Abram Shook Album Release with Good Field & Royal Forest at Mohawk
Friday night at the Mohawk served as a local music extravaganza with a bill that featured two of Austin’s best bands supporting a rising Austin musician as he celebrated the release of his…
Dent May with Tiger Waves & Gang Sign at Holy Mountain: Live Review
Somehow, I’ve managed to miss Dent May’s live show time and time again. Even after I worked an all day photo shoot before the show, the stars finally aligned and I made it…
Brazos at Holy Mountain: Live Review
Brazos frontman Martin Crane exudes a sort of frenetic calmness, a relaxed nervousness. As he quickly strums his acoustic guitar, his feet arch up onto their toes, tapping in swift alteration, but his…
The Octopus Project, Tele Novella, & Borrisokane at Mohawk: Live Review
Friday night was freezing cold, and it still didn’t stop Austin from coming out to the Mohawk to see three bands that excel among the city’s bevy of performing artists. The crowd was…
Juliana Barwick at The Parish: Live Review
The Thursday night arrival of unseasonably cold weather in Austin, Texas coinciding with Juliana Barwick’s arrival in Austin for her show at The Parish seemed significant. Barwick’s songs, which were recorded in Iceland,…
Built to Spill, Genders, and Slam Dunk at Stubb’s: Live Review
Built to Spill has been pretty quiet for the past few years in terms of releasing new matieral, but hasn’t given up touring as the band has made their way through Austin at…
Cass McCombs at The Belmont: Live Review
Hey, we did everything we could to get you our for the Cass McCombs show on Friday night. If you missed it, it’s on you. And if you were worried about the cold…
Show Preview: Built to Spill and Genders Play Stubb’s Saturday November 23rd
You’d have to be completely out of touch with alternative music to not know indie-rock legends Built to Spill. Doug Martsch and his band seem to be increasingly active these days, and their…
Destroyer at The Belmont: Live Review
I’ll be honest: when I heard that the current Destroyer tour would be a solo endeavor, I felt like the set might not be as powerful as with a full band. That foolish…
Chvrches Play Sold Out Stubb’s Show Friday November 22nd
This summer, Chvrches sold out the Mohawk, and it took almost no time for them to get back to Austin. This time, the band has sold out the much larger Stubb’s and will…
The Head and the Heart, Quiet Life, and The Eastern Sea at Stubb’s: Live Review
Simply said: I’m impressed. Sunday night marked my third time to see The Head and the Heart perform live. I’ve also seen The Eastern Sea perform a few times as well. Both acts…
Show Preview: Destroyer Plays The Belmont Tuesday November 19th
I don’t know why I never realized how influential Television is on the music of Dan Bejar until I saw Television live at Fun Fun Fun Fest. Anyway, if you saw Television at…
of Montreal at Mohawk: Live Review
Seeing bands perform live music can be rewarding–the subtle differences in arrangement, the inability to dub over and redo, the immediacy, the intimacy. However, more often than not, live performances consist of a…
Fun Fun Fun Fest Day Three Featuring The Men, The Julie Ruin, Slayer, and Jurassic 5
Oh, the culminating day of a music festival. Such internal conflict and turmoil. Your feet and liver barely feel like they can take anymore, and yet you hope the imposing Monday morning at…
Fun Fun Fun Fest Day Two Featuring Television, Deerhunter, and M.I.A
In the beginning there was the Fest. And the Fest was good. If I haven’t said so yet, Fun Fun Fun Fest not only knows how to put together an amazing lineup but…
Show Preview: of Montreal at The Mohawk Friday November 15th
You really can’t beat an of Montreal show. Kevin Barnes and co. make most other live acts seem like emphatic yawners. From insane costumes of skeletons and creatures to sexually explicit cartoonish enactments…
Cults, SACCO, and Mood Rings at Emo’s: Live Review & Photos
Emo’s East housed a four hour long dream-experience on Tuesday night with Cults, SACCO, and Mood Rings, all of which cast their dream pop spell over the crowd for the duration of the…
Fun Fun Fun Fest Spotlight: Merchandise
See Merchandise. You’re going to see Merchandise. Why are you going to see Merchandise? They absolutely slay. Seriously. We saw them at NXNE this summer at one of the best shows of the festival. Tons of…
The Blow with Love Inks at Red 7: Live Review
For New Year’s Eve 2006, my first blog, Urban Pollution threw a party at the fairly newly opened Mohawk. The bill included A Hawk and a Hacksaw featuring Jeremy Barnes of Neutral Milk…
Those Darlins and Diane Coffee at Red 7: Live Review
While The Blow and Love Inks were providing danceable pop on the Red 7 outdoor stage, the indoor room at Red 7 felt like a whole different era of rock. 70’s glam-rock infused…
CocoRosie’s Magnificent Performance at The Belmont: Live Review
Perhaps being born in Hawaii and Iowa to parents with Syrian and Native American lineage and then living in New York and Paris as well as a slew of other cities can explain…
Cumulus at Holy Mountain with The Lonely Forest: Live Review
Throughout independent music history, people have marveled at the power a small town like Olympia, Washington, home to stalwart K Records, has wielded. The city of less than 50,000 people helped propel independent…
Father John Misty at Emo’s: Live Review
A figure in a dark suit steps into dim light with a gigantic bunny head on. The rabbit walks to the middle of the stage, uncorks a bottle, and pours a healthy glassful…
Crystal Antlers at the Mohawk with The Zoltars and Hundred Visions Live Review
Saturday night’s perfect, crisp fall weather was just an added bonus for an evening out seeing live music at the Mohawk, where three solid acts performed on the indoor stage. I arrived just…
Crystal Antlers Play Mohawk Saturday 10/19 w/ The Zoltars & Hundred Visions
We told you in our Weekly Rundown to make plans for this, so did you? Well, if not, there’s still time to rectify your mistake and buy tickets to Crystal Antlers at Mohawk…
Local Natives ACL Taping Review
I was a fan of Local Natives second album Hummingbird, which dropped earlier this year. The album was careful, deliberate, and swelled to anthemic heights repeatedly throughout its eleven tracks; it also garnered…
Top 11 Picks for ACL Weekend Two
So, you bought tickets for the second weekend of ACL in its inaugural year. You suffered through the pictures and excitement of half your friends going to the first weekend. But look on…
Neko Case ACL Taping Review
Neko Case embodies not only everything that ACL has come to stand for but also the direction in which the show has been trending in recent years. Case’s particular brand of pristine Americana,…
Fuzz at Red 7 Live Review
Legend has it that a vehicle encounter with a wild hog delayed Fuzz’s arrival in Austin at Red 7 on Friday night. Though the packed crowd grew restless when the band still hadn’t…
Peter Hook and the Light at The Belmont: Live Review
It was the songs that brought New Order fans out to the Belmont on Tuesday night. And the songs sounded great. As a founding member of New Order, Peter Hook possesses an intimate…
Austra and DIANA at Mohawk: Live Review
It must necessarily be considered kind that the bands started more than half an hour late on the outside stage at Mohawk last Friday night. Because if they had begun on time, I…
Chelsea Wolfe at the Mohawk: Live Review
Friday night, darkness descended on the Mohawk, although it was tempered with an unmistakable glimmer of beauty. Chelsea Wolfe’s live set is even more foreboding than her recorded work. Live, the songs emphasize…
Dana Falconberry, Brass Bed, and Reservations at Mohawk: Live Review
You’d think that being a brilliant lyricist and accomplished musician would be the thing that sets an artist apart. And to a point, you’d be right. Dana Falconberry’s distinct voice always stirs something…
Ty Segall at Mohawk with Holy Wave and Hidden Ritual Live Review
Ty Segall performed at the Mohawk at the beginning of the summer, and last night he returned for a show in these closing weeks of the season. Despite Segall having played Austin several…
Dawes ACL Taping: Live Review
Even with solid bands, the conditions surrounding a show can matter as much as anything the band does onstage. This fact is a sort of double-edged sword that both makes live music exciting…
Balmorhea, Mirror Travel, and Jess Williamson at Mohawk Live Review
Friday’s bill at the Mohawk featured a somewhat unlikely assortment of bands, but within that offered a diverse range of talent from sparse and oddly beautiful to noisily forceful to quiet and serene….
Social Studies Live at Brick and Mortar Music Hall
We’re big fans of San Francisco based band Social Studies, and were even privileged enough to host them at one of our SXSW day parties last year. While on vacation in San Francisco,…
Brass Bed Live at Hi-Dive in Denver
While Pop Press International is on vacation in Colorado, we took the opportunity to check out one of the local venues that houses many of indie-rock’s stalwart, national touring acts. We felt lucky…
Borrisokane, Pageantry, and The Calm Blue Sea at Mohawk Live Review
Borrisokane is a band gaining credibility quickly as they’ve played some great shows and solid bills in recent months. We loved their album release show, which pulled out all the stops. Opening the…
Soft Healer Live at Hotel Vegas
Distance isn’t keeping Soft Healer down. Though two members now reside in Ithaca, NY, the originally-Austin-based experimental pop group has just released a new EP and will be touring in the coming months….
Mikal Cronin with Shannon and the Clams and A Giant Dog Live Review
After falling in love with Mikal Cronin’s newest album MCII a couple months ago, I had been looking forward to his show at the Mohawk since its announcement. When openers Shannon and the…
Eleanor Friedberger with TEEN at the Parish Live Review
Eleanor Friedberger’s most recent album Personal Record, out this month on Merge Records, further eschewed the spastic and jarring tendencies of her former band Fiery Furnaces and sought to embrace breezy pop songs…
NXNE Part One: Street Cred
Our coverage of Toronto, Ontario’s NXNE music, comedy, film, interactive, and art festival will take place in three parts with each focusing on a different aspect of what gives the festival its identity…
Black Moth Super Rainbow at The Mohawk
We know, we know, this show was so last week, but we wanted to share some photos and reminisce about Black Moth Super Rainbow’s recent show at the Mohawk in Austin. BMSR creates…
Photo Gallery: !!! (Chk Chk Chk) Dance Party at Mohawk
As expected, !!!’s show at Mohawk Austin a week or so back was an epic dance party with plenty of bumpin’ and grindin’. Check out the photo gallery below for photographic evidence of…
The Lonely Wild at Holy Mountain Live Review
The Lonely Wild are an ambitious bunch of Californians. Eschewing the popular tendency of young bands to start a guitar-drums-bass trio that commits lo-fi songs to tape in a garage, The Lonely Wild…
FPSF Preview: A Place To Bury Strangers Discusses Desire to Fornicate with Texas
If you’re booking a festival, hell, if you’re booking a show anytime or anywhere, you should consider A Place to Bury Strangers. Few bands making music today come with a more talked about…
FPSF Preview: Interview with The Sour Notes
Before The Sour Notes were one of Austin’s most steadfast acts, some of its members called Houston home. This weekend they’ll return to the HTX for an appearance at FPSF alongside huge acts…
Best Coast at Mohawk with Lovely Bad Things and GALPALS Live Review
Best Coast’s performance at the Mohawk on Sunday night featured a lengthy setlist of upbeat pop songs and solid performances by opening acts. The sold out crowd seemed to agree; concertgoers bordered on…
Eternal Summers at Mohawk Live Review
Saturday had to be one of the busiest show-packed weekends in a long time for an always busy live music city. Outstanding local bills took place at Beerland and Holy Mountain while touring…
Borrisokane EP Release Party at Scottish Rite Theater Live Review
Borrisokane weaves mutli-textured pop music, employing an unexpected blend of guitars electric and acoustic and sounds synthetic and organic. Though many of the bands with which Pop Press International has fallen in love…
Phoenix ACL Taping Live Review
I’ve never seen an ACL taping crowd more amped during a performance. While this resulted in more noise than usual and one woman having to be removed from the studio, it also made…
Photo Gallery: Austin Psych Fest Day 3 with Black Angels and Moving Sidewalks
Full coverage of Austin Psych Fest Day Three will be up tomorrow. For now enjoy our extensive gallery of photos from the third day of the fest. All photos © Bryan Parker and…
A Place to Bury Strangers and Metz at Mohawk for Psych Fest Pre-party
People often say that a band “destroyed it,” but when they say that about A Place to Bury Strangers, they literally mean they destroyed it, and the “it” is often the bass guitar of member Dion…
Youth Lagoon with Majical Cloudz at Mohawk Live Review
In March, Youth Lagoon released what is at least in my top five albums of the year so far. So, despite the plethora of events occurring last night in Austin, the decision to…
The Tontons at Holy Mountain w/ Royal Forest Live Review
Houston’s Tontons are a band who have been garnering remarkable press in recent months, including several stories right here at Pop Press International. Fresh off a mind-blowing SXSW week during which the band…
The xx with Austra at ACL Live
The xx have defied all probability since 2009, because they’ve been a buzz band since 2009. Rather than burning out in a blaze of productivity or fading away with a hurried, lackluster sophomore…
What Made Milwaukee Famous Live at Hotel Cafe in LA
Often you will hear that a band is better in live performance than on their studio-produced album, but it can be a hard thing to believe until you experience it for yourself. The…
The Villettes Live at Swan Dive
Go see the Villettes for two reasons: 1) the most beautiful harmonies you’ve ever heard live, and 2) a copious amounts of smile inducing, incredibly endearing giggling emanating from the stage. Having just…
Ty Segall, Ex-Cult, and OBN III’s at Mohawk
Crowds were surfed, pits were moshed, beers were hurled at the stage, and faces were melted in a blistering fury of psychedelia. I guess one way to sum it up is the bruise…
The Pharmacy Live at 29th St. Ballroom
After getting stuck in some unfortunate holiday traffic on my return from my hometown in East Texas, I made my way straight to the 29th St. Ballroom on Friday night to catch the…
