This Friday, Cheer Up Charlie's is hosting a show of some of The Deli Austin's favorite local bands, all leading up to the release of the new EP from Hikes.  Hikes came on our radar last year after the release of what looks like the most fun video shoot of all time.  Do yourself a favor...

HIKES / Like Ripples / OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO from Lobo Sucio Creative on Vimeo.

Pair that with what is some of the most heartfelt and ambitious music coming out of Austin and needless to say, we're excited to hear the new record. It's a long night of music and DJs starting with Nathaniel Red and sets from Chipper Jones, Big Bill, Happy Hell and Young Tongue.  All great bands and an amazing, eclectic line-up of local talent.  Get there early and stay late.  

The electro-pop duo of Tessa Bennetch and Darryl Schomberg , better known as Bells and Parks, recently delivered Versailles, an acutely polished digital EP of progressive-pop.  With the help of producer and Young Tongue frontman, Stuart Baker, Versailles is at its finest moments, a powerful and ambitious album. An immediate comparison to the work of St. Vincent or even industrial era Bjork comes to mind while hearing Bennet belt out her more affected lyrics.  The group gained a spot on our artist of the month poll this week and will be performing at Holy Mountain May 15th in support of The Gents and Crooked Sails. 

Bells and Parks | Streams from V O X A V I L A on Vimeo.

It isn't easy for a band to change monikers without facing the risk of losing any, if not all buzz their previous handle may have generated.  Not so, for indie pop group Young Tongue, formally The Baker Family. With the release of a digital EP "Cat Calls" the group seems to have made a solid push for relevance to an audience that may have previously dismissed them as yet another Americana family band, to which they couldn't be further from.  They are expected to release a full length LP this summer but for now we'll have to settle for the 4 track EP, full of rich percussion and dreamy omnichord backdrops. Saturday at Red 7, Young Tongue opens for UME and Megafauna. - Andy Bianculli 

Megafauna have been busy lately gaining speed. They've had a long string dynamic live shows, and the trio’s forthcoming album, Maximalist, has the right amount of grit and whip-quick guitar work from front woman Dani Neff to fill the slick 37-minute run time to the brim. Want a preview? Check out the album’s dynamic first single, “Haunted Factory”. I don't see Megafauna slowing down anytime soon, and I hope to God they won't. 
You can get Maximalist on the 15^th, but the album’s official release is part of the bill for the 101X Homegrown Live show, April 19th at The Mohawk. The all-ages event will serve as a benefit show for SXSW Cares and will also feature UME, Black Books, and Young Tongue. –Written by Marie Meyers

Austin electro-pop group, Borrisokane, is in the process of curating a project that hopes to bring together our local music scene in an ambitious and, frankly, really darn cool way. They’re calling it the Versus Project: six Texas bands will cover a Borrisokane song and in addition contribute something new of their own. Borrisokane will return in kind, rounding out the total to 24 songs, with 12 covers and 6 new tracks from the host band. Look forward to tracks from MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR, Knifight, Yum, Pageantry, Young Tongue (formerly The Baker Family) and Home by Hovercraft.

The whole package will be split onto six disks and put into a lovely box-set with artwork from Shawn Magill. There’s a Kickstarter set up, and you have until early March to help it happen. If the campaign is successful, the full project will be released on Earth Day, April 22nd, through the homegrown Oscillation Records. Too much good music is being promised for us to let this go by the way-side! And now, for a taste of what’s (hopefully) to come; check out Borrisokane’s “Sinking Catalina” covered by Young Tongue (The Baker Family) below!  --Written by Marie Meyers