Mega Bog Opens for Destroyer at Mohawk
Touring behind their second LP, Happy Together, Seattle-based band Mega Bog opened for indie rock stalwart Destroyer for a knockout billing of music this past Monday at Mohawk. Historically, Seattle brought crunchy, discordant rock…
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…
Planet Manhood Back With New Tape
Pop this mother in the tape deck of yer ’96 Civic and cruise the golden hour. Lo-fi and mid-tempo with just enough disappointment, Planet Manhood‘s new tape/EP has five fresh songs on side A and…
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…
Show Preview: Building a Better Robot
Tonight! Tonight! is the latest “Building a Better Robot” benefit show for one of Pittsburgh’s punkest institutions, the Mr. Roboto Project. In their own words: “With the 2016 version of ‘Building A Better…
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…
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…
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…
True Sincerity Issue #2
Fans of honest Austin talent flocked to Cheer Up Charlie’s this past Friday night to celebrate the release of the second issue of True Sincerity written by Pop Press International’s own Editor-In-Chief, Bryan C….
Reminiscing on Free Week: A Belated Gallery
Not too long ago, a sweet phenomenon going by the name Free Week swept across town for the twelfth consecutive year, and though it has only been one month, it seems as if so much more…
What A Strange Trip: PPI Does Free Week, Again
Saturday night, Pop Press International hosted our second Free Week show at Cheer Up Charlie’s. Their cozy interior was the ideal venue on a cold and rainy weekend evening. Familiar faces spotted the crowd…
Thanks for Free Week Partying with Us, Dudes!
Pop Press International alongside the Loyalty Firm presented a Free Week showcase at Austin’s own Holy Mountain this past Friday night. “Five of Austin’s raddest bands” performed, showing the packed venue some of the…
The Black Keys ACL Taping: Live Review
The Black Keys continue to progress and develop their sound, amassing a global following and critically acclaimed list of albums. They recently released Turn Blue, their fifth release on Nonesuch Records and their…
ACL Music Festival: Past, Present, and Future
With the past two weekends in the books, we can now reflect on the 13th annual Austin City Limits Music Festival and see what all us thousands experienced. There were reunions and first-timers, Chvrches…
Literature Schools Hometown Crowd at Hotel Vegas: Live Review
Sunday night at Hotel Vegas was a homecoming for the revered pop punkers Literature, now residing in their northeast haven of Philadelphia PA. Kicking the show off late with blistered guitars and flailing…
Why You Can’t Miss These Ten Bands at ACL’s First Weekend
So 2014’s ACL is right around the Thursday corner. Lucky for you, I’m here with Bryan to show you the way to a successful outing this first weekend. While he and I are…
We Were Marfans For A Weekend at El Cosmico
As I navigate Route 67 south towards Marfa, TX, en route to the 8th annual Trans-Pecos Festival of Music + Love, the mountains grow more jagged, the plains reach further to the horizon, and the…
Vibing at Utopiafest
Despite some serious rain Friday evening, vibes were mellow at Utopiafest 2014. Yes, arriving at Utopiafest on Friday night was not the smoothest ride; buses and cars were stuck in mud, shuttle service into…
Live Review: 2014 Stargayzer Festival
The clouds that hung over Austin on Friday the 12th were omnipresent, looming and spitting even after the sun went down. The mat grey sky blanketed everything as the temperature dropped below 80…
Sungod’s Heavenly “Shiftless en Nkawkaw”
Out of the gate, Sungod blazes into their latest single with a barrage of percussion. At first, the mix seems to be restrained and tame, easy on the listener. But things are not…
Live Review: Balmorhea Returns to Austin with Jess Williamson at the Parish
It’s been over a year since Balmorhea played in their hometown of Austin, Texas. Over a year has the fan base been out of touch with one of the most precise post-rock bands…
Upcoming: Shabazz Palaces September 16th
Tuesday the 16th welcomes back Seattle’s hip-hop wunderkind Shabazz Palaces. On the tail of their most recent, excellent release, Lese Majesty, the duo of Ishmael Butler and Tendai Maraire will perform on the…
Whirr at Red 7: Live Review
Cruising through two decades worth of College Rock 101 in an open topped convertible, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes began the night at Red 7 Saturday. A guitar/drummer two-piece, the band exhausted their audience…
Love Inks Preps New Album, Shares Trailer, Single
We’ve written about Love Inks quite a bit on this blog, and they’re a band that continues to impress us as they get better and better. Today the trio announced that they’ll drop…
Pure X Shares New Song, Announces Tour
Those enigmatic and reclusive boys Pure X have shared “Someone Else,” another song from their forthcoming LP Crawling Up the Stairs, which is due out May 14th on Acephale Records. As ever, the track…
New Track: “White Noise” – Black Books
Just in time for Christmas, we’ve been given an exquisite present: a new dark dream pop track called “White Noise” from Austin’s Black Books. We had an opportunity to see the band when…
