The Boxing Lesson

Big Hits! (Frenchie Smith)

Hard to be cosmic and stay grounded at the same time, but Austin’s acid star the Boxing Lesson does so on Big Hits!. The trio’s high-octane blend of earthy hooks and psychedelic astronomy gels to perfection under the guidance of Chris “Frenchie” Smith (Sixteen Deluxe), on whose new label this record appears. Rhythm engine Ben Redman of Residual Kid gives riff-monger Paul Waclawsky and electronics wizard Jaylinn Davidson a drive that brings cosmic debris down to Earth. “Sweet Science,” “Hawaiian Buffalo,” and “Health Is the New Drug” burn like comets plowing furrows through the fields, while “Fight Parade” and “Endless Possiblities” shine with the afterglow of an exploding star inside a dream. The band winks at its Austin daze with “Eastside Possibilities” and “Red River Blues.” Arms buried deep in galactic mud, the Boxing Lesson takes an outer space journey to the center of the Earth. (10pm, Holy Mountain Backyard)

***.5

This article appears in March 15 • 2013.

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Michael Toland started writing about music in 1988 on the Gulf Coast, moved to Austin in early 1991, and has inflicted bylines upon the corporeal and digital pages of Pop Culture Press, The Big Takeover, Blurt, Amplifier, Austin.citysearch, the Austin American Statesman, Goldmine, Sleazegrinder, Rock & Roll Globe, High Bias, FHT Music Notes, and, since 2011, The Austin Chronicle.