Live Music Recommendations: April 13-19

Get out and break a sweat while the temperatures are still reasonable. This week's music recos include everything from the metal of the Texas Independence Fest to the electro R&B of Ibeyi to the accordion assault of Conjunto Puro Corazon. See more of our recommended events (music and otherwise) at austinchronicle.com/events.

FRIDAY

Kal Marks

Beerland
Fri., April 13

Following debut excoriation Life Is Murder (2013) and double-down Life Is Alright, Everybody Dies (2016), the Loudest Band in Boston™ (according to NPR) leavens its thundering post-punk on Universal Care. Progressive deconstructionism still rules the roost, but Carl Shane’s godless shrieks of protest and wit temper the trio’s blood curdling crescendo for nuances such as shoegaze on lead single “Adventure.” Combined with a pair of Scratch Acid takers in Austin’s Lung Letters and Exhalants, brace for deafness. – Raoul Hernandez

Digitalism

Kingdom
Fri., April 13

After remixing their way onto the French house revival scene in 2007, Hamburg’s Jens Moelle and Ismail Tüfekçi garnered comparisons to Daft Punk same as French contemporaries Justice. Moniker inspired by Bob Sinclar’s producer collective Africanism, the German duo keeps one foot in indie rock and another in dance. A nü rave erupted on 2017 bunker output 5ky11ght, shortened specifically for short attention spans. – Christina Garcia

SATURDAY

Big K.R.I.T.

Emo’s
Sat., April 14

As Andre 3000 immortalized, the South got somethin’ to say, and Mississippi MC Justin Scott has answered with soulful bars since 2010 breakout K.R.I.T Wuz Here. October’s third studio LP 4eva Is a Mighty Long Time synthesizes swag from Southern titans T.I and UGK with poignant reflection, harnessing beats ranging from Atlanta trap to New Orleans bounce. Georgia wordsmiths Cyhi the Prynce and Childish Major open. – Clara Wang

Hey, Loretta! Hillbilly Hoedown & Pie Social

Continental Club
Sat., April 14

Fearless country siren Loretta Lynn turns 86 Saturday, so Austin honky-tonkers celebrate the “Coal Miner’s Daughter” who helped reshape Seventies female empowerment. Proving “Woman Enough” are Teri Joyce, Marti Brom, Christy Hays, Bonnie Montgomery, Summer Dean, and many more, while menfolk Kevin Russell and new Austinite John Doe lend support. Pie proceeds benefit the SIMS Foundation. – Doug Freeman

Texas Independence Fest 2018

Come & Take It Live
Sat., April 14

Hardscrabbling together “Texan Pride, heavy metal music, [and] BBQ” since 2008, Come and Take It Productions tops the 2018 iteration of its annual Texas Independence Fest not with a regional monster, but rather a Maryland institution. Grindcore trio Dying Fetus joins previous headlining imports Down, Behemoth, and Goatwhore. They’ll represent the Republic nonetheless.

“Texas is one of the best places to play in the world,” writes drummer Trey Williams.“We love the Lone Star State.”

Last summer’s eighth LP from the progressive death merchants, Wrong One to Fuck With (Relapse), splattered one of the group’s best albums overall and its top seller, which even cracked the Billboard charts.

“We put a lot of time and effort into this album,” acknowledges the beat master. “Every detail was reviewed and reviewed again. This album grabbed the ear of the fans, and we’re grateful for the positive reception.”

So now it’s deodorant commercials, Netflix series soundtracking, and extreme sport spots!

“[We’re] not meant for the mainstream,” counters Williams. “Open your eyes and look at the content of most band shirts. The general population can’t and won’t stomach that kind of content/imagery. Also, I think most of America sees hard music as a joke.”

But “Fixated on Devastation” and “Ideological Subjugation” are so ... catchy.

“We’ve always tried to have good songs. If the end product is ‘catchy,’ then it is what it is. We just do what we do: mix grind, death, hardcore, and thrash into a human blender.”

– Raoul Hernandez

SUNDAY

Conjunto Puro Corazon

One-2-One Bar
Sun., April 15

Boosters Rancho Alegre Radio and Austin Vida continue their Tardeada series with San Antonio ensemble Conjunto Puro Corazon. Drums, bass, and bajo sexto back the supergroup of six accordionists, all protégés of Conjunto Hall of Famer Bene Medina. On 2015 debut Sueños, the 10-piece souped up boleros, polkas, Norteño, and country in the grand style of traditional conjunto. – Alejandra Ramirez

MONDAY

Bebel Gilberto

Antone’s
Mon., April 16

Bebel Gilberto’s coy and soothing bossa nova descends from her father João Gilberto, diva mother Miúcha (Heloísa Buarque de Hollanda), and singing uncle Chico Buarque de Hollanda. As such, the Brazilian prodigy started making waves by 7 when she debuted on her mother’s first solo album. In 1991 she moved to New York, adding electro and dance rhythms to the traditional samba and jazz of her native homeland. – Isabella Castro-Cota

The Pack A.D.

Mohawk
Mon., April 16

Thanks to Becky Black’s raucous fretwork, heaving vocal grit, and Maya Miller’s bludgeoning drum mechanics, this Canadian duo continues to wreak club havoc on 2017’s politically charged Dollhouse. From the distorted onslaught of “Not Alright,” utopia march of “Does It Feel Good,” and six-stringed steel thump found on the title track, it’s a one-two punch the Vancouver duo has perfected since 2008 debut Funeral Mixtape. – Alejandra Ramirez

TUESDAY

Front 242

Mohawk
Tue., April 17

Seminal Belgians, Front 242’s industrial Eighties electronica was itself a product of influences including Stockhausen, musique concrète, and Giorgio Moroder, among others. The five-member dark synth group is oft mentioned as a precursor to techno and in the same breath as Ministry and Nitzer Ebb. Fans include rising techno stars Volvox of NYC and Hamburg’s Helena Hauff. – Christina Garcia

WEDNESDAY

Ibeyi

Mohawk
Wed., April 18

Ibeyi is simultaneously hopeful and defiant, a safe haven of soulful harmonies topping a potent mix of reggaeton, jazz, and electro R&B as rare as twins Naomi and Lisa-Kaindé Díaz themselves.

Even over Skype from Paris, the latter principal songwriter and lead vocalist exhibits the poetic tone and warm demeanor evident in the pair’s music. Yoruban culture blankets their sound alongside Santería, the sisters’ religion, so the first and final song from last year’s sophomore full-length Ash supplicates Eleggua.

“He’s the god that opens and closes the path,” explains Díaz. “I think it’s very important to start with a song that means a lot to you. The first song on the album has to be really tight.”

The in-between tracks are similarly fitting, organized storytelling as a form of protest driven by beats that summon dance – courtesy of Naomi who’s in charge of rhythm and drums.

“When we were doing the first album, Naomi said to me, ‘The second one there’s going to be more hip-hop and more dancing songs.’”

They followed through. “Me Voy” features Spanish MC Mala Rodríguez and takes on the reggaeton rhythms the sisters grew up on in Cuba, while “Away Away” meshes traditional Yoruba drums with Auto-Tune. Other songs including “No Man Is Big Enough for My Arms,” which samples Michelle Obama, and “Transmission,” featuring mother Díaz reciting Frida Kahlo and Claudia Rankine reading from her novel Citizen: An American Lyric, take on a more subversive tone.

“We were doing the album during the American election when Trump had said ‘grab them by the pussy,’” recalls the singer. “Michelle Obama did this absolutely amazing speech in response to that awful sentence and we were touched.”

– Isabella Castro-Cota

THURSDAY

Midnight

Barracuda
Thu., April 19

Filthy/vile/sleazy remains the adjectival trident spearing one-man threshing machine Midnight. As Athenar, Ohio’s Jameson Walters detonates a blackened speed metal splaying Bathory, Motörhead, Slayer, and especially Venom. October’s third LP Sweet Death & Ecstasy gushes a torrent of sleazy riffs and vile wordplay whose tamest talisman might well be the scissor sisters cover art. As filthy as that sounds, it barely registers compared to the live show’s circle pit hysteria. – Raoul Hernandez

Sonic Transmissions Presents

Sahara Lounge
Thu., April 19

For Sonic Transmissions’ second 2018 show, maverick septuagenarian and multi-horn man Daniel Carter (Test, Other Dimensions in Music) joins drummer Andrew Barker for multigenerational free jazz. Veteran of last year’s festival, Colombia native/ATX transplant Jaime Ospina channels a century of South American grooves through CenTex psychedelia with Grupo Fantasma’s Beto Martinez in tow. Monks proprietor and pianist Collin Shook leads his quartet with melodic fire first. – Michael Toland