The first lineup announcement for the 2024 Austin Psych Fest is here, and it’s already impressive. The Saturday lineup alone is worth the price of admission.
Friday’s top three, Courtney Barnett, Chicano Batman, and Psychedelic Porn Crumpets are top draws at festivals around the country. The Black Angels are must-see whenever they play, and All Them Witches are finally playing a Levitation festival!
Saturday is a “witchy” day all-around with not only All Them Witches, but also WITCH, Frankie and The Witch Fingers, and L.A. Witch all playing that day, and don’t miss Earthless or Minami Deutsch that day.
Alvvays and Kurt Vile and The Violators closing out Sunday is a big score, not to mention indie-rock stars Dehd.
More bands will be announced in the coming months, and tickets are on sale now. See you there?
Earlier this year, Slowdive released everything is alive, their first record since 2017’s self-titled album and first record with Dead Oceans. The record was met with critical and commercial acclaim, garnering praise from the likes of Vulture (“hypnotically gorgeous”), Billboard (“a dreamy yet taut melding of their strengths”), Brooklyn Vegan (“perhaps the best record of their career”), and more. On the heels of their sold-out fall U.S. tour, Slowdive have announced they’ll be returning to the US for a spring North American tour next year. Including the already sold out Sick New World festival in Las Vegas, they’ll play many cities not yet played in support of everything is alive: Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, New Orleans, and more.
As the Chicago Tribune commented, “Experimental and shimmery, [everything is alive] packs a lush and enigmatic punch. Don’t take their latest releases and live shows for granted. Who knows when this influential band will be back in town?” Tickets for all shows will be on sale Friday, December 8th at 10AM local time and more information can be found here.
Slowdive Tour Dates (new dates in bold)
Tue. Jan. 16 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Wed. Jan. 17 – Paris, FR @ La Cigale Thu. Jan. 18 – Cologne, DE @ Live Music Hall Sat. Jan. 20 – Hamburg, DE @ Grosse Freiheit 36 Sun. Jan. 21 – Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA Mon. Jan. 22 – Oslo, NO @ Sentrum Scene Tue. Jan. 23 – Stockholm, SE @ Munchenbryggeriet Wed. Jan. 24 – Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA Thu. Jan. 25 – Berlin, DE @ Columbiahalle Sat. Jan. 27 – Warsaw, PL @ Progresja Sun. Jan. 28 – Prague, CZ @ Divaldo Archa Mon. Jan. 29 – Munich, DE @ Muffathalle Tue. Jan. 30 – Zurich, CH @ Volkshaus Wed. Jan. 31 – Milan, IT @ Alcatraz Club Fri. Feb. 2 – Bologna, IT @ Estragon Club Sun. Feb. 4 – Lyon, FR @ La Transbordeur Mon. Feb. 5 – Barcelona, ES @ Razzmatazz Tue. Feb. 6 – Madrid, ES @ La Riviera Thu. Feb. 8 – Brussels, BE @ Cirque Royale Fri. Feb. 16 – Brighton, UK @ Brighton Dome Sat. Feb. 17 – London, UK @ Eventim Apollo Sun. Feb. 18 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institute Birmingham Mon. Feb. 19 – Norwich, UK @ LCR UEA Wed. Feb. 21 – Liverpool, UK @ O2 Academy Liverpool Thu. Feb. 22 – Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK @ NX Fri. Feb. 23 – Glasgow, UK @ Barrowland Ballroom Sat. Feb. 24 – Edinburgh, UK @ Liquid Room Mon. Feb. 26 – Cardiff, UK @ Cardiff University Great Hall Tue. Feb. 27 – Manchester, UK @ Manchester Academy Mon. Mar. 11 – Tokyo, JP @ Toyosu Pit Wed. Mar. 13 – Osaka, JP @ Namba Hatch Thu. Apr. 25 – Ventura, CA @ The Majestic Ventura Theater Fri. Apr. 26 – Pomona,CA @ The Fox Theater Pomona Sat. Apr. 27 – Las Vegas, NV @ Sick New World Festival Sun. Apr. 28 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren Tue. Apr. 30 – Albuquerque, NM @ The Historic El Rey Theater Wed. May 1 – Denver, CO @ Levitt Pavilion Denver Fri. May 3 – Kansas City, MO @ The Truman Sat. May 4 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant Sun. May 5 – Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room at Old National Centre Tue. May 7 – Louisville, KY @ Old Forester’s Paristown Hall Wed. May 8 – Pelham, TN @ The Caverns Fri. May 10 – Dallas, TX @ Longhorn Ballroom Sat. May 11 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall Sun. May 12 – Austin, TX @ ACL Live at The Moody Theater Tue. May 14 – New Orleans, LA @ The Civic Theatre Thu. May 16 – Birmingham, AL @ Avondale Brewing Company Fri. May 17 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern Sun. May 18 – Asheville, NC @ Rabbit Rabbit
A Place to Bury Strangers are gearing up to crush Europe in April 2024 with shows ranging from the Netherlands to France. Don’t miss them if you’re in any of these cities. Heck, make a trip to see them while you’re are it. You won’t regret it.
Today,i’ve seen a way — the acclaimed debut from Manchester quartet Mandy, Indiana released via Fire Talk Records — was named one of Rough Trade’s Best Albums of 2023. In conjunction with today’s announcement, Mandy, Indiana present “Sheared (Pinking Shears Rework),” a clipping. remix of album standout “Pinking Shears.”
clipping.’s rework of “Pinking Shears” filters the politically charged track through a US lens. “The dream is all crooked cops, retail mark-up on basic goods, an ex-president getting away with treason,” raps Tony and GRAMMY Award winner Daveed Diggs. Rough Trade’s exclusive 12”features the clipping. remix alongside the original “Pinking Shears” and an instrumental version of the track.
Next month, Mandy, Indiana will bring their ”physically — yet brilliantly — overwhelming” (NME) live show to the US for their debut tour, featuring stops in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and a newly announced date in Chicago. Mandy, Indiana thrive in the unexpected, and their performances have become a vehicle to explore the boundaries of tension and release. A full list of dates are below and tickets are on sale now.
I wouldn’t wait much longer if you plan on seeing Sleater-Kinney‘s “Little Rope” tour, as two dates on the east coast are already sold out, and I’m sure other venues already have low ticket warnings in place. Joining them will be Black Belt Eagle Scout and, it was recently announced, Palehound.
Tickets are on sale for all shows now, so grab them while you can.
I was on my way back from a road trip to Atlanta and had time to stop in Louisville, Kentucky on the return route to catch the recently reunited Nashville punters Be Your Own Pet. I was late to the news that they’d reformed, let alone were touring and had a new album, so I was happy to have the chance to see them for the first time.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get there in time to see local rockers Zerg Rush, and Birthday Girlwere already a few songs into their set. Birthday Girl play a wild mix of post-punk, power pop, and some kind of art rock. I mean, they even have a cellist in the band – who adds a great extra bass line to all the tracks.
Birthday Girl
Be Your Own Pet came out blazing, with classic tracks like “Zombie Graveyard Party,” “Food Fight,” and “The Kelly Affair,” and tracks from their new album like “Hand Grenade,” “Goodtime!”, and “Worship the Whip” (the title of which was emblazoned on lead singer Jemina Pearl‘s shirt).
Worshipping the whip.
Not only was BYOP’s set fiery, crazy, and downright frenetic, it was also free of any set list. A good portion of it was done on the fly, with band members suggesting songs to each other as they went or taking audience requests. This led to guitarist Jonas Stein saying, “Call it out.” to Pearl, who immediately said, “Girl U Want,” and then they launched into the Devo cover as easily as crossing the street.
Don’t miss them if they’re near you. It’s a wild show, and it’s great to have them back after fourteen years.
I took a friend to see three crazy bands in Indianapolis not long ago. Those bands were new wave / no wave punk rockers Playboy Manbaby, Transformer rockers The Cybertronic Spree, and “drive-thru metal” giants Mac Sabbath. He had no idea what to expect, and is pretty much a 1980s metal guy. He’d heard from another friend that Mac Sabbath were some sort of killer clown band, but that’s about it.
I hadn’t heard Playboy Manbaby either until this evening, and they were great. They came out looking like average dudes and then tore up the stage with a wild punk set and even held a mini-election in the crowd decided by a game of rock-paper-scissors.
“Oh wow…” was all my friend could say when The Cybertronic Spree came onstage in their Transformer outfits. He was even more stunned when they shredded for their entire set, playing originals from their new album, Ravage, and covers of fun tunes like AC/DC‘s “Thunderstruck” and Weird Al‘s “Dare to Be Stupid.” You have to be able to play well if you’re going to have a gimmick like this, and The Cybertronic Spree play very well. At one point, co-lead singer Arcee was hitting such high notes that my friend said he thought his eardrums were going to rupture.
“We’re the toy in your happy meal!” – Hot Rod on bass (3rd from left)
The “main course” was Mac Sabbath’s weird and wild rock / comedy show, full of heavy Black Sabbath parodies like “Sweet Beef” and “Frying Pan,” bad fast food-rock band puns (“Dokken Donuts,” “Dairy Queensryche,” “International Bauhaus of Pancakes,” etc.), water sprayed on the crowd, bizarre characters, and even a tribute to David Lynch‘s Blue Velvet and Roy Orbison.
Again, you have to be able to play well to do stuff like this, and Mac Sabbath have no problems doing so. Slayer McCheese can change riffs on a dime, The Catburglar is a sharp drummer and comedian, Ronny Osbourne never stops moving, singing, or joking when he’s onstage, and I don’t know how Grimalice plays bass in that outfit.
My friend was happy and dumbfounded by the end of the show. “I’ve never seen anything like that before,” he said. I hadn’t either, and I loved it. This was the last show of the first leg of their “More Than Meats the Eye” tour with the other bands, so don’t miss your chance to catch the second half.
Keep your mind open.
[Thanks to Annie at Adrenaline PR for the press passes!]
This was my fourth time seeing some iteration of Goblin, the third time I’d seen a version including founding member Claudio Simonetti, and the first time I’d seen the film Demons (properly known as Demoni in Italy, where it was made). Simonetti and his crew were performing a new prog-rock version of the film’s score to a live screening of the film – the first time they’d done this in the United States.
It was a fun show right out of the gate, with good sound quality the whole time. Simonetti announced that the original score was synth-based, but hoped we’d all enjoy this new take on it by him and his band.
In case you haven’t seen it, Demons, is flat-out nuts and is about a bunch of people trapped in a movie theatre while most of the patrons turn into blood-thirsty monsters. I can’t tell you more than that, not because I’d spoil it, but because there isn’t more than that. Simonetti said he loves the film, stating, “I think it’s very funny.” It is, actually. It’s a wild ride, and so was their new score.
After that came a brief intermission and then they returned for another full set of Goblin classics and even some rarities – including the theme to Ruggero Deodato‘s crazy action / horror film Cut and Run.
And, of course, there was plenty of music from Dario Argento‘s films, including the themes to Opera, Tenebrae, Deep Red, and Suspiria.
Simonetti’s current band includes Daniele Amador on guitar (who played a great solo during the Opera theme), Federico Maragoni on drums (who delivered double-kick drum beats so fast that I thought they were programmed tracks), and Cecilia Nappo again on bass.
It was a fun night all-around, and a fun way to kick off the Halloween season. The crowd was made up of prog-rock fans, horror fans, and movie buffs. It felt like a bunch of friends (including the band) just hanging out to watch movies and listen to good music.
Chaos master Dion Lunadon has announced his newest solo album, Systems Edge, due out November 14, 2023. To whet your appetite for it, he’s already released the first single, “I Walk Away.”
On top of that, the album is already available for pre-order on vinyl and “shockwave” vinyland he’s already announced a tour across Europe in the next two months.
Can’t make any of these gigs? Why not go see him in New York for the album’s release party, then?
As they approach the release of their ‘Illuminated 1989’ album, the original 1989 full-length record produced by Cocteau Twins’ Robin Guthrie, trailblazing soul-influenced shoegazers The Veldtannounce North American tour dates and alsopresent the single ‘Aurora Borealis’ with Elizabeth Fraser making a cameo appearance on backing vocals towards the end. Complementing this is theB-side remix, created by The Veldt around the turn of the century.
This is the second single from the album, which Guthrie produced in autumn 1989 and has now remastered for vinyl. While intended to be the band’s first album, their label Capitol Records shelved the recording and sent them back into the studio with producer Lincoln Fong (Moose), resulting in their first album released with the title ‘Marigolds’.
Earlier, the band released the lead track‘The Everlasting Gobstopper’ digitally (with a video produced by Jammi Yorkand the late Yuko Sueta) and on vinyl, involving a B-side previously unreleased vinyl exclusive ‘Joshuu Lullaby’, also recently produced by Guthrie.
One of the most notable first-wave shoegaze bands, formed in North Carolina in the 1980s, The Veldt surrounds identical twins Daniel Chavis (vocals, guitar) and Danny Chavis (guitar). Their unique sound was influenced by Cocteau Twins as readily as Marvin Gaye and free-jazz warriors Sun Ra and Pharaoh Sanders. Referencing European post-punk while embracing modern hip-hop, these trailblazers work with transient dreamscapes as fluidly as solid song structures.
Pitchfork included The Veldt’s album‘Afrodisiac’, produced by the legendary Ray Shulman (The Sundays, Bjork, The Sugarcubes) and released via Mercury Records, in the top 50 shoegaze albums ever released, while Stereogum included ‘Until You’re Forever’ in the top 31 shoegaze tracks. Their sound also inspired future generations of alternative artists, including TV On the Radio.
Daniel Chavis on their inspiration for ‘Aurora Borealis’: “This song is about my brother’s love for his newborn daughter. Written out of high school and dug out around the time the band had started to get noticed. We had written so many, but it was one of the newest pieces that we had begun experimenting. This would signal our departure from being a band that made people dance to a band that made people confused. ‘The Everlasting Gobstopper’ came shortly thereafter and was being finished.”
Danny Chavis adds, “This song was written in 1986 and was included in the first batch of songs we demoed under the name VELDT. Having heard ‘Treasure’ by Cocteau Twins, this song was inspired by that very album and RUN DMC’s ‘Sucker MC’s’ around the same time that year.”
The Veldt’s journey is fascinating. Performing since they were children, the Chavis brothers’ musical roots lead back to the church and southern juke-joints, and listening to music that included gospel, Motown and Pink Floyd. The Veldt formed in the late 80’s in Raleigh amongst the legendary North Carolina music scene of the time, initially signing with Mammoth Records – leading to a chain of major-label relationships that took the group across Europe and the U.S. playing shows with the likes of Throwing Muses, Pixies, Cocteau Twins and Jesus & Mary Chain.
After moving from Raleigh to New York, they briefly performed as Apollo Heights before returning to their original name The Veldt. Joined by Japanese bassist-programmer Hayato Nakao, they together forging music that is a heady and sensual blend of shoegaze and progressive soul, dreamy soundscapes and infectious grooves. Some of the band’s recent notable releases include‘The Shocking Fuzz Of Your Electric Fur’ EP(2017) and the album ‘Entropy is the Mainline to God’ (2022).
Over the years, The Veldt has collaborated with TV On The Radio, Mos Def, Lady Miss Kier (Deee-Lite), A.R.Kane and toured or played with Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Pixies, Throwing Muses, Echo & The Bunnymen, Cocteau Twins, Manic Street Preachers, Phantogram, Modern English, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Oasis, Chuck D, Living Colour and Schooly D.
‘Aurora Borealis’ is now available everywhere, including Apple Music, SpotifyandBandcamp. On November 24, the ‘Illuminated 1989’ album will be released on vinyl, CD, cassette and digitally via Portland-based Little Cloud Recordsand 5BC Records. From October through December, The Veldt will be touring many cities and will be performing at Levitation Festival in Austinand Seattle’s KEXP, as well as playing several exclusive dates supporting Violent Femmes.
TOUR DATES SAT 10/21 = Norfolk, VA @ the NorVa w/ Violent Femmes SUN 10/22 = Richmond, VA @ the National w/ Violent Femmes MON 10/23 = Asheville, NC @ TBA TUE 10/24 = Nashville, TN @ the Underdog WED 10/25 = Memphis, TN @ Growlers THU 10/26 = Little Rock, AR @ EJ’s Drinks and Eats FRI 10/27 = Dallas, TX @ TBA SAT 10/28 = Austin, TX @ the Far Out Lounge (LEVITATION Festival) MON 11/27 = Atlanta, GA @ 529 TUE 11/28 = Birmingham, AL @ TBA WED 11/29 = New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa THU 11/30 = Houston, TX @ 1810 Ojeman FRI 12/1 = Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas SAT 12/2 = Silver City, NM @ Whiskey Creek Zocalo w/ Tremours SUN 12/3 = Phoenix, AZ @ Linger Longer Lounge w/ Tremours MON 12/4 = San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar w/ Tremours TUE 12/5 = Los Angeles, CA @ Gold Diggers w/ Tremours WED 12/6 = San Francisco, CA @ Kilowatt w/ Tremours THU 12/7 = Portland, OR @ Show Bar w/ Tremours FRI 12/8 = Seattle, WA @ the Central Saloon (TremoloFest) w/ Tremours SAT 12/9 = Vancouver, BC @ TBA SUN 12/10 = Bellingham, WA @ The Shakedown w/ Tremours) MON 12/11 = Eugene, OR @ Old Nick’s w/ Tremours TUE 12/12 = Olympia, WA @ Le Voyeur w/ Tremours WED 12/13 = Tacoma, WA @ TBA THU 12/14 = Seattle, WA @ KEXP
