Here's one from August Artist of the Month Continental Drift, who were helped to their win by this excellent new record. The self-titled, two-track EP from Continental Drift here feels like it has more heart and soul than most albums being released these days. Performed by a ten-piece band, the music here centers on Afro beats while flawlessly weaving in funk, soul, and psychedelic grooves to the mix as well. Whether you enjoy all of those genres or none of them, this EP is bound to reel you in and keep you hooked for its short fifteen-minute duration.

The first track, "Afropsychic," starts out with only a couple instruments pitching in, and as the song progresses the rest of the band joins in one by one, almost like a relay race for music. As each band member joins in, the song grows in its drama and intensity, making it feel as though a narrative is being carried, and not just some cool beats. What’s great about it is that it all feels spontaneous, and not just with "Afropsychic" - the quality spontaneity runs through "Conductive" (the second track) as well. Both songs sound like ten people with amazing chemistry walked into the studio and just jammed for twenty minutes. It’s also worth mentioning that even though the EP has only two songs on it, each of those songs carry so much variety that one could mistake this for a four or five track EP.

Give the EP a listen or download for free below, or mark your schedules for the second Sunday of every month and head over to Stay Gold in Austin for their live residency.

Continental Drift EP: Listen/download here!

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Nicholas Gomez

@feedbackjunkies

Besides being an excellent name for a roller derby team, Toronto’s Lipstick Junkies exist solely to blend the yesteryear sound of funk with modern indie rock, all the while soaking it that neon-district downtown vibe. The rhythms are an appealing combination of bouncy, smooth and grooving. As evident in tracks such as Desire and Lighthouse, the melodies are infectious, and the sexual spirit of funk is effectively captured and expressed through the music and lyrics. In an age where traditional genres are becoming more manufactured, The Lipstick Junkies have retained the essence of funk-rock, and have achieved their own genuine sound. In a nutshell, The Lipstick Junkies are a band perfectly suited to the small-club-in-a- big-city environment. If you feel like getting your groove on, you can satisfy those urges by taking in The Lipstick Junkies @ The Cavern Bar on July 30th. - Chris PJ D

The brothers Govea and sax-man Mark Macomber are taking the vibe back and making it sexy. This live PA power trio are set to release their first full length this fall. In support, they are throwing a make-out party and shooting a video for the first single ‘Now Kiss’. This is just how they roll. Expect a proper mix of funk and electro via live bass and saxophone, vocoders, and a slew of controllers.  Don’t miss a beat with The Best Dancers. Baby making music at it’s finest.

Check out their latest track, “Love Knife” featuring Jay Murphy of Up Until Now, featured on Tomahawk Recordings - Rainmakers Vol.1 streaming below, and keep yours peeled for the video release of their first single ‘Now Kiss’ off the new album as well as future events!

The Bends call themselves surfadelic garage rock. Which I say is most excellent. This 5 piece group just released a new EP called "Bikini Grandma" which sounds fun. The first tune "I Don't Want To Fight" makes me not want to fight, believe it or not. Trippy guitar opens it up and carries the tune along while the bass goes for the odd walk. The vocals remind me of Wayne Petti from Cuff the Duke although the music behind them is quite different. Total Hawaiian party music right here. Heyoo. This EP is just a taste of what you'll hear from their sophomore album due out sometime this month. So hit up their bandcamp and get used to the lovely sounds of the Bends. It'll get you mucho excited for their new record. You can also go see em at the Rivoli tonight 7/3! - Kris "Big City" Gies

Later this week we've got a piece droppin' on our latest Artist Poll tiers Slooom (that's the "people who tied" kind of tiers btw, not the stacked thingies), talkin' about their drip-beat beautiful new video "Honey," but as a bit of a prelude to that, here's a new track by CAPYAC, the other big project from (the producing half of Slooom) Delwin Steven Campbell along with Eric Peana. This track is called "How I Feel" and it takes that classic and classically reworked "Feeling Good" hook and turns it into silky fun sexfunk glory. That's future sexfunk glory, if you want to get specific about it, and "How I Feel" is an immediate hip-mover with its quick-picked melody and bright organ backbone folding right into a big, hip-hopped, chopped-up song that you do wanna get down to. We've already known that CAPYAC has that true smooth funkdisco thing, like they vampired it right outta the 1977 Bee Gees, and CAPYAC obviously also has their modern elements of beat construction and electronic instrument-use right on point too. However, with "How I Feel" it's just been real good and confirmed- we now also know that, undoubtedly, CAPYAC is making the sexiest, smoothest music in Austin at this moment. Thank you CAPYAC for being so clear in your claiming of the throne. It's nice to have questions settled so easily.