Jumping into the deep end this week, folks. Hang on; we'll get there. Just read the stuff below and stay calm. It's all gonna be OK…

Inhale, Exhale: After laying low for what seems like forever, Tommy Wedge and his ongoing musical project Wedge have a new collection of songs available for free download. It's titled These Thieves, and you can grab your copy over at wedge.bandcamp.com. The group recorded it themselves but enlisted Chase Park Transduction to transfer the recordings to tape and Jason Nesmith (Bel Air Studio) to handle mastering. The three-track EP follows a familiar path of arpeggioed dream-pop full of lush keyboard rushes and half-sighed/half-softly wailed vocals. Winter is coming.

Vinyl Frontier: Tunabunny follows up its (rightfully) critically acclaimed Minima Moralia this month with the release of its third full-length record, Genius Fatigue. The band plays a release show Oct. 25 at New Earth Music Hall. Joining them on the bill are two local HHBTM labelmates, Eureka California and Muuy Biien, along with two groups from the label's West Coast contingent, Orca Team and Bam Bam. Everyone except Muuy Biien will have just played the HHBTM showcase at New York's CMJ Music Marathon, so they should be pretty high on life. I've been spinning the Tunabunny record at home for about a month now and am about 80 percent behind it. It doesn't seem as howlingly defiant or as hide-and-don't-seek-oriented as Minima Moralia. But a reaction like that may be the very point of the album's title. Tunabunny is one of those rare bands to which I'm willing to give a wide swath of allowance, because they've proven time and again they can craft solid gold out of only three chords and the truth. Sometimes we need new ears to hear things again for the first time. Keep up with the band via facebook.com/Tunabunny and the others via hhbtm.com.

The Suex Effect

Rooftop Jammin': On the opposite end of the Athens rock music spectrum, we have The Suex Effect. These bass-thumpin', hard-groovin' dudes—think Primus and dinosaur rock—will celebrate the release of their sophomore album, Phases, on Monday, Oct. 15 on the Georgia Theatre rooftop. The show is free, open to anyone 21 and up and will feature opening band Old You. The Suex (pronounced "sway") Effect will be running a special deal this night where you can get a CD copy of the new album for free if you purchase one of their new Phases t-shirts. The band will tour the East Coast for the remainder of October to promote the album. Follow along at facebook.com/TheSuexEffect.

Rolling Near the River: The Slow Water Music Festival is Saturday, Oct. 20. Taking its name from the location, Slow Water Kayaking, the fest will take place at the Royston, GA facility that sits right on the Broad River. The event is focused on raising funds for nonprofit organizations, and this year's beneficiary is Nuçi's Space. The fest features Bloodkin, Dangfly, Mama's Love, Ike Stubblefield, The Woodgrains, Michael Guthrie and Phil Duncan, as well as special performances by the Nuçi's Space Camp Amped Band and Full Moon Studio's School of Rock Band. Tickets are a mere $15 (or $20 if you want to arrive Friday evening and camp overnight), and can be purchased via athensmusic.net/slowwater. If you've got any questions, drop them to organizer Betsy Franck via [email protected].

A Nod and a Handshake: The guys in Lionz took my recent skewering of their song and video “Hit the Bong” with a certain stride and pride that's pretty much never seen among Athens musicians. (Private to Lionz: Good on y'all. Hat tip!) In other Lionz news, the band reports that it's been working for a year with producer/engineer and longtime Athens songwriter Nathan Sheppard on two upcoming albums, From Dark to Light and The Other Side. To keep these projects in the public eye and, presumably, to let off a little creative steam, the band will put out one new song and video at the beginning of each month. The albums feature Randall Bramblett, Clarence Cameron, Sunny Ortiz (Widespread Panic), Daniel Marler (The Brothers Marler), Carlton Owens, the aforementioned Sheppard, Leslie Sokal, Stephen Spivey (ex-Tishamingo) and Jefferson Taffet. Keep up with the whole gang via lionz.org.

Rock-N-Scroll: A very cool set of bands plays the 40 Watt on Friday, Oct. 19. The show is being dually promoted by Gypsy Farm Records and Orange Twin Records, and it features The Humms, E.X.P., The Shoal Creek Stranglers and Andrew, Scott & Laura (surnamed Rieger, Spillane and Carter, respectively.) Orange Twin steps full-on into the 21st century this night, too, when it previews its new smartphone application, “Handy Jam.” The app was programmed by former Athenian Geoff Reacher, a fine songwriter in his own right who now lives in Austin, TX. In what could be seen as a sign of a technology-aided musical apocalypse, the Handy Jam will serve as DJ in between live sets.