Lost in Austin - Thursday

So here's the band rundown:

1. Lord Huron – Big acoustic set to kick off a long morning at the Mess with Texas showcase outside. We had scored tables and free drinks, so all was good.
   
2. Weekend – One of my takeaway bands. Great big guitar sound out of San Francisco. Catchy and angry: two great tastes that taste great together. Woke me up fast, which is great because they took the coffee I had waited in line 30 minutes for when I tried to enter the venue. Everything takes longer in Texas…
   
3. Shabazz Palaces - I believe I was the only one that liked this show. It is Doodlebug or Butterfly from Digable Planets acting hard and militant. But there is something cool and spooky in his spare beats and staccato flow that really works for me. Everyone else hated him and his goofy bongo player…
   
4. Fresh and Onlys – Pal Pete says, “I love this band. Others not impressed. This did nothing to change my mind.” Consider me in the other category. I don’t get the hype.
   
5. Las Robertas – Energetic gals from Chile. Didn’t see enough to make up my mind.
   
6. Lollita #18 – There is something in the Japanese DNA that pumps out super-cute, hyper, poppy-punky girl bands. It always works. Partially because of the willingness to really make a show of it. Never works with local bands.
   
7. Suck Piggie - The formula doesn't translate to Japanese girl thrash. Less energetic, fun or novel. But singer had pipes!
   
   
8. Shapes have Fangs – Forgettable local garage band.
   
9. Foster People – Apparently these guys are getting Top-40 radio play? They packed the giant Stubb’s stage and really sucked.
   
10. Glasser – Shifted venue to the Central Presbyterian Church where the soaring vocals of this Bjork clone really filled the space. The performance is available on iTunes. Worth grabbing!
    
11. tUnE YaRds – Really interesting. I had heard some tracks off the 2009 album. Good stuff, but this album is going to be great. Some more spectacularly great vocals that were literally built up with sequencer into spectacularly dense catchy sound poems.
    
12. Batwing Catwing – forgettable high-energy pop-punk out of LA.
    
13. Zoobombs – Umm. Wow. In a day full of high energy acts, these guys took the cake. Japanese straight up in your face rock. My ears rang for hours, but I was smiling anyway. One of the top shows of the fest for me. Video below, though it was so loud the music is pretty hard to discern...worth a glimpse nonetheless: