This hardcore band exists because someone didn’t check their messages for over a year. Aaron Friedman moved to Austin, reached out to Brandon Jimenez about starting something, and got silence—not rejection, just missed timing. They eventually met in person at Not So Fun Weekend in Austin, got along immediately, and started talking music the normal way people do when it actually matters.
Jimenez mentioned an old project called Hardwired, something he’d been sitting on for years. Faster, more punk, openly anti-establishment. With everything around them feeling unstable, he wanted an outlet that wasn’t polite or distant from what was happening locally. Friedman was in without hesitation.
Sawyer Click joined next, and the whole thing snapped into place fast. Very fast. They quickly ditched the idea of reworking old material and decided to start from scratch. The first proof of that was “On The Floor,” written in about half an hour at Jimenez’s house on their first day playing together. No long discussions, no demo paralysis. Just ideas landing cleanly.
The sound they were circling wasn’t subtle: Floorpunch energy, Angel Du$t looseness, Spy-level aggression. The aim was something raw but still physical—songs that hit hard without killing the groove. Within a week, they had enough material to know this wasn’t just a side project finding its feet.
Connor Schiesz came in on bass, while Friedman and Click handled demo work—building rough versions, bringing them to practice, and teaching parts before everyone shaped them together.
Nine demos came together quickly, and once they felt solid, the band booked time at Overcast Recordings with Kieran Krebs, someone they’d already worked with through Menace Tx and Fevered.
Wyświetl ten post na Instagramie
Friedman tracked drums himself, fresh off reuniting with Torn Apart for a run of shows. All nine songs were recorded in a single day. Six of them became “Surface Tension.” The other three are finished and waiting.
After early mixes started circulating, the band pulled in Uli Chavez as a full-time drummer. His role wasn’t about changing direction, but tightening things up and adding weight where it mattered. As the band puts it, he “brought a new dimension to the tracks.”
Wyświetl ten post na Instagramie
Lyrically and politically, Bailout Tx don’t hedge. The band is openly aligned under “Fuck ICE,” rejecting surveillance and the structures they see as actively harming their communities. “We cannot be led nor defined by those who wish for the end of our brothers,” they state.
Their demo release show doubles as a benefit for Dare To Struggle ATX, helping cover legal fees for protesters arrested in Austin.
Wyświetl ten post na Instagramie
“Surface Tension” sounds like a band moving quickly because standing still wasn’t an option. The songs are swinging, very direct, built for movement, and comfortable sitting in that space where aggression and rhythm meet. There’s anger here, but it’s pointed—channeled into jams meant to be played loud and charge both your brain and mosh engine.
