Vetter Kids

Over the past few years it’s been nearly impossible for any type of band that displayed certain ‘90s-centric reference points–whether it be emo, grunge, or shoegaze–to not have the word “revival” equated with its sound. It’s the belief that these returning sounds are all regimented under their assorted tents, not allowed to interlope or cross boundaries. And that’s what makes Vetter Kids’ such an anomaly, as each one of these respective revivals seem to be part of the genetic make up of the Texas trio.

The A.V. Club is steaming Logan–the band’s second EP on the year–below, and its five songs are each an amalgam of the best of ‘90s icons. The guitars take the effects-pedal stomping of shoegaze and rev it up to the point where it sounds like a long-lost Nirvana gut-punch, but a few soothing reprieves keep the punk-inspired act from getting unfairly lumped in as emo. Logan’s twists and turns show Vetter Kids aren’t content to be so easily pegged, instead taking the remnants of a few disparate genres and constructing a leaner version that’s all its own. - AV Club

Texas rockers Vetter Kids put out their debut EP earlier this year via Texas Is Funny Records, and now they're following it with another EP, Logan on October 14 via Texas Is Funny and Better Days Will Haunt You Records. We previously posted "Santa Fe, NM" from that first EP, which was a nice mix of grunge and post-hardcore, but the new single from Logan, "Chlorine Dream," leans significantly toward the latter. The vocals are way harsher this time around, and yelled over rapid-fire stoner rock. "Chlorine Dream" debuts in this post and can be streamed below.
Vetter Kids are also going on a tour which hits NYC for shows on September 3 at Palisades with Slonk Donkerson, Le Rug and Sativa Cult; and September 9 at The Flat with more TBA. - Brooklyn Vegan

The Texan trio Vetter Kids don’t try to hide their love for decades past. Their grungy, hardcore-emo sound recalls ’90s-era Weezer, angry Saves The Day in the early Aughts, and a more polished version of lots of bands you saw in VFWs in high school. But their debut EP, 3, is better than driving your mom’s car to some church basement.

Over the course of six tracks, Vetter Kids showcase their prowess in doing tough-scuzz sarcasm (All My Friends Keep Moving To Seattle), angsty pop-punk (Santa Fe, NM), mellow, near-folk harmonies (Obnoxygen) and more. The 3 EP drops officially on May 20 via Texas Is Funny, but we’ve got the advance full stream for you below, so you can begin the nostalgia immersion process immediately. - CMJ

The picture above clearly illustrates the jokier side of San Antonio’s Vetter Kids, but “I’m Just Your Newest Bluest,” from the forthcoming Logan EP is a smoldering, heartsick number about how life in a touring band can take a toll on the relationships that are most important. “You don’t love me anymore,” frontman Marcos Gossi sighs at the song’s wrenching peak. Surrounded by grinding, growling guitars, the song recalls the classic sound of mid ’90s emo, but has a potency and power all its own. - Wondering Sound

The Texas is Funny imprint has captured our interest over the past year with releases from Cherry Cola Chamions, Deer Vibes, and we just caught word of the upcoming 7" split coming in early March between Glish, Young /// Savage, and Vetter Kids. To get this Southwest flannel burning party started, we bring you the megalithic guitars and raging slack-jawed delivery from Vetter Kids; with the premiere of "Vital Kids". The three piece power-house of Richard Garcia, Marcos Gossi, and Austin Matherne combine the might and forces from their other bands, Sohns, Brother/Ghost, Yes, Inferno and God Townes, to forge a trinity and bond of new vitality.

Vetter Kids vet their practices and processes as 90s dudes that were raised on a diet of Pinkerton, In Utero and Four Minute Mile, and Jagged Little Pill (unapologetically and un-ironically, according to the band in our following interview segment). These three Texans give it up to the "Vital Kids", an ode to coolness and the enduring durability of the loud, quiet, loud song structures. Richard, Marcos, and Austin send this one out to all those living in their own daydream nations, who have been "fucked around", without getting their due attention and recognition as forces to be properly reckoned with. Though their sympathies lie in the alternative underground family trees and connective corridors of the 90s, Vetter Kids champion their current formal ties to the indie bands, and friends who would be, and should be kings. After a clever false ending breakdown, the final build-up leaves you with the drum beat highlighted refrain, "wasted all my friends", that sends up a shout out and tribute to the vital importance, prowess and indie plight of the trio. These are the challenges, and uphill battles faced by both the group, their other bands, labelmates, and the conquering quests for struggle and survival faced by the various indie groups and artists from Vetter Kids' friends of friends. This is their statement that they are indeed here; bored and ignored, no more.



We had an opportunity to catch up with Vetter Kids' Marcos Gossi and Richard Garcia to talk about the upcoming Texas is Funny split, Eddie Vedder jokes, talk of an EP in the works, tours, the band's dynamics of friendship, and more.

How did you first meet and discover you were a band?

Marcos: I don't think there was a 'moment' that I remember when we met or discovered we were a band; but when you have close friends who love to hang out and have no money to play golf or anything I think it kind of just happens. You look at each other and say 'hey...you wanna like...write a tune?'

Are you all big fans of the Eddie Vedder, hence the Vetter in your name, or is it more of a fusion of something out of being a veteran of something else? Explain!

Richard: Hahaha, we get that a lot. I think all of us get a kick out of all the different ways people have said our name - 'Eddie Vedder's Kids'...well, really that's the only one, but we still get a kick out if it. Anyways, our name has nothing to do with Eddie Vedder. It doesn't really have a true 'meaning', but we'll say it has more to do with Sarah Palin, than it does ol' "Even Flow". Besides, what's in a name? Shouldn't they just sound cool and leave the semantics to the lyrics?

You all have a lot of 90s alternative leaning elements of your song structure, noise chords and more. Tell us what the Vetter Kids approach is to the loud-quiet-loud sensibility that you all bury with blankets of blessed squall and heavenly noise.

M: We are all 90's kids. So it definitely slips in. Growing up on Pinkerton, In Utero and Four Minute Mile is no joke, but at the end of the day we are just desperately trying to make ourselves smile. Not to get all zen and shit!

How do you all write and rehearse through your songs? Jam seshes? Rough draft collaborative notes?

M: Writing, rehearsal, all that stuff is probably the most fun we have as a unit, I think our friendship and closeness is way more important than any one jam we crank out. So, we usually just get really fucked up on caffeine, jokes, some Jagged Little Pill (unapologetically and abso-fucking-lutely un-ironically. have you listened to that record in a while? It...fuck man...it is really great) coupled with Randy Travis's greatest hits, go to the rehearsal space, max everything out, and it kinda just does what it does. Vetter Kids shit.

Give us all the vitality and goods behind the recording of, "Vital Kids".

M: The recording was about as easy and fun as it gets. Our really good friend Chris Etheredge recorded "Vital Kids" as well as our soon to be released EP. He was great, giving us a lot of lee way which was appreciated; we even got him and his kids to play 'rock paper scissors' with us which you can hear as the intro to the track. It was a special deal for all of us I think, we all left the studio feeling so excited and...vital?

Texas Is Funny Records is dropping your three way split this month with Glish & Young, and Savage, thoughts on the release? Relationship with labelmates? Tours in the works?

This is probably the coolest release any of us have been a part of. We feel so humbled by the Glish and Young///Savage songs, which are just incredible. It is an absolute honor to be a part of this deal. Not to mention, both of them carry some of the most genuine and talented people we have ever met. Really grateful to be able to call them friends. We are doing a few dates with Glish and Y///S at the end of February in Texas and Louisiana to celebrate the release, as well as some outings in March and April, but we will be out on tour in force, hopefully on our EP this summer.

The Glish, Young /// Savage, Vetter Kids Split 7" will be available March 4 from Texas is Funny Records. - Impose Magazine

“Heavy Costumes”, the newest single from Texas trio Vetter Kids is a dense, cycling three minutes of scuffed-up indie rock. Caught somewhere between the angular melodicism of Jawbox and the nervy sing-song of the first Foo Fighters LP, the song is constantly phasing in and out of brittle, hazy interludes and thudding bursts. Stream the track below, and pre-order the attendant EP, Logan, via Texas Is Funny Records - Half Cloth

Texas Is Funny and Better Days Will Haunt You are excited to have joined forces for the release of Vetter Kids‘ sophomore EP Logan. This EP follows up the band’s debut III, which was released earlier this year on Texas Is Funny to praise from Brooklyn Vegan, CMJ, Impose Magazine, Daytrotter, and more. Vetter Kids have been keeping busy with near constant touring and recording since the Spring. While on tour this summer the band hooked up with Fred Weaver (Mono, Thou, Brass Bed) at his studio in North Central Pennsylvania to record Logan, an effort full of surprises and nuance, highlighting the band’s sound as they are and where they are headed. Recorded live, the record is loose, fun, and open, Logan represents Vetter Kids and all that punk means to them. With influences ranging from Small Brown Bike and The Get Up Kids to HUM, Pavement, and Smashing Pumpkins, Vetter Kids have found a sound centralized in loud guitars and dynamic songwriting, blending together the music of their formative years into something new and unpredictable.

Today the band are sharing the album’s first single, “Chlorine Dream” via Brooklyn Vegan. The album’s opening track finds the ever hard to pin-down Vetter Kids at their most aggressive, embracing their post-hardcore influences in a new light to stunning and anthemic results. This is a feel good shout along with bludgeoning riffs, as brutal as it is catchy. Brooklyn Vegan noted the changed from their previous material, stating,

“that first EP, which was a nice mix of grunge and post-hardcore, but the new single fromLogan, “Chlorine Dream,” leans significantly toward the latter. The vocals are way harsher this time around, and yelled over rapid-fire stoner rock.”

“Chlorine Dream” is about the pressures of growing up and life’s responsibilities. As everyone around them is having kids and buying homes, Vetter Kids are keeping the dream alive, living out their desire to tour, play punk rock, skateboard, and hang out at the pool, regardless of how broke that may leave them. Get with the program? Maybe another time.

Vetter Kids are kicking off another tour tomorrow, August 27th in Murfreesboro, TN that take them through the East Coast and Midwest before wrapping up Joplin, MO.

Tour Dates:
8-27 Murfreesboro, TN @ The Boro
8-28 Evansville, IN @ PG’s
8-30 Akron, OH @ It’s a Kling Thing
8-31 Pittsburgh, PA @ The Sanctuary
9-02 Providence, RI @ Funky Jungle
9-03 Brooklyn, NY @ Palisades
9-05 Amherst, MA @ Unitarian Universalist Society
9-06 Fall River, MA @ Hall
9-07 Boston, MA @ TBA
9-09 Brooklyn, NY @ The Flat
9-11 Kent, OH @ The Stone Tavern
9-13 Kalamazoo, MI @ Cloud City House
9-14 Chicago, IL @ Township
9-15 Rock Island, IL @ Rozz Tox
9-17 Joplin, MO @ The Palace

Logan is due out October 14th via Texas Is Funny / Better Days Will Haunt on digital, cassette, with an expanded vinyl edition of the EP to follow later next year. - New Noise Magazine

For San Antonio/Austin band Vetter Kids, punk is not a specific genre or sound. Rather, it is an aesthetic, a rallying cry, an individualized connection to (and expression of) a certain universal notion of how to live, love and fuckin’ rock. On Saturday, as the trio celebrates the release of its debut EP III at 502 Bar, the dudes’ personal definition of punk will be on full display.

Comprised of current and former members of several excellent local outfits—Sohns, Brother/Ghost, God Townes and Yes, Inferno—Vetter Kids stand as a testament to the good that can come with musical cross-pollination. With a fuzzed-out slacker sound that’s equal parts fun and fuck-all, these guys make some seriously righteous rock that sweats and sears and wanes and smolders. The recipe for Vetter Kids’ music goes something like this: Combine a bit of Nirvana’s guttural grunge rawness and a bit of Weezer’s cheeky pop-punk, mix in a pinch of shoegaze’s sense of motion, a dash of hardcore’s deadpan scream-stare, a healthy helping of the Austin nightlife and a whole lotta love. Released on Texas is Funny Records, III thrives as a document of a band in formation, content to let their sound evolve naturally and to chase their musical impulses as a unit and as individuals.

“We have collectively played in all kinds of bands, but we are bonded by the idea that punk is really, for us, an aesthetic, a way of life, and not just a style. That’s the idea that brings us together, the idea we sacrifice for, the idea that has kinda taken over our lives,” guitarist and vocalist Marcos Gossi tells the Current.

He cites a personal experience with Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra’s exhaustingly named album “This Is Our Punk-Rock,” Thee Rusted Satellites Gather + Sing as inspiration for his own nebulous concept of punk. Gossi remembers hearing and understanding that album in the context of the first part of the title and thinking, “I can make sense of this.” He elaborates: “It’s thematic and soundscaped and layered and beautiful and it made me realize that punk isn’t just d-beat and camo pants and Doc Martens. Punk is a huge and malleable idea, an idea so much bigger than any one sound or one group of people.”

So what is this punk aesthetic that drives the group, which Gossi describes as their “gasoline?” It is one part bro-love, one part fun and one part sheer volume. Gossi explains: “We love to be the loudest and bang on things and hurt ourselves, but that’s just one part of it. We are all at a point in our lives where we want to be in a band with our friends and have fun, so looking back we can say, ‘Wow, we really got a lot out of each other.’” - SA Current

San Antonio indie label Texas is Funny Records has been continually expanding since its formation in 2009. After being picked up in 2013 by the Frenkchkiss Label Group, who now handles the label’s worldwide distribution, and with a growing roster of awesome bands, these guys are truly poised to do great things. This lamentably brief split manages to jump from shoegaze glory, to Domestica-era Cursive sounds, to post-grunge punk rock, all within the span of its twelve minutes. Aside from being an exercise in restraint musically and commercially, the 7-inch also celebrates geographical diversity, bringing together bands from across the region: Glish from New Orleans, Young///Savage from Austin and Vetter Kids from San Antonio. From the sunken vocal guitar-wall bliss of Glish’s “Bicycle Music,” to the snarling and bounding pop-punk sound of Young///Savage’s “It’s Glice to Meet You,” to the to the grungy yet delicate emo (in the old way) of Vetter Kids’ “Vital Kids.” This brief document of three talented bands on the rise is well worth your seven dollar investment. - SA Current

Splitting their time between San Antonio and Austin, punk trio Vetter Kids released a live session on famed indie site Daytrotter. The site for Illinois’ Horseshack records, Daytrotter debuted four live renditions from Vetter Kids recent III EP on SA-based label Texas is Funny.

Made up of active and former members of Sohns, Brother/Ghost, God Townes and Yes, Inferno, Vetter Kids pull from their rich musical histories to create an aggregate sound somewhere between straight-ahead punk and early ’90s emo.

“We have collectively played in all kinds of bands, but we are bonded by the idea that punk is really, for us, an aesthetic, a way of life, and not just a style. That’s the idea that brings us together, the idea we sacrifice for, the idea that has kinda taken over our lives,” guitarist and vocalist Marcos Gossi told the Current in a recent interview.

You can read the rest of the interview here and check out Vetter Kids’ Daytrotter session here. - SA CURRENT

Texas’ Vetter Kids are set to release EP 3 May 20 via Texas Is Funny Records. 3 is the follow up to the well received split single with label mates Glish and Young///Savage. Vetter Kids emerged from San Antonio and Austin, TX’s dynamic punk scenes having played in Sohns, Yes Inferno, and Brother/Ghost before joining together. Their debut EP 3 is the product of a youth spent listening to grunge and punk music, adopting the sounds of their influences and molding them into something new. There’s an undeniably bleak tone to the EP and yet the sweeping atmospheric songwriting, buzzing guitar anthems, and sharp rhythmic bursts sound anything but detached. Vetter Kids are a young band taking their time to perfect a blend of crashing grunge heaviness and spaced out shoegaze bliss.

No, they do not love Pearl Jam. Yes, they do love large speakers, fuzz pedals, Pinkerton era Weezer, Refused, singing during long car rides, Small Brown Bike, The Get Up Kids, Jason Molina, skateboarding, The Smashing Pumpkins, and… pizza.

As such, Ghettoblaster recently caught up with Marcos Gossi and Richard Garcia to discuss skateboarding. This is what they told us.

When did you begin skating and what is it about skating that continues to appeal to you?

Marcos: I started skating when most kids do, middle school. It’s when you decide what kind of man/woman you want to be; I think that’s important.

Richard: I didn’t have the luxury of growing up on a coast so this was the next best thing to surfing. And liking heavy metal music basically meant that you only could hang with the greasy skate kids in my middle school hahahah

Do you play places on tour that also allow you to skate inside or outside? What are the best places you’ve skated on tour?

Marcos: When I was younger I think that was more important to me, now a days an empty lot or church will do just fine.

Richard: Naaaa I think the three of us bleed plenty on stage each night to want to expend any other energies . (Ps Marcos is a bleeder.)

What is the most difficult trick that you’ve landed? How does the feeling of landing that compare to the feeling of conquering a difficult riff or part in your music?

Marcos: Let’s be clear, I suck at skating. I love to do it and I really don’t give a shit if I suck, but I know I suck. That being said, my repertoire is pretty basic, heel flips and kick flips are about as hard as I go. Ask me to Ollie off a roof though? Yea, I’d do that.

Richard: The most difficult trick was this one white girl at this club I used to go to a lot here in town. Girl had a big booty and basically ate my billfold in cocktails. But we ended up back at my place where I sang her love songs on my ukulele. Zing.

What kind of deck, trucks, wheels, or other gear are you currently using?

Marcos: I’ve got my old Baker, and then the label gave me a board, which I’m breaking in. At the moment, I skate Independent trucks and Bones wheels.

Richard: A Sector 9 with a lot of flex and Bones bearings. Those abec 3s they always come with are shit and one kick push on bones and I’m cruising foreverrrrrrrrr.

What other bands who have members who skate have you toured with and skated with? Were you impressed?

Marcos: I usually just skate alone, But the dudes from Sixteen and Ghost Police would be my choice. And even if you can just kick-push I’m impressed.

Richard: Skating is more of a solo thing for me BUT if I had to pick some Brobocops I know it would have to be all the dudes in Ghost Police and Mario Trejo from The Grasshopper Lies Heavy

Do you seek out skate shops on tour? What are the best ones?

Marcos: When I was younger I used to, but lately gear shops take up most of my time. Though Uprise in Chicago is always fun to pop into.

Richard: No not at all actually. I think the three of us are too focused on getting to the next town and wrecking shop, to be honest, instead of looking for a shop.

What is the worst injury that you ever suffered skating and how did you recoup from that? Did it affect your playing?

Marcos: I’ve fractured my right hand like eight fucking times, I think half were trying to jump a gap or stairs. Actually, yea man. After I am done with rehearsal my right hand is always kind of swollen and tender, but fuck it. Fun is the name of the game.

Richard: One time I was bombing a righteous hill and I ate it bad in front of a group of hot chicks. My ego REALLY took a hit that day and I’ll never forget it. I’ve continued to learn from that situation every day since. (Zzzzzzzing)

Which of your band’s songs are the best to skate to?

Richard: None of them. Go listen to Little Big League. - Ghettoblaster Magazine

It’s not uncommon for bands to put out new releases on vinyl before any other hard format these days. This makes sense in a time when CD and MP3 sales are down and the only growing medium of music delivery is vinyl. So it’s no surprise to see the many 7” splits being put out between bands lately, and the new split out by Texas is Funny Records bringing together New Orleans’ Glish and San Antonio’s Young /// Savage and Vetter Kids follows suit.

The reason the tracks on this split work together so well sonically is easily understood; the sounds of these bands are all reviving variations of 90’s alt rock influence (in a good way). Glish’s Bicycle Music sounds like nothing you’d expect to come out of the place that is home to Mardi Gras. Droning distorted guitar riffs blend with droning subdued vocals and cymbally drumming, texturing together a lulling melodic dreamy shoegaze of a track. Definitely good laidback, downhill bicycling music.

Young///Savage’s track, It’s Glice to Meet You, sounds like a play on words that should maybe come from Glish. But Glice is actually a morphing of the words glad and nice, an awkward word fumble originating from none other than J. Bieber. The track title embodies a theme summed up by lyrics: “Indulging our habits/we’re shaping the world around ourselves/filtering out all the other shit,” countered with the refrain “We’re getting so old/oh bless your bones.” Essentially the message is “we do what we want while we still can.” Sonically, this track is pretty perfectly traditional post punk with all the hard rapid drumming and heavy melodic guitar to thrash yourself around to.

Vital Kids from grunge-punk Vetter Kids, the final track on this split, intros endearingly with peripheral giggles and laughter (both grownup and child) over a game of rock-paper-scissors before erupting into dense rhythmic drums and fuzzy guitar riffs. The song takes on a pattern of gradual building and subsiding, mimicking the ups and downs of life also mirrored in the lyrics: “Don’t have fear of all the sidewalk ends/’cause we’re best with dare and long to scrape our knees again.” Vetter Kids strike a heart-melting balance between sludgy grunge and easier alt rock/pop with this one.

The 90’s vibe of this split is so much on point and a welcome breath of fresh air in the current heavily electronic sonic atmosphere. Easily a favorite split, period. - MondoNation

Texas trio Vetter Kids recently recently contributed a track to a split with Glish and Young /// Savage, and they're now set to release their debut EP, III, on May 20 via Texas Is Funny Records (pre-order). The guys are unabashed '90s lovers, and not unlike other contemporary bands Cloud Nothings or Title Fight, they're pulling from both grunge and post-hardcore. They told Impose:
We are all 90's kids. So it definitely slips in. Growing up on Pinkerton, In Utero and Four Minute Mile is no joke, but at the end of the day we are just desperately trying to make ourselves smile. Not to get all zen and shit!
You can hear it slip in for yourself on "Santa Fe, NM," the new single from their EP which premieres in this post. - Brooklyn Vegan

Hey, shit sucks sometimes. When you’re young, and stupid, and just trying to find your way, life can really let you down. Texas’ Vetter Kids get it, but they’re not making excuses on their new single, “Down Goes The Teenage Hoodlum”. Written for a friend going through difficult times, the track sends a clear warning that’s veiled in love: “Don’t back down.”

Lifted from their upcoming Logan EP, “Down Goes The Teenage Hoodlum” is Vetter Kids’ latest offering; another prime example of the tenacious trio’s ability to make old things new again. The band’s sound is rooted in multiple genres, from grunge and emo to hardcore. An enthralling epic, “Hoodlum” is a slow burn, blending early ’90s grime with the melodic cadence of middle school-era pop-punk. Journeying from a gentle trickle to a full-blown storm and back again within the span of just five minutes, “Hoodlum” ends on a thrilling high, proving it’s never too late to pick yourself up again. - Impose Magazine