The Fat Angel Sings

Levitation 2022 starts tomorrow! Pass pickup starts tomorrow. Due to a fire at Parish on Monday (no one was hurt, thankfully), we have had to move some shows around. 

Originally founded in 2008 as Austin Psych Fest by members of The Black Angels and friends, the annual festival (rechristened Levitation in honor of The 13th Floor Elevators in 2015) now encompasses four days of performances in venues throughout Austin’s Red River District and East Side, including Stubb’s, Mohawk, Scoot Inn, and Antone’s. While a rumored appearance of Bernie Sanders introducing King Gizzard never materialized, there was no shortage of epic moments over Halloween weekend, with packed crowds taking in sets from The Jesus and Mary Chain, L7, Automatic, Os Mutantes, Hunx & His Punx, A Giant Dog, Imarham, Osees, and many more.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” sighed Jim Reid towards the end of his legendarily noisy band’s glitch-riddled set. His defeated, depressive apology was once again subordinated to the yowling clamor of his brother William “struggling” with an apparently “kaput” guitar pedal. Jim again: “It’s just one of those nights isn’t it?” Is it? Referencing a friend who’s seen the Scottish shoegaze progenitors several times across their four decades, his description of a standard JAMC show 

Saturday with a damn near perfect Heartless Bastards set, the one performance that lingered for me was Australia’s own Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. Having heard of their live prowess in advance of the show, I knew it was one performance that was not to be missed. Luckily for all attendees, (and unluckily for any photogs as it is a brutal place to cover) Mohawk was the chosen venue. The intimacy of the venue paired with Psychedelic Porn Crumpets colossal, unapologetic in-your-face shredding was the absolute pinnacle in a weekend of highlights.

Hunx and His Punx, Pale Dian, and Blushing. It’s always fun to see Hunx, and seeing Shannon out there enjoying herself onstage was really nice to see; I maybe could have asked for stronger sound, but not sure who that falls on. The shoegaze/dreampop due of Pale Dian and Blushing just brought noise and melody, and reminded me that although they might not carry the hype and adoration of the local scene, that doesn’t mean they’re not two extremely powerful forces in their craft.

Honestly, this festival continues to be a highlight. Every year, they grab from all different areas under the psychedelic umbrella, and we’re always getting the reward. The current format does make it harder to see all the bands on a budget, but definitely rewarding for the show you do hit up. Also, the Austin scene came strong. Pale Dian, Grivo, Troller, Black Angels, Blushing…not a single one of those bands didn’t punch above their weight class. 

Insane kudos are due to the staff at Levitation. It is safe to say that the event is rapidly becoming one of the most superbly curated festivals in the world these days. Every act on stage this week, bar none, perfectly melded into a stiff Reverberation Appreciation Society cocktail. 

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27th 

THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN

OS MUTANTES • W.I.T.C.H. • SUPERORGANISM • PROTOMARTYR

BABE RAINBOW • SLIFT • AUTOMATIC • IMARHAN

SUGAR CANDY MOUNTAIN • PAINT
CLAUDE FONTAINE • 70s TUBERIDE • TEAR DUNGEON

top bands from Thursday night. Hey, they were sick to be fair.

W.I.T.C.H. Was pleasantly surprised by this set at Empire where sound can sometimes be an issue. Easily the happiest band to be playing live again after years of lay off. African Jazz vibes.W.I.T.C.H. played their Black Sabbath and James Brown-inspired funky stoner classics, including “Living in the Past,” “Chifundo,” “Waile,” “It’s Alright,” and “Lazy Bones.” All energy, grace, and joy, Chanda said: “We take nothing for granted. Thank you for being here.”

Automatic Super heavy bass lines with the best drummer of the night holding it down.

Protomartyr Detroit’s finest are always heavy while staying tight throughout the set. Lead singer Joe Casey still has one of the best growls in the business. Joe Casey – a poet of everyday desperation – rang out nearly as strong as his band’s impossibly muscular riffage. (Looking the part, Casey earned comparison to a high school gym teacher from somebody near me, though I’d argue State Farm salesman.) Though Protomartyr’s sombre, gray-toned industrial churn was likely some of the least outwardly psychedelic music of the weekend, the singer cast a dissociative spell with ghostly, effect-riddled backing vocals from Breeders sister Kelley Deal. Shuttling in place, spitting his words with nihilistic venom, and at one point manically hollering during a heart stopping “Up In The Tower” – Casey’s apocalyptic declamations held Stubb’s in a vice. 

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28th 

KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD

GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR • VIAGRA BOYS • SHAME

PSYCHEDELIC PORN CRUMPETS • THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS

DESIRE • ACID DAD • GLÜME • CLUB INTL • MOTHERMARY

KILLS BIRDS • WARM DRAG • LEAH SENIOR

Too weird for college rock, too muscular for electronicats, and too psychedelic for the goths that first celebrated them, the Legendary Pink Dots define a cult band. Nonetheless, the Netherlands-based act persists into its fourth decade. Still led by singer Edward Ka-Spel (as co-founder Phil Knight retired from the road), the Dots have only honed their potent mix of pulsing rhythm throbs, strident synth noise, and crunch guitar. Built for studio work, the band compels live with minimalist lights, complementing the rhythm pulse, and the deadpan Ka-Spel reveling in his darkly romantic tales of madness and obsession. The group’s latest “The Museum of Human Happiness” contributed highlights “Postcards From Home” and the wild-eyed “This Is the Museum” on Friday night, 

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29th 

KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD

SHAME • VIAGRA BOYS • OFF! • HEARTLESS BASTARDS

HUNX & HIS PUNX • THE MURLOCS • SUNFLOWER BEAN

SHE PAST AWAY • LEBANON HANOVER  • TROPICAL FUCK STORM

DEATH VALLEY GIRLS • A GIANT DOG • ALEX MAAS • TEMPERS • BLK JKS

RINGO DEATHSTARR • HOOVERiii • FUCK MONEY • MUJERES PODRIDAS

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30th

THE BLACK ANGELS

L7 • COLD CAVE • LA FEMME • MOON DUO PRESENTS THE LIGHTSHIP

FRANKIE & THE WITCH FINGERS •  SOFT KILL

PLEASURE VENOM • BLOOD RED SHOES • TEMPLE OF ANGELS

BLUSHING • LUCID EXPRESS • DAIISTAR • AMPLIFIED HEAT

And just like that, Levitation 2022 has come and gone as fast and powerful as a Slift guitar interlude. With absolutely no remorse for ear drums, the entire billing unconditionally brought their fucking A game. Earsplitting, breakneck, and with style points in spades, this years fest was one for the record books. 2 nights of Gizz, 4 nights of the Osees, La Femme and Black Angels closing things out, what is not to like? If you were following along, your ATH crew enlisted amongst the thronged masses in the Red River Cultural District this weekend to get a massive dose of culture. We spread out as much as possible over the weekend and below are our major takeaways and favorite shows you should be listening to and seeing live if you get the chance. Until next time, hit the jump. 

Check out this long-lost collection of unreleased Nazz studio recordings created by a burgeoning young songwriter/producer by the name of Todd Rundgren!. Taken directly from the original master acetates, this box set collects the originally conceived 1968 rough mix of Nazz’s sophomore album “Nazz Nazz” created by Rundgren as he begins to learn the production techniques that made him the highly acclaimed producer he is today! Also contains unreleased, alternate mixes from 1967-1968 of tracks such as “Hello, It’s Me,” “Open My Eyes” and many more not available anywhere else! Includes a full-color booklet featuring liner notes and rare photos!

• Taken directly from the original master acetates, this box set collects the originally conceived 1968 rough mix of Nazz’s sophomore album “Nazz Nazz” created by Rundgren as he begins to learn the production techniques that made him the highly acclaimed producer he is today!

• Also contains unreleased, alternate mixes from 1967-1968 of tracks such as “Hello, It’s Me,” “Open My Eyes” and many more not available anywhere else!

• Includes a full-color booklet featuring liner notes and rare photos!

LIMITED EDITION 180 GRAM BLACK VINYL!! releases December 2nd, 2022 through Purple Pyramid

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds have shared a new song ahead of a forthcoming album. It’s called “Pretty Boy” and it features Johnny Marr on guitar.

In a press release, Gallagher said, “For this new record it was the first thing I wrote, the first thing I demoed and the first thing I finished, so it’s only right that it’s the first thing people get to hear. Massive shout out to my mainest man Johnny Marr for taking it somewhere special. Oh… and watch out for a cameo from me in the video… first one to spot me wins a bag of Flamin’ Hot Wotsits Giants!!”

Gallagher and his band recorded the track at the musician’s own London studio, where he co-produced the single with Paul “Strangeboy” Stacey. The next LP from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds is due out next year, although a release date and other details have not yet been announced.

The group’s previous LP, “Who Built the Moon?“, arrived in 2017. In 2019, they issued the “Black Star Dancing” EP. In 2021, Gallagher curated a greatest hits album compiling tracks from his output with High Flying Birds. The collection, titled “Back the Way We Came: Vol. 1 (2011 – 2021)“, landed last summer.

For this new record it was the first thing I wrote, the first thing I demoed and the first thing I finished, so it’s only right that it’s the first thing people get to hear. Massive shout out to my mainest man Johnny Marr for taking it somewhere special.

Brand new single – ‘Pretty Boy’ – the first to be revealed from Noel’s forthcoming new studio album.

Psych rockers The Black Angels perform the song outside Space ATX studio on the release of their new LP “Wilderness of Mirrors” .

There is a whole lot more Black Angels recordings in the world, with the iconic Austin heavy-psych troupe releasing their double new album “Wilderness of Mirrors” . This morning they shared one last teaser from the LP with the wailing, politically charged single “Empires Falling”—but today they’re also offering an additional sneak peek at the project with a live video of another new track titled “Icon.” “The song ‘Icon’ has been floating around for about 16 years,” the band clarifies. “[Vocalist Alex Maas] had the original song idea, but we wanted to see what happened if The Black Angels gave it a go!”

Performing the track for a recent “Neighborhoods” session, the band did their best to illustrate the new album’s title by setting up in the woods outside Space ATX recording studio in Austin, while the psychedelic camera effects often mirror the imagery of the band’s setup. “We imagine this filmed version of ‘Icon’ as what we would have sounded like deep in the Texas woods in the year 1865,” the band adds—a point enhanced by one member donning a Civil War cap in the clip. “It is extremely exciting for us to watch, anticipate, and experience the transition of what a song becomes. It’s like directions to hearing a ghost—a ghost of who one used to be.”

For some, home is a place. For others, it’s an idea. For Scout Gillett, it’s a nebulous concept with constantly changing definitions. It’s no wonder the New Yorker can’t quite get to grips with it—she’s displayed an adventurous spirit all her life, cutting her teeth in the Kansas City punk scene before departing for Brooklyn. It’s there that she’s made her base, at least for now. Gillett’s reaction to returning home to her native Missouri led to her digging deep into what made a place feel like home—“Nothing was as I’d remembered,” she recalled. “I felt homesick for a home that no longer seemed to exist”—sowing the seeds for what would become her debut album. 

The single “One To Ten” and a subsequent EP of the same name, “No Roof No Floor” is a remarkable record full of hushed intimacy that creates its own unique type of intensity, Gillett’s voice able to turn on a dime from a whisper to a soaring, cathartic belt. It’s an album of many shades, autumnal enough in spots that an October release makes perfect sense. She’s arrived as close to fully-formed as it’s possible to get, updating early singles “Mother Of Myself” and “Signal” to fit into the 10-track record’s more expansive vision. 

She’s been involved in music for longer than you’d think; the groundwork for Gillett’s solo endeavors was laid back in 2016 with the “Scout & the Snaggles” solo EP, referenced below, but it feels like she’s just getting started. “No Roof No Floor” is the kind of album you’ll regret missing out on, so make time for it the first chance you get. 

Released on Captured Tracks

Richmond, Virginia’s James Goodson makes scrappy guitar rock that’s piled high with hooks

If there’s one belief that guides James Goodson’s songwriting, it’s that rock music should be fun. You can’t miss this when you talk to him—on our hour-long call, he uses the word nine times. “We’re talking about catchy guitar music. I think it’s undeniable that this is fun stuff,” he says, with one of many laughs. “Guitars and loud music, and cool lyrics, and all these things, it should be moving you and hitting you on some level that almost gets around your brain.” Goodson spoke before kicking off a run of East Coast shows with his “Pressure Cooker” collaborators Militarie Gun (and MSPaint), and days before the release of his debut album, “OUTOFBODY”, out now on Lame-O Records. It’s hardly a position he thought he would end up in when he first started releasing music as Dazy in 2020: “I definitely did not expect anybody to find it at all, so to even be talking to you about it now is pretty wild,” says Goodson.

But push play on any of his songs—I mean it, just throw a dart at his discography—and in a matter of seconds, you’ll see why listeners have gravitated to Dazy. Goodson’s one-man band has been fully formed from the start, and on “OUTOFBODY”, it only gets bigger and better. 

Nowhere is this more apparent than on singles “Rollercoaster Ride,” “Split” and “On My Way,” none of which stretch past the two-minute mark. Goodson recalls “Rollercoaster Ride” as the result of him “trying to write something as poppy as possible,” pinpointing its echoing drum loop as a particular point of pride. Goodson’s insistent vocal interlocks with equally melodic guitar and mellotron lines in the track’s two-word choruses, creating the kind of ride you jump right back in line for the second it ends. On both “Split” and “On My Way,” Goodson’s wellbeing is entirely at the mercy of external forces (“You could paint a smile on my face / Then tell me something that would make it fade,” he sings on the former, while on the latter, he shrugs, “Comet won’t miss but I’ll just be on my way / Spreading that stress but I’ll just be on my way”), yet the sugar-rush instrumentals cast a rosy tint over even those situations, as if to prove there’s nothing more powerful than a pop song.

Goodson shouts out his beloved Ramones on “Choose Yr Ramone” and bemoans the writer’s dilemma on “Deadline.” He dismisses the never-ending quest to achieve someone else’s idea of success as a sucker’s game over the sludgy guitars and Primal Scream-y beat of “Ladder,” and avoids the void on “Asking Price,” which leaves room for R.E.M. jangle amid torrents of distortion. Goodson is more comfortable than ever with the sonic elements that he once felt self-conscious about, citing drum machines, in particular, as having “opened up a lot of songwriting stuff for me”—he not only inhabits the Dazy sound more confidently than ever on “OUTOFBODY”, but he also expands it.

On “Motionless Parade,” he reduces the tempo and gain both, delivering an imaginative strummer with some of his most resonant songwriting yet: “Nothing like a little fun thinking about what could go wrong,” he muses, formless fear paralyzing an otherwise pleasant scene. And on “Inside Voice,” Goodson pushes his vocals in a more natural, gentle direction, a development that he notes has been “a big part of Dazy” overall. “I guess we oughta try to say the things that stick to our insides,” he croons over acoustic guitar and mellotron, evoking an atmosphere of intimacy and vulnerability not yet seen in his discography.

“OUTOFBODY” ends with “Gone,” an absolute epic by Goodson’s standards, and his longest Dazy song to date at 3:45. The track “[went] through a lot of different versions,” he recalls, “and every time I would dust it off, I’d add something new to it.” With its mellotron strings and layered vocals, the track felt “too crazy” at times, but “I always knew it was going to be a closer on something. And I have a real soft spot for that huge closer. So I decided to just go nuts with it,” he says. If ever a Dazy track felt stadium rock-sized, it’s “Gone”—its dizzying crescendo is the kind of thing that gets people popping up out of even the cheap seats, with Goodson’s overlapping voices and volcanic guitars intertwined around the hopeful refrain, “And when they’re gone, you’ll be holding on.” It’s moments like this where you can forget that Dazy is just one person, recording in his spare room in Richmond. It already feels like much more.

“OUTOFBODY” is out now on Lame-O Records.

A month ago, Yeah Yeah Yeahs made a triumphant return with their fifth studio album and first release in nearly a decade, “Cool It Down”. While the record is steeped in elements of horror—born as it was as the result of the pandemic and all the anxieties that came flooding up to the surface during those early months—the track “Wolf” stands out as a worthy candidate for any Halloween playlist. Today they’re further building a case for the song’s spooky themes with an Allie Avital–directed music video that feels particularly seasonal due both to its subject matter and its star, who you may recognize from a recent TV series dealing in a very different kind of horror. 

“When I heard the title of the song and description of the role were both ‘Wolf’ it was a full-body ‘yes,’” shared Severance star Britt Lower, who becomes increasingly wolf-like as the new visual progresses. “To get to work on a story about a woman discovering the wild within and without was a dream. And to do so alongside legend Karen O…I mean, I’m speechless.”

On their first album in nine years, the Brooklyn post-punk trio give us the most open-hearted and deeply felt music of their career. They open with “Spitting Off the Edge of the World,” a song that’s every bit as towering as their classic ballad “Maps,” but this time the crisis isn’t romantic, it’s political, environmental, and generational. Then they proceed to dance the pain away on “Wolf” and “Fleez,” songs steeped in the arty New York grooves that have kept cool kids moving things forward since the 1970s. On the heartrending “Blacktop,” singer Karen O quotes Dylan Thomas over a Brian Eno synth drone. As she begs us to “hold on ’til the love is gone,” her words move through the music’s dark engulfing beauty like a faint message of hope in a sea of doubt and chaos.

“We were beside ourselves with excitement when Allie cast Brit as the lead in the video,” Karen O added of the collaboration. “YYYs are serious nerds for Severance—what luck when the stars align.”

from the album ‘Cool it Down’, out now on Secretly Canadian.

Two boys with guitars on their chests, stretching their song writing muscles and finding, to their delight, new possibilities at every run up the neck. This means trading vocal parts mid-song, then trading back again, modulating madly through rhythm changes, looking for a note in the harmony they’d never played or sung before. All in the service of locating the feelgood pop alchemy in a song in which no parts are repeated. laying it all down with a sweet solid state vibe.

“ w h a t e v e r h a p p e n e d t o ‘s h e’s a b e a m’! ? ! ” has been a question/passive-aggressive demand from Ty and Cory aficionados over the past few years. This is what happened. it went to heaven and lived a beautiful life there. this is the sound of it. guitars and harmonies. helium-coated keyboards. a celestial, steve millerish synth transformation. positivity. lightness. rock. epic. energetic. happy, headbanging days. ‘Milk Bird Flyer’ is a perfect other ‘a’ to pair with ‘she’s a beam’, hovering on a fade-in fanfare of gleaming guitar godness before shifting into a countryish tripper with cheerful psilo-sci-fi-bin lyrics to bend and stretch the ecstatic shuffle of the beat.

As with She’s A Beam’, Ty and Cory are floating so tight in the harmony that we’re like “ w h o’s w h o ? ” the pure sounds of yesterday are bright like a moment in time just waiting for its chance to exist, a nugget of potency landing right between the eyes in any era. turn it up and smile, smile, smile

“Milk Bird Flyer” · Ty Segall & Cory Hanson released on Drag City Records

Back in June, Sophie Allison, a.k.a. Soccer Mommy, released her third studio LP, “Sometimes, Forever”. The album was produced by Oneohtrix Point Never’s Daniel Lopatin, received resounding acclaim, and sent her even further into the stratosphere. Now, to celebrate this year’s Halloween, her favourite holiday period, Allison has released an alternate version of album highlight “Darkness Forever.” Officially titled “Darkness Forever (Sophie’s Version)” in homage to Taylor Swift, the song is presented in one of its earliest forms, a draft that didn’t make the final cut for the record.

Though the album version is already dark and distorted, the Halloween edition achieves a sound that’s even more underwater, foreboding, and climactic. “This version of ‘Darkness Forever’ is really exciting for me because it’s kind of what got me inspired to start working on the rest of the album,” Allison shared of the new release. “It felt new and fresh, and I had a lot of fun making it. When I was done with it, I felt very ready to work on more stuff for the record.”

The song originally appeared on Sophie Allison’s album “Sometimes, Forever” released back in June.

After a seven year absence with new material, Billy Idol has popped back and in a big way. His last album was 2014’s “King & Queen of the Underground” (which absolutely stellar) and then in 2021, he released an E.P. called ‘The Roadside’ which has one of his best songs ever called “Bitter Taste”. Almost exactly one year later in 2022, Billy released another E.P. and this one was called “The Cage” and is another 4 song set. This leads me to think that Billy might not be up for doing a full album, but if he wants to put out 4 new songs every year and with the caliber of these songs, count me in.

Billy Idol and his long time partner, Steve Stevens have crafted another batch of great songs with the help of famed producer, Butch Walker along with Tommy English and Zakk Cervini.

In an interview recently, I heard Billy talk about the fact that he was happy he somehow survived his drug induced rock & roll lifestyle because it has all been worth it. That worth it he is talk about is his granddaughter. He has seem to have found a new appreciation for life and that is reflected in his music and writing and I’m starting to think Billy is a fine wine because he keeps getting better with age!.

The opening track, “The Cage”, is basically about all the pent up energy everyone was feeling coming out of the Covid Lockdown. It felt like we were all in a cage and it was time to bust out. Written by Billy, Steven, Tommy and Joe Janiak. It is a high energy, punk rock song and Billy feels right at home on this track. If there is a Billy Idol sound…this is it and with Steve Stevens on guitar, there is no mistaken that sound. A perfect song to catch your attention and reel you in.

And if you think “The Cage” is the best song on the E.P., you’d be wrong. That belongs to the introspective “Running from the Ghost”. Lyrically, the song seems to be about Billy running from his demons all his life. He has seen some dark things in this life and his alcohol and drug addiction are a battle every day. The song starts off slow and then it explodes and the guitar work by Stevens is some of his best ever. That drum beat with it are powerful and engaging. It is a beast of a track and has such a mature and serious tone.

“Rebel Like You” with its fun motorcycle revving at the start. The electronic drum beat comes blaring in and Billy sings with umph and you can feel that snarl. The song has Billy on stage looking out in the audience and sees another woman dressed like him, but I’m not sure that is the gist of the story. I think the song is a shout out to his grand daughter and that she is a rebel just like him. 

The last track is called “Miss Nobody” and it is an electronic, dance song. This one was produced by Butch Walker and co-written by Sam Hollander. It is a slick pop track about a down & out woman who still is kicking ass. It is not my favourite track on the album, but it has its merits as it is catchy and contagious and will get you moving. A little less on the guitars, but still feels like a Billy track.

You will be surprised by this one.