Austin Sound

It’s difficult, if not impossible and somewhat pointless, to anticipate whether Sixteen Deluxe could have been really big. At the end of Nineties, the band was poised to acolyte the Austin scene behind their showers and sparks of deep-distortion bled shoegaze, signed to Warner Bros and garnering national attention. An all too familiar story followed from there, though: short-lived major label love, followed by band drama, drugs, and eventual disbandment. If 1998 seemed like nothing but promise for the quartet, by 2000 it was bust. Yet this is largely what is also so great about the recent reunion shows from the band, and the subsequent release of the early live shots and demos on Year One. Watching Carrie Clark, “Frenchie” Smith, Jeff Copas, and Steven Hall during SXSW, there was no pressure – just a return to the early joy of feedback bliss simply for what it was worth, and that is exactly the sound that emerges from Year One. The recent shows and these first early recordings serve as complimentary bookends of band simply in love with the sound, of pushing themselves with unconcerned expectations, and perhaps resurrecting something that got lost along the way.

Last year we had Silver Scooter, and it looks like this year we’re going to get an awesome reunion from fuzz-rockers Sixteen Deluxe. Their’s was a sad saga of local band makes good - signing to a major label, leading the Austin music scene out of the late Nineties wilderness with promise, and the crashing spectacular amid infighting and drugs. Hey, it’s only rock n roll! But time, they say, heals all wounds, or something. So the band is getting back together for some shows after the 3/4 reunion a couple of weeks ago at Continental Club, this time with Frenchie Smith actually on board. The show will likely be a benefit gig - we assume for the SIMS Foundation, because karma’s in the air. We also hear-tell of hopefully some possible reissues in the works, but nothing official.

In other SXSW news, over 200 more bands have been announced, most notably the dB’s. Check out the full list here.