Listening to Downward’s April double singles “Drawl” and “Get Some” for the first time, my mind jumped straight from the Tulsa trio’s loudQUIETloud dynamics to heavy shoegaze/emo/hc-loving Fort Worth boys Trauma Ray. Imagine my face, then, when I saw the two acts dropped a split in 2023! Growling guitars and vulnerable vocals grow aplenty in the Great Plains. The Oklahomans head south this weekend to play with screaming Austin locals Palefade and Houston quintet A Mourning in Heaven, whose 2025 S/T – check highlight “Loam” – drips with sludgy, trembly, glorious melancholy. Contenders for the next joint release? – Carys Anderson
