Crucial Concerts for the Coming Week

The Deer (Photo by Barbara FG)

The Deer Album Release

Parish, Saturday 22 (w/ Them Coulee Boys, Batty Jr.)

The Deer, at their hypnotic, gothic best, weave dark pastoral folk on an angel's golden loom. There's hemlock and morphine among their sunny fields of lilacs, with Grace Rowland's sweet voice striking gentle tension. The Beautiful Undead, fourth studio effort from the Austin band, is dreamy and delicately articulated as ever – chiming, plucked, and poppy, if less overtly dark. The first of two incoming albums created by a band frustrated and stuck at home during the pandemic, Undead finds heart in a soft, magnetic swirl. Wisconsin's Them Coulee Boys stop in on tour to provide banjo stomp. Singer Zeke Jarmon rounds up Wild Child cellist Sadie Wolfe, Ringo Deathstarr drummer Daniel Coborn, and bassist Ry Black for the jazzy, left-field folk adventure of Batty Jr. – Christina Garcia

Nikki Lane

A Lucktoberfest cancellation couldn't keep kickass singer-songwriter Nikki Lane out of this town. The Nashville-based sometimes-Austinite returns for a 10pm Eastside performance ahead of a Saturday opening slot for Turnpike Troubadours at New Braunfels' Whitewater Amphitheater. Donning fourth studio album Denim & Diamonds, the Libra star sign weaves glamour and grit with stunning poise, resulting in gold-spun outlaw country with a rock & roll flair. Lead single "First High" paints Lane's craving for the titular rush over moody basslines and a carefree airiness. Aaron McDonnell & the Neon Eagles and Kathryn Legendre also offer dazzling dualities with their own renditions of buttery-smooth ballads and toe-tapping honky-tonk. – Kriss Conklin

BLK ODYSSY, Eimaral Sol

BLK ODYSSY's debut masterpiece, BLK VINTAGE, arrived 14 months ago, and since then the funk/soul/hip-hop project – helmed by vocalist/visionary Juwan Elcock – has been on fire. Following a national tour with Cordae, the project signed with label/distributor Empire, which released an expanded edition of the record including collaborations with Griselda rapper Benny the Butcher and the Albert Einstein of funk, George Clinton. Last week, public radio tastemakers KEXP released a live set showing off the evolved band, now with Sir Woman drummer Amber Baker, where future star Eimaral Sol enthralls vocally on "Big Bad Wolf/Sober." – Kevin Curtin

Indian Roller's Farewell Concert With David Ramirez, Heavenly States

When Indian Roller opened in 2014, the surrounding stretch of Menchaca Road wasn't the vibrant strip of spacious beer gardens it is today. The boutique roadhouse now calls it quits, unable to keep pace with the more deep-pocketed bars surrounding it, owner Brenna Robertson tells the Chronicle. Thus, its eighth anniversary concert doubles as a farewell show starring David Ramirez, the songwriter/rocker who can gently pull heartstrings or rage loud and rowdy, and Weed Martyr – aka the Bright Light Social Hour, fresh off the release of stirring Riders Against the Storm collaboration "The Sheriff." The bye-bye bash, free entry and running 6pm to close, also taps H-Town guitar iconoclast Kelly Doyle, majestic California indie rock veterans Heavenly States, and the cathartic rock of Sarah Castro's latest band, Heartchaser.
 – Kevin Curtin

Pale Dīan Album Release

Shoegazing true believer Ruth Ellen Smith and her band Pale Dīan help keep the dream-pop flame burning brightly in ATX. Heralded by excellent, fuzzily melodic single "MeLt," the trio celebrates the release of their long-awaited second album, Feral Birth, at psych-rock haven Hotel Vegas with a gang of fellow travelers. The Stargazer Lillies – the sweet yang to Pale Dīan's spiky yin – bring their own brand-new LP, Cosmic Tidal Wave, to town from their Largo, Fla., home base. Even more overtly psychedelic, Austin's Daydream Twins also wield new music in the form of their self-titled debut. – Michael Toland

Otoboke Beaver, Peelander-Yellow

Japan Nite at South by Southwest helped build a skyway between Otoboke Beaver's originating Kyoto and Austin. Hatched in 2009, the band didn't venture internationally until almost a decade later, touching down here in March 2017. Since then, the grind-punk gals continued to bloom on May LP Super Champon – title-dropping a Japanese noun meaning "jumble" – with most tracks under two minutes and a clutch under 20 seconds. Live, the four detonate a grinning grindcore. What they write on Bandcamp of their super eruption applies to Otoboke Beaver itself: "We hope that it will be our masterpiece of chaos music!"
 – Raoul Hernandez

La Dispute, Sweet Pill, Pictoria Vark

It's rare for La Dispute vocalist Jordan Dreyer to pause in one of his blistering emo-punk monologues, unless there are dire grammatical concerns afoot. Halfway through the opening track to Wildlife – the beloved 2011 sophomore effort his band will be performing at Mohawk in full – Dreyer takes a break from addressing a departed friend to wonder out loud whether he's just deployed the correct form of past tense. Thankfully, nobody gives Dreyer time to find an answer. The throbbing hardcore pulse slows for only a second. A decade later, that's still La Dispute: making beautiful music out of the tension between poetic eloquence and punk passion. – Julian Towers

Grace Sorensen

Spellbinding Austin R&B singer-songwriter – whose vocals run through the intro to BLK ODYSSY'S debut, BLK VINTAGE – precedes recent ACL Fest debutant Jake Lloyd. – Derek Udensi

The Heavy Heavy

Brighton, United Kingdom rock band signed to ATO Records finishes out a three-stop Austin leg of their tour. – Derek Udensi

KUTX & Mueller Rock the Park

The free, family-friendly series continues with this month's show featuring pop artist Primo the Alien. Arrive before 7:15pm to catch Extragrams! drag and Karate Dance Party. – Derek Udensi

Roddy Ricch

Premonitions of the Compton hitmaker's demise lessened after the release of "Stop Breathing." The quick-hitting September single sees the soon-to-be-24-year-old return to an old flow. Longtime Billboard resident Post Malone headlines. – Derek Udensi