Hovvdy’s True Love

Will Taylor deals in melancholy waltzes. Charlie Martin drawls sing-along choruses. Together the drummers-turned- songwriters create warm, Alex G-style indie rock, a sound that swaddles you in folksy guitar and wispy production. On their fourth LP, the Andrew Sarlo-produced True Love, Hovvdy advance from vibey pillowcore beginnings to their fullest, catchiest release yet.

Taylor’s opening lullaby “Sometimes” gives way to Martin’s uplifting title track, where chiming chords soundtrack the singer’s contentment. Bike rides to Tom Thumb and air drumming to “Everlong” animate the nostalgic, piano-climbing “Blindsided.” Centerpiece “Hope” breaks the acoustic spell as the duo’s distorted harmonies and droning organ swell. In an album rife with ear-catching specificity, the track offers some of Martin’s most memorable lines: “I love my nephew Rex/ My mama called me crying/ Her son is a father.” Soon after, another revelation: “My father is a son.”

This insight permeates a work that, naturally, examines relationships. Taylor’s longing singles “Around Again” and “Junior Day League” traverse a fractured romance. “Memory won’t let me take a picture/ Turn to me and tell me you’ll remember,” he sings in the foreboding former, while Ben Littlejohn’s pedal steel lends a subtle twang. “Feel your light fade into me/ Turn into a memory,” he intones on the latter, once it’s all fallen apart. Even in heartbreak, True Love‘s velvet soundscapes offer welcome comfort. – Carys Anderson


Cherubs’ Slo Blo 4 Frnz & Sxy

“Second studio full-length since Austin triad Kevin Whitley, Owen McMahon, and Brent Prager re-collided in 2014, the untamed exultation of Immaculada High makes antecedent 2 Ynfynyty sound refined,” ventured this post-punk in Decibel magazine, 2019. “Gutted, dissolute, keening, Whitely’s voice remains magnetic regardless of the distortion piled atop this trash compactor of sound.”

That goes triple for follow-up Slo Blo 4 Frnz & Sxy. Ten tracks in 44 minutes, the five sonic flairs of the first side repeat on the flip – slowed from 45 rpm to 33 rpm. Embedding its own DJ Screw delineation, the long-player calcifies a crackling set of groove punk that represents their audio arc from 1991 grunge inception to the distressed state of 2021.

Magic carpet ride of decomposing bass and airplane hangar riffs (“Die Robbin'”), thunderstorm beats and cymbal radiation (“A Pair of Pear Tarts”), and unplugged Immaculada High upgrade “Sooey Pig,” whose gap-tooth grin vibes a Ry Cooder roots noir, SB4FS fractures earth and sky.

The quicksand B-side transforms that aforementioned first track into a rhinoceros sucked down your sink, while “Tart” then lays out like Dresden after the war, and “Sooey Pig (Sad)” lurches as if the Cherubs’ copy of Skip Spence’s lo-fi heart & soul dump Oar warped. – Raoul Hernandez


Hoody Rap’s Genuine, Grime, and Grit.

Feddi Brosevelt could’ve made the Chronicle‘s “21 Austin Rappers to Know in 2021” cover story off the strength of his solo efforts alone, but a January playlist introducing producer Chucky Conway on the mic doubly intrigued. The potent duo now adds Brosevelt’s brother, Elixer, to their Hoody Rap stable for debut project Genuine, Grime, and Grit. The 22-minute Audiomack exclusive sees the hardened trio deliver bars dealt through clenched teeth over filthy production altogether reminiscent of NY collective Griselda. Interludes touch on the trio’s reaction to making our 21-in-21 story and Elixer inspiring his sibling to rap.  – Derek Udensi


Kimmie Rhodes & Willie Nelson’s Picture in a Frame First Vinyl Pressing

Once upon a time in the early 2000s, two formidable voices of country songwriting teamed up in Luck, Texas, to record simple, emotive duets. The dancing melodies of Kimmie Rhodes and Willie Nelson, both delicate in different ways, cohered on 2003 CD Picture in a Frame (named for the Tom Waits track covered within). The hidden gem of the Lubbock-raised, Austin-launched cosmic cowgirl’s career receives a first-time vinyl release. Preorders of a redesigned gold-splatter pressing stay open until Oct. 10 at qrates.com/projects/23599. The limited-edition LP runs $30 – a deal considering the few copies of the CD available currently go for $40-100 online. – Rachel Rascoe

Mighty Fine: An Austin City Limits Tribute to Walter Hyatt

Walter Hyatt never reached the recognition his influence reflected, his sweet tenor and down-home songwriting with early Eighties Austin favorite Uncle Walt’s Band and ensuing solo work making him an artist’s artist. A year after he died in a plane crash in 1996, ACL gathered friends and bandmates to record a tribute episode, finally getting an LP release with the treat of four previously unissued Hyatt recordings tacked on. Highlights include Willis Alan Ramsey pulling “As the Crow Flies” and Marcia Ball rollicking “Are We There Yet Momma,” while Lyle Lovett and Shawn Colvin duet “Babes in the Woods,” and bandmates David Ball and Champ Hood lead six unbroadcast performances. Mighty fine, indeed. – Doug Freeman

This article appears in October 8 • 2021.

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 US

Carys Anderson moved from Nowhere, DFW to Austin in 2017 to study journalism at the University of Texas. She began writing for The Austin Chronicle in 2021 and joined its full-time staff in 2023, where she covers music and culture.

San Francisco native Raoul Hernandez crossed the border into Texas on July 2, 1992, and began writing about music for the Chronicle that fall, debuting with an album review of Keith Richards’ Main Offender. By virtue of local show previews – first “Recommendeds,” now calendar picks – his writing’s appeared in almost every issue since 1993.

As the Chronicle's Club Listings Editor, Derek compiles a weekly list of music events occurring across town. The University of Texas alum also writes about hip-hop as a contributor to the Music section.

Doug Freeman has been writing for the Austin Chronicle since 2007, covering the arts and music scene in the city. He is originally from Virginia and earned his Masters Degree from the University of Texas. He is also co-editor of The Austin Chronicle Music Anthology, published by UT Press.