Songs of the Week.

New Music From Siamese, Pueblo, Power Trip, Old 97’s, Kissed Killed, Pat Ron, FXXXXY, Recent Rumors and Little Beards.

Welcome to Songs of the Week, where we hip you to all the new local releases you should be caring about. By putting them all together here in one place, our hope is that you can spend less time searching for relevant new releases and more time giving each one of these jams the proper shine they so deserve. OK? OK.

Siamese — The Mesmerist.
RIYL: Moving pictures.
What else you should know: Not gonna lie, this is one of the releases I’ve been most looking forward to this year. One of the most promising bands in town finally has a debut release under its belt, and boy does it live up to the hype of the band’s live shows, where St. Vincent-style guitar heroics meet glam elements, costumes, choreography and set design. It’s a more thought-out project than most local bands ever bother with, and it shows on this stunner of a first album. A big release show is planned for tomorrow night at Texas Theatre. — Cory Graves

Pueblo – “Nausea.”
RIYL: Living in the moment.
What else you should know: With the previous two singles from Pueblo’s debut EP Boring the Camera (due out March 31), these youngsters have proven themselves patient and wise beyond their years both lyrically and musically. Even still, I’ve managed to underestimate just how much. With this third pre-release single, we also get the album’s cover art, a comic depicting their (our?) generation’s obsession with smartphones and living through the pictures we take with them rather than fully being present in those experiences. You know studies have shown that this fucks with our memories, right? And like Dave Chappelle once said at a party we once hosted, your memories are way better than any picture. Boring the camera, indeed. — CG

Power Trip — Nightmare Logic.
RIYL: When reality TV shows get cancelled.
What else you should know: Written and recorded during last year’s election cycle, Power Trip’s long-awaited sophomore record finds them more political than ever — something they’re living out in real life, as well as in their lyrics. To that end, the band just played a Planned Parenthood benefit here in the region last week. But there’s also subtle nods to local entities, be it the way their sound shifts a bit more towards Pantera at times than it has before, or the nod to Townes Van Zandt’s “Waiting Around to Die.” — CG

Old 97’s — Graveyard Whistling.
RIYL: Reliving the past.
What else you should know: While perhaps not filled with the same type of piss and vinegar as its predecessor, Most Messed Up, the 97’s’ eleventh studio record does find them harkening back to a time when they were filled with that fiery, youthful quality. This time around, the band returned to the same West Texas studio where they recorded their big breakthrough album, Too Far to Care, for the first time in 20 years. But they also show that they’ve gained some wisdom since then, too, working smarter and not harder and being comfortable with the contributions of others. For the first time, there are multiple tracks here with female harmonies, fiddles, pedal steel and keys. And “Good With God” is as good a song as they’ve ever put out. — CG

Pat Ron — “Psilocybin.”
RIYL: Drugs.
What else you should know: He’s got all the best references – well, a good John Stockton one, anyway — which he so smoothly drops over this appropriately trippy beat. Did you know eating psychedelic shrooms is illegal here in the states? Of course you did! But did you know it’s perfectly legal in Brazil? Good to know, although you might have an easier time getting away with smoking a joint while enjoying this tune, as towns as close as Houston have stop arresting folks for possessing small amounts of marijuana. — CG

Little Beards — Midnight in the Garden of Chaotic Neutral.
RIYL: 808s and heartbreaks.
What else you should know: There’s a reason this debut from Little Beards (read: Nan Kirkpatrick of Frauen and husband Sean Kirkpatrick of Nervous Curtains) sounds straight out of the early ’80s, and that’s because it was made using a bunch of old gear, like an 808 drum machine and some vintage synths and amps. There’s a really great piece on the band, their debut, political activism and relationship that Noisey posted this week. Highly recommended stuff. — CG

Recent Rumors — “Blow Me Away”
RIYL: Double entendres.
What else you should know: This band of Tyler-based pretty boys mostly exists on the pop side of the pop-punk spectrum, although its lyrics wink at a little more trouble-making, unless I’m just the sicko here, which is entirely possible. Anyway, you can catch these fellas at the So What?! Music Festival later this month. — Pete Freedman

Kissed Killed — Kinda.
RIYL: That new-new.
What else you should know: Like so many of his contemporaries in the new class of Dallas rap acts, Kissed Killed straddles the singer-rapper line that’s become so popular in this post-Drake landscape. But, unlike so many of his more forgettable contemporaries, Kissed Killed manages to stand out from the pack thanks to a unique ear for what makes a track pop, as best evidenced by album-closer “Come Home With Me,” a song that’s been out for a few months now but still feels fresh. — PF

FXXXXY — Flawed Up Shawty.
RIYL: Something darker.
What else you should know: Another area rapper of the new class to keep an eye on, FXXXXY separates his sound from the trappings of his peers by taking things in a far darker direction — although not so much on new single “Beep Beep,” which finds him regressing somewhat to the mean. No matter, this guy’s got the chops that shine through elsewhere on this new release. The only Dallas rapper really mining similarly territory these days is Lord Byron, who also seems to be trending in a more accessible direction these days. Changes of this ilk can indeed be good, but here’s hoping that doing so doesn’t find these guys losing what makes them interesting in the first place. — PF