But after a stopover in Dallas, I was energized by my annual Austin kickoff routine with an incomparable bbq brisket sandwich from the Salt Lick’s airport outpost. Once Kyle, Pete and I rendezvoused, we were ready to rock.
One of the most amazing things about SXSW has been the rise of the day party. You can actually see more music in the light of day than during the official evening showcases now.We kicked off with NPR’s showcase that had a promising lineup where we caught a pedestrian band called Blind Pilot (1). They were pleasant---which is not a compliment in these terms…
Off to Club DeVille where we caught:
WAVVES (2) - a Pitchfork hype band with a low-fi surf/punk/pop sound that reminded me of another SXSW fave, No Age. I had downloaded the Wavves disc and was not sure where it stood with me---the couple of songs we caught live pushed them over quite positively.
School of the Seven Belles (3) – Pete rightly referenced the Cocteau Twins’ sound for this highly programmed, keyboard-heavy group with the cutest singer of the weekend.
Glasvegas (4) – There’s a lot of talk about these Glasgow natives, but I found their sound to be fairly generic and, much like the previous band, not particularly well-suited style for an outdoor daytime setting.
We scrammed and headed to a Mint Records showcase in the delightfully tiki-themed Headhunters Club to catch:
- Immaculate Machines (5) – We bailed on Trail of the Dead (who followed Glasvegas) for this? A nerdy, nothing special, off-key band that Pete stingingly referred to as "very similar to the Stamen Convention." Though that was one of our early bands, I do not think it was meant as a compliment to us or to Immaculate Machines…
- Goblins (6) – I only caught one song, but it made an impression. Keyboards and drums; played by guys in purple and yellow keyboards with “ghostly” sheets over their heads. Lots of exuberance and fun. No talent.
- Pack AD (7) – Vancouver twosome of Black Keys wannabes; though to be fair the singer/guitarist had chops and pipes. If she can get away from Led Zeppelin blues jams, and lose her drummer, she could be special.
- Handsome Family (8) – The formerly-Chicago alt-country staples were a complete mess. Out of tune. Out of sorts. Bad…though their very dark songs and banter are always hilarious, with intros like, “This song is about a shipwreck with just a teeny bit of cannibalism…”
Wandering a bit, we stumbled into:Red Cortez (9) - I like The Walkmen a lot better than this bad LA band aping them…
THE THERMALS (10) – Really strong power/punk pop songs. Very energetic, though you only need about half the set because their songs start to sound very similar after that---but I really enjoyed what we saw (plus “The Ice Cream Man” was there---a marketing outfit that gives away free Good Humor and Blue Bunny products!)
Vikings Times (11) – Not sure I got the name of this acoustic combo right, but it matters not as they were hooorrible.
We took a break for the bad bbq I noted yesterday before heading out for the evening sets. We started at “The Musical Gym” which is a dump that houses cooperative practice spaces for bands on the other side of the highway from downtown. We went to see:
Chikita Violenta (12) – A promising-sounding Mexico City band that completely sucked, sounding desperate to get onto Q-101. The long walk was not a loss though, as we went inside to check the tiny side stage, where we found:
OUTER SPACIST (13) – A fantastically entertaining Columbus, OH punk band with a husky and hilarious lead singer whose banter and songs generally fell in line with something like: “My motherfucking scarf is from motherfucking space and that is no joke, bay-bee!” As I type, I am realizing it was way better than it sounds here. Count me as a big fan.From there we started wandering and bumped into:
- Rosie and The Goldbug (14) – Actually we were trying to catch Vivian Girls, but the showcase was running late and we caught this annoying English pop outfit with a lead singer who did have the impressive ability to occasionally play the keyboards with her high heels (still on the feet). They also had an unfortunate “superfan” who wore a homemade gold body suit that someone really should tell her not to wear… It was a bit…snug…
- Red Red Meat (15) – They quickly reminded me of why I did not like them all that much in the 90’s… They are boring… The Chicago indie vets look ancient, but the “Sound Opinion” guys Kot and DeRogatis looked to be in ecstasy. DeRo looked pissed when I said “hi” and “I like your show.” I say it every year…
- Sebastian Grainger (16) – The former drummer of Death from Above 1979 makes it clear where the genius of that duo resided...he made a big mistake breaking that band up. This one sucks.
- LET'S WRESTLE
(17) - These little Londoners look to be about 15, but they sounded great. Like a real-live 90’s “college rock” band. Tons of energy and fun, with a great theme song.
- FLOWER TRAVELIN' BAND
(18) - So I don’t know anything about these guys but apparently they are legend… The founders of the Japanese psychedelic sound, they had not played together in decades but sounded great for the one extended jam we caught. And they look pretty striking; the lead singer has zero body fat and dreadlocks; the instrumental lead plays a sitlar (guitar/sitar hybrid) that looks like something Prince would kill for…
- Abe Vigoda (19) – Fish would be disappointed by the use of his name by these posers. Absolutely the wrong thing for us to see at that point. Pointlessly boring noise.
- KING KAHN AND THE SHRINES (20) – Consistently one of the most entertaining acts out there. Even in a horrible room with shockingly bad acoustics and a huge void between the stage and crowd, the energy of their stage show is infectious. Hilarious stuff---and props to Kahn for being ballsy enough to take his shirt off (video), as his body is way worse than the Outerspacers guy or the Goldbug super fan…
- MIKA MIKO (21) – I really liked these New York sorta punker gals---particularly the fact that one vocalist only sang through a red telephone receiver, fun stuff, though a bit limited.
We struggled out from there, seeking a cab to take us back to our very crowded little apartment. At that point, I had been up for over 22 hours and was ready to collapse. Normally in that situation, I would look forward to sleeping in and doing nothing the next day...But we were in Austin. And this was SXSW.
So I readied myself to repeat it all again in just a few hours.
Note 1: I told you my camera sucks.
Note 2: I am linking to the SXSW band profiles as most have a downloadable MP3 if you are interested in hearing the bands.
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