Photo by Jacey Harbin

Artist: Touch Girl Apple Blossom, the four-piece of co-vocalist and guitarist Olivia Garner, guitarist John Morales, bassist and co-vocalist Dustin Pilkington, and drummer Daniel Charles Powell

Location: Austin, TX

Buzz: If you’ve been paying attention to the indie rock underground, there’s a good chance that this past springtime will now forever remind you of Touch Girl Apple Blossom’s jangle-punk sound whenever you hear the spangling opening riff of “The Springtime Reminds Me Of…”. As the lead single behind their debut album, Graceful, the way it connects the dualistic dots between those wistful best days and the hope for a rekindled warmth hits a sweet spot. Now with the whole thing out there in nature, it’s likely that the sound of summer ’26 likely will be the Austin band’s, too.

Music like Touch Girl Apple Blossom’s was meant to be heard wherever the sun leads the heart, whether that be in the open air, driving with the windows down, laying in the grass, lying on the sand, or perhaps in bed staring at the ceiling. There’s literally a song called “Vacation” on it, and while there’s plenty of tears cried over relationship cringe in public, the band’s casual melancholia framed around buoyant guitar-pop hooks and co-vocalist Olivia Garner’s long, comforting sighs make for an inviting destination. She does that bit really well across the album — from the heart-swelling opener “Tell” to the Luna-namedropping kiss-off “You Made Me Do It” and the scribbling inquiry “Heart-Go” — but she’s not the only one holding these conversations with the twee-punk heart across Graceful.

Throughout the album’s B-side, bassist Dustin Pilkington plays the foolish boy’s response in this dueling romance of ups and downs passing through the seasons at a palpitating pace in song. For his part, his are oft filled with fuzzy power-pop-punctuated melodies reminiscing with big regret like they do while looking at an empty sky on “Moon Was Gone”. Eventually, he and Garner’s voices rekindle on “Back and Forth”. “Dry your eyes / We’re together now,” he sings, and it’s from then on where he can count his luck for fixing his fuck-ups just in time to mark summer’s passing on “I’m Lucky I Found You”.

With all that seemingly out of the way, you’d think that the psychedelically playful yet chaotic closer “Big Star Shinin’” would make for a light-hearted ending, right? Alas, like every season in life, the thing you’ve been chasing is once again gone in the blink of an eye. But at least they’ve got these songs to remind them.

Sound: Touching grass and breathing the air in of every season while sweet-sad memories colored in vintage indie-pop hues fill up the heart on your sleeve.

Recommended: “The Springtime Reminds Me Of…”, “Heart-Go”, and “Back ‘N’ Forth” from their recently-released debut album, Graceful

Touch Girl Apple Blossom’s Graceful is available now on K Records / Perennial.