Today we’re premiering ‘Credit Card,’ the latest solo release from Austin’s Gus Baldwin.

While it includes contributions from two members of his current band The Sketch, this is very much a solo statement. The track was recorded before The Sketch officially came together, making it a snapshot of the messy, exciting in-between.

Baldwin has never been one to stay in one lane. After pounding drums for Dallas surf punks Sealion in high school, he founded Acid Carousel, a psych-pop outfit that released more than 20 projects before he split on Halloween 2021. Since then, he’s been building something stranger and looser—releasing solo EPs, experimental singles, and forming The Sketch in 2022 with friends and former Carousel bandmates. They’ve quickly become a staple of the Austin underground, equal parts garage rock grit and power pop sweetness.

But ‘Credit Card’ is Gus alone again, and it shows. The song is lo-fi, nervy, and filled with that off-kilter energy that runs through all of Baldwin’s best work. It’s emotionally maxed-out but never overwrought, sneering and catchy without ever chasing a clean hook. It’s music that feels immediate, because it is.

In our recent interview with him over at It’s Psychedelic Baby!, Gus talked about this new chapter in his songwriting. “I just wanted to write stuff that sounded like it had to happen,” he said. “Songs that didn’t care what era they were from. I wanted it to be timeless and trashy.”

<a href="https://gusbaldwin.bandcamp.com/album/credit-card">Credit Card by Gus Baldwin</a>

That attitude is all over ‘Credit Card,’ the first in a run of solo singles set to arrive before The Sketch returns with more new material. For now, this is Gus Baldwin on his own terms, and exactly where he thrives.

GUS BALDWIN & THE SKETCH – 2025 TOUR DATES
07/26 – Austin, TX – Mohawk Austin (Hot Summer Nights Festival)
08/26 – Denton, TX – Rubber Gloves
08/27 – Memphis, TN – Hi-Tone Cafe
08/28 – Atlanta, GA – The EARL
08/29 – Cookeville, TN – Muddy Roots Festival
08/30 – Nashville, TN – The Basement
08/31 – New Orleans, LA – Saturn
09/27 – St. Louis, MO – Evolution Festival
10/30 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall *
11/01 – Dallas, TX – Ferris Wheelers *
11/02 – Austin, TX – Empire Control Room *
11/04 – Albuquerque, NM – Launchpad *
11/05 – Phoenix, AZ – Valley Bar *
11/06 – Los Angeles, CA – The Roxy *
11/07 – San Diego, CA – Brick by Brick *
11/08 – San Francisco, CA – Brick and Mortar *
11/10 – Sacramento, CA – Harlow’s *
11/12 – Seattle, WA – Madame Lou’s *
11/14 – Portland, OR – Dante’s *
11/15 – Boise, ID – Shrine Social Club *
11/17 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge *
11/19 – Denver, CO – Marquis *
11/20 – Fort Collins, CO – The Coast *
11/21 – Lawrence, KS – The Bottleneck *
11/22 – Columbia, MO – Rose Music Hall *