Authors: Jeanette D. Moses
Austin Psych Fest @ Carson Creek Ranch 05.08–10
Austin Psych Fest ran from May 8 to May 10, featuring psych rock legends and newcomers alike in a three day festival of hazy riffs, amplifier feedback and unrelenting fuzz. … read more
Cooked With Love: The Black Lips Release Arabia Mountain
It was a windy afternoon in Austin, Texas during SXSW when I found myself sitting poolside at a swanky hotel with Cole Alexander and Ian Saint Pé of Black Lips in a cabana that was clearly marked as being reserved for someone else. “We like to come in and improvise. See, this was reserved,” Alexander says as he picks up the sign. “This was reserved for us.” … read more
Precision Builds with Pangea Speed
“I have this bad habit of never being satisfied. I’ll always look at a project and think that I can do it better.” Andy Carter is a perfectionist. When you consider that he is the owner of his own custom motorcycle and parts company, Pangea Speed, and one of the major organizers behind the second annual Salt Flat Social, this quality, which he refers to as either an “evolution or a sickness—depending on the day,” is exactly what you’d hope to find. … read more
CLC Artist: Tiffany Blue
Like any girl, Tiffany Blue wanted a variety of options to hang from her stretched lobes, but at approximately $100 per pair, it just didn’t seem realistic. She created her first pair of polymer clay earrings in the fall of 2009 after she became disappointed by the high prices of jewelry for stretched ears in local stores. Her designs run the gamut from simple spirals to decadent dangles that curl in and out in a dizzying manner. … read more
Destroying Crowds One Bass Drum at a Time: An Interview...
Bass Drum of Death’s debut LP buzzes with lo-fi guitars, heavy drumbeats and a loose garage rock style. The album has such a cohesive sound that it’s hard to believe a relatively new band released it and that it was recorded in such a DIY fashion. The mastermind behind the project, John Barrett, played every instrument, wrote every song and recorded the entire thing solo. … read more
Review: The Growlers – Hung at Heart
The Growlers = Not in the Face + Allah-Las + Beach Boys … read more
Review: The Growlers – Gilded Pleasures
The second 2013 release from The Growlers picks up right where Hung at Heart left off. Although technically an EP, the nine tracks on Gilded Pleasures play like an LP. … read more
Review: Spindrift – Ghost of the West
The wide-open spaces of places like Joshua Tree, animal corpses rotting under the blazing sun and the myth of the desert have marked all of their records, but for Ghost of the West, Kirpatrick Thomas wanted something different. He wanted to make an album that didn’t emulate the myth of the West, but embodied the West—what it actually was. … read more
Review: King Khan & The Shrines – Idle No More
Although Idle No More comes from a darker place than earlier Shrines work, the bulk of the album is celebratory. It melds the psychedelic soul sounds that the band is well known for with a gospel influence. … read more
Review: Audacity – Butter Knife
Audacity, like any great garage rock outfit, shouldn’t be listened to in headphones. This shit is always best when blasted through a shitty PA in an under-ventilated asbestos ridden basement. … read more