Song of the Day KUT & KUTX Studios

As one of the southernmost states to neighbor Latin America, it’s no big surprise that Texas is home to loads of great Latin music. But what really catches us off guard is the abundance of infectious Afrobeat energy right here in Austin. And if we put Latin Psych on the same spectrum as Afrobeat, you start to realize how many local acts get down on each others’ grooves.







Like Austin quartet lluvii. Say it with us: “U-V”. As heard on their debut EP Pacifico from last December, lluvii’s sound breezes through coastal south-of-the-border psychedelia, primal rainforest-ready percussion, and incredibly intriguing indie art rock, all anchored by the idiosyncratic soft siren vocals of frontwoman Carol Gonzalez. For some, that may be enough range to call it a day there and stick to established formulas moving forward. But for lluvii, the journey of genres has only just begun.







lluvii’s got a new EP on the way, produced by Grupo Fantasma/Caramelo Haze visionary Beto Martinez and set for release on August 2nd. The record’s lead offering, “Up All Night”, finds lluvii embarking on an ultra-vibrant, effervescent exploration of Afrobeat that features percussionist Victor Cruz from chicha-cumbia conquistadors Nemegata and keyboardist Anthony Farrell of old school R&B artisans Greyhounds. Even if you’re planning on checking out the single release show 9PM tonight at Cheer Up Charlie’s alongside Sexpop and Rococo Disco, it’ll be a challenge to sit still if you’re stuck in office after pressing play on this one. Because with unbreakable horn lines, un-ending auxiliary percussion, bold beat breakdowns, furious rhythms, buoyant bass work, intoxicating guitar chords, and Gonzalez’s mystic vocal presence, “Up All Night” will keep you going til dawn.

Sometimes all you need to reignite a long dormant project is just revamping the name. Well…that and maybe a brush with death for good measure.







At least that’s what recently rekindled the creativity for Nashville four-piece Babe & The Crystals, who first started out a decade back under the handle Kid Freud. Kid Freud called it quits in 2018 and the pandemic rolled through soon after, as did a tornado that tested frontman Alex Tomkins’ limits. But with everybody ultimately okay and Kid Freud’s catalogue accruing impressive streaming numbers online, Tomkins’ latest batch of tunes proved too good to keep cooped up. And after the release of their existing material under the Kid Freud umbrella album this March, it was finally time to put that six-year hiatus to bed and re-solidify the fellas as Babe & The Crystals.







Based on how natural and rejuvenated Babe & The Crystals sounded on this month’s reintroduction “Forevereverever”, you’d have never guessed they spent so much time apart. And though that revival evoked the artsier side of indie rock (spoken word verse and crazy catchy hook included), Babe & The Crystals really shine on their millennium-enmeshed second installment, “The Way You Love Me”. If you made a dartboard of your favorite indie pop rock radio darlings from the late ’00s, “The Way You Love Me” hits the bullseye dead center between ’em all. Rock on, babe. Rock on.

The rapid rate of single rollouts in hip-hop have really made us take remixes for granted. Because when it’s as simple as revisiting the beat, rewriting a verse, and inviting in a few new voices, “I like the remix better” becomes a given with pretty much any commercial success. Which is a shame, since remixes are a great opportunity to breath new life into a piece and reach new listeners with just the right amount of crossover appeal…think “Walk this Way” by Run-D.M.C.. Heck, even if it is pretty much the same song, a fresh set of polish, a literal re-mix, can make an old tune sound new.







If you’re already hip to remix culture, you know it started around in the Dance Halls of ’60s-’70s Jamaica, where DJs stripped and rebuilt reggae, rocksteady, and ska to cater to different audience demographics. And reggae – where the riddim reigns supreme and formal covers are often lost in the id of universally accessible dub bass lines, timbale fills, and guitar skanks – is undeniably an extremely underrepresented arena here in Central Texas. But if there’s one act who just keeps on roaring strong, it’s Austin-via-Chicago four-piece Lion Heights. And of course they’ve incorporated a few other Caribbean-inspired cubs into their pride, including fellow Texas-via-Jamaica reggae purveyor Sean Austin, who they teamed up with on last September’s “Jah Love” (off Lion Heights’ Not Done Fighting Riddim album), 2020’s “One Love”, plus Christmas 2021’s “Same Girl” and “Mercy” (both from Austin’s Purple Hearts LP).







“Mercy”‘s an amazing track, but its relatively lo-fidelity mix leaves the rest of the song quality at the mercy of the listener. Thankfully though, Lion Heights bassist/engineer extraordinaire Dane Foltin worked his magic on “Mercy” to bring it up to snuff with a Tuff Gong mix just in time for a steamy summer. You can hear the difference right away; there’s a newfound clarity and the sense of space is now island-wide, like a long overcast sky suddenly becoming sunny and spotless. Not much more to say other than we love this song, and we’re thrilled to hear it finally get the high-fidelity treatment it’s always deserved.

Pride Month kicks off in just a few days, and to help you celebrate in style, we’re swirling the colors with a rising Queer project. And that’s Lavender Scare, whose midcentury reference of a band handle alone tips you off to their championing of LGBTQ identities.







Chief songwriter Ruby Del Mar commands the quartet with high-octane vocals and riveting rhythm guitar, collectively creating what they call “slop pop punk”. And based on what we’ve heard from their upcoming debut Bites, that’s a pretty accurate classification; the power chord subdivisions and instrumental synchronization might not be perfectly precise at these breakneck tempos, but with pop-inspired chord sequences and radio-friendly runtimes, this four-track introduction almost sounds like Against Me! mixed with Yellowcard, all with a bit of a Queer Texas twist.







We’ll be able to sink our teeth into Bites when it hits streaming this Friday or in-person for the record release show 8PM next Thursday at 13th Floor alongside Shysters and Reality Refugee. But until then, embark on Lavender Scare’s snark with the EP’s lead, “I Hate Saturdays”, because like the anthem to a bizarro, weekend-loathing Garfield, this loneliness-engendered tune’s gonna leave you hungry for more.

Lookin’ to rage this Memorial Day? Well we’ve got something that you might not’ve expected but’ll definitely do the trick.







And that’s in reference to Austin’s Cara Van Thorn, initially born from Donkey Island ex-pats Adam Donovan and Carrie Stephens who continue to spearhead what is now a six-person wagon train. Since Fall 2019, this whimsical, bristly cavalcade’s become a common sight in modern swing circles, but their penchant for upbeat prohibition-era Jazz has always been leveled out with starker styles of rock, specifically ’90s Alternative and ’80s Goth.







And boy did the latter sound steal the show on Cara Van Thorn’s latest single, “Rage”, that just swept through last Friday. Between a menacing theremin, some absolutely disgusting synth bass, simplistic-yet-sinister percussion, subtly tense horn chords, and ominous lyrics that effortless shift between first and second person (further enhanced by additional vocals from A Good Rogering’s Skunk Manhattan), “Rage” sounds like Frankenstein’s monster ripped the bolts out and unleashed all the emotions bottled up beneath to an unsuspecting village. In other words, Cara Van Thorn totally went beast mode on this one.

If you mainly draw inspiration from older generations, after taking a lengthy break, you may find that the needle on your tastes has moved forward in time too. At least that’s what we’re seeing unfold with Austin project The Cuckoos.







Ostensibly the one-man band (who also operates as a four-piece) of flock leader/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter/producer Ken Frost, The Cuckoos have historically nestled around classic rock, psych, and funk. But after flying off in a near half-decade-long songwriting hiatus, The Cuckoos have recently come home to roost in the best way possible – with a touch of New Wave.







Ahead of their next record (produced by KUTX Favorite Chris “Frenchie” Smith), this morning The Cuckoos clocked in somewhere between Soft Cell and Depeche Mode with “Dirty Pictures”. “Dirty Pictures” goes face to face with the ’80s aesthetic with four-to-the-floor drums, raunchy guitar, salacious synth stabs, arousing lyrics with moody vocals, and a snapshot sound effect that’d make Duran Duran nod knowingly. A lot of producers might say “don’t go crazy” with a new sonic direction…but c’mon Ken…if you keep going cuckoo for the flashback stuff, you sure won’t rustle our feathers.