indie rock

AlbumCase CockrellReview

Album review: White Denim record 12 out today is a passionate return to form

Case Cockrell 469 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

Since the release of 2023’s Raze Regal & White Denim Inc. in collaboration with guitarist Regal, who also plays in Austin staple Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band, fans have been eagerly awaiting the newly California-based musician’s next entry in the long-running indie rock song machine. Fortunately for White Denim loyalists, the time has arrived for the Austin to Los Angeles band to release their 12th full-length album, fittingly titled 12. This newest batch, engineered by the singer and guitarist himself and mixed by former drummer Josh Block and mastered by Dallas-Fort Worth musician Jordan “Jorts” Richardson, is Petralli’s first in his new SoCal studio, and feels like a passionate return to form. 

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Interpol Moody Center Drew Doggett
Drew DoggettLive MusicReview

Live music review: Interpol Honors 20 Years of Antics with Precision and Nostalgia at Moody Amphitheater

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Almost twenty years ago, I downloaded my first song off iTunes. I put $0.99 down for the Interpol lead single Evil that would keep a steady hold on the automatic “Top 25 Most Played” playlist. After obsessively listening to the song, Antics became the first album I downloaded. From there it was The Strokes, Pixies, Modest Mouse, and Sonic Youth. Antics was my gateway into a wider array of sonic landscapes and I am eternally grateful for that 30-second iTunes preview that hooked me.

On November 21, Austin’s Moody Amphitheater hosted a celebration of the 2004 album, where the band delivered a masterful two-hour set to honor the record’s 20th anniversary and provide some fan favorites to boot.

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King Gizzard at Germania
Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: King Gizzard played marathon three hour set at Germania Amphitheater

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The trek out to Austin’s Circuit of the Americas racetrack where Germania Amphitheater is located is a daunting one. From taking in an hour of traffic, ludicrous drink prices, and baffling ticket expenditures, the Formula 1 Racing spot has most Austin music fans disinterested in driving out to the sticks to experience its monstrosity. (17 miles outside of the downtown area to be exact.) In last Friday night’s case, fans of a certain Australian band made an exception.

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Fastball at Scoot Inn
Greg AckermanLive MusicReview

Live music review: Fastball played Scoot Inn in support of their new album Sonic Ranch

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Fast forward to last week’s show at Scoot Inn on the East Side of the Live Music Capital when fans gathered to hear the band introduce their latest effort, Sonic Ranch. What may surprise fans who haven’t kept up with group, is this record is quite good. If you were at Scoot Inn on Thursday last week, you saw the pride on the faces of bandleaders, Tony Scalzo and Miles Zuniga as they introduced their new songs. They have every right to be proud.

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Love is Evermore 2024 banner
Greg AckermanLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: The Bright Light Social Hour to play Evermore benefit at Radio East November 17

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On the heels of Rocktober, as the holidays approach and touring shows become more infrequent, the live music focus in Austin turns towards local acts. Local lineups appear at the Armadillo Christmas Bazar, holiday themed events such at The Last Walz and occasionally worthwhile benefit concerts like the Love is Evermore event taking place at Radio East a week from today on November 17 at Radio East with The Bright Light Social Hour headlining their only Austin Fall performance with Parker Woodland and longtime Austin musician, Oliver Steck’s Squirrel Show. Evermore is a bereavement advocacy group that works on policy initiatives and provides resources to the public. The group is dedicated to making the world a more livable place for bereaved people.

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Fuzz - Pooneh Ghana
Case CockrellLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: Seven more bands to see at Levitation 2024

Case Cockrell 517 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

The 2024 edition of Levitation is coming up fast this Halloween weekend. Each year, Austin’s The Black Angels and trusted booking powerhouse and Festival Director Rob Fitzpatrick continue to deliver star-studded lineups and cutting edge acts that never disappoint local and out-of-town music fans traveling to Austin for the annual multi-venue programming. The Cosmic Clash team is here to provide another list of bands you need to see over the four-day festival takeover at venues all over the Austin area. Fans have the option of purchasing access to the entire lineup or purchase individual shows. Set times and tickets can be found on the Levitation website for fans to plan their daily excursions to see all the music they can throughout the weekend. 

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Sexpop PR photo Who To Call
Case CockrellReviewSong

Single review: Sexpop drops new song and video for Who To Call

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Blaise Eldred’s Sexpop was just a one-man band when the Berklee College of Music attendee arrived in Austin as a member of the now-defunct psychedelic collective Acid Carousel. Before arriving in Austin, Eldred had two albums of material with his musical vehicle Sexpop and another record with Boston-based indiegaze act RVRCT. (pronounced Rivercat) On new single “Who To Call,” Eldred takes a break from local funk mega-ensemble Grandmaster, revisiting his passion project with a fresh, refined approach with an accompanying music video to boot.

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Phantogram and Kings of Leon Moody Center Drew Doggett
Drew DoggettLive MusicReview

Live music review: Kings of Leon and Phantogram Prove They Have Plenty of Fire at Moody Center

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I hate the term “guilty pleasure.” Loving music based on the approval of others will drain you. While I’m not saying I’ll grab the aux cord to blare “Sex on Fire” during a road trip, I will die on the hill that Aha Shake Heartbreak was a seminal record for 2000s alternative and indie rock. Maybe it’s the Nashville boy in me, the lover of arena rock, or the nostalgia for how their southern riffs colored my upbringing in Tennessee. Kings of Leon rock. And on August 14 at Austin’s Moody Center, they brought a 28-song, anthemic setlist to prove it.

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SIMS Art and Music 13th Fl final poster
Greg AckermanLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: 13th Floor hosting art and music benefit for SIMS Foundation Saturday with Satalights, Semihelix and The Stayres

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This Saturday, 13th Floor on Red River is hosting a SIMS Foundation benefit featuring art and live music by Austin musicians at the venue. Live music by Satalights, Semihelix, The Stayres with tunes by DJ Dead Flowers will begin at 8 p.m. In addition, four musicians; Conrad Keely (And You Will Know Us by the Trail of the Dead), Anna Troxell, Ruben Mendez and Wes Coleman will be presenting their visual art for sale, all to benefit The SIMS Foundation, a music mental health organization that provides mental health and recovery services to Austin area music industry members and their dependent families.

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Tied Up band Ausitn
ReviewRobert DeanSong

Song Review – Anyway You Like: Tied Up is one of Austin’s Newest to Check Out

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Taking the hip-hop approach by dropping singles one at a time, Tied Up recently gave us their newest, “Anyway You Like,” on the heels of their prior single, “Gun.” Both are wicked glimpses into what the band will give us moving forward, which says a metric fuck ton, considering they only have two tracks out for public consumption. And those two tracks do not play. This is the rock and roll you want;

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Cage the Elephant 2 Moody Drew Doggett
Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: Cage the Elephant came back from five year hiatus with Young the Giant at Moody Center

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When a band like Cage The Elephant moves out of their place of formation for England, you know they intended to live up to their titular mission statement. Kentucky-born Cage The Elephant is many records removed from super-hit “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked,” becoming one of the mainstream’s most hard-hitting arena rock and roll acts while churning out a discography with inarguable depth that carries the torch for contemporaries such as The White Stripes, Beck, Modest Mouse, and The Black Keys. On Thursday night at Austin’s downtown basketball arena, as Melvins’ Buzz Osborne would call a “Non-venue,” the Kentucky-England band pumped out 80 minutes of virtually banterless cuts that saw the six-piece outfit tearing through their accomplished career of steady but worthwhile material. An eclectic audience made their way to the Moody Center for the Friday eve show.

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