New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
Julian Daniell is preparing to release his debut EP, "Only Words", this Friday, August 20th. Daniell creates a unique blend of Folk, Soul, and Psych Rock.
You can help Daniell celebrate the new EP at Schubas on August 20th with Lillie Mae and Thompson Springs.
photo courtesy of artist
L.A. by way of Florida drummer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Bloodcat (aka Jessica Vacha), has seen her fair share of the local scene as a session drummer, lending her percussive talents to several up-and-coming acts, all while steadily working on her own original music. Her latest single, appropriately entitled Summer Single and available now on Spotify and most other major streaming outlets, is a sign of steady growth for the singer-songwriter that foreshadows greater things yet to come from this talent.
A-side “Generic Script” is a propulsive, muscular, but also charmingly vulnerable guitar and drum-forward indie-pop track that displays Vacha’s talent for merging catchy melody with effortless indie cool, especially in the interplay between instruments. Taking a minimalistic approach, the bare-bones arrangement evokes 90s-era indie-pop while also dispalying a distinctly 2020s touch for the modern.
B-side “Enough,” by contrast, evokes Mazzy Star in its slower-tempo, more contemplative tone. It begins with abstract electric guitar strums that deliver a distinct feeling of floating, unmoored to any key, until Vacha and the rest of the band enter as one. Vacha’s sedate, elegant vocal radiates weariness and sadness, complementing the spare, wide-open arrangement. it’s an audio equivalent of a Mark Rothko painting: fields of muted colors hovering close enough to each other that they can’t help but be taken as one, but never truly touching, forever together but forever apart.Gabe Hernandez
Macie Stewart has released a beautifully directed video for the second single, "Garter Snake", from her forthcoming album Mouth Full of Glass which is due out on September 24th via Orindal Records.
The single features Sen Morimoto and he video was directed by Emily Esperenza.
Oscar Bait has released the second single, "Blitzer", from their forthcoming album, Everything Louder Than Everything Else, which is due out this Fall via Little Elephant Records.
The new single clocks in a just over 90 seconds and is accompanied by the destructive video below.
Psychic Graveyard specialize in creating music built around a rich noughty center of garage rock backbeat and drone-y pummeling marshmallow fluff and infusing it with gooey streaks of wah-wah effects and random nuggets of congealed noise and covering the whole heart-clogging concoction in a hard-candy shell of throbbing synthesized sub-bass and Sprechstimme vocals—with the end result being vaguely menacing and entirely intoxicating, that is if you’re built for this sorta stuff which is something like if you took the entire candy bar aisle at your local Wawa convenience store and somehow transformed it into a gnarley fused musical version so if you’re “Looking For Mr. Goodbar” well you just found him.
Who are Psychic Graveyard? Enquiring minds want to know! The band themselves describe it best, so I’ll quote from their Spot-i-fried bio here: “Noise Rock pioneers, Eric Paul (Arab On Radar, Chinese Stars, Doomsday Student), Paul Vieira (Chinese Stars, Doomsday Student), and Nathan Joyner (Some Girls, All Leather, Hot Nerds), [and] Charles Ovett (Battle Beasts, Joules) venture through uncharted territory with their new band. Nathan Joyner’s grinding synths and ‘found sound’ buries the seed of each song deep into the fertile ground–while Paul Vieira’s manic, fuzzed-out guitars, Ovett’s bombastic drumming, and Eric Paul’s obsessive lyrics shower the proceedings with equal parts sunshine and rain" and see below for some interesting and occasionally alarming but in a good way videos (parental discretion inadvisable) from the various projects listed above.
Psychic Graveyard’s latest single is called “A Good-Looking Ghost” and it can be witnessed at the top of this page. It’s a strong contender for this year’s Most Outstanding Achievements In Creating A Song That Sounds Exactly Like It Should Based On The Title Alone award and it’s also commendable for its opening quatrain which ably lays out the ghost’s origins: “This is not the death that I wanted / but this is the death that I got / The bleeding started around Christmas / and I was dead by March.” So if this sort of thing gets your goat (or your ghost’s goat, or goat’s ghost) and if you’re digging this then check out more of their stuff below. (Jason Lee)
Bnny has shared the latest single, "August", from their forthcoming debut album, Everything, which is due out on August 20th via Fire Talk.
This is the work of Jess Viscius alongside her twin sister Alexa Viscius, plus best friends Tim Makowski, Matt Pelkey, and Adam Schubert. Of the new single Jess had this to say; “‘August’ is about fleeting summer nights in the hazy heat of Chicago,” she says. “It’s about knowing what’s best for you and doing the exact opposite. It’s about the lies we tell ourselves to keep going.”
Jackie Hayes has released the third single, "Material", from her forthcoming EP, "There’s Always Going To Be Something", which is due out this Friday, August 13th.
You can catch Hayes performing at Riot Fest on September 17th at Douglas Park.
Appleby has released his latest EP, "While You Were Sleeping", via Wilder Records. The EP’s latest single is called "You’re My Home" and is accompanied by the visualizer below.
The Elgin native began writing this EP while back at home for a week visit while the woman he loves was in Rhode Island. It is an album filled with love, romance, longing, and hope.
Olive Avenue (F.K.A. Flora) has released their debut single, "Dandelion Wine".
This is the work of Ryan O’Toole (Vocals, Keyboards, Percussion), David Lopez (Drums, Percussion), and Ryan Donlin (Bass Guitar).
Jackie Venson wastes no time reminding us why she’s regarded as one of the best guitarists in Austin with her new single “Til This Pain Goes Away.” She manages to incorporate bluesy guitar chops, catchy vocal melodies, and thought-provoking lyrics into this two and a half minute track. Though Venson has experimented with drum machines and other electric sounds in recent memory, she reverts back to the straightforward, blues-rock sound that helped her emerge onto the scene. She’s more than capable of pushing the bounds of her creativity with new songwriting ideas and mind-bending guitar parts, but she’s also not afraid to strip things down, simply allowing her diverse skill set to shine brightly.
Her guitar playing stems from some of the most iconic guitar players of the past and present, including Buddy Guy, Jimi Hendrix, and Gary Clark Jr. Yet her voice has more of a silky smooth, R&B aura that is reminiscent of Alica Keys, Sade, and Mary J. Blige. Put her voice and guitar abilities together, and you get a distinctive force of musical talent that results in sensational songs, such as “Til This Pain Goes Away.” One thing that always impressed me with Venson is her ability to execute intricate guitar parts while matching the melody with her singing. This Hendrix-esque songwriting tactic is on full display with this single, exemplifying her aptness of being able to play technically challenging parts, without sacrificing emotion and feel.
Additionally, Venson showcases her ability to write poetic and profound lyrics. She speaks about the importance of using her music as an outlet and perhaps, as her only choice to overcome the inherent pain and struggles that are associated with our world today. She writes, “These worries take my breath, my heart is a heavy ache/Don’t know what I’m gon do til this pain goes away/This world don’t cherish truth my spirit’s been mad for days/Don’t know what I’m gon do til this pain goes away.” Though we don’t know positively what’s causing her the pain and anger that she’s singing about, one could interpret these lyrics as being aimed towards the injustice and divisiveness that is plaguing our society currently. But no matter what she endures, she is able to find a semblance of peace within her music. This point is nailed down as the song continues: “There seems no limit for the depth of human hate/Only thing I can do is sing my songs and pray/For I see so much goodness blessings everyday/Please let that ease my heart til this pain goes away.”
To simply point out Venson’s bewildering guitar talent would greatly undermine her singing and writing capabilities. She continues to evolve into a full packaged performer and there’s never any doubt that she possesses an abundance of artistic integrity. Venson has already made a name for herself, but it wouldn’t be surprising at all if she winds up being the face of Texas music in the not too distant future.
-Quinn Donoghue
Iverson has released a single called "The Void Within". This is a new collaboration with Diane Coffee (the pseudonym of former Foxygen drummer Shaun Fleming) on the highly impressive backing vocals and violinist Maeve Feinberg of Spektral Quartet.
This may be the group’s most ambitious song to date, but also their most accomplished.
