WATCH/STREAM HERE

An unlikely collaboration between TX psychedelia and hip-hop, The Bright Light Social Hour & Riders Against The Storm release their incendiary live performance from Parish Austin. Directed by Oswaldo Flórez of Monterrey and recorded live, this video completes a series of interpretations of “The Sheriff,” TBLSH’s mocking scorn of police brutality originally released in September. WATCH HERE. Paired with the original TBLSHxRAS collab, “The Sheriff (Live at Parish)” has been released to streaming platforms. STREAM HERE. 

The Bright Light Social Hour is Mia Carruthers, Curtis Roush, Jackie O’Brien, Zac Catanzaro, and Juan Alfredo Ríos. Riders Against The Storm is Chaka and Qi Dada. 

Riders Against the Storm (RAS), a husband and wife duo based in Austin, Texas, are the very essence of the cultural phenomenon known as hip hop. Understanding that art and performance are keys to transforming the individual spirit, they have built institutions that aid in this mission, including Body Rock ATX, now running 10 years strong, and RAS Day music festival, a standout of the ATX live music scene for 6 years.  Within their music, and central to their purpose as creators, is an upholding of the culture's spiritual integrity, and a contagious celebration of the magic of creating something from ‘nothing.’

Iconoclastic in their mercurial sound, The Bright Light Social Hour has released four studio albums including their 2015 masterpiece Space Is Still the Place and Jude I & II produced by Chris Coady (Beach House, Future Islands). Along with original soundtracks for HBO, MTV, and Nintendo, the band was tapped by Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) to write and record the BMI award-winning theme for Amazon's Sneaky Pete. Their legendary North American performances number in the thousands featuring Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza, and Corona Capital, as well as support spots for Aerosmith, Osees, and The Flaming Lips. The band is currently working on their fifth studio album in their lakeside production house.

The Bright Light Social Hour is Curtis Roush, Zac Catanzaro, Jackie O’Brien, Juan Alfredo Ríos and Mia Carruthers. Riders Against The Storm is Chaka and Qi Dada. Photos by Jaycee Grover.

LISTEN/WATCH HERE
rashiphop.com
tblsh.com

“The take Riders Against the Storm has for 'The Sheriff' is the same as our general approach to our work. The victory goes to the lion, not the hunter, once we listen to the lion's story.” -Qi Dada

On September 21, The Bright Light Social Hour & Riders Against The Storm extend the story of “The Sheriff” with penetrating bars on police brutality. STREAM HERE. Filmed along the dusty roads of far south Austin, the song has been vividly set to screen by Oswaldo Flórez of Monterrey. WATCH HERE. This fresh collaboration culminates as the two bands take the stage at Parish, September 30.

“It was the height of the George Floyd protests and I absentmindedly drove through downtown Austin to grab some takeout. Suddenly, traffic narrowed to one lane and stopped. I had a row of armed National Guard soldiers immediately to my left, and to my right livid protesters shouting back at them. I prayed no one would shoot while I was stuck in the crossfire. I felt the fear, I felt the rage, I felt the tension, but I also felt a strange, arrogant, almost horny energy coming from the soldiers. Like they were all thinking “just give me a reason to shoot you pieces of shit.” And that’s the energy that chilled me to the bone.

We wrote this song imagining the horror story of a seething, racist sheriff, just cruising, looking for an excuse to absolutely ruin someone’s life today.” -Jackie O’Brien

On September 7, The Bright Light Social Hour debut “The Sheriff” to streaming platforms world-wide. LISTEN HERE. Filmed in Marfa, TX, the song has been set to screen by Oswaldo Flórez. WATCH HERE. Upcoming tour dates below.

photo by Jaycee Grover

art by John Zakoor

Tour Dates

Sep 9  - Boca Raton, FL - Funky Biscuit

Sep 10 - St. Petersburg, FL - Palladium Theater

Sep 18  - Bellvue, CO - The Mishawaka

Sep 30 - Austin, TX - Parish with Riders Against The Storm

THE BRIGHT LIGHT SOCIAL HOUR feat. Israel Nash release “La Isla Bonita”

On August 10, the recording debut of a revitalized lineup will be released on streaming platforms interpreting Madonna’s 1986 classic “La Isla Bonita.”

The Bright Light Social Hour is Juan Alfredo Ríos, Jackie O’Brien, Mia Carruthers, Curtis Roush, and Zac Catanzaro. Photo by Jaycee Grover

An Escondido Sound recording, this song marks the debut of a new lineup of The Bright Light Social Hour, the first recording featuring keyboardist/singer Mia Carruthers of Cincinnati, OH and percussionist Juan Alfredo Ríos of Monterrey, Mexico. The song is a duet between Carruthers and bassist Jackie O'Brien, and features backing vocals from Texas psychedelic folk star Israel Nash over searing slide guitar, reggaeton percussion and pulsating synth bass.

The single is accompanied by a video of TBLSH performing the song live in their Austin, TX studio, Escondido Sound, filmed by Monterrey-based director Oswaldo Flórez.

“During the pandemic I spent a lot of time in Mérida, Mexico, where I swear the Madonna track haunted me every day, playing out from passing cars and houses in the quiet city. I began to imagine a version with funky-ass beats and dirty synths, with Israel Nash's gorgeous voice and Curt's slide guitar dancing together in the chorus melody.

“Soon after, we began playing with Juan Alfredo and Mia, and it was the first new music we worked on with the new band. The result was absolutely hair-raising. I immediately fell in love with the new band and sound we'd just found." –Jackie O’Brien

Iconoclastic in their mercurial sound, the band has released four studio albums including their 2015 masterpiece Space Is Still the Place and Jude I & II produced by Chris Coady (Beach House, Future Islands). Along with original soundtracks for HBO, MTV, and Nintendo, the band was tapped by Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) to write and record the BMI award-winning theme for Amazon's Sneaky Pete. Their legendary North American performances number in the thousands featuring Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza, and Corona Capital, as well as support spots for Aerosmith, Osees, and The Flaming Lips.

The band is currently working on their fifth studio album in their lakeside production house.

“Their expansive sound, penchant for experimentation and incredible shows combine a psychedelic southern blues-rock aesthetic with danceable electronics… Continually exhilarating.” – David Dye, NPR’s World Cafe

UPCOMING TOUR DATES:

Sep 9 - Boca Raton, FL - Funky Biscuit

Sep 10 - St. Petersburg, FL - Palladium Theater

Sep 18 - Bellvue, CO - Funky Biscuit

Sep 30 - Austin, TX - Parish with Riders Against The Storm
​

REQUEST INTERVIEW: mgmt@thebrightlightsocialhour.com​
​​tblsh.com

Artwork by John Zakoor

AWWW YEAHHH The Bright Light Social Hour 11th Anniversary Edition is OUT TODAY!

After years out of print, the new, remastered edition features lost track 'Ocean', all new artwork by Cody Gunnningham and the accompanying Sound and the Jury demos EP!

We're especially stoked to finally release 'Ocean' today. This song was intended to be track 5 on the album but was cut last minute when mixing time ran dry. I remember when we wrote it, we imagined this wild, night time celebration on a beach in Mexico, with fire dancers and all, and this one party-goer is drawn away from the celebration toward the ocean, and she just walks into it. There’s a light in her heart so death becomes a door and she enters into the universal spirit and becomes one with the ocean, which she always was.

11 years later, ‘Ocean’ is out everywhere and restored to its rightful place on the album.


If you're near Austin, come celebrate the release tomorrow, Saturday, NOV 5 at The Mohawk with Megafauna, Chief Cleopatra, Jane Leo + Walker Lukens (DJ set). We'll be playing songs off this album, some of which we haven't played in almost a decade!

All the love in the universe!!
Jackie O'Brien + TBLSH