Austin’s Cactus Lee could be described as merely a country artist, but to be truly accurate, it’s Texas country. Frontman Kevin Dehan, a lifelong fanatic and student of the Lone Star State’s tenured history of folk and country, has dedicated his music career to being a concrete contributor.

In late March, Cactus Lee released their self-titled album, the project’s sixth—an album delving into all of the classic themes the genre exhibits. The album’s opener “Rabbit” is a bright shuffle, jauntily dotted with accordion flares. A road tune detailing the journey of a traveling musician, Dehan sets the stage for the album’s upbeat, midtempo good time.

Cactus Lee plays a couple of shows this month to dare you to keep from clapping along. They play Community Garden on Cedar Avenue on Thursday, May 22nd and Buddy’s Place on Burnet on Saturday, May 24th.

Cactus Lee is out now.  

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Atlanta indie rocker Becca Harvey AKA Girlpuppy has been through it, y’all. After getting off the break-up rollercoaster following a four-year relationship, she lays out her journey is an almost epistolary way, intimately detailing her process in a way that feels like she’s soundtracked her diary.

But there’s plenty of resilience in her album Sweetness as well, creating a tone of growth and power instead of anger and self-destruction. The track “I Just Do” chronicles a tumultuous relationship, emoting on the double-edged sword of lovesickness and allowing yourself to be repeatedly hurt by the person attached to that love. Better yet, it fits perfectly in the fold of Blondshell, Soccer Mommy, and Snail Mail.

Sweetness is out now.

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Despite only releasing music since 2019, Austin indie rock outfit Daily Worker seems to be taking a page from the Robert Pollard and King Gizzard book of prodigious releases. The group, helmed by Cotton Mather guitarist Harold Whit Williams, has released over a dozen album in just six years. Not surprising when you’re not only a musician, but a prolific poet and author.

By my count, their latest album marks the 15th installment in Daily Worker’s discography. Field Holler is a trove of lo-fi, jangly indie pop gems. And speaking of Robert Pollard, “Delmar Overload” is a Guided By Voices-inspired tune with packed with a buzzy-string laced hook a great, driving guitar solo, and plenty of 90’s indie nostalgia.

Daily Worker plays a free show this evening at six o’clock at Antone’s Record Shop on the Drag at 29th.

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Austin duo Pendulum Hearts take over stages with their blend of Western Swing and rockabilly, filled-out by a rotating cast of characters to round out the rhythm section and sprinkle in soloists. The beat of Pendulum Hearts comes from guitarist and vocalist Chase Risinger and fiddle player Tony Perez.

They’re sweat-inducing, boot-scooting live shows are a large part of the group’s trademark, and one they’ll be bringing to several stages this month behind the release of their new song “Cocaine Cowboy,” an imprudent romp about the fast times of a chosen lifestyle.

Pendulum Hearts plays Infamous Brewing off 620 this Saturday and Fareground Austin on 1st and Congress next Saturday, May 17th.

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UT Austin alums Andy Baxter and Andy Jahnke have been releasing music together as Penny & Sparrow for a decade. Revered for their poetic lyricism and ability to pull off acoustic gems and electronic meditations masterfully on the same album, Penny & Sparrow continue that tradition on their current album Lefty. An ambitious, twenty-song release weaving their most art-for-arts-sake sonic tapestry to date.

“Ketamine” is one of the group’s electronic outputs, featuring Grammy-nominated Houston rapper Tobe Nwigwe lending his baritone talk-rap skills over Penny & Sparrow’s laid back, slow-tempo groove.

Penny & Sparrow plays the Paramount tonight.

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Nashville indie folk artist Melanie MacLaren has garnered praise for her music all across americana outlets. In just three years, she’s released dozens of songs and several EP’s and live tracks. Her warm, effortless vocals tend to be just one of the many patterns running through her tapestry of many orchestrated layers. Not shying away, but simply being part of the fold.

“Get It Back” has a bit of a Lilith Fare flair, dancing somewhere between americana and indie alternative, punctuated by the duality of a steel guitar prominently featured in a song about a day spent spreading ashes and reminiscing about a loved one around New York City.

Melanie MacLaren plays tomorrow night at the Soundspace at Captain Quack’s on Menchaca Rd. with Hannah Aldridge.

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Dayton, Ohio’s M. Ross Perkins has an affinity for blending 60’s British Invasion music with the sounds of American pop standards with just enough of a contemporary veneer to let you know the sound is an homage to the time, not a hint to its release date.

His third album What’s the Matter, M Ross? Takes the introspective look the album title implies, making it his most existential and transcendental album to date. The album blends cosmic psych pop into the mix, sounding a bit like a Harry Nilsson-Gram Parsons-sometimes King Gizzard collaboration made for a nostalgic drive through Laurel Canyon.

What’s the Matter, M Ross? Is out May 2nd.

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Last year, Monophonics bandleader Kelly Finnigan released his second solo album A Lover Was Born, a stellar study in psychedelic soul extending cleanly from the classic Monophonics sound. A song that didn’t make it onto the album was “Keep Me In Mind,” a smooth soul bop featuring Chicago soul legend Renaldo Domino.

While most of the Monophonics and Finnigan’s solo discographies have a prominent neosoul sound, “Keep Me In Mind” is a cover of a 1967 tune by the New York duo Samson & Delilah and distinctly sounds like a love letter to the classic days of solid gold soul duos. The kind that may have wound-up on the soundtrack of an Olsen twins movie in the 90s.

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Austin psych-rock group Queen Serene was conceived during COVID when former Naked Tungs guitarist Sarah Ronen began writing her own music following the band’s dissolution, but soon realized she preferred creating in a group. Now the group is filled out with Charlie Cassells, Dave Pohly, and co-songwriter Galceran.

Queen Serene’s sophomore album 2 feels out the space rather than filling it like their straight-ahead psych rock debut album did. Leaning into thick-curtained, shoegazey layers, “In A Rut (I’m Stuck)” is a departure from the group’s collaborative songwriting, being one fully written by Galceran during his own COVID rut. But it’s the more cutting edge of shoegaze, providing a trippy, dissonant deluge to get you in the Psych Fest mood.

Queen Serene plays an Austin Psych Fest late night show tonight at 13th Floor opening for SUUNS.

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Welch trio The Bug Club have been continuing the traditions of garage rock since 2016. Short, punchy songs with humorous lyrics and catchy hooks bulk out the group’s discography, and under the freewheeling rollicking is an understated seriousness to their musicianship. Aside from the wild wall of sound that makes the trio sound like a group of six, there’s a metronomic tightness to their seemingly carefree illusion.

As wild as the energy of their studio sound is, to see the trio live is a total mind bender. The frenetic energy of their songs is matched by the kinetic energy ricocheting across the stage, infecting their audiences with their pinball machine vigor.

The Bug Club is currently on tour supporting both their current Sub Pop album On The Intricate Workings of the System and teasing the upcoming Very Human Features out this summer. Their Austin stop brought them to Studio 1A where they made our Friday afternoon feel like anything but a day at the office.

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