Live music review: Electronic duo Sextile returned to Austin with stacked local bill
Los Angeles by way of Brooklyn electronic duo Sextile returned to Austin for a third time in 2025 to end the year with a loaded bill on Saturday night at Empire Control Room and Garage. The stacked lineup included Nashville egg punk extraordinaries Snooper along with local band appearances from Gus Baldwin & The Sketch, Alma Muneca, Mugger, and The Opera who are Cosmic Clash SXSW Webberville Block Party vets. The late-year mini-festival at Empire brought a gauntlet of familiar faces, with gigs from Snooper and Sextile (now bona-fide Austin staples) bringing the thunder to a large selection of stages throughout the Central Texas area.
We missed Gus Baldwin & The Sketch – my bad for leaving my hometown of Dallas late from Christmas-related festivities. Empire felt locked in for the Saturday gig. Both stages were running, and the house sound felt dialed-in, showcasing the best version of the talents of local and traveling acts alike.
Mugger kicked things off on the Garage stage, an always-welcome appearance from a collective that’s become an Austin supergroup. With crossover membership from TV’s Daniel, The Well, and Bad Sports, the Mugger quartet has seen multiple cross-country tours, headlining appearances, and intimate shows that further assert their old school hardcore ethos. Mugger’s debut album Luck Forever was released in 2024, and it’s worth a listen for 24 minutes of mosh-ready tunes that draw a fierce local following to every stage they take.
Snooper took things over next for their third Austin appearance in 2025, also frequent flyers by enthusiastic choice with their headlining contemporaries. Since the release of their 2025 LP Worldwide, the Tennessee heavy-hitters have not only further pushed the envelope in the underground, DIY, weirdo punk world but also magnified their mission by producing an even more fluid, relentless brand of the genre.
Vocalist Blair Tramel’s stage demeanor is still a sight to behold, with spectators having to witness the spectacle up close to keep up with her frantic, delightfully over-caffeinated delivery. The light rig in the Empire Garage is a pulsating experience, demonstrating strobing visuals that became part of each performing act with engaging insanity. The set also featured a sit-in from Austin electronic outfit J’Cuuzi. Tourmates in 2026, perhaps?
Art punk sextet The Opera served as the appetizer for Sextile in the Control Room, a force quickly becoming an Austin favorite. With entrancing math rock-esque drumbeats and intricate song structure, you’d think this is one of those Northeastern music conservatory bands. With such honed-in chops, the talent comes off as such with unfuckwithable precision.
The Opera also shared the stage at Stubb’s with Die Spitz for their album release show back in October, adding to fans’ further hopes that the band could be Austin’s next prominent rising artist. The Opera recently released EP I Want This To Last this year, their first body of released work with hopes of a full-length project in 2026.
Sextile took the stage in their late-night rave fashion, a vibes-first favorite among local fans after multiple SXSW appearances and touring stops. Since the release of their 2025 album Yes, Please, (which ended up on a plethora of year-end lists) the West Coast outfit has been on a hell-raising touring frenzy, opening for the likes of Molchat Doma, Automatic, and Machine Girl.
The sound Sextile emit feels like a rave warehouse after 2 a.m., all gas no breaks. The sputtering electronics, sleazy lyricism, and throbbing bass are all melded into a methodology that makes them a worthy highlight of the live music experience in 2025. The crowd didn’t stop their rapid dance movements for the full sixty minutes of runtime. Ideal for a crowd that felt like they could have danced all night.
With the insistence of playing each cut live and not relying on backing tracks to do the work, every electronic pulse comes out with organic ease. Things wrapped up right around the 1 a.m. amplified sound curfew, making the six-band bill a highlight in the Red River Cultural District to send off the year. Sextile could be a gateway into their imaginative world for a lot of folks – and this writer is one of them.
Sextile and Snooper will travel to Chicago for a joint New Year’s Eve run before 2025 ends. Tickets and other information can be found via the bands’ websites.
All photos by Troy Gonzales
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