Austin is the Live Music Capital of the World.
Every single night of the week, all over town, Austin reverberates with the sweet sounds of local music. To highlight some of the great local acts you should support, we frequently share a list of five bands you need to hear. Welcome to Volume 32! To check out Volume 31, featuring Honey and Salt, Thousand Foot Whale Claw, Lolita Lynne, and more, click here.
By: Ryan Ricks
Photo Credit: Loafer Facebook
Loafer is a quiet bunch. Since 2007, the band has released a steady stream of singles, EP's, and splits via Bandcamp but has remained somewhat elusive IRL, playing mostly small house shows and parties to a knowing, selective crowd. Musically, Loafer augments this hushed disposition with their particular brand of milquetoast lo-fi pop. On "Leaves of Romaine," a single from November 2017, the band takes a stroll down a wistful alley, blending delicate percussion, glinting guitars, and talk-sing vocals into a soothing melange. There's a relaxed quality to Loafer that evokes feelings of comfort and calm like a languid Sunday spent cycling around the suburbs. Fans might be tempted to draw comparisons to Real Estate or anything from the expansive Courtney-Bleeker-Mondanile songbook, but Loafer takes a more adventurous approach to songwriting, filling their songs with a variety of technical breaks and instrumental surprises.
Where: Thursday, June 7th @ Beerland
Photo Credit:Teen Pope
In a recent Facebook post advertising Teen Pope's debut EP, Goes to Vegas, the band included a quick review accredited to none other than the bass player's father: "'Honestly, remarkably good! I think you guys could have a shot at it!'" It's a funny inclusion that also seeks to illustrate the band as lovable populists, the little punk rock band that could. Indeed, Teen Pope embodies certain DIY commandments and ethics from their stripped-down sound, a poppy variation on the plug-in-and-play creed, to their strict adherence to the four-piece rock n' roll template. Goes to Vegas establishes the band as a charming menagerie dedicated to the divine power of guitar, drums, and bass with its witty but plainspoken lyrics, indelible hooks, and straightforward jangle-pop arrangements. This is easy-going punk rock made by music nerds, as if the cool dorks who actually read the book in high school English grew up and formed a band. Goes to Vegas is a memorable and downright fun EP from one of Austin's most promising new acts.
Where: Wednesday, June 27th at The Sahara Lounge
Photo Credit: Sure Facebook
It seems with each passing day, a new band emerges within Austin's music scene carrying genre tags like "surf rock" and "garage rock." At times, this over-saturation can be a bit vexing; people form bands not as a means of creative expression but to gain entrance into the cool kids club, to cash in on the trend. However, every now and then, a band rises from the deluge and breathes life into a moribund scene. Sure is such a band. On paper, they make garage rock with a surf-inspired flourish, the stuff local bloggers incessantly pump into the blogosphere. But Sure's technical wit, instrumental ingenuity, and indifference toward risk elevate the band far above the masses. This is not your average garage rock band; Sure fills their songs with myriad tricks and conceits from whirring, Mummies-inspired organs to slick nods toward surf-guitar heroes like The Ventures and Dick Dale. Man, the band's latest EP, only further solidifies Sure as something sui generis.
Where: Friday, June 1st at Hole in the Wall
Photo Credit: Rare Magic Facebook
The appeal of goth lies in its drama, its romanticized view of the bleak and the macabre. Recall the iconic stills of Ian Curtis draped over his microphone and the moody chiaroscuro of Bauhaus posters. The great goths are experts of mood and atmosphere. Rare Magic, a two-piece goth/darkwave outfit, understands the inseparable ties between goth and mood. 2017's Summer Demonstration, the band's best release thus far, finds Rare Magic trudging through plaintive darkness, utilizing drum machines, chorus and reverb pedals, and sensuous vocal layering to create a sound that simultaneously pays debts to the Byronic heroes of the 1980s while also looking toward the future of post-punk and goth. It's an engaging listen filled with glossy drama and syrupy hooks, a solid addition to Austin's underrated goth catalog. Though Rare Magic recently began a quick break from playing shows, they've promised something big in the near future. Fingers crossed for a full-length.
Photo Credit: Space HeaT Facebook
Like a group of chummy college buddies, Space Heat operates within the realm of blithe affability. They make breezy but determined pop rock primarily driven by synth melodies and pristine guitar work, the stuff you bump at a sunny weekend BBQ. Their debut EP, Okay, You?, while only three songs in length, showcases the band's remarkable ability to interweave disparate melodies into a loose web of infectious pop. The interplay between synth and guitar not only contributes to Space Heat's summery sound but it also offers great fun and surprise; the breezier moments of Okay, You? recall Garden State pop acts like The Feelies and Real Estate, while the punchier bits evoke the keys-guitar mishmash of Times New Viking. Ultimately, the EP wins over listeners by never taking itself too seriously, an unpretentious quality that seems to come straight from the band members themselves. Self-described on their Bandcamp page as "a co-ed fronted synth rawk band with emotional lyrics," it's clear Space Heat is in it to have fun and jam.
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