April Music Picks

Here are the best music shows and fests happening in Austin this month

AustinPhotoSetNews_Shelley_psychfest_april2012_18_CROPPED

Levitation (formerly known as Psych Fest) is one of our top music picks for April.

Photo by Shelley Neuman

Now that the city is far enough removed from SXSW, things are starting to pick up on the music front. M83, Dr. Dog (with Shakey Graves), Beach House, Chvrches, and Widespread Panic are all playing sold-out gigs, but there are still all kinds of quality shows littered throughout the rest of the month. Below you'll find our select choices.

Top shows

Savages
If you're in need of a band that will deliver something loud, intense, and all-engulfing, then look no further than Savages. Their new album, Adore Life, is stellar, and its tracks should sound great live.
Tuesday, April 12 at Emo's

Deerhunter
Late last year Bradford Cox and the gang put out their most accessible effort yet: the warm, catchy, and classic rock-esque Fading Frontier. Now they're out on the road in support of it. Deerhunter's live shows have always been good, but the new set of hooky tunes should provide them with a more varied set than usual.
Thursday, April 14 at Mohawk

Kurt Vile & The Violators
Unless you were living under a rock, you probably noticed that Kurt Vile released one of 2015's best tracks with "Pretty Pimpin." Hearing that alone would be worth the price of admission, but when you consider that Vile has been steadily putting out quality material since 2008, that makes his show at Stubb's one that's a can't-miss.
Friday, April 15 at Stubb's

Calliope Musicals
Locals Calliope Musicals are about to put out a new album, Time Owes You Nothing, and on Friday, April 15 they're having a two-stage release party. The first part will be at Central Presbyterian Church where they'll play the whole LP from start to finish with a three-piece choir, three-piece orchestra, and more. Once they're done, they'll join up with Yes Ma'am Brass Band for a parade over to Cheer Up Charlies, where Riders Against The Storm, Sphynx, Hikes, and more will play an after party of sorts. This should totally be an all-Austin bit of fun.
Friday, April 15 at Central Presbyterian Church and Cheer Up Charlies

Slack Capital Release Party
Slack Capital is a new compilation that features a bunch of Austin's finest bands (Big Bill, Basketball Shorts, Annabelle Chairlegs, and many more), and there's a show happening in celebration of it. The $8 ticket will get you in and land you a CD. Better yet, all proceeds from the sale of Slack Capital will be donated to Anthropos Arts, a local nonprofit that provides music lessons for at-risk youth.
Friday, April 15 at Barracuda

Slomo Drags
Austin's own Slomo Drags have readied a new EP, and they're all set to ring in its arrival properly via a big release show that also features The Eastern Sea, Otis the Destroyer, A. Sinclair, Alex Napping, and Star Parks — a great local lineup.
Saturday, April 16 at Cheer Up Charlies

Thao and The Get Down Stay Down
Thao and The Get Down Stay Down are rolling in on a wave of positive buzz that stems from their well-received new album, A Man Alive, and a variety of quality appearances at SXSW. If you've never seen them before, now is the time. Thao and her band's current set is as good as it's ever been.
Saturday, April 23 at Mohawk

Festivals

Euphoria Fest
Featuring Bassnectar, STS9, Dillon Francis, Tycho, Com Truise, Lil Dicky, and more. Go and dance.
Thursday, April 7 through Sunday, April 10 at Carson Creek Ranch

Old Settler's Music Festival
Featuring Dawes, Hayes Carll, The Suffers, Deer Tick, and more. Go and get rustic.
Thursday, April 14 through Sunday, April 17 at Salt Lick Pavilion and Camp Ben McCulloch

Levitation
Featuring Brian Wilson, Animal Collective, Courtney Barnett, The Black Angels, and more. Go and get heady.
Friday, April 29 through Sunday, May 1 at Carson Creek Ranch

Big names
If you're looking for a more familiar set of names, these are some of the biggest acts in town this month.

Ben Folds & yMusic — Friday, April 15 at Bass Concert Hall
Smashing Pumpkins and Liz Phair — Tuesday, April 19 at Bass Concert Hall
Ellie Goulding — Tuesday, April 19 at Cedar Park Center
Foreigner — Thursday, April 21 at ACL Live
Duran Duran — Friday, April 22 at Austin360 Amphitheater
Tony Bennett — Sunday, April 24 at Bass Concert Hall

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Movie Review

Measured Netflix film Rebel Ridge exacts revenge on corrupt cops

Photo by Allyson Riggs/Netflix

Aaron Pierre in Rebel Ridge.

There have been a number of films in the past decade or so that have confronted police brutality and/or corruption, detailing both fictional and real-life events. The seriousness of the topic has mostly kept stories confined strictly to the drama category, but the new film Rebel Ridgedares to take things into the action/thriller genre while still remaining thoughtful about the larger subject at hand.

As the film begins, Terry Richmond (Aaron Pierre) is traveling by bicycle down a country road when he is followed and then crashed into by a police cruiser. Over his objections, the two officers conduct a search of his backpack, where they find a large amount of cash that Terry was going to use bail his cousin out of jail. Without due cause, the cops confiscate the money and leave Terry to fend for himself.

While clearly upset about his mistreatment and the injustice heaped upon him, Terry continues to try work within the system to get his cousin released, only to be stymied at every turn. Left with no other option, Terry decides to confront the small-town police department, led by Chief Sandy Burnne (Don Johnson). His background in the Marines, especially a certain set of skills he learned there, make him a formidable threat, even in the face of a group of highly-armed men.

Written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier (Green Room), the film is striking in how calm Terry remains, even when he decides to resort to violent means. In his multiple interactions with the police in the first half of the film, he remains in control of his emotions at all times, refusing to give the cops any extra reason to take their anger out on him. This behavior rings true to life, a subtle but strong commentary on the expectations put on Black people in such situations.

With a low-but-pulsating score and a carefully-crafted building of tension, Saulnier gives the audience permission to want to see Terry enact his revenge on the cops. And yet, the film is far from exploitative. At the same time as he’s growing angrier by the minute with the police, he’s working with Summer McBride (AnnaSophia Robb), a court employee, to free his cousin legally. The combination of the two storylines works well, especially when the story takes a turn in the final act.

Saulnier is careful to keep the action in the film relatively realistic. While there are some moments when Terry shows extraordinary abilities, they make sense given the character’s training and never turn him into an unstoppable superhero. Even more pointed is how Terry eschews the use of guns. There are multiple times when picking up a gun is an option, and yet he picks something else every time, a moral code not often seen in films such as these.

Pierre proves to be the perfect actor for this particular role. While he’s big enough to be intimidating and has eyes that seem to pierce the soul, it’s the level-headed demeanor that he brings to the role that makes it a great performance. Johnson has just the right amount of charisma and malevolence for his part, and Robb shows a maturity that may signal the start of the next phase of her career.

Rebel Ridge plays with ideas formed from real life and similar movies to become a stirring film that hits almost all the right notes. It doesn’t necessarily have any answers for the systemic problems it includes in its story, but the righteous anger it provokes make it highly memorable.

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Rebel Ridge is now streaming on Netflix.

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