Austin psych-goth trio The Schisms preview their upcoming EP “Tejas,” out October 2nd, with “I Learn To Love,” out September 11th, produced by Grammy winner Stuart Sikes, known for his work with The White Stripes, Cat Power, and Loretta Lynn. Frontman Carson Barker says the song came together half-written on the fly in the studio with Sikes, describing it as feeling “like a chaotic Bo Diddley song with a dash of punk and psych.” That description holds up; the track moves with a raw, unruly energy that sits somewhere between punk urgency and psychedelic haze.
I love it when a song has the bassline copy the vocal line; it’s such a simple move, but that emphasis basically guarantees a catchy hook, and it works well here. The band’s chemistry comes through clearly; the rhythm section stays relaxed rather than rigid, which helps build that psychedelic atmosphere alongside a properly fuzzy guitar tone running through the track. Nothing about it feels overworked, which suits a song that reportedly took shape spontaneously rather than through careful planning.
The video leans into a similarly loose, unpolished spirit, built with Austin’s Three-Eyed Cat Collective around a deliberately trashy aesthetic inspired by old Captain Beefheart visuals and VHS effects, aiming to show a grittier side of Austin that Barker says gets overlooked in more polished portrayals of the city. That instinct fits the band’s whole approach on “Tejas,” an EP written partly during a winter Barker spent isolated in a Colorado cabin and shaped further by Sikes in the studio, trading some of the darkness of the band’s previous album for something meant to lift both the band and its listeners up. On the strength of this first preview, that shift looks like a promising direction for The Schisms.
