Your Guide to SXSW 2015
By Victoria Wasylak
Diamonds in the Rough
SXSW Showcase Highlights
WTBU has got reviews of some of SXSW’s biggest names this year, but we’ve also compiled a list of some lesser-known acts for you audiophiles to devour. Maybe SXSW doesn’t book any band or artist that isn’t a gem, but here are some underground acts and indie up-and-comers to keep your eye on.
2 girls + 2 guitars + 2 vocal mikes + some seriously 90s clothes = the underground grunge of Girlpool. This garage rock duo somehow surfaced at SXSW, despite sounding like an act on a billing for the Womb (that’s a compliment, by the way). “I’m lying dead on my knees” is just the kind of lyric you’d expect from this band that looks like a living ad for The Gap circa 1995.
Alvvays has gotten great reviews from Rolling Stone for their self-titled debut album, and the Canadian indie pop band is on the cusp of finding firm footing in the United States. Their soft rock take on indie music and celestial vocals make for an easy crowd-pleaser – especially on the cunningly smooth single “Archie Marry Me.”
Think of The Ramones with a little less pep, and you’ve got The Damned. That’s not to say that these guys aren’t an energy machine, but could anyone ever really rival Joey? Known for being featured alongside The Cramps in Return of the Living Dead, these guys put an edgy spin on prog-rock.
Thee Oh Sees are an upbeat California band that play like a European rock band gone experimental from the 80s with synthed-up keys. We couldn’t be more specific than that.
Tei Shi is an Argentinian-born, Berklee-educated treat. While her music is avant-electronic, her robust vocals didn’t need to be cheapened by autotune. Her moody chamber pop blends the mystique of M83 with the rawness of Boston’s own St. Nothing.
Not to be blasphemous, but Ryn Weaver could probably make Florence Welch a tad nervous. This girl’s raw, alternative vocals add flair to her otherwise ordinary pop-rock, making her a standout firecracker of a vocalist.
Clean Bandit is so stealthy that you probably weren’t even aware that lighhearted pop single “Rather Be” was theirs. The ubiquitous hit is a perfect sample of the band’s style: dance with a dash of violin. Unless you count Lindsey Stirling, you’ve never heard anything even remotely similar to this before.
Jess Glynne, best known for her vocals in the dance single “Rather Be,” has candy-coated vocals on her solo funk/ R&B music to prove that yes, white chicks have rhythm too.
GABI is another avant-vocal powerhouse. Make a playlist of them and Tei Shi and light some incense for a moody evening in. You’re welcome.
If you’re looking for emotional, strong vocals, you won’t find them here. Gateway Drugs provides the exactly kind of disinterested garage rock you’d expect a bunch of 90s kids to make. Listen closely for hearty bass riffs, the band’s best asset, and up your health insurance before you headbang along with them.
Swervedriver is an English demi-heavy rock group that’s a messy amalgamation of 90s rock, from Pearl Jam to Nine Inch Nails.
Brooklyn singer/songwriter Steve Gunn has invented – and mastered – the art of making mellow vibes peppered with some serious guitar shredding. Nomcore never sounded so, well, hard.
Future Islands
“I’m a little f****d up,” Future Islands frontman Samuel Herring said as he knocked over his water bottles with his mike stand at the Mohawk on March 18. That’s always a promising way to start your headlining set at SXSW.
He wasn’t kidding either – during opening song “Abduct,” he moved around the stage in a rockstar stagger that could have been deliberate – but probably wasn’t.
And yet Herring had moves that would have made John Travolta circa 1977 jealous (for the record, this includes intense pelvic thrusts, aggressive fist pumps, overzealous two-steps, and in-your-face lyric belting).
Ever since their big break at last year’s SXSW, Future Islands has blown up and been featured on nearly every big music festival lineup. Now in Austin for a triumphant return, the band shared the stage with bands like Alvvays and The Damned at the Mohawk.
For a band that sounds like wind chimes and blowing bubbles, Herring never seemed to get the memo. He snarled and grunted like a heavy metal singer while his band mates make celestial electopop – which is perhaps why these guys stand out so much.
“This is an amazing evening here tonight,” Herring said of the band’s return as SXSW alums.
These guys may have 4 albums, but the one track that everyone in the crowd knew the words to was “Seasons (Waiting on You)” – you know, the one that has the synth opening that has the ability to make knees weak.
The band ended their quick set with their “last song” (a lie) “Techno,” and then actual last song “Spirit,” perhaps the snarly-est of them all.
The Zombies
Whoever “she” was in “She’s Not There” – she was definitely at Stubbs the night that the Zombies took the stage at Stubbs on March 19 at SXSW.
Most classic rock artists these days milk their hits with non-stop elaborate tours.
Not the Zombies. Their early showcase at Stubbs had no special effects, no montages, no egotistical intros – they just (slowly) walked onstage like any other artists.
We’ll spare you from any old age jokes (“Are they still alive?” “I bet they look like zombies!”) out of respect for the 54-year-old band.
The guys might not move too quickly – no, really, Colin Blunstone can only step in place at this point – but his vocals were fresh and Rod Argent’s keyboard skills were as psychedelic as a game of spin-the-kaleidoscope.
It’s truly a rock and roll miracle that Argent has healthy, arthritis-free hands for doing extended instrumentals so all the flower children can get down until they get cramps or break a hip.
And yes, for all the dubstep junkies who frequent the Electric Daisy Carnival – these are the original flower children.
“We’re going to take you on a musical journey through 50 years,” the band vowed.
Along with playing two unnamed tracks that the band had finished just weeks before the showcase, the band did one of their treasured mini-sets from their album Odyssey and Oracle, cutting it down slightly to accommodate for their 40 minute set.
Blunstone must have been internally smirking as he sang the classic line “What’s your name/ Who’s your daddy / Is he rich like me?” since he’s been accumulating royalties for the tune over 50 years.
After playing “This Will Be Our Year” and “Time of the Season,” Argent announced that they were going to play “She’s Not There” – a track that they had written when they were mere teenagers.
“We’re going to finish with the first song we ever recorded in 1964,” he said.
The band finished their set just before 8pm, just in time for their audience to go to bed.
The Church
Right around the time rock was evolving into glam pop music, The Chuch grounded itself in the roots of new wave – the then-avant garde (now hipster) take on rock and roll. After releasing Further Deeper, their first album in five years, the Aussie band embarked on an American tour, which ended in Austin at SXSW.
“It’s the best album made in the history of music. No one will ever top it. Ever,” he said of Further Deeper.
The band’s sound is defined by Steve Kilbey’s deep, echoing voice, smooth acoustic harmonies, and mellow (often melancholy) vibes. But don’t get these rockers wrong – they have quite a few electric-guitar-laden tunes to prove that they’re no softies.
The band played a 90 minute set; a rare occasion for SXSW showcases, where sets are usually limited to a mere 40 minutes.
The band showed off their quirkiness and played their eeriest track, “Roll Up for the Disillusionist,” which is a hypnotic dirge with enigmatic lyrics. Kilbey actually put his guitar down for the song so he could frolic around the stage spiritedly and tell the story of the “disillusionist.”
“That was out ugliest song. This is our sweetest,” Kilbey said before playing “Juxtaposition,” a brief lullaby.
Upbeat track “Reptile,” which begs to be in the soundtrack of a Brat Pack movie, resurfaced before the end of the show, but smash hit “Under the Milky Way” was the real highlight of the set.
Marina and the Diamonds
Diamonds are bright-eyed pop troopers by nature, but make them wait an hour in the rain, and they might just turn into bubblegum bitches.
Pop priestess Marina and the Diamonds went on an hour later than planned at Stubbs on March 20, due to technical issues that baffled her technical crew. Eventually, the crowd summoned her by singing “Primadonna,” which actually worked. She waltzed on stage, mumbled to her band and said “I might be singing acapella tonight” to the crowd.
Fortunately, the hour of tinkering with the equipment had paid off, and Marina and her band went into “Bubblegum Bitch” full blast, Marina twirling around with her light-up mike stand.
Marina treated the entire evening as a non-stop photoshoot, posing professionally at every opportunity with her sharp struts and dance moves – yet her music suggested it was late night karaoke at a sleepover.
Marina may be riding the high of Froot’s release, but she wasn’t afraid to dust off some old tunes. She showed off her opera-level vocals on an “I Am Not a Robot,” and of course gave the eager crowd a proper rendition of “Primadonna.”
Marina’s set fell short, however, as a result of her late start. The sound curfew mandates that the show had to end by 2 a. m., giving Marina a mere 30 minutes to perform.
“I feel like I haven’t given you enough,” she said near the end of her set. Due to the time crunch, she had the crowd choose between “Happy” and “How to Be a Heartbreaker” for her next-to-last song. The crowd overwhelmingly favored the latter.
Naturally, she wrapped her set up with “Froot,” the sultry, subtly erotic single that sounds reminiscent to 80s pop at its peak.
“I’m so glad you stayed,” she said, beaming, and proceeded to croon the lyrics to the title track of her #1 Billboard album.
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