Things we like: ST 37, THC Trio, Thomson/Flaten/Cameron

It seems frivolous to be writing record reviews at this moment, but I'm phone banking for a candidate tonight or I'd be going to the demonstration in Dallas. Justice for Renee Good.

Who knew that the best preparation for living in the 21st century would have been reading lots of dystopian sci-fi in the 20th? The British sci-fi scribe J.G. Ballard, who saw the limits and perils of technology as clearly as its possibilities, is the inspiration for Ballardesque, the latest release from the long-lived (formed 1987) and prolific Austin-based psych rock combo ST 37. With a sound that combines the echo-laden mysterioso of Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd and Roky Erickson's 13th Floor Elevators with layers of lysergic guitars (three, count 'em!) to rival Jefferson Airplane and Big Brother and the Holding Company's in their prime, driven by the relentless forward motion of SL Telles' bass and ex-Roky side muso Lisa Cameron's drums, ST 37 creates a dense wall of sound over which Telles declaims Ballard's prescient visions of our own dystopian moment. The gestalt of the band's sound proposes a model of community that may be our own best hope of surviving this age of daily negative surprises.

Cameron had an extremely productive year in 2025. She also kicks the traps in THC Trio, a sterling outfit that also includes ace Austin improvisers Joshua Thomson (Atlas Maior) on alto sax and Jonathan Horne (The Young Mothers, Water Damage) on guitar and 6-string bass. Saw these three shred the night sky at The Wild Detectives in Oak Cliff last March, opening for Mike Watt's MSSV, and this eponymous cassette release on Personal Archives captures a broader spectrum of the unit's sound, from explosive opener "Dropping the Hammer" through the more ruminative explorations of "Health and Sufficiency," the cathartic crash 'n' thump of "Hollandaise for Strings," and the cavernous soundscape "Saint Helena." Horne's metallic dissonance and Sharrockian skronk collide agreeably with Thomson's piquantly poignant Ornettitiude (heard to best advantage on closing tour de force "A Barbaric Yawp"), and Cameron keeps the forward motion flowing, leaving space for her collaborators to organize their thoughts. It's a cleansing sonic bath that'll shake the cobwebs out of your synapses. THC Trio will be at Full City Rooster in Dallas on January 15. You owe it to yourself.

On the summer solstice of 2024, Thomson and Cameron teamed up with the estimable and prolific Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten (The Thing, The Young Mothers, (Exit) Knarr) to spontaneously compose a piece in front of an audience at an Austin record store. The owner dug it so much that they released it on vinyl under the rubric Live at Love Wheel Records. The piece opens with an example of the cymbal-driven feedback Cameron's been playing with for years. Flaten joins the conversation with arco harmonics while Thomson blows a few tentative tones. The bassist responds with pizzicato flurries as Thomson plays short bursts of notes. Cameron careens into polyrhythmic space as her collaborators up the intensity. Flaten and Cameron spar while Thomson comments, then the bassist cues a change of direction with a tortuously walking line. At any given time, any player can lead; the three listen and respond in the moment the way the best improvisers do. When they finish after just over half an hour, when they've said all they need to say, you can almost hear the audience exhale before erupting into applause. Creative music exists in moments like this. Get you some.