New Austin Music - May 18, 2025

Words by Anna-Kay Reeves and Alyssa Quiles (foreword by Joseph Rocket)

What's up y'all, some new music write-ups by our lovely team. Thanks for reading. Don't forget to drink water cause it's way too hot out here.

Once again, we have some new music, some a little less than new, but all of it is great. - Rocket

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(Reeves)

Summer heat is sticky with nostalgia. Even as many of us clock 40 hours May-August, something of the season’s school days meaning late nights and leisure creep in. May in Austin music is heating up, too, with new EPs from TC Superstar and Jane Leo. Both EPs feature themes of disillusionment, but make it danceable. So basically your ideal adult summer soundtrack. 

Jane Leo - I Want to Be Left Out (EP) | LISTEN HERE

Jane Leo’s techno-rock fusion stays true to form on their EP "I Want to Be Left Out". From start to close, the EP is an honest reflection of the troubled state of the world without being depressing. The vibe is: we’re not impressed with the status quo and we don’t have to stop having fun to get that point across. 

Jane Leo irl (probably)

Diamond Hands and Vicious One stand out as playful and sexy, sonic salve for the seemingly inevitable summer situationship with a vacationer. When they go home and you’re still vibing in CapCity, crank it: SHE OWNS THE CITY, RAW POWER! With driving dance beats and simple, punchy lyrics, I Want to Be Left Out is a great addition to a playlist to lend an air of pop-rock mystique to your next get-together. 

TC Superstar - DANCER (EP) | LISTEN HERE

DANCER is the latest release from Austin’s techno-pop sweetheart TC Superstar. The 18-minute EP features five tracks all titled DANCER, 1-5. Personal and reflective in a relatable way, the EP explores our physical experiences in relation to our emotional landscape. Hey, that’s like dancing! The EP draws on the feedback loops between physical and emotional landscapes: did I walk into the desert first, or feel dried up first? Am I running for the hills figuratively by literally moving to the Hill Country? These and other philosophical musings may occur to you as you throw ass listening to DANCER. 

DANCER 2 in particular is a rich lyrical landscape that explores the interaction between where we are, what we do, and what we value. The song’s lyrics reflect TC Superstar front-man Connor McCambell’s involvement with local farm stand Nava Farms:

Got a job at a corn stand when I learned of bills

Don’t think I have enough for a house in the hills

Happiness doesn’t come from feeling full, but the feeling of helping to feed another soul 

Anna-Kay irl (definitely)

With DANCER, TC once again delivers dance music with rare lyrical depth. Catch TC Superstar in Houston and San Antonio on their Teeny Tiny Texas Tour promoting DANCER.

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(Quiles)

Farmer’s Wife – Faint Illusions (EP) | LISTEN HERE

Grunge, shoegaze and gothic fairytales collide in the group’s latest release. The band mixes brooding rhythms with distorted melodies, evoking both feelings of intimacy and unease. From the twisted lullaby of “The Ballet” to the decaying desire of “Mildew,” the EP lingers like a dream just on the edge of nightmare and turns the idea of decay into something strangely romantic and haunting.

The Bottomless – Pandemonium (Album) | LISTEN HERE

Gritty and a little dystopian. What more could you ask for? Front to back, the group’s latest release is a sonic exploration of rock, prog and a few other genres in between. Here are the highlights: 

Blue-Footed: A little rap and surf melted together to create a hot tune featuring sick rips and licks. 

Inevitable: Hip-hop rules this song. Paired alongside hypnotic vocalizations, we’re presented with a fast-grooving ode to almost-lost love. 

Pareidolia: With hard-punching drums and heavy sequences, the 5-piece close out their second full-length with a punch to the gut. No sophomore slump found here.

Nolan Potters Nightmare Band – Let’s Hunker Down (Single) | LISTEN HERE

Written and recorded in a mere few hours for the Three Hour Song Challenge. Despite the time constraint, the band shares a fully-realized, whimsical track of quirky lyrics paired with a floaty psych-pop backtrack.

Tomfurd – old friend (Single) | LISTEN HERE

A playful debut single. With an acoustic intro, the singer takes us on a journey through a timeless friendship. The track eventually erupts into a moving rock piece of thoughtful laments before ending on a happier note:

The words written on the world

With the Universe’s Pen

Only spells out…

Old Friend

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And that's all for now folks. See ya soon, thanks for reading and please survive the summer heat!