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Photo By Doug Trapp
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VHS or BETA
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MOST IMPRESSIVE SXSW PERFORMANCE
TIE
KaitO/The Polyphonic Spree
No other band made me want to dance more than U.K.'s Noise Rock quartet KaitO -- except Dallas' 24-member Pop symphony, The Polyphonic Spree. Well, OK, technically KaitO made me want to dance with my fist pumped in the air, while the white-robed Polyphonic Spree made me hope they would start a musical commune so I could join it.
LEAST IMPRESSIVE SXSW PERFORMANCE
I Am The World Trade Center
A dozen other bands would have kicked this sugary-sweet Techno-Pop duo's asses to get their Friday Tower Records in-store slot, but they walked through a four-song, 15-minute set as if the store was lucky to have them. Some of their songs are catchy, but Amy Dykes' mediocre voice wasn't enough to carry them. Most of their live show was pre-programmed, but it was still 15 to 30 minutes shorter than every other band I saw at SXSW. Halfway through their micro-set, I had the barely controllable urge to push them out of the way; I was sure I could improvise something better on their keyboard and sampler.
www.iamtheworldtradecenter.com
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Photo By Doug Trapp
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And You Will Know Us By The Trail of the Dead . . .
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BEST AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Molotov
No other SXSW band attracted such a hyper, devoted crowd as did Mexico's answer to Limp Bizkit. Or are they Mexico's answer to Rage Against the Machine? Their album, Dance and Dense Denso, reminds Americans that Texas was once part of Mexico, before oil became a profitable commodity. But they also steal a 2 Live Crew beat and spend more than a few lines on graphic sex, if my Spanish is holding up. The crowd's chants most often included the word puta (whore), although I couldn't say what the context was. It's difficult enough understanding English at Rock concerts.
No matter. The line of people who couldn't get into their show at The Vibe -- usually a Jam band haven -- stretched for almost a block. Police on horseback had to encourage them to leave not long after the show began, according. I barely made it in even with my SXSW badge. On the inside they had the entire crowd -- I'm guessing mostly Spanish speakers, judging by their response to the mostly Spanish lyrics -- jumping and pumping their fists in the air, four women from the crowd dancing on stage, and carrying on in general.
Even the skeptical joined in. Right after the first song, a guy next to me who saw me taking notes told me he didn't like this "anarchist shit" and told me to "rip them a new asshole." A couple of songs later he was jumping and pumping his fist in the air. When I asked him why, he said, "I jump for everybody."
molotov.com.mx (Beware: the Web site automatically plays their music loudly.)
WORST-MATCHED VENUE AND BAND
Torrez, Mother Egan's Irish Pub
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Photo By Doug Trapp
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The French Kicks
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TVs showing college basketball and chatty, shrill, drunk patrons in a small bar did not provide the ideal ambiance for this somber Rock band from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. They can put out strong sound, but only do so during a few of their methodically building anthems, and that only encouraged the shrill, stupid people at Mother Egan's to become more of both. The biggest problem was that singer/guitarist Kimberlee Torres' sweet voice barely and only briefly rose above the din. But that was more the bar's fault than her's.
www.torrez.org
BEST-MATCHED VENUE AND BAND
VHS or BETA, Club 505
Louisville's Electro-Rock band VHS or BETA couldn't have hand-picked a better place or a better time to play. Following a night of booty-shaking acts at what is usually a dance club, the band closed the last night of SXSW with an almost non-stop set of songs. One basic beat served as the framework for several minutes while two guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer using sampler pads fronted for the usual techno gadgetry. They only paused to change beats twice in nearly an hour. One band member opened their set by saying the SXSW music festival was over, and that "this is a party." He was right.
www.vhsorbeta.com
MOST BACKHANDED COMPLIMENT
The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash's Mark Stuart
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Photo By Doug Trapp
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King Missile III
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The band's lead singer, talking at their Tower Records performance about the flak the Bastard Sons caught for letting actor Billy Bob Thornton sing on their album. Thorton's first Country music album last year received nearly universal scorn from critics. Stuart tried to help Thornton by saying: "Musical talent aside, he's a tenacious individual." Which is probably why the Sons turned Thornton's song into a hidden track -- his tenacious fans will still find it, right? Sometimes things are best left unsaid.
THE WE'RE NOT DEAD, WE WERE ONLY SLEEPING SXSW ALL-STARS
Concrete Blonde
Camper Van Beethoven
Joe Jackson
The Yardbirds (of course without Eric Clapton, Jeff
Beck, or Jimmy Page)
Liz Phair
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Photo By Doug Trapp
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The Mopeds
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THE REST OF THE PACK
Dead Meadow
I usually avoid Jam-style bands, but these three guys merge Blues rhythms, way fuzzed-out guitar, and a keen sense for improvisation into the perfect songs for slow-motion head-banging. Think Failure with a slightly Southern accent.
www.deadmeadow.com
Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash
Another aptly named group. These four guys do straightforward, no gimmicks Country, and do it just fine. One song is about the lead singer's 1970 Monte Carlo.
www.bsojc.com
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Photo By Doug Trapp
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The Minus 5
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Jungle Brothers
I'm no Hip Hop expert, but you have to respect a pioneering but aging duo who can get a mostly AltRock crowd at Emo's main room to raise their hands in the air to a set that was mostly their old jams -- even by using the "roof is on fire" callout, the Hip Hop equivalent of "Play Skynyrd!" On second thought, is that impressive?
www.jbeez.com
... And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead
You never know where the Austin sound gremlins will turn up during SXSW. The hard-rocking Trail of the Dead aimed high by inviting Austin's Tosca String Quartet -- that night named the best quartet in town by the Austin Chronicle -- to back them for a few songs on Emo's main stage. By the end of the set, the quartet had left after getting minimal cooperation from the amps, plus the lead singer's guitar barely worked. So the Trail of the Dead absolutely trashed their instruments -- not out of trying to impress anyone, I'm betting -- but because they were genuinely pissed off about the sound problems. It was the ultimate period at the end of a fragmented sentence.
www.trailofdead.com
Party of Helicopters
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Photo By Doug Trapp
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The Minus 5
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If only this Kent, Ohio's Punk Rock sound had as much sneer and insolence as their lead singer did at their Emo's Jr. gig. Then they might have something.
randy_magik.tripod.com/kent/PartyofHelix.html
The French Kicks
If The Strokes and Interpol weren't Indie Rock household names, Brooklyn's French Kicks (Don't you mean the "Freedom" Kicks? ed.) would be known as a new force in Rock. But in music, timing is everything, so their chord progressions, Nick Stumpf's singing, and their sound in general puts them (for me anyway) in third place in this class of old/new Rock. Still, their songs are tight and efficient and will go over well with those still wanting thoughtful Rock.
www.frenchkicks.com
King Missile III
There would have been no Dead Kennedys without Ronald Reagan and the Republican revolution. Likewise, my favorite prose poet/lead singer John S. Hall has been inspired by President Dubya -- enough to put together two albums since the 2000 elections with the third version of the band. The song "Detachable Penis," an utterly unique tale of a lost member, might ring a bell. New songs include the hilarious "America Kicks Ass," a rant on the Bush administration's disregard for international law and "President," during which Hall wishes that Bush, Vice President Cheney, the five Supreme Court members who elected Bush, and several others would "die a slow and painful death." He even offers to die a slow and painful death himself if only half of those he mentioned would suffer the same fate.
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Jane Bond
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"You're all criminals who will never go to jail," Hall said, unflinchingly.
"Fuck you!" a man yelled from the back of Emo's annex, a temporary outdoor venue.
"Oh well, that's how it goes," Hall retorted.
But most of his new material isn't political. In "The Miracle of Childbirth," Hall explains in graphic detail exactly what your parents might have done before, during, and after conceiving you. It's so ridiculous I couldn't help but laugh.
Hella
This avante-garde instrumental Rock duo knows how to handle their instruments, but not much else. It's the White Stripes' guitar/drums setup, but wwwaaaay more pretentious.
www.killrockstars.com
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Photo By Doug Trapp
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Soviet
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The Mopeds
Sweden and Rock & Roll usually mix about as well as stripes and plaid -- dance music is their real forte -- but The Mopeds might be the most polished and hooky Pop band I've heard from that land since The Cardigans.
www.themopeds.com
The Swirlies
Their MP3 on the SXSW web site promised a show full of intriguing synth/Rock combinations, but their live show was little more than disjointed, flat songs that left me checking my watch.
evil-office.net/swirlies
Pedro the Lion
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Photo By Doug Trapp
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Camper Van Beethoven
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This alt-pop trio's unassuming lead singer David Bazan inspired the most unexpected between-song exchange of all the SXSW acts I saw. Near the end of their set of tight, un-grandiose songs, Bazan, who barely moved at all, asked the crowd in a simple, earnest tone, "Are there any questions at this point?" A fan shouted out "What is the fastest land animal?" to which Bazan responded, "the cheetah."
www.pedrothelion.com
Sahara Hotnights
Why carbon-copy the Donnas with another four-female rock band? Oh, that's right, somebody might accidentally buy their record. And could someone tell me why SPIN magazine booked this band for their daytime party? There must have been payola of some sort.
www.saharahotnights.com
Hot Hot Heat
Their keyboards provide a little more depth to their sound, but they still should be sending most of their royalty checks to Iggy and the Stooges or one of the other similar bands who preceded them.
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Photo By Doug Trapp
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Pedro the Lion
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www.hothotheat.com
The Minus 5
The Young Fresh Fellows' founder Scott McCaughey conducts this rotating, rootsy, rocking musical troupe which currently includes Peter Buck (yes, R.E.M.'s Buck) on bass. The best moment of their Waterloo Records in-store performance was a quiet song about cancer. Well, OK, about how McCaughey would miss drinking if he died from the cancer he fended off. Of course, this is a man who recorded a full-length Minus 5 album with Wilco singer Jeff Tweedy called Down With Wilco.
www.yeproc.com
Cat Power
Chan Marshall's (aka Cat Power) songs are beautiful, her voice is strong, but Marshall just doesn't have enough confidence to pull off a compelling live show. A tortuously-long sound check pushed the start back 10 minutes, then she aborted a couple of songs in the middle, once just to speed up the beat. Her opening response to a warm welcome from the packed crowd at Stubb's summed it up: "Don't get your hopes up."
www.matadorrecords.com/cat_power
Shannon Wright
She also wears her hair in her eyes, but in contrast to Cat Power, Atlanta's Wright has confidence to spare -- enough to sing solo piano songs at a crowded Antone's, a place usually known for booking Blues bands, and to finish a guitar solo on one foot, the other in the air. A friend of mine described her sound as "too much cool, not enough melody," but her songs hold my interest without trying too hard to be hooky. And can you ever have too much cool?
www.knowwave.com/shannonwright
Brian Jonestown Massacre
This unusually-named band offers a lot of typically jangly Rock & Roll.
www.brianjonestownmassacre.com
Jane Bond
This Austinite's solid backing band isn't breaking new musical ground -- it's R&B, Country and a little bit of Rock. But her solid yet smooth voice and style can't be faulted. Jane is her name, aching originals and covers of love songs are her game. Just spare her the 007 jokes, please.
www.steppinstonerrecords.com?Jane.htm
Camper Van Beethoven
You never know when a classic band is going to wake up from its hibernation and start playing again. I haven't heard their new CD yet, but I only hope it sounds as eclectic as their old ones; they ranged from Eastern European Folk influences to the simple Pop of "Take the Skinheads Bowling" a song five of the members performed at an Waterloo Records in-store show. Getting more attention is their interpretation of the Fleetwood Mac song "Tusk". Lead singer David Lowery, perhaps better known for his newer band, Cracker, sounded as good as ever. He even looked like he put on a few pounds since his video debut as a terribly skinny boxer about to get his ass kicked by Sandra Bernhardt.
www.campervanbeethoven.com
Soviet
Perhaps more than any other band I saw, New York City's Soviet drew most from the 80s. At one point during its Emo's main stage performance, four of its five members were playing keyboards. That doesn't mean Soviet is a kitschy throwback to Tony Basil's "Mickey" and all the other overplayed 80s standards. Their rotate from mostly rock to mostly bloop and bleep-backed jams that had me reminiscing about the first records I ever bought, but not reliving the experience.
www.sovietmusic.net
Check next week's Spill It column in CityBeat for Doug's take on the Cincinnati representative attending South By Southwest.
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