Jaill

Things that come from Texas are often odd and grand, and this is no exception for Denton's Fergus & Geronimo. Named after the rival child gang leaders from the 1994 movie War Of The Buttons, their music is at times both focused and loose, and comes from a wide range of unexpected influences. At the core of the group is Jason Kelly and Andrew Savage, who met while Kelly was recording and mixing a record for Teenage Cool Kids, a band started by Savage. During that four month process of recording, Kelly and Savage bonded over music, the creative process of recording, and the possibility of having a band that draws from a variety of sources. Black and Chicano doo-wop, the energy and atmosphere of classic soul, the precise control of Frank Zappa, psychedelia, and a thought to nearly everything in between. "Sparks is a pretty big influence – not just musically, but the way that band operates," Savage adds. "It is two guys making weird music with no other agenda than being creative and surprising, and that's what I want this band to be. That band is a great example of a group that makes no compromises for creativity."

Since their inception in the mid 2000's, Home Blitz have proven to be a ferocious force both live and on record. It's OK that there aren't any two Home Blitz releases which sound alike; sure, bandleader Daniel DiMaggio is involved in all of them – that's his voice, a British scouser trapped in a latent New Jersey teenager's body – and they're all pretty much as lo-fi as you can get without the tape disintegrating, but it's his approach to songwriting that changes things up on each new release. Their new A.T.K. 7'' on Mexican Summer gives us two new ones, songs about nostalgia for experiences not had ("A.T.K.," which shifts from Incredible Kidda Band style energy to Pavement-esque slacker downbeats in just over two minutes), and experiences in interstate travel and estimation of one's worth ("Last Cycle," doing a completely different trick in something more like three). Both songs bristle with the sort of nervous energy that powered groups like the Feelies and Game Theory, two distinct touchpoints in Home Blitz's sound, and when they power through it in the live setting (with guitarist Theresa Smith, bassist Jason Sigal and teenage drummer Henry Hynes in tow), they become the greatest band on the East Coast for that moment.

Swearin' is a new pop punk band featuring members of Big Soda and PS Eliot.