Pious Punk to Meta-Pop: SXSW Wednesday
Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of attending the aggregate of shows collectively known as SXSW in Austin, TX is how easily those in the know can shift back and forth between fest-sanctioned schmooze-a-thons with background bands and DIY efforts held outside of the Convention Center's effective radius.
Having rolled in a few days early, I managed to mangle my toes and slow my pace in a run-up to the festival's official Wednesday start with sets from young (but pro) relative newbies Tokyo Police Club, indie-stry veterans Yo La Tengo and My Morning Jacket, and all ages Brooklyn avants like Team Robbespiere and Best Fwends.
Yesterday, however, beer sponsorships and big sunglasses were in full force at the intersection of 6th St and Red River as this Press correspondent toted his supplies (sunblock, earplugs, patience).
An enjoyable set by Illinois' Headlights started my day, the lead singer offering regular smiles to her four bandmates as she tapped at a vintage sounding keyboard and crooned pleasantly melodic rock.
Midday though, Brooklyn punk rockers The So So Glos (pictured above) did for New York in these sometimes troubled '00s what the Clash did for London in '79: burned it in political effigy with rambunctious meta-protest music. An easy highlight for day one.
A couple hours later in the same Todd P-organized space where we got our punk on previously, LA's The Mae Shi brought their curiously religious concept album HLLLYH to the masses with some shambolic, mildly dada-ist antics: pulling a tarp over the crowd being the most obvious, having every member of the quartet sing homespun harmony and instrument swap a little less so.
By midnight, I was putting down my notepad to rock out to San Francisco's The Dodos, who made surf-tinged, reverb-voiced rock with both serious low-end (often more than one man playing percussion) but going joyously left-field with vibraphone or loop-pedaled trombone (!) when appropriate. And nothing, at least last night, felt inappropriate from the Dodos.
The Dodos
Closing out the night at Karma, a small but energetic crowd threw down to the antics of Sweden's The Tough Alliance. The two men on stage offered almost no musicianship, letting their experimental pop backing tracks play through (pre-recorded vocals and all), standing firm with faces of rapture or taking apart their mic stands and swinging them violently in the air. The smoke machine billowed, the crowd was frenzied, and the Swedes (perhaps even unknowingly) disassembled and subverted pop and performance to the awe of those assembled.