Money Chicha

Mohawk, Sunday 23

Four days of free shows this weekend stack some 120 ATX all-stars – including Sabrina Ellis, Dossey, Glasshealer, Jane Leo, J Soulja, Mama Duke, the Tiarras, etc. – across Downtown venues: Barbarella, Cheer Up Charlies, Chess Club, Elysium, Empire, Flamingo Cantina, Mala Vida, Mohawk, Stubb's, Swan Dive, Valhalla, Vaquero Taquero. The Chronicle's Black Angels/Black Pumas offshoot show this Saturday at the 13th Floor sizzles too (see p.40). Mercury-popping: Money Chicha electrifying Mohawk with cumbias and Latin psychedelia.

"I was born and raised in Laredo," emails the group's Grammy-winning sonic architect Beto Martinez. "I grew up in pretty much a constant scorcher. Laredo always seemed way hotter than anywhere else in Texas. Once as a kid, totally obsessed with break dancing and the breaking movies, I went outside in a hoodie in the middle of summer and tried to break-dance on the corner with a boombox. I remember my mom yelling that I was gonna die of heatstroke!"

Warmup acts here certainly raise temps: Dallas, Texan Jason Bobadilla's Latinx remix of trad Mexican revelry in Ariel & the Culture and San Antonian-by-way-of-Laredo masked alt-rapper Vermin the Villain. – Raoul Hernandez

Kathryn Legendre, Texas String Assembly

Stubb's, Thursday 20

If her step-in set at this spring's Two Step Inn is any indication, Kathryn Legendre's ready to launch from local honky-tonks to bigger stages. Since her debut Old Soul a decade ago, the ATX songwriter has delivered the kind of hook-laden tunes and grounded lyrics that led female artists to top the Nineties country charts, with her latest singles even adding a soulful touch. The wild bluegrass of septet Texas String Assembly picks apart last year's raucous, jamming debut LP DOGGABONE, while Seattle transplant Gus Clark brings his sweet throwback honky-tonking and blues tenor to open. – Doug Freeman

LeTrainiump, Indoor Creature, Mockjaw

Cheer Up Charlies, Friday 21

Lucky for Austin, radio-ready New Orleanian LeTrainiump has become a quarterly live presence in the Texas capital, toting a consistently well-executed take on the contemporary trend of energetic, sparkly, Eighties-inspired synth-pop. Try the buttery vocals on October's "Go." Locally sourced, Indoor Creature rides modern woes with an old-souled, easy listening style, while Kiki Machine chants through emotional indie rock on new "Sakura." The Howdy Gals production also taps promising new quartet Mockjaw, debuted on the scene in May by players balancing jazz chops and jam-ready playfulness. – Rachel Rascoe

KUTX Summer Jam

Stubb's Indoors, Friday 21

Confucius Jones and Aaron "Fresh" Knight hold their summertime event within the Hot Summer Nights umbrella for the first time. "I don't think people have really seen us in our element," Jones said on the July 8 episode of The Breaks in reference to DJ'ing an event while Fresh hosts. Grace Sorensen brings enchanting R&B/neo-soul stylings with "Digits," now counting over 500,000 Spotify streams. Jonny Jukebox delivers infectious R&B with pop; constant project provider Jedi512 and Northeast Austin upstart NAJ! round out proceedings with hip-hop. – Derek Udensi

El Tule, the Tiarras

Flamingo Cantina, Friday 21

Hot Summer Nights alumnus El Combo Oscuro drops yet another frying single next month. Before the cumbia calaveras appeared from the mists of pandemic, their mother ship El Tule rolled out a pioneering local Latin rock act beginning in the millennium's first decade. Wrote the Chronicle early on: "The group takes tradition seriously but isn't afraid to add a hard funk edge to a song honoring the indigenous past of Mexico." Team them with local sister act the Tiarras' contemporary quinceañera rock, and Dirty Sixth's irie HQ will hop and then some. – Raoul Hernandez

Nuclear Daisies, Detox

Mohawk, Saturday 22

Finally, a band name that accurately predicts their sound. Nuclear Daisies materialized last fall with a seven-song EP, issued on Portrayal of Guilt's cottage label. The heavy, danceable dream-pop carries the gooey sonic bliss of shoegaze, just enough of a trip-hop feel to play the band in a Nineties vampire movie, and Butthole Surfers-grade production effects ensuring use of strobe lights onstage. The septet, with Rob Glynn and Alex Gehring (Ringo Deathstarr) on vocals, has played sparingly, yet momentously: Oblivion Access, Levitation, and South by Southwest. Don't miss Austin's most vital, yuppie-hating hardcore punks Detox, raging after new alt quartet Touch Girl Apple Blossom. – Kevin Curtin

Daphne Tunes, Tearjerk, Turtle Pond

Chess Club, Saturday 22

Some 2023 releases to catch live at the tiny venue on Saturday night: Turtle Pond's debut single "Indiana" and Tearjerk's debut EP Face to Face. Soaked in nostalgia, the former captures youthful summer nights via chiming keys and gently bellowing atmospherics. Meanwhile, misty vocals and dreamy catharsis coalesce in the latter. Rounding up a mellow lineup overflowing with soothing melodies, Sammy G wraps yearnful lyricism in acoustic strums, while Daphne Tunes closes with a warm lull of hushed indie rock. – Wayne Lim

Fennec, Ohms, Ruthie Craft

Empire Control Room, Saturday 22

With temperatures soaring to the hundreds daily, Hot Summer Nights-goers can find their oasis in this eclectic mix at Empire – whether you want to dance the night away with the upbeat, Kaytranada-esque dance music of Fennec, or indulge indie rock anthems from Ohms. For soulful pop, Ruthie Craft is the soloist to watch out for with recent single "Nineteen." After heating up, make sure to cool down with some water and a quick listen to Fennec's "If U Want (My Love)." – Adam Cherian

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Music Notes

by Derek Udensi

Hot Summer Nights w/ Moody Bank$, Mama Duke, Kydd Jones, J Soulja

Empire Control Room, Thursday 20

Three of Austin's top rappers are performing on the same bill ... for free? Plus they're throwing in rising local R&B talent Moody Bank$, and it's occurring at a legit music venue Downtown. Really?

Snow Tha Product

Moody Center, Friday 21

Rapid-flowing Mexican American rapper from the Bay Area who often deploys bilingual lyrics. Santa Fe Klan headlines.

Rodd Bland & the Members Only Band

Antone's, Saturday 22

Rodd Bland pays tribute to his father, the late Bobby "Blue" Bland ("Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City") as part of Antone's 48th anniversary.

Imarhan

The Far Out, Tuesday 25

Tuareg desert rock quintet touring the states by way of Tamanrasset, Algeria. Local trio Nemegata opens.