Yesterday we began our SXSW wrapup by introducing you to Ezra Furman and the Harpoons, Sondre Lerche, PS I Love You, Still Corners, and Candy Golde. Today we round things off with five more finds. These artists blew us away in Austin and, though they’ve never appeared on the site before, we’re sure they will again.
On Friday’s SPIN@Stubb’s party, the soundman informed OFF! frontman Keith Morris (of Black Flag) his band had ten minutes remaining. “Ten minutes?” he responded. “Shit, that’s like 18 songs for us!” He wasn’t exaggerating by much. OFF!’s debut First Four EPs packs a Ramones-level 16 tracks into 17 minutes. That makes this 86-second bonus cut practically an epic ballad by their standards.
MP3: OFF! – Zero Hour (The Plimsouls cover)
Last year, Lost in the Trees signed to ANTI- Records, the home of Tom Waits, Mavis Staples, and Neco Case. For many, that will be all the endorsement you need to check this band out. This North Carolina folk collective stole the show at Muzzle of Bees’ backyard BBQ, incorporating a buoyant string trio into their back porch hootenanny sound.
MP3: Lost in the Trees – The Old Man’s Back Again (Scott Walker cover)
Next time you’re feeling burnt-out on the whole singer/songwriter-with-a-guitar thing, look up Josh T. Pearson. This Texas troubadour looks like someone you might not invite over for dinner – at the show we saw him draw a knife on an audience member – but his bleak, rambling confessions hit home. Like a countrified Leonard Cohen, these songs are not easy listening, but the effort you put into staying with him will pay off tenfold. Take, for instance, this Boney M cover, which takes the funky bop back to its spiritual roots.
MP3: Josh T. Pearson – Rivers of Babylon (The Melodians / Boney M cover)
You may find yourself yawning while listening to Idiot Glee, but it won’t be because you’re bored. His spacey symphonies use keyboard and effect pedals to transport you to some far-off dreamworld. He enters gently and leaves in his wake a half-awake daze and a hazy remembrance of something beautiful.
MP3: Idiot Glee – Ain’t No Sunshine (Bill Withers cover)
Punk quartet Thee Oh Sees hail from Orange County, but their music is far more direct than their convoluted pun of a name. John Dwyer yelps his vocals and Mike Shoun thumps along on drums, but the unheralded key to their sound may be guitarist Petey Dammit. He plays his six-string like a bass, providing the same counterpoint melodies, but adding tension to the sound by omitting the low-end completely.
MP3: Thee Oh Sees – The Drag (Ty Segall cover)
Check out Part 1 of our SXSW roundup here.
2 Responses to “Austin Calling: SXSW Discoveries Part 2”