In what feels like a huge, technicolor shrug, Austin Psych Fest kicked off April 26 — a day after a Texas appeals court decided to overturn the city’s cannabis decriminalization policy. That didn’t seem to change anyone’s weekend plans.
This was the indie, alternative, and experimental rock festival’s 17th year, and its third at the Far Out Lounge. The strong lineup featured icons like Dinosaur Jr., Explosions in the Sky, Kim Gordon (separately of Sonic Youth), Yo La Tengo, and more: 30 acts in all, many with multiple decades of success under their belts.
On a single weekend with at least seven festivals happening across the Austin area, audiences couldn’t go wrong prioritizing this one. Every set we saw was worth it, but here are our 10 favorites, whether they surprised us or we saw them coming miles away.
Friday
Blackwater Holylight
Blackwater Holylight feels like a rarity in the psych music realm, not just because of its eerie-meets-ethereal tones, but because it’s an all-female band. This group — originally out of Portland and now based in LA — combines the talents of Allison “Sunny” Faris, Eliese Dorsay, Laura Hopkins, Sarah McKenna, and Mikayla Mayhew, who create a sludgy doom metal that you can feel straight in your chest. Plus, there’s something sweet and angelic mixed in. When the band slowly moved into a cover of Radiohead’s “All I Need,” the growing crowd seemed transfixed. — Natalie Grigson, contributor
The Octopus Project
Austinites looking for a gateway into experimental music should look no further than this still-fresh hometown band that’s been around since 1999. Despite a wide stylistic range, this mostly instrumental festival set flowed organically. New melodies constantly rose and then faded back into the slowly morphing texture — like words that become sounds when repeated again and again. A changing emotional tone kept things from becoming an indistinct bowl of synth soup. And finally, a true rarity: this set featured a theremin that actually felt called for. — Brianna Caleri, editor
Kadavar
This German, four-man, metal-meets-jam-meets-surf rock band (however that works) took to the stage with a lot of energy. As the sun was finally setting and the air felt less sticky, these guys came in hot with a lot of thrumming bass, crazy guitar riffs, and an unstoppable drummer. Song to song, they shifted from more psychedelic rock, to something more pop-friendly (almost like MGMT), to straight-up metal. I was waiting for the mosh pit to start, but the crowd was relatively subdued.Perhaps it was the heat; perhaps it was the slow creep of the psychedelics kicking in. Maybe it was both. — NG
Black Mountain
This five-person band out of Vancouver felt as thick and psychedelic-soupy as the air did at dusk on Friday. They took to the bigger stage (the Willie stage) quietly, slowly building to a crescendo toward the end of their set to a huge crowd. Each band member’s talents combined to create a sound that was beautiful and alien in some way, reminding me of Arrival in several moments. But the real stars of this show, to me, were the drummer, Adam Bulgasem, and vocalist Amber Webber. — NG
Saturday
STRFKR
A little pop never hurt any hipsters, did it? STRFKR leaned into its fun, accessible side with one of the festival's most danceable sets, kitschy costuming, and liberal use of rainbow confetti cannons. Dancing astronauts became gold lamé cultists in animal masks; then, in a pink wig and chunky white sunglasses (Kurt Cobain reference or just regular whimsy?) Joshua Hodges led a faithful cover of Cyndi Lauper's “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” (The band has been doing that one for a long time, but it still hasn't gotten old.) Music fans contain multitudes, yes, but it was still funny each time the cool, grungy audience was coaxed into clapping to the beat. — BC
Sasami
As soon as Sasami took to the stage with her long white finger gloves and tank top that said “I hate a neutral ass bitch,” we knew, if nothing else, she was going to put on a great show. After a playful back-and-forth with the sound guy, Sasami brought onto the stage a lace and pearl-adorned French horn (a treat for later), and then screamed, “Hello, Austin!” Her whole set was a genre-less mix of pop laced with bold electric guitar and double bass drum fills. Her beautiful vocals were interspersed with playful callouts to the crowd, accusing psych rock fans of being band nerds in high school, plus Serj Tankian-level screaming. — NG
Wombo
It’s hard not to be overly poetic when writing about Wombo, and that’s a sentence that deserves to be made fun of. Somewhat like Sunday headliners Dinosaur Jr., this trio locked together almost mathematically without dipping into actual math rock. Jagged, stabbing rhythm guitar juxtaposed lilting, floating vocals; assured drums and bass kept it all grounded. Everything that’s challenging about Wombo’s studio sound dissolved into an ethereally organic set, a major cool-down after Kim Gordon’s heavy show before it. — BC
Darkside
The melodrama award goes to this New York-based electronic trio. The smoke machine-obscured set played out with all the showmanship of a carefully set-up magic trick: watch them cyclically introduce each disparate genre and turn it into an EDM trance. A bluesy barn burner, something like a cumbia, a jam over a churchy organ drone, and more were strung together with atempo electronic noise, arriving at epic drops after improbably long lead-ups. Band co-founder Nicolás Jaar, who has Palestinian ancestry, wrapped up the set with a two-minute speech about ICE deportations and how Texas participates in Israel’s occupation of Palestine. — BC
Sunday
Mystery Lights
Lead singer Mike Brandon came out kicking as the show began, treating the audience to a high kick and splits combo that I can only imagine involves a daily yoga practice. The five-person band’s energy was nonstop throughout the set, but these guys were a masterclass in pacing. The music moved from fast to slow, to false endings that only melted back into crazy guitar riffs, resulting in songs that lasted at least 10 minutes — or forever, depending on your state of mind. Ironically, one of their longest and most energetic songs refrained over and over, “I’m so tired.” By the end, perhaps they were, but still, covered in sweat, Brandon made time to hug and high five his fans. — NG
Bôa
There was no shortage of bands 20-plus years into their careers, but Bôa, a London-based group formed in 1993, remained perhaps the most grounded in a notably ‘90s sound. Multiple attendees searching for context made a stylistic connection between Bôa and the iconic Wisconsin band Garbage, formed in the same year. Similarly, there were plenty of dreamy, cinematic sets, but Bôa’s was especially captivating with agile vocal flips, introspective guitar noodling, and gentle violin. Lead singer Jasmine Rodgers played her mystical storyteller part well, asking for a round of applause for the elegant oak tree that loomed over the stage. — BC
