Friday, April 24, 2026
The Cosmic Clash

punk rock

Murder City Devils 4 Mohawk Troy Gonzales
Live MusicReviewRobert Dean

Live music review: Murder City Devils brought rock and roll fury to Mohawk

Robert Dean 1416 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

I love a show where the band is not there to fuck around. No small talk, no rare material, no rambling monologues about the world. Just pure rock and roll fury. At the Mohawk on Sunday, November 23, The Murder City Devils crashed into Planet Austin and left no survivors. The band barely tours anymore—just fly-in one-offs where they show up, sell the same three merch designs they’ve had for twenty years, and play the hits.

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Cap n jazz 10 Mohawk Troy Gonzales
Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: Emo originals Cap n Jazz played Mohawk last Monday

Case Cockrell 1168 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

The Midwest Emo Kinsella dynasty feels everlasting in 2025. For this outing, the emo originals Cap’n Jazz made their way to Mohawk in the Red River Cultural District on Monday night to assert a legacy that proved undeniable for an endless gauntlet of bands that came after them. Frontman Tim Kinsella, guitarist Nate Kinsella, and drummer Mike Kinsella remain a staying force within their niche. With all the records between them, the music has never halted, with over 35 years of nonstop creativity and touring. With bands like Owls, American Football, Joan of Arc, Owen, and many more making up their rotation of projects throughout the last few decades, the Kinsellas feel like they can’t miss. 

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Viagra Boys Halloween Freakend Troy Gonzales
Brian HillsmanLive MusicReview

Live music review: Viagra Boys sold-out night one of Levitation’s Halloween Freakend

Brian Hillsman 1311 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

Viagra Boys performed at South Austin’s Far Out Lounge in front of a sold out audience, in what might have been the most crowded the venue has ever been. 3500 fans showed up for the opening night of the two-day Halloween Freakend mini fest, put on by Levitation and Resound Presents on Friday and Saturday.  The Black Lips, Bitchin’ Bajas, J’Cuzzi, and Stereo Lab all turned in fantastic sets on night one. The headliner, however, was Swedish post-punk rockers, Viagra Boys.  After previous plans to perform in Austin were cancelled, the jubilant crown was beyond excited to finally catch the vaunted post punks.

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Die Spitz Stubb's Drew Doggett
Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: Die Spitz sold-out Stubb’s for debut album release

Case Cockrell 1553 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

A sold-out show at Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater in Austin can be one of the most treacherous live music experiences in the downtown area. For the occasion of hometown heroes Die Spitz, exceptions had to be made to celebrate their debut album release Something To Consume via Jack White’s Third Man Records on Friday, October 24. The Austin hard rock quartet has been busy the last couple of years, racking up multiple headlining tours, opening slots for the likes of Amyl & The Sniffers, Viagra Boys, and Sleater-Kinney, and dropping new tracks ahead of their recent full-length studio release. For their homecoming after multiple stints worldwide, Die Spitz brought fellow Austin acts The Opera and Fuck Money to help them celebrate this monumental occasion. 

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Osees 2 Hotel Vegas Troy Gonzales
Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: garage rock behemoths Osees played Hotel Vegas residency

Case Cockrell 1601 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

Los Angeles garage rock behemoths Osees returned to Austin for their annual, (sometimes bi-annual) residency at Eastside live music stronghold Hotel Vegas over the last weekend. Continuing their regular Austin tour stop tradition with a discography that gets bigger with every calendar rotation. With a solidified lineup defining the current iteration of esteemed bandleader John Dwyer’s everlasting rein, the Osees delivered another weekend of the eclectic paradigm that set the standard for the dozens of psych punk groups that make the Dwyer-led company a source of everlasting influence. Despite being on the road to promote their latest release Abomination Revealed At Last, the West Coast berserkers only performed one song from the new release and ventured into a rare, deep cuts, setlist territory. 

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Halloween Freakend 2025 Levitation banner image
Case CockrellLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: Halloween Freakend by Levitation is coming to Far Out Lounge

Case Cockrell 1709 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

Levitation and Resound Presents have teamed up again for a Halloween weekend two-day festival in South Austin. The mini-fest will take place at The Far Out Lounge & Stage on October 31 and November 1, the current site of the Spring edition of Austin Psych Fest. The Freakend lineup kicks off on Halloween night with Bitchin Bajas, J’Cuuzi, Stereolab, Black Lips, and Viagra Boys arriving for their first Austin headlining excursion.

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Deerhoof Radio East Troy Gonzales
Brian HillsmanLive MusicReview

Live music review: Indie legends Deerhoof stopped at Radio East last weekend

Brian Hillsman 1573 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

On a warm Saturday, October 4 evening, San Francisco-based, indie-rock quartet, Deerhoof, headlined a stellar show at Radio/East on a night that also marked the first weekend of ACL Festival, Resound and Radio/East offered a less stressful live music option for fans. Austin’s Resound Presents booked set the show in conjunction with the venue. The performance was second to last of their 31 Flavors tour before their final North American stop in Denton, Texas. The group head to Japan next month. 

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Unwound Mohawk Troy Gonzales
Live MusicReviewTroy Gonzales

Live music review: Unwound marked 30 years of The Future of What at Mohawk

Troy Gonzales 1554 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

On Thursday September 11, one of the 90’s most influential post-hardcore bands, Unwound played at the Mohawk as part of their ‘30 Years of The Future of What’ tour, which would see the band play their third album in it’s entirety. Admittedly, I had not seen them live during their heyday, but this time around I would not let the opportunity slip away again.

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TV on the Radio Daniel Cavazos
April DawneLive MusicReview

Live music review:  A Funky Levitation Full of Surprises or How April Spent the Fest

April Dawne 2254 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

Adulting is mostly a bummer, and Levitation weekend (September 26-28) coincided with a very important work event happening all day Saturday. Thankfully, the big boss sent an email to the team instructing us to do what we needed to do for self-care, leading up to Saturday. Perfect! I consider live music to be something that can soothe the beast, and from Tuesday through Sunday, I got my fill. It was a funky Levitation that was full of surprises.

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Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: Levitation 2025 ramble with Pavement, Mastodon, The Black Angels and more

Case Cockrell 1748 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

Levitation Festival 2025 took place September 26 – 28  and marked another successful installment in a new location, with more than 30 acts making their way to Austin for yet another Black Angels-sponsored party featuring talent from all over the world. With a new HQ at Palmer Events Center on Barton Springs Road, the convention center turned into Levitation’s psychedelic playground for three days over the last weekend. Each day of the event brought unique vibes that spanned the festival’s usual suspects, first-timers, and legacy acts, all of which helped bring the star-studded booked talent to life for the three-day, two-stage rager. The Cosmic Clash team made their way to the convention center for the weekend to capture the action and highlight every moment that stood out to us at Palmer.

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Lola Tried PR photo
Becky RodriguezReviewSong

Song review: Austin act Lola Tried released single off new EP, Hot Shot Barbie

Becky Rodriguez 2270 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

“And just like that…” Austin’s rock four-piece, Lola Tried released the latest single on September 8 for their EP, Feast which dropped four days later. As this is the fourth EP release for the long-running local act, “Hot Shot Barbie” is clear in its effort to build upon their power pop, garage, and indie rock background and make giant leaps toward revamping and further evolving their sound with the upcoming record.

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