Black Lives Matter: 5 Austin Artists of Color to Support Today on Bandcamp
Black Lives Matter. And we all must first reflect deeply, listen carefully, research widely, and then do everything we possibly can to dismantle the systemic racism present in almost every aspect of current…
Interview: of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes On Hope, Happiness & The Creative Process
This Saturday, of Montreal comes through Pittsburgh on tour in support of their new album, Ur Fun, out now on Polyvinyl. The album captures the group’s journey into dance-friendly indie-rock, heavily influenced by ’80s…
Live Photos: Sun June Album Release at Spider House Ballroom
Last Thursday night at Spider House was one of those nights when you know you’re witnessing something special. The show had that combination of great bands on the bill (Julia Lucille and daphne…
Premiere: The Dan Ryan Covers Bowie’s “In the Heat of the Morning”
Far out on the West Coast, a small cadre of music lovers called Cosmic Dreamer Music are issuing outstanding work from a select group of forward thinking artists. Artists like RF Shannon meld…
Reflections and Photos from Hovvdy’s Album Release Show at Barracuda
The project of Will Taylor and Charlie Martin, Hovvdy has an outstanding new album, Cranberry, out now on Double Double Whammy Records. As the project consists only of two songwriters often working remotely and…
Sound on Sound Fest Unveils Phenomenal 2017 Lineup
The best festivals are carefully curated to deliver a diverse, no-fluff lineup, distinct from the regurgitated roster that makes the festival circuit rounds. Sound on Sound Fest launched last year, pulling together a pretty…
Conor Oberst in Top Form at ACL Live
If I’m honest: happy people bother me a little. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about focusing on the positives to keep yourself from spiraling headlong into depression. But it does seem like if…
Mitski Broke All Our Hearts and We Sang Along at Mohawk
I would pay $20 just to see Mitski play “Your Best American Girl” one time, so the rest of the set is basically bonus. And that bonus is incredible. Mitski has made several appearances…
A Journey to RF Shannon’s Jaguar Palace
As you cross over the Montopolis Bridge, the last vestiges of Austin’s expanding boundaries dissolve into rolling green hills and farmland. From the edge of the city, it’s just a half-hour journey to Lockhart,…
Track Premiere: Dark-wave Champs Knifight Share “Let the End Begin”
Dark-wave champions Knifight return with a new single, “Let the End Begin,” in advance of an upcoming album, Worship, to be released later this year. The song, mixed by Max Lorenzen, recalls like-minded…
Petty Interpretations: Kyle Schlesinger Interviews Michael Pierce About Tom Petty Covers Project
In this interview, Kyle Schlesinger, published poet and proprietor of Cuneiform Press, talks with Michael Pierce, who recently released a solo cassette tape entitled Petty Interpretations, containing six covers of Tom Petty songs. Pierce is also the…
Q&A: The Dan Ryan Discusses February Residency at Stay Gold
In May of last year, The Dan Ryan released its self-titled, debut LP, a collection of songs that merged noisy, echoing aesthetics with acoustic sensibilities. Since then the band has been at work on…
Austin Show Organizer Jenni Kaye Launches New Booking Resource Fostering Inclusive Bills
In an effort to facilitate the booking of inclusive, diverse bills, Jenni Kaye, who sometimes books shows in Austin and who works with Austin-based label Holodeck, developed a new website to aid bookers and promoters….
Adam Torres Furthers Music Legacy of Cactus Cafe
Steeped in songwriter history, the Cactus Cafe has hosted performances from greats like Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, and Loudon Wainwright III. Only two albums into a career, Adam Torres may have a…
Joanna Newsom Dives Into Spellbinding Set at ACL Live
Touring behind yet another critically acclaimed and staggeringly beautiful album, Divers, harpist and avant-folk musician Joanna Newsom performed Austin’s ACL Live at the Moody Theater last week. Like great artists from across mediums and…
PODCAST: Jesley Snipes Talks “Pygmalion Cantations” and the Golden Magnet
Pop Press is proud to announce its first podcast. This one comes from Pittsburgh, PA, where Jesley Snipes from the Delicious Pastries discusses “Pygmalion Cantations,” released today on the newly formed Golden Magnet….
Track Premiere: Genuine Leather’s 80s Pop-infused “Two of Us”
An undoubtedly underrated gem of a local band, Genuine Leather has an ability to constantly reinvent themselves. While they’ve shied away from confining themselves to one fixed aesthetic or sonic palette, the band…
Mitski and Japanese Breakfast Bring Dark and Shimmering Pop to Sidewinder: Live Review
Someone somewhere must have done a calculation about the perfect amount of time for a band to wait before returning to Austin following SXSW, as it seems like bills of late have been…
Kevin Morby and Big Thief at Sidewinder: Live Review
Last week, two acts that both played SXSW and received notable attention returned to Austin for a sold out joint show at the Sidewinder. Initially known for his role as the bassist for Woods…
FPSF 2016: Mostly Highlights with a Chance of Rain
As a painful introduction, we just learned and feel it vital to with with the news that a festival attendee, Megan Tilton, passed away after leaving the festival in medical transport. For the…
Damien Jurado and the Heavy Light Bring Heavy Songs to the Parish: Live Review
I’ve known Damien Jurado’s live shows to be quiet, intimate, and transfixing solo performances. I’ve seen him play deep in the woods of Washington State and to a crowded bar in downtown Austin…
The Garment District Saturates In New Video For “Feral Surfers”
Pittsburgh-based experimental electro-pop group The Garment District released a new video for “Feral Surfers,” a track from Luminous Toxin. The video was created by Thaddeus Kellstadt, a Milwaukee-based artist who likens the process to painting:…
Live Review: Flaming Lips at Live Oak Music Hall in Houston
Amidst late spring and early summer tour dates mostly as part of festivals, beloved psych rockers The Flaming Lips stopped by Houston to play one of the first shows ever at the newly opened…
Premiere: Pet Clinic Looks Inward on No Face
We are thrilled to premiere Pet Clinic’s full-length debut No Face, streaming now on their website. Following 2012’s six-song EP The Dust That Made The Fire That Made The Light, the Pittsburgh five-piece…
Big Bill Crashes Punk Rock Prom at Swan Dive
Ain’t no party like a Big Bill party, cuz a Big Bill party gets weird AF. Frontman Eric “Bill” Braden wandering into the crowd and inciting slam dancing among a rowdy bunch of…
Pet Clinic Turns Tables, Asks Big Questions in Interview (PGH)
Tomorrow, one of Pittsburgh’s brightest bands releases their long-awaited, much-anticipated full-length debut. Pet Clinic‘s No Face comes at you, released independently, and with huge payoff. What’s the best way to get your hands on a copy?…
Cross Record Stops by Austin for a Hometown Show Amid International Tour
I’m not sure if I’m Cross Record’s biggest fan, but I’m trying hard to be. In more than a few posts, I’ve asserted that the band is one of Austin’s most vital acts,…
PREMIERE: David Bernabo’s New Experimental Album The Inn
David Bernabo officially drops The Inn this Friday, but Pop Press is thrilled to stream the album in its entirety today. It’s a solo record and the 10th on the Ongoing Box imprint….
Cuneiform Press Launches Project to Publish Musician-written Texts
Poetry purveyor and publisher Kyle Schlesinger is issuing a call for writings of any kind from musicians for a new series of books. The founder and operator of celebrated imprint, Cuneiform Press, Schlesinger…
In Our Natural State at Marfa Myths 2016
In the desert, you can hear yourself think. Maybe this is true of being in nature in general, but the desert seems to provide an unparalleled clarity of thought. And in our infinitely complex, cluttered…
Women In Sound Issue 2 Release (PGH)
We’re super-psyched the second issue of Madeleine Campbell’s zine Women in Sound will be released this Saturday. The zine serves to “showcase the achievements by women, queer, and trans* people working in all facets of…
Glassblock Launch Party and VIP Event
Glassblock, Pittsburgh’s newest web-based magazine officially launches this Thursday with a VIP event (tix here) and a party to follow (more tix) at Spirit. The project is the result of hard work by Adam…
Reflecting on the Slack Capital Release Party at Barracuda
The compilation has long been a go t0 method of cross promoting and getting the word out about a cadre of like-minded artists in an environment where they might otherwise fly under the…
Boogarins Find Psychedelia On A Monday
Youthful Brazilian psych-rock band Boogarins brought its incredible live set to Pittsburgh Monday night at Cattivo, awash in cascading phasers, guitar solos, and latin-fueled rhythms. Despite a modest-sized crowd, guitarist/vocalist Dinho Almeida was rarely…
We’re All Hiding Behind Kurt Vile’s Hair
What makes live music good? When you attend a lot of shows, people frequently ask you about the quality of the show they skipped out on. Nevermind that you wrote about it on your blog;…
Evolving and Going to Fucking Therapy: An Interview with Jen Kirkman
Stand-up comedian Jen Kirkman has been a writer and regular guest on Chelsea Lately and frequent narrator on the TV series, Drunk History. She wrote the New York Times Bestseller, I Can Barely Take…
Watch Hospital Ships’ Jordan Geiger Play Intimate Acoustic Version of “All In Time”
Simultaneously bleak and beautiful, Hospital Ships’ “All In Time,” culled from their newest effort, The Past Is Not A Flood, builds on looping refrains and simple parts by adding a variety of synth structures and…
Athens Band Mothers Brings Delicately Powerful Pop to Stubb’s: Live Review
With indie rock songs both fragile and powerful, Athens band Mothers delivered a set that left the audience at Stubb’s’ indoor room transfixed and engrossed last Thursday. Falling somewhere between the music of Angel Olsen and…
UPCOMING: Ghost Guts & City Steps at BBT (PGH)
Though the band’s cryptic social media presence reveals little about its MO, Ghost Guts writes songs that cut straight. Punkified american rock and roll, twang, and garage all mix into a classic sound…
Backstage at Dana Falconberry’s Stunning, Theatrical Album Release Show
If you attended Dana Falconberry’s release show for her new album, From the Forest Came the Fire, at the Stateside Theater last Saturday, you experienced an incredible display of artistry, in terms of both…
Converse Rubber Tracks Continues Legacy of Artist Support at SXSW 2016
When I was a kid in the 80s and 90s, only the freaks and losers wore Converse, me among them. Now, it seems like every ad targeting an under-25 market features at least one…
Big Bill Played the First and Best SXSW Show We Saw
The day before SXSW 2016 began, I wrote, “I can’t think of another current Austin band more iconic or resonant,” regarding weirdo punk rockers Big Bill. The band evidenced their vitality the next day…
delicious pastries Explore The Creative Process With aleatoric delay
We at Pop Press Intl are honored to announce Pittsburgh’s delicious pastries is back with its long-awaited follow-up to 2011’s Pretty Please, an eight song sophomore LP titled aleatoric delay, released on the cryptic Totally Snakes…
UPCOMING: delicious pastries Album Release (PGH)
It’s been five years since delicious pastries released Pretty Please, but this Friday the band ends that streak and drops aleatoric delay at Spirit with help from incredible local openers Meeting of Important People,…
9 Personal Picks for SXSW 2016
Undoubtedly, a SXSW preview list of artists will be driven to some extent by the writer’s own interest. However, it’s hard to imagine that aspects like press agents’ persistence, buzz surrounding an artist,…
SXSW 2016’s Most Exciting Acts
Tomorrow, the monster that is SXSW descends upon a sleepy river town in central Texas. Hundreds of local bands will rub shoulders with thousands more traveling from all over the world. Every parking lot…
UPCOMING: Slothrust at Thunderbird Cafe (PGH)
No better place to be Friday night than the Thunderbird. NYC-based Slothrust (Ba Da Bing Records) will be coming through with Indianapolis sleaze-rock outfit Mr. Clit and the Pink Cigarettes. Major garage vibes on…
Premiere: Epic Dream Pop Track “Teenage Crime Wave” by Pageantry
Denton, TX dream pop band Pageantry have been honorary members of the Austin music community for a number of years now, as they often make the trek south to perform in the city’s numerous…
Protomartyr Triumphs at Sidewinder, Returns for SXSW
A week ago, lauded post-punk outfit Protomartyr performed at The Sidewinder, an Austin venue still in its infancy. The event marked the first sold-out show I’ve seen in the space, since Red Eyed…
So Much shade At Spirit (PGH)
Last Saturday at Spirit showcased three of Pittsburgh’s most intense rock groups. A crowded basement buzzing with beer and pizza kept an engaged audience fed and imbibed as three different bands achieved climactic…
The Soft Moon Rises at Cattivo (PGH)
If anyone was doubting the veritable depth of Pittsburgh’s music scene, last Friday at Cattivo would have erased any lingering concerns. Two incredible local bands and a helluva touring band in the form…
Ty Segall Emotionally Mugs Mohawk: Live Review
I can’t tell you who said it first, but articles comparing Ty Segall’s latest artistic development to the combined influence of David Bowie and Iggy Pop abound as of late. When everyone’s saying the same…
Track Premiere & Interview: The Loch Ness Mouse – “Warm Circuitry”
The Loch Ness Mouse has been making delightful indie pop for over two decades. But it wouldn’t be surprising if you haven’t heard of them — the band hails from Oslo, Norway, and…
Siren Sound Temple Lures Listeners with Reverb, Rhymes, and Rock n Roll
For its 2nd annual event, Nine Mile Records’ Siren Sound Temple put together an incredible and diverse bill of artists hosted by one of Austin’s newest venues, Barracuda. Although we arrived later than we…
Converse Rubber Tracks Offers Bands Free Studio Time, Britt Daniel Mentorship at SXSW
At last year’s SXSW, we took an opportunity to drop by Converse Rubber Tracks’ pop-up studio in East Austin. Frankly, the program was so incredible it seemed almost too good to be true….
Getting in the Party Spirit: Ouais and Mantiques Live Review
Last Saturday Spirit played host to four local bands with eclectic stage energy, giving the night a strange atmosphere riding the lines between humor, angst, and inebriation. Sure enough, the beer was flowing…
Bully and Diet Cig Shred at The Parish: Live Review
It has been a little over a week since Bully and Diet Cig careened through Austin to issue blistering sets of garage rock on the Parish, and the mere memory of the show…
Album Premiere: Feels Wonderful by Shaky Shrines
Here it is, folks. We’re proud to premiere Feels Wonderful from Shaky Shrines. Recorded instinctually choosing feels rather than thinks, this six song album rips from start to finish. As noted in earlier reviews, the Pittsburgh garage-psych…
Preview: Ouais and Dumplings Plays Spirit This Saturday
Get a sludgy fix of fuzzed out indie rock Saturday when Pittsburgh locals Ouais slouch into Spirit for a free show. Whoa, free. Gritty and grimy, Ouais sound like lo-fi slackers in the…
Julia Lucille’s Tape Release at Cheer Up Charlies: Live Review
Last Friday at Cheer Up Charlies, songstress Julia Lucille performed in celebration of her new cassette, The Bedroom Tapes Volume One, which features songs she has written periodically on the occasion of each…
Cross Record, Adam Torres, Nadia Play Spellbinding Sets at Mohawk
Cross Record’s album release event at Mohawk on Saturday night emerged as a transfixing and indelible moment in music. Years after musicians have become legends, people muse about what it might have been…
Shaky Shrines Enlighten Cattivo With Two New Records
This past Friday, local Pittsburgh psych-rock group Shaky Shrines played a tight set of old and new tunes at Cattivo, Lawrenceville’s hidden gem of a venue for both touring and local bands. Shrines…
Live Review: Shearwater’s World Tour Kickoff Show at ND in Austin
Long-time Shearwater fans rejoice: a new album recently arrived via Sub Pop, and the group’s hometown show at the ND last Wednesday, kicked off a tour that will make stops in the U.S., Europe,…
Track Premiere: Kodachrome Shares Song from Gritty Western Film Soundtrack
Austin psych-pop band Kodachrome, under the guidance of band leader John Constant, has recorded the soundtrack for an upcoming gritty western film, Kill or Be Killed, and we’re proud to premiere one track from said…
Preview: Shaky Shrines Double Album Release Show
If you have nothing to do Friday night, go to Cattivo. If you do have something to do, cancel it and go to Cattivo Friday night to see Shaky Shrines, Pittsburgh’s most-psyched holy rollers. Over…
Show Preview: Girls Rock! PGH Benefit Show
Tomorrow, Pittsburgh’s Mattress Factory will be hosting a benefit show show for the local arts advocacy group, Girls Rock!, an “empowerment program for female youths of all definitions, abilities and backgrounds. Girls Rock! Pittsburgh utilizes…
Gon’ Be Alright: Kendrick Lamar ACL Taping Review
The crowd last Friday night was younger than usual for an Austin City Limits taping. As the floor filled with people and smokers on the patio hurried to finish their pre-show cigarettes, a…
Show Preview: Julia Lucille at the Night Gallery in Pittsburgh 11/1
A photo posted by Julia Lucille (@julialucille) on Oct 25, 2015 at 6:25pm PDT Disclaimer, this preview is for a show the author (me) is participating in. More importantly, Julia Lucille is coming all…
Track Premiere: Dana Falconberry + Some Say Leland Split 7-inch
Austin stalwarts Some Say Leland and Dana Falconberry have recorded a split 7-inch, entitled After, to be jointly released by Annie Street Arts Collective and Punctum Records. They’ll celebrate with a show tomorrow night…
Track Premiere: SUPERMOON “Emily (Knot My Nets)” and B-side “Hitchhiker”
You may recognize SUPERMOON front man Paul Banks’ name from his work with his backing band The Carousels. Together, Paul Banks and The Carousels created folk rock songs with occasionally theatrical flairs. Following…
Daniel Johnston Represents Everything Great About Austin
Saturday night, mainstay Austin venue The Mohawk hosted one of the city’s most legendary musicians, Daniel Johnston. Johnston sounded better than I’ve heard him sound in years–more present and less flustered. Undoubtedly, the songwriter…
Premiere: Crocodile’s Subtly Surreal Video for “My Little Girl”
Wavering, surfy guitars ring out over frontman Gianni Sarmiento’s distorted vocals in this infectious little noise pop song from Crocodile. A broken lightbulb, a wooden robot, cacti, and of course a crocodile make…
Juan Wauters’ Quirky Party Vibes at Mohawk: Live Review
Juan Wauters is a special kind of performer and songwriter. “Outsider music” a friend called his sound as we discussed Wauters’ set between songs Saturday night at the Mohawk. I’m buying it, but…
Interview: The Weather Station’s Tamara Lindeman Talks Landscapes External and Internal
Before I saw The Weather Station last month in Austin, I had been listening to the band’s newest album, Loyalty, on repeat for weeks. The Weather Station is the project of Tamara Lindeman,…
Visually Captivating: Cross Record at Radio (Live Review)
Some bands I write about so frequently and like so much that soon I feel I’ve run out of ways to articulate the truly incredible nature of their songs and shows. Such is the case with…
The Sonics Prove They’ve Still Got It: Live Review
The Sonics are not a reunion band. Yes, since 2007 they’ve been periodically reunited for tours. And yes, they recently released their first album of new original material in 49 years. But the…
In Support of Pittsburgh (Part 2)
This is the second installment of my two-part look into Pittsburgh’s music and cultural scene. Dig part one right here. Friday night, I got myself to Pittsburgh’s newest venue, the Spirit Lodge, which recently opened in the…
In Support of Pittsburgh (Part 1)
Over the past week, yer humble PPI correspondent travelled to his hometown of Pittsburgh, PA, to see what all the fuss has been about the last two-and-a-half years he’s been gone. Claims have…
Rising Folk Stars The Weather Station Plays Parish Tonight
Frequently, modern indie folk bands receive praise for taking listeners back to a lost era. Some of the most popular bands in the genre have become so merely by approximating the aesthetics of…
Photo Gallery: Our Best Photos from FPSF 2015
Yesterday, we brought you our weekend highlights from the outstanding 2015 installation of Houston’s FPSF. Check out a gallery of our favorite photos from the weekend below. All photographs © Bryan C. Parker…
Hometown Pride and Festival Highlights at FPSF 2015
As soon as I glimpsed the FPSF 2015 lineup, I couldn’t wait for the festival to arrive. Over the years, FPSF has continued and furthered their commitment to two important categories of bands:…
Julia Lucille’s Emergent Performance at Cheer Up Charlies: Live Review
Over the past half year or so, I’ve seen Julia Lucille perform a handful of times. She always delivers haunting, ethereal performances that hinge on her floating vocal delivery and ghostly guitar picking….
Abram Shook Welcomes Us to his Landscape Dream
Abram Shook’s last album, Sun Marquee, released last January, succeeded as one of the year’s best, in Austin or otherwise. The record employed bright, major-key guitar noodling, brilliantly syncopated rhythms, and Shook’s smooth croon….
Daniel Bachman’s Deliberate River
Daniel Bachman’s new album River was released Tuesday on Three Lobed Records, prompting another round of reflective listening sessions. You can read our review of his last record here. This most recent release from the…
Elvis Perkins Entered the Cosmic Parish
Last week, I had the opportunity to see Elvis Perkins perform for the first time. He’s touring in support of his third album, I Aubade, an organically rich long play that showcases Perkins at…
You’ll Never Believe Who Was Dancing at the Tennis Show This Tuesday
It was me. Besides the egregious amount of rain to come into town Tuesday night, the Denver band Tennis also arrived playing to a sold-out dancing Parish crowd that sang all the words to…
Stephin Merritt Brought Humor and Love to Central Presbyterian Church: Live Review
The Magnetic Fields’ primary creative force, Stephin Merritt, brought his theatrical songs to Central Presbyterian Church on Wednesday night for a conceptual performance. Merritt was accompanied by cellist Sam Doval, another member of Merritt’s…
Unlocking the Spirit: Father John Misty Live at Stubb’s
Who knew the wonders of the human spirit that would be unleashed by a months-long psychedelics binge outside of L.A.? After Josh Tillman left behind a lengthy series of somber, experimental folk songs…
Adam Torres Gives Old Songs New Life at Cactus Café
For his show last Thursday at the Cactus Café on the University of Texas campus, songwriter Adam Torres revived a number of older tunes to celebrate the re-release of his underground gem Nostra…
Girls to the Stage: Sleater-Kinney Live at Stubb’s
Sleater-Kinney’s incredible performance at ACL’s Moody Theater proved to be only a warmup for the energy they brought to Stubbs’ outdoor stage last Friday night. Rain nor hail nor gloom of night (seriously, it…
A Pilgrimage West to Marfa Myths
Bent against the flow of the entire universe descending upon Texas’ capital for the inception of the nation’s largest film and music festival, I drove my car head-on into the sun with two…
Viva El Campo
Arriving in Austin a few years ago, I anticipated diving headfirst into the Austin music experience, determined to mine the healthy reserves of musical minerals. One of those first offerings came on a cool…
Chill Phases of the Heart
This year marked the second iteration of a March gathering dubbed Chill Phases that occurs at the end of SXSW on a Sunday, the only day of the week appropriate for the mellow,…
Hotel Vegas Dominates SXSW with Impeccable Lineups
Despite the unmistakable sign of large budgets behind events at the Fader Fort, Hype Hotel, Pitchfork day parties, SPIN party, and Flood Fest (who all threw appropriately outstanding events with those budgets), underground hero…
Sea Change at South By
Having completed my third SXSW in as many years as living in Austin, I feel seasoned in my authority on the subject. Perhaps not quite marinated enough and certainly not smoked to the…
Partying with Fader, SPIN, and Hype Machine at SXSW
SXSW has garnered a reputation as the largest music industry party in the country. Of the innumerable shows, events, and gatherings that happen over the course of the festival’s ten days, the annual parties…
Swoon-Worthy Aisha Burns Plays the ATX 6 SXSW Showcase
As part of a project called the ATX 6, six musicians were hand-picked from the abundance of Austin artists and fully financed by the city to play 2014’s NXNE. This original attempt to infuse the…
The Ceremonial Torch of SXSW’s Inaugural Night of Music
Last week, a scan of a SXSW ad from 1989 (the festival’s third year in existence) popped up on my Facebook timeline. The ad boasted over two dozen venues and more than a hundred…
TV On The Radio Headlines NPR SXSW Showcase at Stubb’s
Wednesday night at Stubb’s saw a solid lineup of acts with a variety of origins for NPR’s SXSW Showcase. The night began with Long Beach rapper Boogie, followed by Shamir Bailey of Las Vegas…
