It's always great catching a band at their CD Release show, because you know they're going to be fired up and ready to bring it. And such is the state of this Thursday at The Parish Room, where Austin-proud The Boxing Lesson will be dropping their new disc, Wild Streaks & Windy Days, an unabashedly Pink Floyd-esque collection of psychedelic rock. With songs like "Muerta" and "Back from the Dead," they establish an eerily sinister tone that's ably coupled with songs nodding to their forebears, such as "Dark Side of the Moog."

Sharing the spotlight with The Boxing Lesson will be Experimental Aircraft, who use Rachel Staggs's reverb-drenched vocals and the band's steady guitar work to craft an updated take on the drone of shoegaze psychedelia. Also on the bill is a band uprooted from Athens, Ohio with whom many of you have become familiar these past couple years, The Story Of, whose full-bodied alt-rock sound suits the local scene well. Last but not least is the satisfying ambient slow-burn of My Education, and band whose musicianship more than makes up for their lack of vocals.

The four of these bands together lends a fine glimpse into the breadth of the rock and alternative scene in Austin, as all four approach the field in a very different, though still intrinsically related, manner. For ten bucks, that's pretty nice.

The Boxing Lesson [MySpace]
Experimental Aircraft [MySpace] [Official]
My Education [MySpace] [Official]
The Story Of [MySpace] [Official]