Sunbird Fest: A Music, Film, Art, Education Festival for Palestine

Thursday 20 – Sunday 23, Various locations

This multimedia convergence feels like a direct response to this year’s South by Southwest, which invited the U.S. Army and various Israel-supplying defense contractors to speak in the midst of the Palestinian genocide. Named after the region’s native passerine, Sunbird Fest showcases local music, art, film, comedy, and poetry, with all proceeds benefiting the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund and Gaza families. Check Instagram for the complete schedule, but just a few of the musical offerings include a cumbia show at Hotel Vegas, a Two-Step Dance-a-Thon at Sagebrush, and a Die Spitz pit at the Far Out Lounge.   – Carys Anderson

Songs in the Key of Serenation

Friday 21, Antone’s Nightclub

Go-to Antone's photog and industry mover Salihah Saadiq stepped up to present a Black Music Month series this June. Friday loops in a slew of standout Texas voices with soul-rocker Chief Cleopatra, acoustic voyager Ivy Roots, Moni'ye, Muzeke, and Honey Daii. LARA, formerly Eimaral Sol, resets after her Chron-faved mantra-packed 2019 LP Sol Soliloquies. The rebrand accompanied touring with her brother-in-law BLK ODYSSY, who produced LARA's May single "Like Dat," and signing to ODYSSY's distributor/label EMPIRE. Featuring Ambré, her new track wades somewhere near online "trad wife" trends with breathy, indulgent R&B ("I’m cooking, cleaning, acting really wifely in this house").   – Rachel Rascoe

Pedro Giraudo Tango Quartet

Friday 21, Bates Recital Hall

It is said that tango, swaying the brothels of Argentina, pushed men into each other’s arms to practice the mating dance for the women there. Sweeping across Paris, tango became fashionable and was reborn to high society in South America, who accepted the form in reaction to the French capital’s approval. Tango surged, dwindled, and swelled in popularity over decades. Pedro Giraudo, an Argentine applying nimble artistry to buoyant jazz and tango alike, plays alongside his Tango Quartet, presenting the music of Astor Piazzolla. Honoring the late Argentine composer and musician, the Tango Quartet highlights moody, passionate nuevo tango with virtuosity.   – Christina Garcia

Subpar Snatch

Friday 21, Chess Club

From their perfectly punk-rock name to singles like “Adam in Your DMs,” a nod to the Maroon 5 singer’s rumored extramarital sexting, it’s clear: Subpar Snatch has jokes. Rather than skewering cringey male figures, on new single “Juicy Booty” – which the trio premieres Friday, alongside Hellfury, Bat Lips, and Sunspite – Jess Scott turns her fury on herself. “The enemy is me,” she wails, atop Cee Cee Email’s pummeling drums and Nate Ribner’s fuzzy bass. Despite her blunders, the singer emerges triumphant. By the song’s end, Scott compares herself to an oyster: “Make a pearl from a big mistake.”   – Carys Anderson

Strand of Oaks

Friday 21, Parish

Tim Showalter has always been something of an artistic maverick, following an itinerant creative muse wherever it may lead. “It’s so inner-referential that I never expect half my lyrics to make any sense,” he told the Chronicle in 2021. Strand of Oaks’ eighth album, Miracle Focus, offers the local songwriter’s most ambitious and divergent yet, fully sinking into swirling synths and Eighties pop riffs hinted at on previous In Heaven, but shaded by ambient explorations and a tension between meditative revelation and cathartic bliss. Ramsay Midwood opens, slinging his swampy psychedelic blues guitar grooves.   – Doug Freeman

Dayne Reliford Quartet

Friday 21, Monks Jazz

Sample any of Dayne Reliford’s previous Monks dates, and there’s no doubt that he’s gifted. Starting on the keys at age 4, the Houston native got his jazz studies degree from Texas State, instead of the more common UT or North Texas, so he already follows his own path. While his journey has led him to stages alongside local leaders like Michael Malone, Andre Hayward, and Brannen Temple, his profile recently rose to galactic heights when he joined Gary Clark Jr. on keys and bass for his March 26 taping at Austin City Limits. He’s even better leading his own band, so take note.   – Michael Toland

It Can’t Rain All the Time: The Crow Rave

Saturday 22, Swan Dive

The Crow came out 30 years ago? Jeez, I’m getting old. Back then, there were certain movie soundtracks it seemed like everybody had, and this was one of them. It’s stacked with bangers, among them the Cure’s “Burn,” Nine Inch Nails covering Joy Division’s “Dead Souls,” and Jane Siberry’s “It Can’t Rain All the Time,” which is something of a motif in the film. Now that it’s officially summer, let’s get dark and join TX Emo Club for a rave celebrating the music of one of the most emo films of all time.   – Kat McNevins

Duo Mantar

Saturday 22, Bates Recital Hall

Considered an unusual pairing in the classical world, guitarist Adam Levin and mandolinist Jacob Reuven convened in 2017 with a shared passion for performing Israeli, Hebrew, and Jewish music. Drawing as much from traditional folk music as from the repertoire of respected Jewish composers, the virtuoso duo released the Billboard classical chart-topping Music From the Promised Land in 2021, and they tour all over the globe. For this performance, the pair will premiere composer Avner Dorman’s Many Waters, as well as play music by Astor Piazzolla, Yehezkel Braun, and more. Presented as part of the venerated Austin Chamber Music Festival.   – Michael Toland

Mother Mother, Cavetown, Meet Me at the Altar

Sunday 23, Moody Amphitheater

I discovered Meet Me at the Altar on one of those days when I needed an outlet for my fevered state of pissed off. These Black punks crashed into my nearly dead, cold heart and gave me the energy injection I needed to just walk it off – well, more like stomp it out like a cockroach. The East Coast trio reminded me of everything I loved in the early Aughts: Lolita dresses and black lace, anime, and music that could blow out my speakers. Following the release of their first full-length LP – last year’s Past // Present // Future – the pop-punk brats join rockers Mother Mother and Cavetown on their summer tour.   – Cy White

Kinky Curly Coily Festival

Sunday 23, Dottiewood Studios

In her affirming "Don't Touch My Hair," Solange demands respect for her crown. "Don’t touch my hair/ When it’s the feelings I wear," she says. For Black women and femme folx, in particular, hair is never "just hair." It's history; it's trauma; it's self-esteem and self-preservation. When someone reaches to cop an unsolicited feel of our tresses, it's a violation. However, when touched by the hands of a professional, it's a spiritual experience. On Sunday, June 23, Kinky Curly Coily Festival allows for Black and Brown folx to feel the healing restorative power of gettin' they hair did. A celebration of Blackness with performances from cultural icons such as Blackchyl, Noella Grey, J Rich, and Tameca Jones.   – Cy White

of Montreal, Tele Novella

Tuesday 25, Mohawk

"Trash music is my life/ because you can’t doesn’t mean you shouldn’t," declares Kevin Barnes on "Genius in the Wind," closer to of Montreal’s latest LP, May’s Lady on the Cusp. Nineteen albums in, Barnes continues to confound and provoke, his recent relocation from Athens, Ga., to Vermont not clipping his creative sonic maelstroms in the least. The album roils predictably eclectic, an intricate if chaotically layered barrage of styles crashing in scarring, lurid electronic waves. Lockhart quartet Tele Novella open with their gorgeously haunting and mystical ballads from last year’s Poet’s Tooth.   – Doug Freeman

Kalu James, Sisi, Sydney Wright

Wednesday 26, Radio/East

Ain’t no party like a Sabrina Ellis party, because a Sabrina Ellis party has pipes. A Giant Dog’s frontperson has curated a free songwriter series at Radio/East throughout June, concluding with Ellis’ birthday show. The lineup reflects the eclectic spirit of the series, one night spanning the psych funk of Kalu James, lush summer grooves from Sisi, and Sydney Wright’s earnest pop. The through line? Impressive vocals will be front and center.   – Abby Johnston

Pixies, Modest Mouse

Wednesday 26, Germania Insurance Amphitheater

After spending the summer of 2023 selling out venues across the country, indie rock stalwarts the Pixies and Modest Mouse decided to launch another leg of their co-headlining tour in 2024, alongside Cat Power. There is relatively little new stuff to peddle: The Pixies have two singles out, and there was just a 20th anniversary expanded version of Good News for People Who Love Bad News. All that means fans can expect the hits from three artists who helped define three decades between them.   – Abby Johnston

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Music Notes

by Derek Udensi

DIIV

Friday 21, Emo’s

DIIV’s latest album, Frog in Boiling Water, sees the Zachary Cole Smith-fronted outfit infuse heavier doses of political lyricism into its realm of shoegaze. They Are Gutting a Body of Water and untitled (halo) open the show.

Go Skate Day

Friday 21, Empire Garage

Grab your board for a Go Skateboarding Day edition of S-K-A-T-E at Empire! Houston rapper Fat Tony headlines after locals Gus Baldwin & the Sketch provide support. Baldwin & the Sketch released their debut set of studio recordings together, SKETCHES, last month. Entry is free via RSVP.

Road to Heavy Metal Tailgate Round 1

Sunday 23, The ABGB

Monday 24, Sagebrush

Starting this week, a battle of the bands co-hosted by the ABGB and Sagebrush every fourth Sunday and Monday of the month, respectively, leads to the return of the ABGB’s Heavy Metal Tailgate ale. Audiences decide each competition’s victor; each winner will play at the ale’s re-release event in the fall.

Midweek at Monks Second Anniversary

Wednesday 26, Monks Jazz

An all-star ensemble helps the Austin Jazz Society celebrate two years of its Wednesday series at the Eastside locale. Performers include Jon Blondell, Pamela Hart, John Mills, and Red Young.

Want to see all of our listings broken down by day? Go to austinchronicle.com/calendar and see what's happening now or in the coming week.