Austin Sound

No moment of Fun Fun Fun Fest this past weekend was more emotionally fraught than the performance by Bankrupt and the Borrowers. Announced as their final show in the wake of last month’s tragic death of Jon Pettis, the show brought out a large local contingent to both pay their respects to Pettis, and celebrate the band. You can read our review of the show here, but Austin Sound writer Marc Perlman also shot some excellent live footage of the performance that we wanted to share. With the Bridge Farmers Tyler Hautala filling in for Pettis, Bankrupt and the Borrowers offered a touching send off with the song “Dumpster.” Watch the performance below, and the all star benefit show with a number of friends and fans is still currently scheduled for December 6 at the Hole in the Wall.

Last month tragedy hit the local outfit Bankrupt and the Borrowers when their shared house burned due to a faulty powerstrip and founding member Jon Pettis was killed in the fire. As the band members attempt to recover from the deeply personal loss, the future of the group itself was uncertain, with all their upcoming gigs canceled save for the Fun Fun Fun Fest. A recent blog post on the Bankrupt myspace page, however, declares that FFFFest will, indeed, serve as the band’s final show and a tribute to Pettis. To fill out the lineup, they are receiving some help from their friends Denis O’Donnel from The Bread, Tyler Hautala from the Bridge Farmers, and Blake Van Buren from The Van Buren Boys. Bankrupt and the Borrowers take the stage at 1:00pm on Sunday.

Last week while we were out, tragedy hit one of our favorite new local bands when the house shared by Bankrupt and the Borrowers burned down, and guitarist and founding member Jon Pettis died of smoke inhalation. The fire was reportedly caused by an accidental electrical malfunction. We profiled Bankrupt and the Borrowers back in April and noted their vivacious and communal attitude, which comes through full-force on their video for “I Love You Baby.” It’s a horrible loss, compounded by the band’s losing everything as well. While the future of the band, and their scheduled Fun Fun Fun Fest appearance, has yet to be determined, they are hosting a memorial and wake for Pettis this Wednesday at the Hole in the Wall. We expect a lot of Austin’s indie community to come out to show their support as the band was immensely well liked within the scene. You can also donate to help cover Pettis’ funeral expenses on the band’s website.

We would like to contend that Bankrupt and the Borrowers are the embodiment of an Austin band circa 2009: four guys holding down a house together on the east side, rockin’ out, breakin’ shit, reveling in their poverty, and making some damn good music. Three of the members moved to Austin in 2006 from Boston, and picked up drummer Osteo here in town to form the group, releasing their debut EP, Beers on the Bible, last year. Their sound is a rugged and cathartic blues, swampy roots rock with some interesting contemporary rock twists (like the Thom Yorke-ish “Dumpster” available for download below), bridging both a classic guitar onslaught with a modern roots sensibility. You can catch them at Red 7 this Friday, April 10, along with Mr. Lewis and the Funeral 5 and Voodoo Organist.

You know, one of the weird and wonderful things about Austin is that on any given day, it seems you’re libel to come across something like the making of this video on your neighborhood street. Bankrupt and the Borrowers (who should really be cashing in on that timely name in this economy) just released a video for their blues-burning tune “I Love You Baby,” and they’ve a assembled a bevy of Austin musicians to help them serenade the streets. Among the bands making cameos for you to look for are locals The Bread, Follow That Bird!, Bridge Farmers, The Van Buren Boys, and HoboMouth. The Video was put together by AJ Miranda in one massive take (what’s up with the one shot approach that seems to be all the rage these days?), and you can check it out below. Bankrupt and the Borrowers will be at Momo’s this Thursday, April 2, if you want some awesome recession roots commiseration.