PLUS: Austin Chronic & 4/20 Merch • Summer Camps

Cover Story

Texas Platters

While it won’t go platinum like the 1993 Dazed and Confused soundtrack, which even spawned a second volume, the music from Richard Linklater’s spiritual successor taps its era’s aural ethos in a similar manner. Easy to imagine most tracks showing up on a vintage 1980 request hour. More specifically, the Everybody Wants Some film soundtrack…

by Greg Beets

Texas Platters

Firmest command of traditional Texas country music on the contemporary scene? On fourth LP Just the Way I Am, Dave Insley makes an airtight case for himself. Don’t be distracted by the genre luminaries making appearances: Redd Volkaert, Dale Watson, and Kelly Willis, among others. Begin at Insley’s rich, round croon that can encompass anything…

by Tim Stegall

Texas Platters

Decidedly uneasy listening that’s sweet on the ears, Tossing Pebbles on the Sleeping Beast indulges in homespun experimentation. Ex-Bad Liver fiddler and autodidact folklorist Ralph White teams up with Swans percussive force Thor Harris to jam on and around a brace of compositions by the former, the results built to thrill while also withstanding the…

by Tim Stegall

Texas Platters

The Paisley Underground comes home to roost on the first full-length from Surly Gates. Like that long-gone Cali conclave, Lay Low spotlights squarely on the songs, letting acid-fried colored gels give the tracks their strange sheen. Fronting traditional rock tropes and creamy harmonies, “Wicked Lover” and “Under Your Tongue” rely equally on melody and muscle,…

by Michael Toland

Texas Platters

Goofballs via rap-rocking ode “Mini Van,” Purple fields more than fan-friendly humor. On second LP Bodacious, the Beaumont trio employs serious musicianship to expand far beyond the punk/pop of its debut (409). Guitarist Taylor Busby and new bassist Joe Cannariato know their way around a fretboard, but girly-voiced drummer Hanna Brewer treats every rhythm as…

by Michael Toland

Hornography

Well, that was different – someone actually passed for a touchdown. At April 16’s Orange and White Game, the resurgent Texas Longhorns appeared back to form. Long-missing adjectives – such as “explosive,” “athletic,” and “punishing” – have welcomed themselves back into the Longhorn conversation, after some considerable time away. Though eventually rained out at the…

by Kahron Spearman

Texas Platters

What would emo mainstay American Football have sounded like if they’d expressed any emotion other than being perpetually bummed? Hard to say for sure, but Austin threepiece Honey and Salt come dang close to filling us in. A dash of early-Nineties’ Northeast punk, traces of young Mike Kinsella’s projects, and lots of mathy guitar make…

by Libby Webster

Oops!

In last week’s News story “APA President Files Grievance,” we said Quianna Canada was arrested on Dec. 17, 2015, when in fact she received a citation. The Chronicle regrets the error. In last week’s story “Campaign Finance Reports Shed Light on Prop 1 PAC Spending,” the Chronicle misrepresented the issue of background checks for TNCs.…

by Chronicle Staff

Soccer Watch

With barely a month to go in the European soccer season, there’s new drama in a couple of races that looked all but over a short time ago. Leicester, who were in last place in the English Premier League just 13 months ago, shocked the league with their turnaround this year. But their seemingly comfortable…

by Nick Barbaro

Public Notice: Love Your Mother Earth

Friday, April 22, is Earth Day, and this one will have a tangible, as well as symbolic value, as the United States, China, India, and more than 150 countries from around the world will officially sign on to the Paris Climate Agreement. Here in town, the annual Austin Earth Day event is Saturday, April 23,…

by Nick Barbaro

Headlines

Early voting begins Monday, April 25, and runs through Tuesday, May 3, in the May 7 city of Austin election over a single proposition: Prop. 1, the ordinance filed by petition that would eliminate fingerprinting and trademarking requirements for ridesharing drivers, among other changes. On Tuesday, several City Council members attended a press conference to…

by Chronicle Staff

Quote of the Week

“I am gratified that … in-person visitation has been restored so that loved ones of the people in our custody are able to have meaningful contact.” – Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt, announcing the return of in-person visits to Travis County

by Chronicle Staff

Mr. Smarty Pants Knows

Beginning in 1903, the U.S. paid rent to Cuba for Guantánamo Bay, but since the Sixties, Cuba has refused to cash the annual $4,085 rent check. Monarch butterflies feed on milkweeds containing cardenolides, which are steroids that are poisonous and usually affect the heart. Cardenolides accumulate in the butterflies and act as a defense mechanism…

by Mr. Smarty Pants

Texas Platters

Since 2011’s Saint Monday, Michael Fracasso has undergone major life changes. Most notably a divorce. No surprise, then, that Here Come the Savages, his ninth studio effort since arriving in Austin from NYC in 1990, can be accurately described as a breakup record. It’s different from his previous work where he dug into vivid stories…

by Jim Caligiuri

Texas Platters

Calliope Musicals sticks out like a sore thumb on the local scene. Last month’s Best New Band at the Austin Music Awards puts on performances wherein frontwoman Carrie Fussell acts as ringmaster amidst the homegrown sextet’s circus theatrics of DayGlo costumes and paisley pop garb. Studio debut Time Owes You Nothing follows their self-described “psychedelic…

by Alejandra Ramirez

Recent

See all

Gift this article