of a break up in a small town with a wry raucousness that says loud and clear that the party must go on. If you like fast country dance songs such as “Sold” and “1, 2 Many”, or if you like swing dance/rockabilly at the bar, “She Shows Up” will impress.

McBride’s live version of his “Calling All Hearts” keeps it simple: the ex-girlfriend (“the only one I got at the bar”) whom he had lived with ghosted him. His maturity as well as his sense of fun just shine through on the song.

Judging from the three-song single, Terry McBride’s upcoming solo shows — as well as the McBride & The Ride reunion shows scheduled across various Texas towns — should be a great way to roar out of quarantine and let off steam now that music fans are getting vaccinated.

– Jill Blardinelli

McBride’s website features his tour schedule, which starts this Friday at Royse City’s Southern Junction.

In 2021 so far, the country music fan base is so fragmented that fans of the cross-over country albums on the Billboard Top 10 and fans of Americana heroes like Chris Stapleton are likely not the same fans. However in the case of Simon Flory’s new album “Haul These Blues Away,” it’s pretty much guaranteed that fans of both country genres will be enthusiastic about Flory’s album because it is actually more of a folk album than it is a country album — and a 1970’s soft-rock/1970’s country rock reminiscent album to boot! 

In the past few years, millennials have been increasingly drawn to music that predates their birth, especially soft country folk/rock. Before the pandemic kept me away from my karaoke night, I had noticed starting in 2015 that 20 and 30-something singers at karaoke preferred to try their hand at “Black Water” or “Best of my Love” (the Eagles one) or “Amie” instead of singing newer music. 

A Chicago transplant to Fort Worth who had taught guitar at Chicago’s famous Old Town School of Folk Music, Simon Flory’s fluency with Dylan, The Pure Prairie League, The Eagles, The Byrds, The Marshall Tucker Band, John Denver and Linda Ronstadt (all favorites at the school) makes for some solid songwriting influences on “Haul These Blues Away” that are likely to entice a young adult audience stretched thin with post-college grown-up responsibilities. 

On “Haul These Blues Away,” Flory’s Gram Parsons-like “Peter Mack Built A Semi Truck”, his Pure Prairie League square dance stylings in “Hogback Road” and the Eagles-like mellow road trip song “Atoka” sidestep the question of where country music’s future is heading. Those listeners who were partial to The Drive By Truckers’ 2020 release “The New OK” as well as fans of Robbie Fulks, Steve Earle and Chris Stapleton will probably appreciate the poignant political subtext of the devil story in “Hogback Road” as well Flory’s story of how his childhood shaped him as a compassionate political activist in “Learning How to Talk.” The duet with Daisy O’ Connor on “Walking Stick” is another sweetly thrilling surprise, especially in a unique song reminiscent of Jason Isbell’s “Dreamsicle”.

There are so many sweet moments on this one album. The harmonies backing Flory’s lead vocals by the talented duo of Clay Parker and Jodi James on some of the tracks provide a stress-relieving mood that music fans have long appreciated whether skilled harmonies are those of The Carter Family or those of The Zac Brown Band.

– Jill Blardinelli

Funny fact – as of writing, Google lists Austin indie rockers Thanks Light as “classical.” And y’know what? They’re not wrong.

That’s not to say Thanks Light, who recently dropped a new video for their single “I Get High (Off You),” are in danger of adding contrabass or harpsichord to their current four-piece featuring lap steel and Moog. Rather, Thanks Light could have played “I Get High (Off You)” at a roadhouse or coffeeshop in 1970, 1990 or 2010 and not a single patron would have batted an eye.

It’s textbook Austin indie rock, a step behind Spoon, a step ahead of Fastball. It’s bouncy, good-natured indie stoner rock, with steel tremolo and rolling roadhouse piano adding interest to comfily predictable drums and strums.

The video is equally on-message, featuring a hirsute gentleman singing his way through a diner, a faceful of jellybeans and sundry whimsical Americana. “I Get High (Off You)” is Thanks Light giving the listener exactly what’s on the box, and there’s not a damn thing wrong with that.

– Matt Salter

Graham Wilkinson has never been shy about exploring the antecedents and outer fringes of the AOR idiom. Wilkinson’s 2009 “YEARBOOK” memorably ranged from ballads to heavy riffs to ska, snagging appearances from local luminaries Alejandro Escovedo and Hayes Carll for even more variety.  2016’s effort “Because of You” brought as much reggae to the table as rock.  

That early work was enjoyable, but it was also uneven. “Cuts So Deep,” which dropped on March 5, feels like Wilkinson finally found his own idiom. The title track finds a classic rock rhythm that, while liberally seasoned with twangy vocals and electric blues licks, sticks with straight ahead rock and heartbreak lyrics. 

Other tracks go further afield, but all of “Cuts So Deep” gives a sense of consistent, settled skill. Wilkinson is in full control of his powers here – his forays into reggae and blues feel less scattershot now – they’re built on a solid foundation of chops, riffs and hummable hooks. “Cuts So Deep” may not have as much experimentation as earlier efforts, but what is here is consistently excellent.

A final note – Graham Wilkinson had more to overcome on this album than a shift in genre. “Cuts So Deep” is Wilkinson’s first full album since suffering a severe hand fracture.

It does us old Austin heads good to have him back and at his best.

– Matt Salter

“Cuts So Deep” is available for digital download now. A vinyl is due out in July 2021.

Much of the story of American black metal involves mutations — bands taking the tropes of the largely European genre and recontextualizing them. Whether it means eschewing the more questionable politics of some of the genre’s forebears or just not writing so many songs about being cold, American black metal is constantly evolving. “The Void Gazer” is a refreshing release; it is black metal, but it eschews some of the form’s staler conventions (think impenetrable cassette production and overly linear song structure) in favor of originality. Though one can hear numerous sources of inspiration in the album’s roughly 27-minute runtime, the expansive and winding tracks remind me of Altar of Plagues, while some of the riffs would not sound out of place on Cobalt’s boundary-pushing “Gin.”

“The Void Gazer” immediately surprises the listener with its immaculate production. Starting with “The Void Gazer Part I,” the drums sound full, coupling with filthy arpeggios reminiscent of Genghis Tron circa “Board Up The House.” From there, the track unfolds into a chimeric behemoth in which chasmic, sludgy riffs quickly give way to clean, progressive-sounding guitar grooves and then to rapid-fire, tremolo-picked, blackened ferocity. Shrieked vocals mingle with low, deathly growls, giving the song the feeling of a beast that may very well swallow the listener up.

The second track, “A Citadel of Birch,” provides a necessary eye in the storm. The song is an intimate instrumental performed on classical guitar, with a fire crackling in the background — the sort of thing that might heighten suspense towards the end of a full-length release. On this EP however, the song functions as an interlude — if “The Void Gazer” is a journey, this track is a moment of respite by a campfire, steeling oneself for whatever trials lie ahead.

And “The Void Gazer Part II” does not hold back: it is a chugging continuation of Part I, with doom-metal guitars, punctuated by the type of rhythmic passages that would not be out of place on a brutal death metal album. Though the vocals are largely obscured, one can discern words like “wretched” and “wicked” creeping through the murkiness, adding to the track’s vitriol. The song builds on the beastial vivacity of the first part so well, that by the time the final lines have been shrieked it feels almost as if the EP has devoured itself.

All in all that’s gonna be a “kinda great” from me!

– Tín Rodriguez

There will be an outdoor, socially-distanced show at Empire Control Room on April 2, 2021 for Zach Person’s LP release. The LP features some tracks already available on the EP and special gems that he treated the audience to at Geraldine’s on March 10th. 

In the wake of Texas’ reopening and lifted mask mandate, BlackDenim Records hosts a safe, socially-distanced private showing at Geraldine’s for their premiere artist, Zach Person. For all of those who feel they are still on the bizarro side of reality, Zach Person’s uninhibited rock offers an assuring remedy. Yes, rock is alive and yes, life is strange. 

Doused in blue lights, the stage is set for Zach’s stellar vocals and handsome guitars with his impressive drummer, Jake Wyble, by his side. His vintage microphone projects his belting voice to fill the swanky venue. As he transitions to “Radio Man,” a new track from the LP, his crooning “ooh-ohs” and the catchy chorus capture the affection of the audience. The sound waves and sheer passion send the drapes flying and windows shaking. He moves into “How Long,” a song born from his quarantine experience  —  and a song worthy of bobbing, gyrating and romping about. Since the small group of invited guests are observing social distancing, dancing appears limited to clapping in rhythm and shoulder shaking for now… but the thunderous amplifiers — which are also retro — lead the imagination to wander, and crave the very near future of bodies dancing freely. 

Zach’s artistry is immediately apparent, and so is his humble, kind demeanor. Each guest received an EP and Zach made rounds to greet each table — mask on, of course — his charismatic scorpio presence beaming through. Laudable comparisons have already been made — Zach’s name has been mentioned next to Lenny Kravitz, The Black Keys and Gary Clark Jr. — but this youthful artist is carving out his own space for his own name. 

Back to the show — there is a walking disco ball and $200 martini on the menu. The experience paints an interesting contrast of a blaring rock band playing in an upscale cafe. It feels like we should be rowdy in the presence of rock and roll, and that day will come, but the event is organized, smooth and polished. Nearing the end of the set list, Zach plays a demo track that made it to the LP. It’s a softer tune without percussion that highlights his clean guitar and songwriting skills. He closes the performance with “Can’t Stop Running,” which will surely be a takeaway anthem from the album. Live, loud music is out there and making its safe way back to our city. 

– Mel Green

Psych rock trio, Dayeater, stay true to their roots with their latest single, “Sweet Earth.” The track pays homage to classic bands such as Black Sabbath and AC/DC while sprinkling in their own unique psychedelic twist. “Sweet Earth” features piercing vocals, bluesy guitar licks and bolstering drums, along with some very sharp production from Chris “Frenchie” Smith at the Bubble Studios.
 
Within the first thirty seconds of the song, they manage to transport you straight into the 1970’s with Jesse Lee’s vintage guitar sound and gritty vocals. Landry Jackson’s drums remain simple and understated — yet serve as a powerful driving force to the song. Complementing all of these parts perfectly are Christopher Brockett’s groovy bass lines and nuanced vocal harmonies that adds a polished layer to the track’s catchy hook.
 
As soon as you think you know the direction the song is going, they throw a curveball with multiple clever breakdowns.  The dynamics range from loud and thrashy to soft and sweet, with an outro reminiscent of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” The killer instrumentation is paired with thought-provoking lyrics that speak out against humanity’s inability to protect the earth and the environment.
 
It’s clear that Dayeater’s sound is locked-in and their artistic integrity never seems to waver. They are a true rock and roll band and their latest single perfectly embodies what they are all about. Listen to “Sweet Earth” on Bandcamp today!

– Quinn Donoghue

"Away," the new Automatic Sun single, is the song you didn’t know you needed after living through the year 2020. And Lord Jeebus what a year that was. If you’re anything like me, you’ve been waiting your little heart out for new music that possibly reflects how we all feel inside after what last year put us through. This is one of those very songs, my friends.

The title "Away" gives you a first glance into the full meaning of this song, because, yeah, we all sort of feel like we’ve been away. The lyrics tell the story of someone basically being forced to stay where they are, while all the while feeling a longing to break free from their personal prison. While it could be easy to see this song as your typical "I miss you" ballad, personally I feel like the meaning is more of an expression of feeling trapped in quarantine — and that all too familiar longing for the world to be back normal again. Even the lyrics "take a year" at the end of each chorus is a nod to the year that pretty much all of us lost.

With a sound reminiscent of the 60 acid pop vibe making its way through Austin, it’s hard not to be taken into Mark Webb’s emotional journey into the creation of this song. I can hear influences from The Beatles and even Cage The Elephant. It’s easy to feel like you’re basking in the sun on a mild spring afternoon when this song plays. 

These guys have an EP, and 2 singles released on their Bandcamp page, so there’s enough music to wet your whistle. With the dark melancholy tone of "Away" and lyrics deep enough to rival anything out there right now, I’m certainly looking forward to any new music these guys have to offer.

– Michael Lee

Right from the title, Mobley’s new release is a mouthful. “Young and Dying in the Occident Supreme” has a great deal to say about America, capitalism, religion and sundry Big Ideas™.

It doesn’t always hit. Mobley apparently recorded “Occident Supreme” sojourning in Thailand. You can kinda tell. Several tracks have an ineffable parochial “college freshman comes to Thanksgiving after a year abroad and has Ideas” dullness. The top track in particular sounds like a barely produced spoken-word take on your least favorite TA’s favorite Medium article. The politics of “You Are Not The Hero Of This Story” are true and righteous altogether. It just doesn’t slap.

Thankfully, it’s a rare misstep. Start at track two, the danceable but lethal “James Crow,” and this release stops being homework. From “Crow” onward, Mobley’s music lives up to its lyrical pieties. The hooks are tight, the grooves are luscious and playful, soulful vocals sweeten even the most earnest lyrical excesses. If anything, a track or two errs on the side of hooky pop and romantic angst rather than depth.

So yeah, “Young and Dying in the Occident Supreme” is a bit all over the place. But, and this is everything, it’s not boring. “James Crow” is a standout, in contention for top tracks so far this year. Even “You Are Not The Hero Of This Story,” the album’s one inarguable miss, swings for the fences. Mobley’s EP is a catchy, urgent and utterly timely attempt at agit-pop, something lacking from the otherwise utterly politicized American conversation of 2021. If Mobley’s music is more earnest than its cultural moment, that can only be to its credit. It’s music that gives a damn.

– Matt Salter

“Young and Dying in the Occident Supreme” dropped on February 19, by way of Last Gang Records.

Alex Maas, of Austin’s beloved Black Angels, brings us this delightful dirge of a song following his debut solo album, Luca, released December 2020. Luca, named after and informally dedicated to Maas’ first born son, carries the same psychedelia undertones we associate with Maas, but with a softer touch. 

Maas says the new music video, “is a glimpse of what a tour on this record would look like had we not been in a pandemic.” Filmed in an opera house in downtown Bastrop, the video features Maas and his amp, his band and collaborators in a spacious, empty music hall with dim red and pale green lighting. As the hypnotic rhythm marches on, the video pans across the masked musicians, a lonely Ficus tree in the corner and a charming Texas quilt pinned to the wall. Maas’ signature dark vocals fill up and echo through the grand hall.

“Too Much Hate” sings of healing the cancers in our societies and circles, “There’s too much hate and not enough loving. There’s too much killing, honey.” Maas is not blatantly topical, but the song gently reminds us of the hate we’ve collectively witnessed in the last year. Is it the spirit of hate that perpetuates the disproportionate number of deaths in vulnerable populations from disease? From gun violence and racism? Acknowledging hate affirms the need for love. In a statement, Maas says the song “attempts to identify things that make the world more beautiful,” evidenced in his lyrics, “Sing for your children. Empower women.” He repeats, “Don’t shoot from your hip. Don’t shoot from your hip,” a cowboy idiom and cautionary reminder for all to take heed.  

Rather than commiserating about all that is wrong and broken, Maas’ new song is a call for solutions. Although there is a slight air of melancholy, the psych rocker sheds beams of hope to uplift morale through music. Alex Maas’ full statement and insight into the song are listed on Levitation’s website, where you can also purchase tickets for the streaming event later this month. 

– Mel Green

Check out the new song and video from Alex Maas’ “Too Much Hate.” The music video release precedes a full performance film streaming on Levitation Sessions on March 27th at 7PM CST. 

More so than any other Austin musician, More Eaze (solo project of Mari Maurice) effortlessly navigates the contemporary experimental music landscape. More Eaze is a prolific anti-composer whose unending stream of bafflingly diverse releases over the years has explored the fluidity between seemingly contradictory elements—primarily pop, minimalism and noise. In addition to her impressive solo oeuvre, she is a familiar face in the Orange Milk Records extended universe who also works in various capacities as a producer/multi-instrumentalist with a multitude of other artists: Claire Rousay, Fibril, The Octopus Project, Slomo Drags and Thor & Friends, just to name a few.

Keeping track of More Eaze lore can be intimidating, but lucky for you, “yearn” is her most soothing album in recent memory and is an excellent introduction to the more pastoral side of her unquestionably unique sound. Whereas last year’s “Mari” was a confessional epic, channeling influences as disparate as 100 gecs and Robert Ashley, “yearn” provides a concise set of ethereal soundscapes that are as melancholically comfy as the album title suggests. This is music for rainy days and dog walks, vulnerability and contemplation, maybe for when you’re a little worried about everything, but not anxious about much. It’s very pretty.

While each track is distinct enough to stand out individually, they function more so as movements of a broader composition. The first track “galv” begins with a subtle room tone reminiscent of the audio quality of an iPhone memo. A modulated synth warbles into the mix and is soon interpolated by hushed autotune whispers, then accompanied by gentle synth pad arpeggios throughout the latter half of the track. Delicate kalimba plucks on “in dreams” lay a new age-y groundwork for understated electroacoustics and deceptively complex synth counterpoint, and the captivating “priority” features ambient artist Ben Bondy, whose synth washes and wistful vocal harmonies beautifully compliment More Eaze’s American primitivist acoustic guitar stylings. 

The aptly titled “leave” serves as “yearn”’s clear-headed conclusion. On this track, More Eaze’s signature autotuned vocals carry the same gravitas as some of Frank Ocean’s most sensitive moments, and her masterful violin drones are as cinematic as something you might hear in the iconic film scores of a later Paul Thomas Anderson movie. However as soon as you’ve become fully immersed in these rich textures, an aquatic field recording takes over and you suddenly realize that you’ve been submerged the whole time. Another spacial pivot, and you are now eavesdropping on a domestic scene as dishes and silverware clank from across the room. Mari can be heard asking someone, presumably her partner (who illustrated the lovely album art), “do you want a cherry?” to a muffled reply. I think they’re making cocktails. It’s a deeply charming moment which almost makes you forget how fearful of playfulness most “Art Music” can be, and it acts as an effective transition for the listener back into the world of everyday life. 

Chicago’s Lillerne Tapes released “yearn” on Bandcamp Friday, a monthly event which gives artists the opportunity to receive 100% of proceeds from album purchases. While this is a very welcome practice, it’s ultimately a small consolation for musicians whose industry is systematically dominated by the value-sucking poverty royalties of Spotify. It’s an industry crisis and, without glossing over it or downplaying the enormity of this broader social situation, More Eaze’s music chooses to channel a monastic aura, suggesting a less alienated world where artistic practice is allowed to explore itself more freely. “yearn” is a simple release, but it’s an important moment in a thrilling career.

– Blake Robbins

With admirable consistency, USA/Mexico makes music inspired by the border. “Del Rio” is their third album to take its name from a southern border town—the first two being “Matamoros” and “Laredo”—and consists of three extremely loud extended tracks which will appeal to some of adventurous music’s less pretentious fans. Having never visited Del Rio myself, I asked my thoroughly Texan father what he thought of the place. He replied “Beautiful lake, nice drive, right across from Acuña, Mexico, friendly people,” and “Pretty remote. Lots of caliche and cactus”. This geographical context is hardly superficial—the music evokes a few of these images on its own, and firsthand descriptions seem to confirm them as more than hallucination.

USA/Mexico’s massive sludge metal simulates the feeling of burning in the hot Texas sun while surrounded by cicadas, hopefully a body of water nearby. There is a lineage in Texas music which can be characterized by a certain auditory heat, from the dehydrated lethargy of Townes Van Zandt and Blaze Foley, to the ghostly reprieves of Blind Willie Johnson, to the warped haze of DJ Screw, to the blistering 80s/90s Austin noise rock scene (Scratch Acid, Butthole Surfers, Cherubs) from which USA/Mexico directly descends—drummer King Coffey was a core member of Butthole Surfers.

But whereas that weirdly successful band eventually traded their noise rock deconstructions for a dated 90’s wackiness, this project translates their early spirit of cowboy derangement into a contemporary setting, finding itself at home with international trends in drone music and outsider metal. Guitarist Craig Clouse of the avant-freak project Shit and Shine has proved himself over the years to be more than capable of keeping up aesthetically, which is no easy task for a modern rock musician. Filling out the ensemble is Nate Cross, whose dense bass textures provide an essential wave of noise and ensure a consistent depth to each jam. 

While the overwhelmingly heavy “Del Rio” unleashes a geographically unique cosmic horror, it’s important to note that it’s also funny. Tracks with titles like “Chorizo” and “Soft Taco” ironically poke at the more banal elements of a shared culture, but are ultimately rendered absurd by the noise they signify: heavily processed walls of distortion guided by monolithic drums and eerie howls which are hardly reminiscent of Tex-Mex. If you let the soundscapes take over, the border itself might seem a little silly too, and Texas becomes a landscape that could have just as easily been called Northern Mexico in a slightly different timeline.

But the album isn’t purely conceptual—it could just as well be something someone puts on in the middle of an acid trip while you and your friends make your way through a second case of Lone Star. It’s USA/Mexico’s most focused album yet, and I look forward to letting them ruin my eardrums when it’s safe again for live music. 

– Blake Robbins