Austin Sound

Hurry Up and Wait

In addition to our SXSW picks and Show Previews, we’ll be bringing you short reviews of what we saw, what we liked best, and things we caught on camera. We’ll be checking in with all our local contributors, including John Laird who keeps his own blog, Side One Track One.

Here’s what we were up to on Wednesday.

Local Lineup at The Scoot Inn

Leatherbag
Photo by Doug Freeman

The mostly local lineup at the Scoot Inn offered a relaxing opening to SXSW (free beer helped as well). Leatherbag, performing as a trio, offered new tunes from their much-anticipated April album Love and Harm, which is proving to be a wide ranging affair. An acoustic version of “Sister” also offered a nice touch. Outside, the Model United Nations, who recently moved to Austin from down the road in San Marcos, were a pleasant surprise, and their new, debut EP Tiger Physics and one you will certainly be hearing more about from us as we keep our eye on the young pop quartet.

Model United Nations
Photo by Doug Freeman

Pink Nasty, accompanied by Brazos guitarist Austin Jenkins, molded gold in the afternoon sun as her long colorful dress flitted in the breeze, closing with a stellar version of Cody Chesnutt’s “If We Don’t Disagree.” Frank Smith offered a loose set inside, breaking out the rub-board and dosing their indie rock with a solid helping of twang from the steel guitar and banjo. Outside, Brazos only proved to get better and better as the band solidifies behind the trio of powering guitars and Crane grows confidence out front. New song “Lifters” may be their best yet, falling somewhere between Radiohead and U2 but with a solid indie edge (pun probably intended). Quiet Company, meanwhile, balanced explosive rockers with bouncing piano pop, which was an odd sound coming from four large, hairy guys. And finally Golden Bear proved in top form as they tried out new material from their upcoming EP and got the crowd moving with favorites like “Ten Thousand Orchestras.” (Doug Freeman)

Frank Smith
Photo by Doug Freeman

White Denim and The Octopus Project
at Red Eyed Fly

White Denim Photo by J.M. Cassetta

White Denim are point blank energy. Actually, that’s not true, they’re point blank energy run through a wah-wah pedal (and they’re one of the only bands I know who use a wah effectively). I’ve seen them a few times now, and they’ve never once disappointed. I always leave their shows with an unexplainable desire to party, which is good, because when The Octopus Project came on, that’s exactly what they did. What can you say about The Octopus Project? For as many dystopia-electronic bands there are out there, it’s nice to see one who embraces the happy side of technology. You know the feeling you get when the copy machine is hell-bent on thwarting your efforts to make even the most basic of black and white copies? This show was the opposite of that. (John Michael Cassetta)

The Octopus Project
Photo by John Michael Cassetta

R.E.M at Stubb’s
REM’s upcoming album Accelerate, will be launched in a few weeks on the popular Facebook Application iLike. It contains a lot of fast, short, lively songs that we enjoyed tremendously - “Hollow Man” is a standout. Another highlight of the show occurred when Michael Stipe busted out a harmonica during “Bad Day.” Among the usual pot-smokers at the crowd was a Will Ferrell look-alike dressed for Semi-Pro. All in all a good ol’ Athens-in-Austin time. (Liz Jones and Joshua Dilworth)

Delta Spirit, Be Your Own Pet, Autolux and The Black Keys at Emo’s

Delta SpiritPhoto by John Laird

At this point in the night I returned to Emo’s just in time to see Delta Spirit. I knew nothing of the band, but I thought they were pretty good. The songwriting was a little sappy, but their passion in performing it more than made up for it. I’ll have to do some homework and explore these guys. Any recommendations?

Be Your Own Pet Photo by John Laird

Be Your Own Pet is one hell of a conundrum. One hand they’re an act that have a lot of interesting songs which seem like great live material, but on the flip side of things they also have the type of personalities on stage that want to do nothing but go as fast as possible. I mean, these four literally walked out last night, plugged in and were ready to go. No soundcheck or anything. Who does that!? It makes for a great time, but it kind of destroys the work put into their music. Weird.

Autolux Photo by John Laird

I mentioned that Autolux were a band that I was incredibly nervous to see, and I was right to feel that way. Not only did they take an eternity to setup, but the interaction with a crowd of people who were clearly fans of the band was poor at best. And the new songs? Yeah, they’re good. Though, I don’t think they’ll ever be released. This was simply not the same trio that I saw all those years ago. For instance, the main singer (pictured above) introduced the last song by asking the crowd to “please take his life.” That’s awkward, and kind of tragic considering how talented they are. I sincerely hope they figure out a way to pull it together.

The Black KeysPhoto by John Laird

The Black Keys killed. That’s pretty much all there is to it. Well, that and the fact that their new album is going to be an all around incredible listen. I eagerly await it and their next show in Austin. (John Laird)