SXSW Report: Part Two

(Girls @ Emo’s)

Beautiful weather, beautiful sounds, and beautiful Southern ladies—those are the things I enjoyed the most about Friday, my second day at SXSW. After ping pong-ing around the previous day, I decided to pick one spot and stick to it all afternoon. Luckily the Pitchfork day party at Emo’s had enough great bands on the bill to keep me more than satisfied. The whole day was heavy on guitar distortion, with a large side of American Apparel. Seriously, if I would have worn oversize sunglasses and a V-neck tee with a plaid shirt over it I would have gotten lost because it would have been like walking down a hall of mirrors. Don’t people get that when everyone dresses the same way it isn’t really hip anymore? Anyway, I digress.

(Little Boots @ Emo’s)

(Little Boots @ Emo’s)

(The Pains of Being Pure at Heart @ Emo’s)

(The Pains of Being Pure at Heart @ Emo’s)

(The Mae Shi @ Emo’s)

(The Mae Shi @ Emo’s)

First up was Girls again, the band that hadn’t impressed me much the previous day. Luckily the stars were aligned for them this time, and they ended sounding a great deal better. “Hellhole Ratrace” was a highlight, sounding sharp and professional. After Girls, the Mae Shi took the stage. Not much has changed since I last saw the Mae Shi at the Uptown—they are still arty punk weirdos who manage to put together some pretty catchy tunes. They broke out their parachute for a song and most of the crowd (and the band) united underneath it for a singalong. Little Boots came next, a British electronic music diva of sorts. Little Boots absolutely blew me away with some extremely heavy baselines over keyboard hooks, accompanied by the lead singer’s sensual vocals. Just when I was getting all steamed up and ready to dance though, Little Boots gave way to the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, a poppy Brooklynite four-piece. Pains had a sort of wide-eyed innocence to them, but it translated well into their straightforward Indie-Pop music. Next I caught Woods, a band I had never heard of before but one of the better bands of the afternoon. I can’t remember what they sounded like but I have a note I wrote that says “this band is terrific!!!!”—so there you go. After Woods I had to settle in to one of Emo’s two stages, since it began to get incredibly crowded. I decided on the one that had Wavves, King Khan and the Shrines, and Department of Eagles. Wavves is just a single dude on guitar (backed up by a drummer) who manages to create a huge experimental/garage rock sound that uses pretty much every wavelength of guitar distortion known to man. King Khan and the Shrines are simply one of the best live bands around: a crazy Canadian soul singer backed by his all-German garage band. “I Want To Be A Girl” caused just about everyone in the club to break out in spontaneous dancing. In fact if King Khan had waved his carved wooden staff at the audience and commended them to stand on their heads they probably would have attempted it. Finally, wrapping up the Pitchfork day party was Department of Eagles, the side project of Grizzly Bear frontman Daniel Rossen. At times I think that Eagles actually sound better than Rossen’s other band, however not in this case. While the set was good, Rossen didn’t seem to really be able to get into the groove of things (perhaps due to the massive hangover he admitted to, or just the fact that he is playing so many different shows).

(Wavves @ Emo’s)

(Woods @ Emo’s)

(King Khan and the Shrines @ Emo’s)

(King Khan and the Shrines @ Emo’s)

(King Khan and the Shrines @ Emo’s)

When Dept. of Eagles left the stage it was time to move on, so I went back out into the world to seek other bands. After a hearty meal of shrimp and crawfish, I ambled on back to Emo’s to see how the line was shaping up for legendary garage rockers the Sonics. Seeing that there was a small army waiting to get in I gave up immediately, and moved on to a bar called Wave. The overpacked Sonics show turned out to be a blessing in disguise though since one of my favorite upcoming rappers, Shad was playing a set there. It was nothing short of amazing. The guy has way more talent than he is getting credit for right, but hopefully people will soon see the light.

(Department of Eagles @ Emo’s)

(Shad @ Wave)

As soon as Shad spit his last verse it was another quick bike ride across town to La Zona Rosa’s showcase. Though the Proclaimers were on the bill, I was there to see Camera Obscura a Glaswegian pop band. Surprisingly even though Camera Obscura has a new album coming out soon they hardly played any material, mostly drawing from 2006′s Let’s Get out of this Country. Lead singer Tracyanne Campbell also displayed a remarkable lack of interest in the songs, wearing a mask throughout the set that essentially screamed “I am so fucking bored.” Regardless it was great to hear some of the band’s best material, even through an apathetic delivery.

(Camera Obscura @ La Zona Rosa)

(Camera Obscura @ La Zona Rosa)

Back across town. Graham Coxon’s show had a line around the block so I went to see one of my favorite experimental folk singers, Mirah, at Antone’s. Mirah put on a great set including my favorite all-time song of hers, “Jerusalem.” Thought the bar was loud and Mirah was quiet, a determined core squeezed around the stage where we could hear.

(Mirah @ Antone’s)

After Mirah finished I had a dilemma, I could: a) Stay in the sweet spot I staked out near the stage for the next musician, St. Vincent or b) Go to the Austin Music Hall to catch new wave legends Devo. Though I knew it would disappoint certain Culture Bully writers, I chose Devo over St. Vincent (since Annie Clark is coming to Minneapolis soon anyways). Devo were playing in a massive venue that was packed to the brim with all manners of people. Though much older and less spry, Mark Mothersbaugh and the gang were still cheeky. Though they played a few somewhat miserable new songs to start off, soon the band was kicking out the old jams with the trademark red hats on their heads. Of course “Whip It,” was played, and surprisingly it still sounds great after all these years.

(Devo @ Austin Music Hall)

(Devo @ Austin Music Hall)

Another day done, another pair of sore feet. Still plenty of action planned for tomorrow though so stay tuned. As long as I don’t collapse from exhaustion I plan to see a bunch more great bands.

Also: SXSW Report: Part One | SXSW Report: Part Three