Last year at Art Outside, I walked into the biggest crowd I'd seen for a daytime show to find out what all the fuss was about... and then I heard it. Dani Neff, lead singer and guitarist of Megafauna, is one of the best shredders I've seen in all my life. And the best part is, she makes it look so easy! Her dainty fingers seem to effortlessly glide over the strings as this hard but intricately melodious sound oozes from her guitar.  

Quickly on the rise, their latest music video, "Precious Blood", was directed by David Bellarosa of Lonely Giant. It also stars Laurie Gallardo of KUTX and The Good Music Club. This is an Austin music video that can't be missed. Click here to watch. --Written by Charise Sowells

New Year's Eve?  Plans?

Perennial local favorites The Sour Notes are throwing another one of their epic New Years Eve parties.  And Yeah, you're invited to hang out with them, Deep Time, Hundred Visions, Pompeii, Love Inks, The Laughing, and Mirror Travel for a night of fun and frolic at Cheer Up Charlie's.  Cool.

Meanwhile, over at Frontier Bar, Slacker Magazine is throwing a Blacklight Party with Ringo Deathstarr, JAPANTHER, The Boxing Lesson, Megafauna, Residual Kid, Mighty Mountain (Formerly PYRAMID), and The Sun Machine (Formerly THE SOUL PILOTS).

Stubb's is bringing in the New Year with T-Bird and the Breaks + Henry + The Invisibles.

The Beauty Ballroom is hosting Grupo Fantasma and Foot Patrol.

Neon Indian is headlining at The Mohawk, warmed up by Silent Diane and S U R V I V E.

And ND's NYE event includes Not In The Face, The Couch, The Sideshow Tragedy, and AC / ND.

Well, you have all day to decide.  And to get you prepped, mentally and emotionally, for that decision, Zooey and Joey are here for you.

Austin psych-rock trio The Boxing Lesson will be kicking off their summer tour tomorrow night at Hotel Vegas with fellow Austin-based psychedelic/experimental groups Melogrand and Megafauna. The Boxing Lesson’s tour will take them across 13 cities in 9 states and will be highlighted by a June 15th set at the NXNE Festival in Toronto, Canada. The band’s latest 7”, Health is the New Drug, was released in February of this year and features a title track that masterfully toes the line between shoegaze, psycadelic and progressive rock, using spacy synths to accompany one hell of a shredding lead guitar.

Austin based rock trio Megafauna offer an interesting melange of rock'n'roll (drums, guitar solos), pop (Dani Nelf's beautiful melodies and voice, at times reminiscent of Bjork) and psych rock (production and overall musical approach). It must be ssaid that Dani - originally from Brooklyn - also plays guitar with impressive dexterity. The band is prepping their full-length follow up to their 2010 debut album "Larger Than Human." and in the meantime they are releasing a digital 3 track "Love Project" EP (streaming below), which sounds very promising indeed, showcasing the diverse range of styles and influences that drive the band's sound. Don't miss these guys live!