ATH Records presents: Slack Capital 2
Without a doubt & without further ado; we give you a listen from the little label on the rise, ATH Records with 27 jams from 27 of some of Austin’s greatest acts on Slack Capital 2—curated & organized by the label’s own Eric Braden, Kesari Fleury & Nathan Lankford. A charity for SafePlace where 100% of proceeds will be donated to the organization, the label celebrates the release locally at Barracuda that saw the imprint debuting a song of day leading up to day’s release.
Slack Capital 2 runs all over the subterranean sonic spectrum of local sounds that don’t normally get their due across all the big press outlets. Thank heavens Slugbug is still keeping things weird with their single “When the Words”, raging with electric brilliance on Ama’s grunge-ode “Story of Light”, Ian McKinney’s shit-kicking “CRIMEWAVE”, the up-beat synth chirps of Daniel Francis Doyle & The Dreams’ “I Had To Do It”, to the eternal smart anthem that puts down the a-holes on Mom Jeans’ “Dumb Dude”, to the desert-desperado show down drifter pop of The Zoltars’ “I See You”.
Barely controllable cacophonies blast off on Oozer’s “Clickity Clacker”, to the mysterious electrified enchantment of Sarah La Puerta’s mesmerizing “Don’t Make Me Do It”, then Quin Galavis’s fist-clenched balladry on “Cold Skin”, followed by the honky-tonk closer “Sleeping Til 2” from Croy and the Boys that is the feel of hanging out way past last call. A fun time can be found on the regal & zany “Carrasco” from Pataphysics, to the slow-driving-diver “Atma” from Schwein!, coasting into Catalina La O’s “Se Nos Rompio El Amor” tortured dramatic blues, keeping the wandering slacker vibe strong with Tamarron’s “Dr. Alan”, to the glistening distortion of “Gold Driver” by The Diamond Center, right before getting electronically-experimental on TV Dads’ “Vertical Sync”, alongside the gentle meditations of “Human” from Magia Negra where that introspective vibe carries forward on “Conditionationality”, right before Nike’s “UR Lying Now” breaks the peace with a blast of punky energy that leads to the raucous ruckus “Soul Stroll” from White Bronco.
Kay Odyssey’s “Slipstream” gets cosmic as Slack Capital 2 continues along the dusty trails, where things keep going in all directions as shown by Shivery Shakes’ “Both Ways”, to the lofty hi-altitude cool-cruise control sound of Good Field’s “Necessary Feeling”, “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” offers up a state of the unions, while Thor & Friends’ make a xylophonic suspense soundtrack with “Bees”, to the soft folk lullaby from Jana Horn on “News”, right before the compilation closes with “Rodeo Clown” from John Wesley Coleman III that finishes with a lo-fi sound that could have been recorded at any point in the past 60 plus years.
ATH Records boss Eric Braden introduced the compilation Slack Capital 2 with the folowing insightful words:
Slack Capital 2 is a compilation of 27 new songs by 27 of Austin’s best and brightest bands. 100% of proceeds are going to SafePlace, who are dedicated to providing resources for those hurt by sexual and domestic violence.
From the neurotic synth-pop of Daniel Francis Doyle & The Dreams to the personal-is-political folk of Jana Horn to the existential joke midwestern country of Croy and the Boys, Slack Capital 2 is a rich local document, a testament to the variety and vitality of Austin music today. There’s something really cool about having the brain exploding synth pop of Slugbug give way to the crisp indie rock songwriting of Ama, only to dive into the corroded crust-pop of Ian McKinney. Thor & Friends contributes a thoughtful instrumental, Oozer gives Daniel Johnston-esque songwriting the sludge punk treatment, and Quin Galavis contributes a deeply sincere, slow-building, finely crafted ballad. Mom Jeans wipes the smirk off misogynistic faces with laid-back ease, and John Wesley Coleman III does an elegant Elliott Smith-meets-David Lynch bedtime story.
We are currently spotlighting one song per day until the album’s release on April 14, which will be celebrated with a release party at Barracuda. Fans can pre-order the album as a digital download ($7) or a compact disc ($10) at the Austin Town Hall Records Bandcamp page.
Thank you for supporting SafePlace, and thank you for supporting the music of Austin.
