“Paper Cuts” features new songs and music videos from Austin artists. Listen to our playlist on the @austinchronicle Spotify.
Being Dead, “Last Living Buffalo”
If PETA wanted to earn some cool points, they’d snag Being Dead’s latest single as their summer anthem. “Last Living Buffalo” – previewing debut LP When Horses Would Run, out next month – denounces fur for fashion in the only way the surf-punk/psych-pop trio could: with lyrics nearly inscrutable through Juli Keller and Cody Dosier’s joint vocals and genre-hopping threatrics. “Onward, buffalo,” they command of their titular bison, before their unassuming Western chug-a-lug transforms into a distortion-laden cry: “You killed them!” One moment alluring, the next, disarming – you know what they say about a spoonful of sugar.
– Carys Anderson
Nemegata, “Ni Con Palo Ni Con Bala”
“Neither with stick nor with bullets” will Nemegata give in. With piercing riffs and Latinx percussion over lyrical brujería from Víctor-Andrés Cruz, the local Colombian post-punk trio’s first tease of September’s follow-up to 2020’s sulfurous Hycha Wy moves from philosophical to revolutionary. A video from Medellín-based director/illustrator Tobías Arboleda plays like an afterimage of surrealistic Spanish mind-bender Abre Los Ojos, which Cameron Crowe remade as Vanilla Sky. The song’s mortal battle between capitalism and human connection to nature and ourselves matches its furious, clattering crescendo, Cruz’s call to arms against soulless capitulation to modern zombiehood exploding like a Molotov cocktail.
– Raoul Hernandez
EXOTIC FRUITICA feat. Paul Leary, “Dirtiest Scum”
Loading up dollop upon dollop of fuzz over frenzied vocals, EXOTIC FRUITICA (fka Exotic Fruits) makes a rowdy debut under their new formation with raw freneticism, ahead of an August album release. Guesting on the track, Paul Leary – of legendary San Antonio punk rockers Butthole Surfers – lights the fuse with astral riffs streaking across the stratosphere atop an unrelenting flurry of punchy drum fills. Suitably glitchy, the retro music video captures guitarist/vocalist Jon French and drummer Aaron Gilligan power walking through Downtown and a spacey, split-toned live performance at Chess Club. – Wayne Lim
Quiet Light, “Track One”
“I guess I was trying to write something that felt like being in love but also falling apart and also trying to put back together the pieces?!?!” writes Austin singer-songwriter Riya Mahesh (aka Quiet Light) on her Instagram. On “Track One,” Mahesh puts into music the feeling of a broken relationship – to be so in love but dissolving, like trying to keep sand from flowing out of your hands. Set to a simple guitar and background vocals done by “screaming Caroline Polachek style in my bedroom,” she takes all the pain of an Elliott Smith song and sings it like tranquil Clairo. – Adam Cherian
Ley Line, “Desde Lejos”
Ley Line draws heavily from Brazilian influences for their musical Esperanto, so it’s no surprise that their first recorded samba, “Desde Lejos,” feels like a comfortable expansion. Beginning with plaintive vocals from Emilie Basez, the song builds with sophisticated flourishes like jazz trumpeter Ephraim Owens’ buttered lines, producer David Garza’s anchoring rhythm guitar, and persistent samba guitar lines from Javier Jara. But as with any track by the Austin quartet, the vocals pin it together: Basez takes the lead this time, but smartly deployed echoing harmonies put their signature sound on a well-trodden song style. “Desde Lejos” is their third single this year – perhaps a follow-up to 2020’s We Saw Blue is on the way?
– Abby Johnston
The 4411, “Sushi on the Beach”
Local outfit the 4411 returns with a luxurious offering: “Sushi on the Beach.” The duo, made up of lifelong friends Cogan McBride and Tomás Gerlach, says they make music together for the love of it – a feeling that permeates this airy, carefree track. With an addictive riff and infinitely catchy chorus, this dreamy song comes just in time for summer. It’s pure indie-pop bliss, perfect for riding with the windows down and feeling the breeze in your hair – or for when you’re having sashimi by the sea. And, as the 4411 sings, “You know exactly what that means.” – Elizabeth Braaten
This article appears in June 23 • 2023.
