The Strange Boys, YellowFever, Mothfight, The Teeners, and Danny & the Nightmares

7 and 7 Is

Texas Platters

... limited to 500 copies all across the board here, beginning with the Strange Boys' stellar EP, Nothing (Dusty Medical). The slow, dusty back-porch blues of the title track and "Happily in Disbelief" crackle and pop like Smithsonian Folkways recordings from the 1950s. "We Both Know" adds woozy organ, guitarist Ryan Sambol's slurred vocals consistently in the red, but the real nugget here is the scorching, garage-bopper "Art for Art's Sake." Yellow Fever trades in the simplistic K Records bounce of its infectious debut for the psychedelic sounds of Jefferson Airplane on the local trio's "Culver City" candy-yellow 7-inch. The title track rides a plodding bassline beat that slowly builds toward pop perfection, while "Joe Brown" unwinds a mystery tale with splashes of surf guitar. Led by former Octopus Project auxiliary man Kevin Adickes, Mothfight's Hopscotch (Natrix Natrix) is a two-part train wreck of syncopated rhythms, choral voices, and xylophone that sounds like Danielson on speed, especially the flip side, which swells with strings courtesy of violin prodigy Marcus Rubio. The Teeners get downright violent on the locals' eponymous debut (Super Secret), a blitzkrieg of lo-fi garage punk captained by vocalist Johnny Vomitnoise, who more than lives up to his name. It's still easy listening compared to the latest addition to Spain's Munster Records' Single's Club, Danny & the Nightmares' "Death of Satan" b/w "Monster Mash," in which Daniel Johnston preaches about Jesus and the devil over the howl of a nearby dog and an out-of-tune guitar.

Texas Platters


Dusty Medical Records: PO Box 1981, Milwaukee, WI 53201; www.dustymedical.com. Hugpatch Records: 476 Jefferson St. #201, Brooklyn, NY 11237; www.hugpatch.com. Natrix Natrix Records: 3222 John Campbell's Trail, Austin, 78735; www.natrixnatrixrecords.com. Super Secret Records: PO Box 1585, Austin, 78767; www.supersecretrecords.com. Munster Records: www.munster-records.com.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

Support the Chronicle  

READ MORE
More Music Reviews
Review: Tearjerk, <i>Face to Face</i>
Review: Tearjerk, Face to Face
Face to Face (Record Review)

Kriss Conklin, May 12, 2023

Album Review: The Stacks
Album Review: The Stacks
Lay Me Down to Rest (Record Review)

Mars Salazar, Feb. 17, 2023

More by Austin Powell
Crosstalk: The American Analog Set Due for Numero Group Reissue Treatment, and More Music News
Crosstalk: The American Analog Set Due for Numero Group Reissue Treatment, and More Music News
Blaze Foley’s Outhouse online & Broken Spoke's historic marker

April 6, 2023

SXSW Music Spotlight: Hermanos Gutiérrez
SXSW Music Spotlight: Hermanos Gutiérrez
Two guys from Switzerland venture spaghetti Western instrumentals

March 10, 2023

KEYWORDS FOR THIS STORY

The Strange Boys, YellowFever, Mothfight, The Teeners, Danny & the Nightmares

MORE IN THE ARCHIVES
NEWSLETTERS
One click gets you all the newsletters listed below

Breaking news, arts coverage, and daily events

Can't keep up with happenings around town? We can help.

Austin's queerest news and events

Eric Goodman's Austin FC column, other soccer news

All questions answered (satisfaction not guaranteed)

Information is power. Support the free press, so we can support Austin.   Support the Chronicle