Through a whirling Teisco organ, fuzzy guitars, and echoing vocals emerges the amazingly mysterious psych rock five piece, Holy Wave.  Like something straight out of the 60s, the El Paso natives are channeling their Zombies-like approach and taking listeners through a labyrinth of experimental textures and sounds. From super chill tunes like “Do You Feel It’, to the busier “Psychological Thriller”, their latest album Relax pushes out to sea and invites you to lay back and enjoy the illusory ebb and flow. Holy Wave are touring up and down the west coast in April, returning home for Austin Psych Fest on Thursday, May 1st.  – Written by Jodi Lang

They say all good things must come to an end.  (We don't really believe that, but for the sake of putting a metaphysical slant to a post, we'll claim allegiance.)  And, sorry to say, Free Week is no exception.  Waah.

But instead of bawling, let's go out with a BANG.  For tonight, we recommend going Holy Mountain or Red 7 -

Zorch, The Boxing Lesson, Boyfrndz, Tiger Waves, and Residual Kid will be doing the free thing at Holy Mountain tonight. 

And right next door at Red 7, on the inside you can find Troller, Marriage, The Sour Notes, Wet Lungs, and Spray Paint; whilest the outside stage will be taken over by White Walls, Cheap Curls, The Well, and Holy Wave.  

Saturday, we'd go:

The Mohawk has a huge going-out-of-Free-Week show with the outside stage hosting Silent Diane, FEATHERS, BOAN, and Rare Species.  Inside, we'll have The Sour Notes, The Couch, Shivery Shakes, Letting Up Despite Great Faults, and The Plastic Habit.

And Red 7 will host TV Torso, Oh No Oh My, Hundred Visions, and Tiger Waves. 

Last and definitely not least, you could scoot over to Club DeVille and catch Oh Look Out, Friday Avenue, (one of our best of 2012) Borrisokane, Knifight, and Hydra Melody on the outside stage, whilest inside you can see Pop Pistol and Migrant Kids.

Holy Wave is grounded well within the Austin psychedelic scene, but they take many interesting side steps into other trains of thought. A crutch of some psychedelic rock bands is to fall into a strung out and trudging groove that would be cool if you were stoned. Holy Wave never falls into this defect of their genre. Mixed in with cool surf licks, the band has incorporated a crescendo style into their act. Any time the boys seem to be cruising along in one groove, it isn’t long before one of the members shoots the rest of the band into a jaw-dropping climax. Holy Wave’s intelligent take on psychedelic surf rock is engaging and will make you feel like you’re at a 1950’s beach party.- Taylor Browne