A Tia Carrera album is like one of the Austin power trio’s live performances: powerful, riff-obsessed, and completely improvised. Happily, the extemporaneous music on their discs can be cranked over and over again, bundling more than simple flash to recommend them. Though a mere two-song EP, Visitors/Early Purple – the group’s first released recordings since 2011 – grooves bountiful substance. “Visitors” puts Jason Morales’ distorted blues guitar over drummer Erik Conn and new bassist Curt Christenson’s busy jam before it collapses into chaos at the conclusion. “Early Purple” dispatches more of the same, though with a simpler rhythmic pummel and a guitar tone choking on fuzz. Somehow, none of this ever sounds like wanking. The band is continually on the search for a point only it can see, much like jazz musicians exploring a bluesy half-dream.

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This article appears in April 19 • 2019.

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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.