Knifight

Officially, Knifight has been jamming for roughly 9 years; though 4 years of that was John Gable doing solo work in Tyler; eventually picking up Patrick Marshall, Nick Garrison, and John Hetherington along the way to Austin, landing circa 2010.  

Since then, they've seen the inside of many of the finer venues in the "warehouse district", playing The Mohawk, The Beauty Bar, et al, building up a solid wall of Knifers (if I may) with their pop-laden rock and signature vocals.

And why not? Check out the irresistible "Familiar Steps" to see what we're talking about:

Just to be clear:  When we say "pop-laden" here, we don't mean pop as in "pop culture", as in Super Bowl halftime or American Idol-ish pablum.  No, we mean "pop" in the more traditional sense of the word:  A blending of harmonic elements, oftimes in a major key, using vocals, chord progressions, and traditional structures to create a pleasing tonal (in the western sense) quality.  So even if their cuts don't sound all Top 40, don't be surprised if the band winds up there:  They have all the essentials in place; sans the high-dollar, studio-sheened mix. 

Knifight lures you in with a danceable BPM; seduces you with hook-laden guitar riffs and vocal harmonies; then shivs you clean through with Gable's emphatic, imposing, "voice of conviction" vociferications.  Built on a solid base of club-flavored rhythm, minimalistic instrumentation, and sing-along melodics, Knifight is a force of angular pop; inspiring a tribal intimacy with us and the rest of our DIY-indie clan.

We were tempted to leave you with this live vid of the guys at Clicks -



But really, you should listen to their new EP, '"Now We're Invisible".  Really.  In it's entirety.

You can find out more about Knifight on Facebook, ReverbNation, Bandcamp, and SonicBids.

Before Dawn

Before Dawn sounds huge, but really it's just the two folks, Rob and Kate Houle, making rock music fun again with their danceable post-punk sound.  They've been compared to a lot of different bands; but typically they bring to mind an 80-ish synth sound, maybe the B-52s (for Kate's vocals and Rob's searing guitar chops); maybe Devo (for the lyrics, synths, and/or sensibilities).  But give a listen and you'll hear the intervening thirty+ years, true and clear; heavy hypnotic kick beats, fat happy bass lines, and piercing guitar riffs, all arranged into traditional pop-structured ABA numbers, complete with chord progression.

Former Floridians, former stage actors, Rob and Kate know how to put on a great live  show:  Once saw these guys play a tiny crowd in a tiny venue, and they poured it out as if playing to a stadium filled with their best friends.  And the effort pays off - Though Austin is home, they've played from Texas to Wisconsin; from LA to Miami (rather famously).

Their latest CD, "Brush with Greatness", should be here any day now.  But until that time, take in this vid to get a feel of their "let's have fun for a change" sensibility:

Mr. Bear

It's Austin, so here's what happens - 


A musical guy/gal genius outgrows their hometown, wants to take their music "to the next level".  They look around, think "Nashville, here I come!"  But that city has a much closer association to country/western than our guy/gal genius wants.  They look around a bit more, spot Austin on the map, saddle up the truck and move to town.   It is the Live Music Capital of the Known World.  


Well.  In this case, no.  It was love, I think, that brought Jamie Pearson (a.k.a. Mr. Bear) to Austin.  But not before he cut his teeth, musically speaking, in the UK playing for various punk and ska bands.  Nowadays, he's producing danceable electronic tunes, or mixing down "chill ambient".  Quoting the man:


Musical styles range from ambient, chillout and downbeat to techno, electro, IDM, drum & bass and good old fashioned pop music. Mr. Bear also makes time for ‘Cut & Paste’ remixes, mixing famous and not so famous tunes into one big mashup, which he gives away for free. 


Hey, give a listen to my personal favorite of his remixes:

Noise Launch

Hey - 


You know what this is, right?  One weblog about Austin Independent Music.  We added "Noise" to the title 'cause the signal's not all that pure: Like most blogs, this one is hampered by the bandwidth and taste of the author. Full disclosure, that: Now you know. Read on at your own peril.


The goal here is to highlight some of the musical talent in the Austin, Texas area. Being the self-proclaimed "Live Music Capital of the World", there's an amazing concentration of talent in this geographical area, which also happens to be the state capital of Texas, as well as home to -
Well, let's not pretend to be the chamber of commerce and just leave it at that.


What we will do, however, is regularly post small informational bits about the local talent, embedding the occasional music-playing widget when we can.  


And when we say "regular", we mean at least once a week. 


Let's start off right, with the group that kinda half-inspired this blog, Watch Out For Rockets.  Call 'em lo-fi pop, they record their tunes on a 4-track (in their living room, it sounds like), but are proof positive that you don't need an expensive studio to compose and create brilliant music.  


Check out their latest EP, "Telepathic War Machines", which, at the time of this writing, is a mere email-address away from being yours to own:




For future reference, be warned:  We love bandcamp!