More PUSA

The Presidents of The United States' latest effort, "These are the Good Times People," has gotten a solid 4-star rating from All Music Guide, who have called the new disc "eclectic" and "satisfying," and have even selected three songs off the the album as AMG Track Picks. Check out the full review here, and don't miss the Presidents when they play Stubb's Wednesday, October 8th with The Black and White Years.

Diamonds in the ACL Rough, Pt 1: Friday AM- Early PM

With all the amazing artists coming to ACL this weekend (The Foo Fighters, Beck, Robert Plant & Allison Krauss, Manu Chao, John Fogerty, The Raconteurs, The Mars Volta, and Gnarls Barkley, just to name a few,) and with the sheer number of performers the festival is playing host to (130 artists across 8 stages,) and it inevitable that some lesser-known acts will be lost in the calamity of musical saturation that is Austin from Friday to Sunday. That being said, finding those acts which are just ahead of the game, those who are broadcasting the future in their 30-minute, sparsely attended set before blasting off into st

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26TH:

Dan Dyer, 11:45AM, AT&T Blue Room:


Dan Dyer sounds like Ben Harper or Maroon 5 with a quarter of the pop sheen and 5000 times the soul. Dyer has captured the smoothness of the 70's lounge movement, the ambience and good vibes of a cool summer evening off the coast of some treasure island of relaxation. The music is intellectually stirring, a hot cup of tea for your spirit with just enough sugar to perk you up, freshen your perspective on the world at large, smell all the roses, and set you gently back onto your carseat or sofa, ready and waiting for the next time you fly away through the speakers - which won't be long.

RIYL: Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Maroon 5, The Beach Boys, Stevie Wonder, The Bee Gees

Autamata, 12 noon, Austin Ventures Stage

Autamata may hail from the rain-drizzled valleys of Wicklow, Ireland, but Ken McHugh's brain must reside somewhere inside a nightclub inside a pirate ship inside an underground cave inside a jungle somewhere in an alternate dimension where the sun comes out whenever it feels like dancin. The "songwriter, producer, and mucho-instrumentalist" draws the line somewhere between Knightrider soundtrack if Hosselhoff was replaced by Rockwell, Built to Spill on disco steroids, and The Postal Service fronted by Nina Persson of the Cardigans. McHugh employs the services of a trio of pixies whose soft touches, along the lines of festival mates Flyleaf's Lacey Mosley's softer moments, add just the right amount of pop sensibility to the eclectic and provocative dance tracks underneath.

RIYL: Natalie Imbruglia, Chromeo, The Postal Service, Nine Inch Nails, Of Montreal, Feist, Broken Social Scene, Blue Monday, J Dilla

What Made Milwaukee Famous, 1:30PM, AT&T Blue Room



Considering the attention this group has been getting lately, they may almost be too well-known to go here, but their sound is so big and so familiar that if you measure these guys in reference to how known they could be, their current fame is but a dust speck on the Stereo of America.

RIYL: Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Trail of Dead, Coldplay, Third Eye Blind

The Pick of the Week: Sep 14th-21st

THE PARLOR MOB @ STUBB'S, FRI 09/19


I know this might be hard to believe, with all the great shows I have access to here at C3, but the Parlor Mob is the show I'v ebeen looking forward to this month out of any, save for ACL itself. I saw the Mob the last time they came through Austin, and they blew me away. They were polished, the came with tons of energy, they had plenty of blazing duel guitar ear candy, emotion in spades, and, above all else, watching the group gave me this feeling that I was a part of something special, an exclusive member of a diverse, yet small group of witnesses to a sleeping giant taking its first morning breaths and turning up the blistering rock radio before letting loose on the unsuspecting world. At that show, there were about 40 people in the audience. This time around, I expect there to be considerably more, now that there's been time for the word to spread, cus the witnesses, we've been talking.

If you're one of those people that doesn't like to see bands they've never heard before because they get disappointed by the usual lack of stage presence we in the off-radio music community so often deal with, this is your show.

If you're a ex-hard rock disciple who misses the golden days and thinks he's never going to hear the music he loves live again, this is the show for you.

If you play an instrument, any instrument, this is the show for you.

The Parlor Mob has something for everyone, and the price is so so right (only $8!?!?), which is why I'm making them my pick of the week.

Get your tickets to the Pick of the Week

Honorary Mention: Dark Star Orchestra @ Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheatre, Saturday 9/20

Impressions of a quick listen to TV On the Radio's "Dead Science"

Strutting down the Street trippin' out to neon lights and city sounds, club beats and rainy streets copulating in your ears, all the while just waiting for somebody to come up to you so you can own them with less effort than it takes to light a cigarette, but really just wanting to chill, kickin back, strutting down the street and peering out at the world from behind the aviators you know you shouldn't be wearing but decided to rock anyway.


Check out cuts from "Dead Science" on the band's Myspace page and see where it takes you.


TV on the Radio. Live at Stubb's Oct 30th, with the Dirtbombs.

Dude, the Presidents!

And you know what? I listened to the new album on their Myspace, and it's good! Yeah, I said it!


THE F*&^*N PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WITH THE BLACK AND WHITE YEARS, WED OCT 8TH AT STUBB'S WALLER CREEK AMPHITHEATRE

The Ghostface/Ghostland Mash-Up will Melt Your Face

Car Stereo (Wars,) the musical mouthpiece of Austin filmmaker Christopher Rose, is an invasion of your sonic privacy. He's digging in your closet, pulling out your musical skeletons, and making them shake their bones to pieces, and when it's all done, you'll thank him for it and ask for more. Here's a sampling of his samplings:





Avril Lavigne
Nirvana
The Theme from Doug
Three 6 Mafia
Journey
Daft Punk
Kanye
Lloyd
INXS
Juvenile
Smashmouth
MIMS
Survivor

By the way, this list represents less than half of two songs, about 2 minutes worth of material. Suck on that.


Clip from the Car Stereo (Wars) CD Release Party at Beauty Bar

CS(W) is all over the place this month, playing gigs at Beauty Bar and Molotov Lounge (with Busdriver, who any fans of fringe-hop like Aesop or Kool Keith need to know) leading up to his ACL Aftershow back-to-back nights on the 26th or 27th of September, at Emo's Lounge. Tickets will be going fast, this guy is blowing up, so get 'em early and shake it, Hipster Austin. This is where musical goldmining meets raucous dance party.

CAR STEREO WARS ACL AFTERSHOWS:

FRI SEPTEMBER 26TH
SAT SEPTEMBER 27TH

Portugal the Man - By Alex

Portugal. The Man, is an ever evolving progressive rock band from Alaska who has recently relocated to Seattle, WA. The band’s sound is a journey through rock n’ rolls’ roots. Combining southern guitar sounds, programmed beats, three-piece harmonies, and solid bass lines on their previous two releases. The band is now setting out on, The Gold Tour, with Earl Grey Hound and WinterSleep; in support of their brand-new effort, Censored Colors. This new album takes the group in a new direction, incorporating horn and string sections to songs, which would make John Lennon proud.
Their live shows bring everything on record to the audience. They are usually joined on-stage by, The Approaching AIRballoons, who are friends, who help recreate all of the layers caught on recording. Adding the feel of something larger. Portgual. The Man is not a group, but a movement.





Get tix to Portugal: The Man, Live at Emo's with Earl Greyhound and Wintersleep, Friday October 18th

More DSO Love

The Dark Star Orchestra carbon-copy Terrapin Station:



This Saturday, Stubb's Outdoors, come out!

Tickets Here, well worth it.

Shiny Toy Guns

Shiny Toy Guns are coming to Austin. These guys have been around for a while and have managed to bridge the gap between electronica and avant-garde indie-core groups like the Blood Brothers, and new lead vocalist Sisley Treasure can rip with the best of groups in the scene. They've taken Trent Reznor's hard edged philosophy towards dance music and taken it to another level of aggression, and their November 2008 release, Season of Poison, is sure to satisfy fans of their Grammy-nominated release, We Are Pilots. There's a ton of buzz surrounding these guys right now, so come down to the Parish and see what the fuss is all about! Ticket link below.



New Vocalist Sisely Treasure:

Shiny Toy Guns Live at the Parish Room, with Jonezetta and The Delta Fiasco

And for the Emocore Crowd....

The forbearers of Emo-core, FINCH, return to Texas with their brand of heartfelt, hardcore. These five brave souls have been bringing their angular guitar and vocal attacks mixed with campfire choruses to the masses since 2001’s, “What it is to Burn.” Touring in support of their new self-titled E.P Finch has come to stake their claim to the Scream-o devotees.

Coming along with them on this wild ride are Scary Kids Scaring Kids, whose Zappa-esque ability to blend tongue-in-cheek humor with technical and complex guitars and soaring vocals have made them a well-known name in the Emocore scene that Finch helped create. Together, these two groups represent an emo history lesson perfect for any fan of newer groups like Story of the Year, Aiden or It Dies Today.

Check out the links below and come rock out!

Get your Tickets to Finch and Scary Kids Scaring Kids at Antone's, Saturday September 20th

Dark Star Orchestra may have stolen Jerry Garcia's Soul, Saturday September 20th

Attention all Deadheads: Clear your schedules. Clear them. Put away your pipes, leave the hackey sack at home, grab your best tie-dye shirt and your Birkenstocks, and get your unkempt, free-lovin asses down to Stubb's.

"But Justen," you all say, "The Grateful Dead don't exist anymore, why should I go see another band?" Because that other band is Dark Star Orchestra, and they not only cover Grateful Dead songs, they meticulously recreate entire set lists, note for note, song for song, word for word. It's the closest most of us will ever get to seeing the Grateful Dead live. I present to you, odorous, fun-loving hippie masses, Scarlet Begonias from the 5/8/77 show in Buffalo, played in 2007.



Compare:


My Work is Done Hippies. Come play and be merry. <---ticketlink

Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers at Stubb's

Check out Stephen pourin on the charm and laying down some heartfelt tunes below, this will be a great date show or a good show for anyone who needs an uplifting break from the hustle bustle of everyday life.



Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers at Stubbs

Thursday, September 18th, come see Stephen do his thing.

Dr. Dog

Dr. Dog got their big break touring with My Morning Jacket in 2004, and in describing the band's sound, the similarities with the aforementioned group are are a good starting point. Much like My Morning Jacket, Dr Dog has found a balance between originality and proficiency, channeling many of the greats of the past and adding a contemporary twist that makes it current and classic at the same time. Listening through the bands myspace one will hear the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, a little bit of Coldplay, a little bit of Crosby Stills and Nash, and another helping of the Beach Boys (you can never have too much Pet Sounds ...sounds?) If you're intrigued, they'll be at The Parish this Saturday, and they are sure not to disappoint.

Dr Dog at the Parish

Tokyo Police Club

I really, really like these guys.

Bands Tokyo Police Club would be fighting for personal space with if we were all magnetically attracted to each other by our musical tastes:

The Strokes
Say Anything
Born Ruffians
The Stills (anyone remember them? You should!)
The Whigs (who are playing with them!)

Basically, these guys are awesome, and a cut above their teen-indie contemporaries. Good on ya, Saddle Creek!



They're playing at Emo's next Friday, again, with the Whigs (that's September 12th), get your tickets at ticketweb and I'll see you there!

Umphrey's McGee at La Zona Rosa

Jamband titans Umphrey's McGee are coming to La Zona Rosa September 11th (that's this coming Thursday.) These guys really do have something for everyone: they have the chops to satisfy the most stringent of jazz critics, they can bring the metal, they're a venerable fortress of laid-back chill grooves, and their extensive experience in the jam band scene makes them solid entertainers. Umphrey's are a staple of the festival scene, having played at the first Bonaroo, and, no lie, they were touted by Rolling Stone as the "odds-in favorites to the next-Phish sweepstakes." Check out the video below, lay back, relax with your favorite beverage, and when the clip is done and you still want more, come see them rock Austin's face off.




TICKETSSSS