Though it’s beyond obvious at this point and a little late in the game for commentary, there was a time when we elders were worried “the kids” wouldn’t ever stop sobbing from behind their jet-black, asymmetrical haircuts. Be it the example set by the aggressively warmongering Bush administration, or the growing trend in ADHD medication, something in the last decade inadvertently helped youth culture grow some balls and delivered us all from their emo-funk. Austin’s OBN III’s are yet another stain in the tapestry of garage rock revivalists. Their latest,
The One and Only, is a muddied and hiss-laden amalgam of blue-eyed soul and lo-fi punk ’n’ roll — like the Sonics traveled just far enough into the future to record an album of 13th Floor Elevators covers. Local default openers Useless Eaters and Cy Barkley and the Way Outsiders are also on the bill.
— Seth Graves