Night Beats – 7th Level Music

Austin Psych Fest 2026 – Day Three recap

The final day of the 2026 Austin Psych Fest was the most humid of the three, and easily the most soulful. The festival bumped up all the sets by an hour, presumably to avoid the thunderstorms predicted to roll in around 10pm that night just as the final set was about to end.

As a result, I wasn’t able to get in a disco nap before the festival and trotted my slightly sunburned body to the Far Out Lounge just in time to catch Night Beats play a solid set of psychedelic, fuzzy soul rock. It had been a few years since I’d seen them, and they haven’t lost a step. They still deliver the goods.

Up next were the funky Dumbo Gets Mad, who had everyone happily dancing in the hot sun without a care. Finding shade is a skill at this festival. You have to claim spots early or rely on the charity of others to squeeze you into a shady space. The occasional breeze elicited happy sighs from the crowds, and it kept hitting at good times during DGM’s set to make dancing all the easier.

A big crowd had assembled for La Lom, who hit the first note exactly at the start of their set time. The Los Angeles trio played a fun set of instrumental cumbia, rockabilly, and border rock. Everyone was smiling during this set. Couples were dancing and making out. People were cheering their ancestry as La Lom announced the origin of several tracks (“We’re going to play a song from Columbia!”, “This is an old one from Mexico!”).

Trish Toledo was the next artist on the bill, bringing her Latina soul siren vocals to the second stage with her killer backing band. She started with her version of Diana Ross’ “Bad Girls” and proceeded to win and break hearts from there. Everyone was spellbound by the end.

Trish Toledo wrapping everyone around her fingers.

The night, and the festival, ended with the big sounds of Thee Sacred Souls. Much like La Lom and Ms. Toledo’s sets, everyone was buzzing and happy during it. The heat and sun didn’t matter (“It’s like being in a club at 3am,” said lead singer Josh Lane). People all around me were dancing, cheering, smooching, and loving the opportunity to go out with dance grooves to carry them home.

The thunderstorms hit almost an hour later, preventing me from getting to the late night show downtown. That was a bummer, but overall it was a good time and, as always, an excellent blend of genres and bands from all over the map.

And now, my random Festival Awards!

Best set: The Flaming Lips. The sound engineering was top-notch and it was a fun set list. On a personal note, they were one of my late wife’s favorite bands and they played the night before our 29th wedding anniversary, so that was special. I got choked up during “The Golden Path.”

Heaviest set: The Black Angels. Good heavens, the modern versions of the songs from Passover somehow have even more fuzz and weight on them.

Shame on You if You Missed It set: Almost Heaven. They were the second set on the first day and put on a sharp, post-punky / electro-funky set that had a lot of people buzzing by the end of it and wearing their new band shirts over the next two days.

Wildest set: J’cuuzi. Absolutely bonkers and a ton of fun. Crazy costumes, exotic dancers, glam-punk riffs, a spinning chair substituting for a stripper’s pole, and more stuff I’ve forgotten were all crammed into it. They opened the festival and set a high bar for everyone to follow.

Loveliest set: Trish Toledo. This was like a cool breeze refreshing you after a long day. The soul ballads and psychedelic funk sounds were a great addition to the festival. This was another set you’ll kick yourself for missing if you weren’t there.

Sweatiest set: Night Beats. Lead singer and guitarist Danny Lee Blackwell’s shirt was soaked enough for him to win a wet t-shirt contest by the end of this. The fuzzy, guitar-roar sounds were sweaty, too. Everyone in the crowd was sweating, at least a bit dehydrated, and yet ready for more by the end.

Happiest set: La Lom. Everyone was dancing and smiling the whole time, including the band. The back-and-forth cheering between La Lom and the crowd reflected how everyone was participating in a big party and not caring about the humidity.

Most Happy to Be There set: New Candys. I didn’t get to see every band at the festival, but of all the ones I did see, the Venetian trio seemed to be the happiest to be there and hanging out with the rowdy crowd and a bit surprised at how many people came to see them.

Trippiest set: Holy Wave. These guys do psych-rock very well and are local favorites. I usually see them in dark venues or at night, but the afternoon sun only seemed to make them sound brighter and dreamier.

Most Shredding in a Set: Ty Segall. There were a few times in his raucous set that he just unloaded a crate full of mega-riffs. How a mosh pit didn’t break out during this is beyond me. It must have been the heat.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Cheyenne Doerr for the press credentials and support.]

Night Beats release a spooky, sexy new single – “Behind the Green Door.”

Night Beats announces a new 7″ single, “Behind The Green Door,” out April 11 on Suicide Squeeze. The video features the directorial debut by Danny Lee Blackwell, which was heavily inspired by Giallo films.

Watch the new video for A-side single “Behind The Green Door”

On side A, we’re treated to a down-tempo, minor key track drenched in the haze of vice, as if some aspiring Motor City outfit had traveled down to Austin and snuck into the studio to cut a song while The 13th Floor Elevators were on a smoke break. Or perhaps it’s more akin to a meeting between Ray Charles, Skip Pence, and Link Wray. Or maybe it’s Joe Tex grappling with Gram Parsons. Or Duane Eddy pairing up with Cedric Bixler-Zavala. Or maybe it’s just years of Blackwell distilling and translating the sounds around him into his own concoction.

Danny Lee Blackwell explains the story behind “Behind The Green Door”:

“This song started as a lone star instrumental, something I pieced together in my studio in 2024. I imagined dusty roads and dimly lit dance halls. I wanted the guitars to shimmer like heat waves on an open road. The rhythm to pull like footsteps across a wooden floor, soaked in smoke and neon. The lyrics followed, drawn from past and present—unwavering love, transcendence. The ‘green door’ is that threshold between devotion and disillusionment. The story lives not just in the words, but in the tones and textures, if uncovered.”

Watch “Behind The Green Door” video

Stream the track

Under the moniker of Night Beats, Texas native Danny Lee Blackwell has spent the last fifteen years exploring a nexus of vintage rhythm & blues, after-midnight soul, and sun-scorched psychedelia. On Night Beats’ latest offering, Blackwell presents two markedly different renditions of his song “Behind the Green Door.” On side A, “Behind The Green Door” is an invitation to enter the kingdom and dwell in the garden while the shadow of doubt looms nearby, a subconscious journey into the delights and pitfalls of unknown territories made manifest in the music of Night Beats.

Side B features the Rah John version of “Behind The Green Door.” According to the Night Beats camp, Rah John was discovered by Blackwell on his recent expedition to the island Koh Khram Yai, located off the coast of Pattaya in the Gulf of Thailand. Not much is known about the young artist besides his love for 70’s Thai disco and dancehall tapes received from local sailors. Hearing a streak of revelry buried in the Night Beats tune, Rah John summoned a sunnier, breezier, and more exotic side to the Rhythm and Blues sway of the original.

Suicide Squeeze is proud to offer up Night Beats “Behind The Green Door” b/w “Behind The Green Door (Rah John Version)” out April 11 on seven-inch transparent violet vinyl, limited to 500 copies.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Suicide Squeeze Records.]

Levitation Austin 2022 recap: Day Two

The second night of Levitation Austin 2022 started at Hotel Vegas. I hadn’t been to a show there since 2013 and was delighted to see the place hadn’t changed much. If anything, the outdoor stage area seemed a bit bigger.

Warm Drag were the first act we saw that night, putting on the sexiest show of the weekend with their blend of electro, fuzz, and spooky rock. Lead singer Vashti Windish owned the stage in her biker leather while percussionist / beat master Paul Quattrone got to work in his tank top. The crowd was hypnotized by them both by their set’s end.

Quattrone took a water break and then was back on stage with the rest of his Osees bandmates for the second night of their four-night residency at Hotel Vegas. They came out swinging, blasting through a lot of tracks in just an hour. Their raging punk set of material from their new album, A Foul Form, left the audience breathless multiple times.

We left Hotel Vegas for Elysium to catch the rare performance by The UFO Club – a sort of supergroup consisting of members of Night Beats and The Black Angels, who performed their (so far) only album from beginning to end. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to hear those songs live, so this set was one of the highlights of the festival for me.

The night ended with Mexican psych-rock legends Los Dug Dug’s. They played a fun blend of psych, surf, and border rock.

Up next would be a trio of Australian bands and doom metal in a blues bar.

Keep your mind open.

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Top 40 albums of 2016-2020: #’s 35 – 31

As always whenever one makes such a list, there are many albums you want to include but you have to draw the line somewhere. That line was drawn at 40 records, and we’re now at the top 35.

#35: Night Beats – Who Sold My Generation (2016)

No question mark. That’s one of the first things you notice when you look at the cover of Who Sold My Generation. It’s not a question. The album is a statement. It’s a rough, bluesy, psyched-out statement about how the Nights Beats‘ generation was sold out by one-percenters, trickle-down economics, and the tech industry.

#34: Partner – In Search of Lost Time (2017)

Hey, rock is supposed to be fun. Remember that? Well, Partner do. That’s pretty much their motto, and In Search of Lost Time reminds us that rock is often best served with massive riffs, shredding solos, lyrics everyone will remember and love (and sing at live gigs), and themes of sex, drugs, and, well…rock.

#33: Föllakzoid – I (2019)

There’s no way this album should’ve worked. The three members of Föllakzoid each recorded their own parts separately and then gave those parts to their engineer, who hadn’t heard any of them, and then more or less told him, “Make a record.” As my wife asked when I told her this story, “Then whose album is it?” The answer, according to Föllakzoid, is “Everyone’s.” It’s theirs because they made the parts, the engineer’s because he put them together into some kind of krautrock / Blade Runner sequel synthwave soundtrack, and the listener’s because he / she will interpret it however they want.

#32: The Beths – Future Me Hates Me (2018)

These pop-rockers from New Zealand weren’t on my radar until I stumbled across this record while working at WSND. I was floored by their great hooks, sharp lyrics, and the sense of fun that permeated the entire record. They blew up on radio across the globe with songs like the title track (about dreading a relationship as soon as it begins) and “Whatever” – an ode to slacker aesthetic.

#31: The KVB – …Of Desire (2016)

I don’t remember where I first heard …Of Desire, but it grabbed me and would not let go. This sexy shoegaze album never gets old and is suitable for everything from a synthwave / goth DJ set to waiting in your car for a train to pass to having sex to a quiet dinner at home. The duo use all their vintage analog gear to maximum effect, making you feel like you’re floating in some kind of electric warmth.

Come back soon as I crack open the top 30 albums of the last five years.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: The UFO Club – self-titled (2012)

Released just a year after their split EP with Night Beats, The UFO Club (Christian Bland, Danny Lee Blackwell, and Skyler McGlothlin) took the four tracks they had on the EP and added seven more to create a spooky, trippy, solid album.

It starts with “July” – a song I once presented to a woman who described herself as “an original hippie.” She loved it. It’s hard not to love with its opening acoustic guitar chords, Blackwell’s heavily reverbed vocals, McGlothlin’s stumbling drunk beats, and Bland’s warped electric guitar. Their cover of The Ronettes‘ “Be My Baby” follows with its guitars that sound like a swarm of stoned bees. Blackwell is a known Bo Diddley fan (Night Beats often covers Diddley’s “Keep Your Big Mouth Shut” live), so their song “Bo Diddley Was the 7th Son” is a roaring, sweaty tribute to him. It almost sounds like they told McGloghlin to just go nuts on the drums, and he did.

“Wolfman” is another track from the EP that’s wild, crazy fun with Blackwell taking on the role of a werewolf and Bland and McGloghlin howling behind him. “Doubts” slows things down before we totally lose our minds. The sad organ and sorrowful drumming highlight Blackwell’s pleading vocals for love. “John the Cat” has such a swagger to it that it might topple your speakers and puts Bland’s love of early Pink Floyd on full display.

“Fuck shit up!” the band yells at the beginning of “Surf Shitty,” a dangerous track best suited for 1960’s juvenile delinquency film soundtracks. “Chapel” follows it. It’s a stand-out track on the EP as well as here. It’s fuzzed-out psychedelic bliss about inward meditation. “Up in Her Room” is over seven minutes of psychedelic garage rock with Blackwell singing about gettin’ his freak on in his girlfriend’s apartment. “Natalie” might be that girl up in the room. She’s a weird one if that’s the case because the song is a wild, organ-heavy freak-out that sounds like someone slipped something funky into the band’s tea at the recording studio. The closer, “Last Time,” is a short, warped version of the Rolling Stones‘ classic track.

It’s a cool, weird record, and a must-have gem for fans of The Black Angels and Night Beats.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: The UFO Club & Night Beats – Split (2011)

This eight-song EP is split between bands hailing from Austin, Texas and Seattle, Washington. Side A is four tracks by Austin’s The UFO Club (who would go on to release a full album a year later – review coming soon). Side B is one of the first official recordings of Seattle’s Night Beats – even before their first full album was released by Austin’s Reverberation Appreciation Society label.

The UFO Club melds Austin and Seattle together by combining the powers of The Black Angels‘ Christian Bland and Danny Lee Blackwell of Night Beats (both sharing duties on guitar, vocals, farfisa, drums, bass) and producer / bassist / organist Skyler McGlothlin to create a heady brew of Pink Floyd, 13th Floor Elevators, Phil Spector, and Howlin‘ Wolf.

“(My Love Is) Waiting” is a pleading love song with Blackwell’s distinctive voice calling out in soulful wails while crystalline guitars surround him. “Chapel (in My Mind)” is an instant stand-out with creeping fuzz bass, spooky drums, and haunted house guitars as Bland sings about engaging in self-introspection and not caring what others think of the idea. You’ll want “Wolfman” on every Halloween-themed playlist you create from now on, as it’s a fun, rocking track with Blackwell trying to keep his lover calm as he transforms into a monster and Bland and McGlothlin howl and bay in the background. Side A ends with their power drill-fuzzy cover of The Ronettes‘ “Be My Baby.”

Side B is all Night Beats, consisting of the original lineup (Blackwell on vocals and guitar, Tarek Wegner on bass, James Traeger on drums). It opens with one of my favorite Night Beats tracks, “Hex,” a trippy psychedelic cut that has Blackwell’s opening guitar riffs hitting you like black helicopters coming over the horizon. “A Night with Nefertiti” brings Wegner’s bass to the forefront and makes the vocals a bit sleepy (in a good way). The Egyptian theme continues on the funky “Drowning in the Nile” (which includes some wild harmonica work by Blackwell). The closer is “18 Glowing Phantoms.” Blackwell’s acoustic guitar takes on a tribal sound as he sings about being taken to an otherworldly dark forest to learn he has no soul. Creepy? Yes. Good? Absolutely (especially at the break-down).

This split 10″ EP was a good warm-up for both The UFO Club’s self-titled album a year later and Night Beats’ first full record. It’s a fine addition to any collection of net-psychedelic music.

Keep your mind open.

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Top 30 live shows of 2019: #’s 15 – 11

We’re halfway to the top. Let’s get to it…

#15 – Alison Krauss – Memorial Coliseum – Ft. Wayne, IN – August 05th

Alison Krauss‘ voice is so heavenly you almost can’t quite believe it’s real even as you’re hearing it. She is a great performer and this show with a full stage set-up and rotating band members was a delight.

#14 – Night Beats – Levitation Austin – November 09th

It had been a couple of years since I saw Night Beats, and this show at Levitation Austin was a great reminder of why you and I need to see them whenever possible. They always kill it live and bring a sense of danger to whatever stage they take.

#13 – Cosmonauts – Levitation Austin – November 09th

I had wanted to see Cosmonauts since I first heard their A-OK! album. They unleashed a wall of shoegaze power like I hadn’t heard all weekend at Levitation Austin, and I was left a bit dumbstruck by the set’s end.

#12 – The Flaming Lips – Levitation Austin – November 08th

“I’m always happy when I see them.” That’s a quote from my wife describing a Flaming Lips show, and their Levitation Austin set continued the trend. It was fun, colorful, playful, and what everyone needed on a cool night to forget the low temperatures and troubles in our lives.

#11 – The Black Angels – Levitation Austin – November 09th

Another set from Levitation Austin. Are you noticing a pattern here? It’s one of the best festivals in the country for music lovers, and the Black Angels help curate it. As an added bonus, they play it every year. This year’s set was another powerhouse one, with Christian Bland particularly playing harder than I’ve heard him play in a while.

Come back tomorrow when we reach the top 10!

Keep your mind open.

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Live – Desert Daze Caravan tour – Phoenix, AZ – March 11, 2017

It was with sunburned legs and neck that a friend of mine, Scott, and I headed into downtown Phoenix, Arizona for the annual Viva PHX festival. It’s an impressive undertaking by the city. 100 bands play in 18 venues around downtown in one night. The style of acts ranges from jazz funk to thrash punk, so you can see just about anything (even lucha libra wrestling).

After dining on a turkey burger and a chicken quesadilla, Scott and I walked to the Valley Bar. A friend of his had described it as a “dive bar” you had to access through an alley. She was right. We walked down an alley, past a dumpster, and down into a basement bar mostly lit by candlelight. It was a neat place, and the pear cider there was outstanding.

The doors to their mid-size music hall opened a bit late, but I was happy to see some Orange amplifiers on stage and everything else already set up and ready to rock. Jjuujjuu opened with a good set of mostly instrumental psychedelia. Shame on you if you missed it because they were a great way to start the night. Scott, who had never heard of any of the bands playing, enjoyed their set.

Froth were up next and laid down their “California vibe” psych-rock. This was the first time I heard some of their new stuff, and there were some good rockers in there. Scott thought Froth’s lead singer was too much of a perfectionist (due to his frequent requests to get the levels right in his monitor), but didn’t think their set was bad.

I got up close for Deap Vally. I told Scott that they were “going to be loud as fuck” in the small venue, and I was right. They played a set of tracks from their excellent sophomore album Feminism and one (“Walk of Shame”) off Sistrionix. This was the first time I’d seen them in a small venue and with Julie Edwards on drums. I also spoke with Ms. Edwards before and both she and Lindsey Troy after their set and they were delightful. They were the only band that hung out in the merch area the whole night and they were swarmed after their killer set. I always feel bad for any band that has to follow them because they take no prisoners. Scott was impressed.

He was also impressed by Night Beats, even though they played a short, four-song set. I don’t know if they got in late and thus lost some of their set time or if they had to cut out early to make it to another engagement, but four songs live by Night Beats are better than twenty by many other bands. It was nice to see them grinning after having reported a lot of their gear had been stolen in Tijuana a couple nights earlier. They threw down hard and then were gone in the blink of an eye, almost like a firework exploding.

Temples closed the Desert Daze Caravan show. I’d seen them on the main stage at Levitation Austin in 2014 and was surprised by how heavy their set was. I wondered if they’d be just as much in a small venue. They were, but they were also crisp. It was one of the better engineered sets I’d heard from anyone in a while. Scott wasn’t much a fan of their British psych sound, but I thought they had one of the best sets of the night, and the crowd was crazy for them.

Yacht weren’t part of the Desert Daze Caravan tour, but they were the “afterparty” band at the Valley Bar that night. We almost left before their set, mainly because it first appeared they weren’t going to set up for another hour, but they zipped onstage as soon as all of Temples’ gear was gone and dropped a fun electro set that had the crowd bouncing. Scott said, “I wasn’t into it at first, but they grew on me.”

I spoke with the man who made all the psychedelic light effects for the Desert Daze Caravan bands. I thanked him for the nice work. He shook my hand and said, “You saw a good one. The spirit of rock and roll was here tonight.”

We emerged from underneath the city around 1:30am. Were it not for the bits of trash, traffic barriers, and the gear vans still here and there, you wouldn’t know a music festival had just taken place. It was eerily quiet. All you could hear was the spirit of rock and roll.

Keep your mind open.

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VIVA PHX artist spotlight: Night Beats

As I have mentioned in the past, I will see Night Beats at any given opportunity. They are one of the best live acts out there right now and absolute gunslingers onstage. I saw them three times last year (once in Chicago, once in Austin, once in San Marcos), and their newest album, Who Sold My Generation, was one of my top albums of 2016.

They always put on a good show of psychedelic R&B, and seeing them in probably the smallest venue so far (for me, at least) at VIVA PHX is going to be a treat.

Keep your mind open.

Desert Daze Caravan tour announces dates for spring 2017.

The Desert Daze Caravan tour, featuring Night Beats, Temples, Deap Vally, Froth, and Jjuujjuu has announced its full U.S. schedule. Beginning in San Francisco February 22nd, the tour winds through the west and southwest until March 17th in San Antonio. Don’t miss your chance to see this tour. It’s sure to be outstanding. I’m catching it at the Phoenix stop. See you there!

Keep your mind open.