TETON VILLAGE, Wyo. — They are country. They are punk. They are psych and surf. They swirl in a hauntingly dark, Texas plains lyrical space surrounded by reverbed, pentatonic electric guitar riffs. If you missed Rattlesnake Milk kick the dust up before Charley Crockett at the Teton County fair back in July, redemption is beautiful thing. The quartet will take stage on Saturday at the Mangy Moose.
All four of the lifelong friends in Rattlesnake Milk grew up in the Panhandle, and you can hear it deeply embedded in their sound. Brash, bleak and uncompromising, the band’s discography serves as a haunting travelogue of the thorny brushland in which they live, populated by tales of vice and desperation. They’ve spent three albums perfecting a tone that is distinctively morose, earning a cult status that transcends the local circuit.
How does a band like this come to be? Well, it has everything to do with coming up in Austin’s unrivaled scene. This is not evident to the casual observer, though Austin serves as a vital incubator for musical innovation by providing both the creative freedom and the financial infrastructure necessary for artists to flourish. The city is a hip destination for those looking to develop an original sound without sacrificing a livable wage. By no means does this mean the launch of a touring career, or actually making a livable wage. You need gumption and momentum for that.
Rattlesnake Milk’s brand of grim country is clearly hitting a nerve because, like the rest of their tour, this show has now sold out. There’s a wait-list for you diehards.
Ox Presents Rattlesnake Milk, 9 p.m. Saturday Jan. 31 at the Mangy Moose. Sold Out. MangyMoose.com.
