Guided by Voices' Greg Demos Proves to be as Unsinkable as Fats Domino on "Late Night with David Letterman"

Fats Domino may be unsinkable, according to Guided by Voices, but bassist Greg Demos proved he was just as much last night during the band's performance of "The Unsinkable Fats Domino" on Late Show with David Letterman. Slipping on his butt after a usual rock star move, Demos got right back up quick and laughed it off, all without missing a beat (well sort of).

At the very least, he provided good advice to all bands who wish to play on Letterman: rock out like a bad ass while playing, just be sure to wear rubber soled shoes.





"The Unsinkable Fats Domino" is off the the latest GBV record Let's Go Eat the Factory. It's the first record in 15 years with the "classic lineup" of Robert Pollard, Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, Greg Demos and Kevin Fennell, out in hard copy on 1/17. Based on what I saw of them live back in 2010, it's bound to be a stunner.

Let's Go Eat the Factory Track Listing
Laundry And Lasers
The Head
Doughnut For A Snowman
Spiderfighter
Hang Mr. Kite
God Loves Us
The Unsinkable Fats Domino
Who Invented The Sun
The Big Hat And Toy Show
Imperial Racehorsing
How I Met My Mother
Waves
My Europa
Chocolate Boy
The Things That Never Need
Either Nelson
Cyclone Utilities (Remember Your Birthday)
Old Bones
Go Rolling Home
The Room Taking Shape
We Won't Apologize For The Human Race

Seen Your Video: "Digging for Something" by Superchunk

Majesty Shredding, the first full-length record since 2004 for Superchunk, drops tomorrow and it's so. effing. good. It took a listen or two to get to that point but I've listened to it so much in the past few weeks, I swear it's the soundtrack to my dream-life as well.

"Digging for Something" is one of the absolute standouts on the record. I heard this song when they did it at the Village Voice Day Party at SXSW last year and it's even better live. A video for "Digging" was released today and it's just as good as the song. I love a good quirky video and these guys did a bang up job (look for a guest appearance by John Darnielle from The Mountain Goats).

Give a Listen: Digging for Something-Superchunk/Buy Majesty Shredding (out 9/14)

Springsteen Cover Fever Hits Vampire Weekend, Eddie Vedder This Weekend

Man, Bruce Springsteen's announcement of his wicked cool Darkness bonanza of goodies box set last week seems to have everyone excited and paying homage... On Saturday, Vampire Weekend played in Vancouver and covered "I'm Goin Down" from 1984's Born in the USA....



...and Eddie Vedder pulled out a long-favorited chestnut from Springsteen's backlog of treasures called "Open All Night" in Little Rock, Arkansas the same night. (Eddie are you wearing tap shoes, how you making those noises with your feet??)



Though written for 1982's Nebraska, "Open All Night" was one song Springsteen did here and there, performing it only 30 times since its inception (and probably a majority of these were during his mid-90s acoustic Ghost of Tom Joad shows). It started to make a big comeback with his 2006 Seegar Sessions band tour. (See here for more fun facts.)

As you can tell from the crowd response in this 9/1984 show in Philadelphia, PA it's always been a crowd favorite. And Springsteen always tells these long stories before it, so he must dig it too. Hey ho, rock n roll, deliver me from nowhere...

Give a Listen: Open All Night-Bruce Springsteen (The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA, 09/14/84)

Columbia Records To Release Bruce Springsteen's The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story on 11/16

Color me speechless. It was officially announced today that Columbia Records will release Bruce Springsteen's The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story on 11/16. The set will include all sorts of goodies like 3CDs/3DVDs (including Darkness on the Edge of Town digitally remastered for the first time), two hours of audio, six hours of video, studio and live footage/photographs never released, and an 80-page notebook containing facsimiles from Springsteen's original notebooks from the recording sessions, with alternate lyrics, song ideas, recording details, personal notes, with a new essay by Springsteen. Looks like the big package is running $115, but for all that, that’s mighty worth the cost. (Santa, if you're reading this, I already know what you can get me for Christmas...)

"Darkness was my 'samurai' record," Springsteen writes, "stripped to the frame and ready to rumble…But the music that got left behind was substantial." For audio, the two discs will contain a total of 21 previously-unreleased songs from the Darkness recording sessions, songs that Springsteen writes, "perhaps could have/should have been released after Born To Run and before the collection of songs that Darkness on the Edge of Town became." Look for a rock version of "Racing in the Street," "Someday (We'll Be Together)," "Ain't Good Enough for You," a soul-based vocal performance on "The Brokenhearted," a haunting "Breakaway," never-before-released original recordings of "Because the Night," "Fire," and "Rendezvous," and the fully orchestrated masterpiece and title song "The Promise."

For video, the package will include a 90-minute documentary, The Promise: The Making of 'Darkness on the Edge of Town,. Shot between 1976 and 1978, it includes footage of home rehearsals and studio sessions during the making of Darkness, new interviews with Springsteen, E Street Band members, manager Jon Landau, former manager Mike Appel, and others closely involved in the making of the record. The Making will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on 9/14, and run on HBO 10/7.

Can you take one more?? Are you sure?? The set features more than four hours of live concert film from the Thrill Hill Vault, including the bootleg house cut (the footage that appeared on-screen at the concert) from a 1978 Houston show, and a 2009 performance of Darkness on the Edge of Town in its entirety, at the Paramont Theater in Asbury Park, NJ. This performance was shot in HD, without an audience, and “successfully recreates the stark atmosphere of the original album.”

A previously unheard song "Save My Love" and an excerpt from the documentary will be streaming here sometime between now and the 9/14 documentary premiere in Tornto (they think. I rang Shorefire to ask about "when" this will begin and they didn't know exactly, this was the best guess). So keep checking in...

Update 4:42 PM: The "Save My Love" stream is now live here.

Bruce Springsteen - "The Promise: The Making of 'Darkness on the Edge of Town'" Sneak Peek from Columbia Records on Vimeo.

All the specifics of the package are below.

Video.....
DVD 1: "THE PROMISE: THE MAKING OF 'DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN'"
DVD 2:
-DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN (PARAMOUNT THEATER, ASBURY PARK, NJ, 2009)
1. Badlands
2. Adam Raised A Cain
3. Something In The Night
4. Candy's Room
5. Racing In The Street
6. The Promised Land
7. Factory
8. Streets Of Fire
9. Prove It All Night
10. Darkness On The Edge Of Town

THRILL HILL VAULT (1976-1978)
1. Save My Love (Holmdel, NJ 76)
2. Candy's Boy (Holmdel, NJ 76)
3. Something In The Night (Red Bank, NJ 76)
4. Don’t Look Back (NYC 78)
5. Ain't Good Enough For You (NYC 78)
6. The Promise (NYC 78)
7. Candy's Room Demo (NYC 78)
8. Badlands (Phoenix 78)
9. The Promised Land (Phoenix 78)
10. Prove It All Night (Phoenix 78)
11. Born To Run (Phoenix 78)
12. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (Phoenix 78)

DVD 3: HOUSTON '78 BOOTLEG: HOUSE CUT
1. Badlands
2. Streets Of Fire
3. It’s Hard To Be A Saint In The City
4. Darkness On The Edge Of Town
5. Spirit In The Night
6. Independence Day
7. The Promised Land
8. Prove It All Night
9. Racing In The Street
10. Thunder Road
11. Jungleland
12. The Ties That Bind
13. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
14. The Fever
15. Fire
16. Candy's Room
17. Because The Night
18. Point Blank
19. She's The One
20. Backstreets
21. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
22. Born To Run
23. Detroit Medley
24. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
25. You Can't Sit Down
26. Quarter To Three

Audio...
CD 1: REMASTERED DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN
1. Badlands
2. Adam Raised A Cain
3. Something In The Night
4. Candy’s Room
5. Racing In The Street
6. The Promised Land
7. Factory
8. Streets Of Fire
9. Prove It All Night
10. Darkness On The Edge Of Town

CD 2: THE PROMISE (DISC 1)
1. Racing In The Street ('78)
2. Gotta Get That Feeling
3. Outside Looking In
4. Someday (We'll Be Together)
5. One Way Street
6. Because The Night
7. Wrong Side Of The Street
8. The Brokenhearted
9. Rendezvous
10. Candy's Boy

CD 3: THE PROMISE (DISC 2)
1. Save My Love
2. Ain't Good Enough For You
3. Fire
4. Spanish Eyes
5. It's A Shame
6. Come On (Let's Go Tonight)
7. Talk To Me
8. The Little Things (My Baby Does)
9. Breakaway
10. The Promise
11. City Of Night

Columbia will also release The Promise,, a double CD that includes tracks from Darkness "lost sessions" around the same time as The Promise package.

They're doing preorders now here.

Tommy Keene to Release Retrospective CD, Announces September Shows

930 Club 30th Anniversary Show, Washington, DC (5-31-2010)-7957, originally uploaded by BetweenLoveandLike.

Power pop, when done wrong, can leave a sacchrine taste in one's mouth. But power pop when done right is a massive thing of beauty. Tommy Keene is one who does power pop oh-so-wonderfully-right, and has for many years now. If you're looking for hooks, Keene's music provides them by the armful.

A big ol' collection of Keen's songs is coming out on 6/13 titled Tommy Keene You Hear Me: A Retrospective 1983-2009 (Second Motion Records). The 2-disc set includes 41 previously-released tracks chosen from his first release, Strange Alliance, up to and including to his most recent, 2009's In the Late Bright. If you aren't super familiar with Keene's work, this would be a great place to start.

Give a Listen:
-Places That are Gone-Tommy Keene/ Buy Songs From the Film
-Save This Harmony-Tommy Keene/ Buy In the Late Bright

Keene is also doing a few dates in September, both headlining and as an opening act, including opening for Superchunk's show here in DC (!!!!).

Tommy Keene September 2010 Tour Dates
9/8: Shank Hall, Milwaukee, WI
9/9: Schubas, Chicago, IL
9/16: Club Cafe, Pittsburgh, PA (*** Early Show/Doors at 6:00pm *** )
9/17: 9:30 Club, Washington, DC 9 (opening for Superchunk)
9/18: The Record Collector, Bordentown, NJ
9/22: Spaceland, Los Angeles, CA
9/24: Hemlock Tavern, San Francisco, CA

Darker My Love's New Record Out in August, Announces UK Tour Dates with Band of Horses

Darker My Love announced that their new record, titled Alive as you Are is coming out 8/17 (USA) and 7/26 (UK) on Dangerbird Records.

Give a Listen: Dear Author-Darker My Love/Buy Alive as You Are (out 8/17)

The band is also on the forthcoming The Psychedelic Sounds Of The Sonic Cathedral: A Tribute To Roky Erickson And The 13th Floor Elevators , out 6/7 on Sonic Cathedral Recordings, with a cover of "She Lives (In a Time of Her Own)."

The tribute will be available on limited-edition yellow vinyl, CD, and mp3 download upon release. The full tracklisting is as follows:

1. Roky Erickson & The Black Angels – Roller Coaster
2. The Strange Attractors – Reverberation (Doubt)
3. All The Saints – Don’t Fall Down
4. A Place To Bury Strangers – Tried To Hide
5. Dead Meadow – Kingdom Of Heaven
6. Darker My Love – She Lives (In A Time Of Her Own)
7. Sarabeth Tucek – Splash 1 (Now I’m Home)
8. Lower Heaven – Fire Engine
9. Hush Arbors – Dr Doom
10. Cheval Sombre ft. Sonic Boom – You Don’t Love Me Yet
11. Le Volume Courbe ft. Kevin Sheilds – I Love The Living You
12. Black Acid – Unforced Peace
13. I Break Horses – Goodbye Sweet Dreams

Give a Listen: She Lives (In a Time of Her Own)-Darker My Love (13th Floor Elevators Cover)/Buy The Psychedelic Sounds Of The Sonic Cathedral: A Tribute To Roky Erickson And The 13th Floor Elevators (out 6/7)

Beginning 6/4 in Dublin, Ireland, the band will head out on a six-date run with Band of Horses throughout the United Kingdom. A full North American tour will be announced shortly, most likely for mid-summer/fall.

DARKER MY LOVE TOUR DATES-JUNE 2010
2: King Tuts Glasgow, Scotland *
4: Tripod Dublin, Ireland
5: Autie Annies Belfast, UK *
6: Music Live Festival Middlebrough, UK *
7: Junction Cambridge, UK
8: Ritz Manchester, UK
9: Roundhouse London, UK
10: Boston Arms London, UK - supporting Serena Maneesh
11: O2 Academy Oxford, UK
12: Unit Southampton, UK *
13: Nation of Shopkeepers Leeds, UK *
14: Wulfrun Hall Wolverhampton, UK
15: Scala London, UK - supporting Ariel Pink
17: Lexington London, UK

* without Band of Horses

The Postelles Release Cover Art for Debut, Announce Tour Dates

I discovered The Postelles a couple of years ago at SXSW and fell head over heels with their uptempo modern take on surf-pop...think The Strokes playing something like Herman's Hermits. The sheer number of lead singer Daniel Balk's "oh oh oh's" will start your toes tapping and your hips swiveling in time to drummer Billy Cadden's 4/4 drum beats.

They're finally releasing their self-titled full-length debut record on 7/27 (Capitol/Astralwerks) and the cover was put out today (above). They're playing Bonnaroo, as well as headlining at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC in July, but in May they're opening for The Wrens and in June for Alberta Cross. The Wrens will hold their own but Alberta Cross? Boys, you better be ready, your opener is so good they just might steal your audience.

Give a Listen: White Night-The Postelles/Buy The Postelles

The Postelles Tour Dates (June)
(opening for The Wrens)
21 May: First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
22 May: Sonar, Baltimore, MD
(opening for Alberta Cross)
1 Jun: Great Scott, Allston, MA
2 Jun: Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
4 Jun: Rock and Roll Hotel, Washington, DC
6 Jun: Maxwells, Hoboken, NJ
---------------
10 Jun: Bonnaroo, Manchester, TN
12 Jun: Bonnaroo Sonic Stage, Manchester, TN
28 Jul: Bowery Ballroom, NY, NY (record release show)

Henry Clay People Announce Summer Tour Dates with Silversun Pickups

SXSW 2010, Day 2: Henry Clay People @ Aquarium Drunkard Day Party (3-17-2010), originally uploaded by BetweenLoveandLike.

The Henry Clay People is a band we've long rocked out to around here. Their songs of fist-pumping choruses and driving guitars (made even better now with full-time keyboardist Jordan Hudock), mixed with the slower, almost mournful stuff that can only be conveyed by a talented slide guitar player (lead guitarst Andy Siara), make for a band that's definitely not a one-song pony with every song sounding the same.

HCP has opened for a multitude of bands at this point (Ben Harper and The Airborne Toxic Event being two), and just came back from dates with Drive-By Truckers. Next up will be a two-month tour with fellow Silver Lake-area friends, Silversun Pickups, which starts just after their first full-lenth release, Somewhere On the Golden Coast comes out on 6/8 (tbd Records). Both bands put on powerful stage shows, but HCP have been known to win over and take out an audience, so look for the intensity to be amplified with both sets.

Give a Listen: Your Famous Friends-The Henry Clay People/Buy Somewhere On the Golden Coast

Henry Clay People June/July Tour With Silversun Pickups
June 15th- Hard Rock Cafe,Orlando, Fl
June 16th - Sunset Cove Amphitheater, Boca Raton, FL
June 18th - Ritz, Tampa, FL
June 19th - The Tabernacle, Atlanta, GA
June 20th – Sunset Theatre At Disco Rodeo, Raleigh, NC
June 21st - The National, Richmond, VA
June 23rd - DAR Constitution Hall, Washington, DC
June 24th - Wellmont Theatre, Montclair, NJ
June 25th - Williamsburg Waterfront, Brooklyn, NY
June 27th - Landsdowne Street, Boston, MA
June 28th - Great Plaza at Penns Landing, Philly, PA
June 29th - The Sound Academy, Toronto, ON
July 2 - The Fillmore, Detroit, MI
July 3 - Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, IL
July 4 – Summerfest, Milwaukee, WI
July 16 - The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas, NV
July 17th - Marquee Theatre, Tempe, AZ
July 19th - Stubb's, Austin, TX
July 20th - Warehouse Live, Houston, TX
July 21st - Palladium Ballroom, Dallas, TX
July 24th - Live on the Fair St Louis, St Louis, MO
July 26th - The Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, CO
July 27th - The Rail, Salt Lake City, UT
July 29th - Crystal Ballroom, Portland, OR
July 31 - The Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA
Aug 7th - Soma, San Diego, CA

Free Band of Horses Downloads from Forthcoming Release Infinite Arms

Band of Horses is offering a free download of "Factory" and "Laredo" from their forthcoming record, Infinite Arms, out 5/18.

Downloading "Factory" also enters you into a contest to win a pair of limited edition Band of Horses Lakai skate shoes and a custom BOH Girl brand skate deck.

Fourth Hold Steady Single From Forthcoming Heaven is Whenever Released

8869_The Hold Steady @ Virgin FreeFest 2009 (8-30-09), originally uploaded by BetweenLoveandLike.

The Hold Steady dropped another single from the forthcoming Heaven is Whenever on Friday. "Barely Breathing" makes the fourth single the band has released prior to the record's drop on May 4. I'm liking this new one, it's a little different sound that the wall of guitar we've heard in the last couple of singles and...there's a clarinet! And keyboards! For some odd reason, the first adjective that popped into my head was "film noir," possibly because of its bouncy, jazzy sound.

Maybe they're planning a single a week up to the drop date? Whatever it is, grateful fans are uber happy about it.

Stream a Listen:Barely Breathing-The Hold Steady

Roving Reports of Rock and Roll: SXSW 2010-Day 1 (3-17-2010)

I love attending SXSW-Music every year. Like a four-day summer camp, you get to catch up with people you only see once a year, stay up late, and learn new skills; at SX, that's usually geography (finding your way around downtown Austin), race-walking (getting from one venue to another on foot in the least amount of time), and the art of balance (writing legibly in a notebook, while holding a camera AND a beer). Unfortunately for me, the subtitle to this this SX was, "If It Can Go Wrong, It Will." (My direct flight had issues-not the flight itself, but rather my place on it. Fyi, that "check in online in advance" suggestion for Southwest Airlines is not a suggestion but the way you ensure you have a seat.) So while my travelmates arrived in Austin at 11:30 am, I didn't get there until 4:30 pm, making me effectively miss all of Wednesday's day parties (a primo way you can ensure that you catch all of the bands you hope to see at SX). Because Southwest Airlines reaaally wanted me to see Kansas City and the tarmac of Dallas/Ft. Worth, missing these parties also meant I missed Zeus, Freelance Whales, Cymbals Eat Guitars, and Real Estate, grrr. (However, the upside was that Southwest refunded my flight in full, so, partial win...)

As such, I was stressed out when I arrived, but all of that fell away the moment I walked outside. DC had been cold and rainy and gross when I left, so taking in that gorgeous Austin weather was an immediate spirit lifter from the get-go. When I finally started my stroll down E. 6th Street to my first band of the day/night, I let out a deep exhale and shrugged the day's irritants off; "rock and roll spring break" was about to begin!

1. Ivan & Alyosha at St David's Bethel Hall

It seems that the easiest way to listen to the 1,000 or so submitted mp3s of bands who are attending SX is as a torrent on an iPod. Not only is it the easiest, but also the fastest and most objective way to make cuts. As the music at SX spans the genres, you do hear a lot of stuff that makes you go "meh," so when you come across those gems in the midst that still have you listening beyond the 30-second mark, you know you have a keeper. And that is exactly what Ivan & Aloysha's "Easy to Love" did, as well as warming my ears and filling my heart.

The lead singer has a voice that put me in mind of Jeff Buckley, ethereal, yet powerful, and filled with emotion. Theirs is a swelling and soaring type of indie rock poetry set to music, with lovely harmonies, and singed with singer-songwriter lyrics.

But, also like Buckley's band, Ivan & Aloysha does rock in a touch-harder key just as well. Based out of Seattle, I truly hope they make the trek east at some point.

(More photos)
Sometimes the submitted mp3 is the best track a band has, with the rest more "filler." But live, Ivan & Aloysha, I'm happy to say, is full of aural amazements.
Give a Listen: Easy to Love-Ivan & Alyosha/Buy The Verse, The Chorus

2. The Walkmen at Stubbs
(Crowd watching The Walkmen at Stubbs)
I've tried to see The Walkmen live about three times now, and each time, for one reason or another, I've been unsuccessful. (They originate from DC, so I had to show some love.) When I saw they were playing SX this year, I was determined to finally make it happen between me and them. So I ran over to Stubbs, which was, as usual, packed. I thought it odd when an employee told me the photo pit was "upstairs;" turns out she'd sent me to the VIP balcony instead (God, how I love SXSW).


The Walkmen were energetic as a whole, their sound reaching the far back of the circle that is Stubbs' outside area. The lead singer was prone to leaning mighty far back to belt out notes, and oftentimes, I wondered if he might fall over.


And then they brought out a group of horns. I'm a girl who loves herself some horns so The Walkmen's graceful swaying sound paired with horns? Grand, just grand!

(More photos)

Give a Listen: Another One Goes By (live at KEXP 2006)-The Walkmen/Buy A Hundred Miles Off

And then I received the text telling me Alex Chilton had just died. The highlight of this year's SXSW, and something many of us were looking forward to, was to recognize and celebrate the pop beauty and contribution to such that was Chilton's band Big Star, complete with a full reunion show to close out SX on Saturday. And Chilton was only 59. So sad...

3. Broadway Calls at Headhunters

During SX, I've noticed band venues are often in the last place you'd expect: pizza places, Mexican restaurants, art galleries...or, as was the case of Headhunters, a two-story walk-in closet that came with a bar. Ok, not really, but I've honestly never been in a place so small. And Broadway Calls has a sound so big it could blow the doors off a huge venue, so believe me when I say that between the band's sound, and the massive swarm of kids amped up and moshing on the floor that they shared with the band, the sliding wood door to the place almost came off its hinges. How instruments and band members didn't get knocked over in the process is surprising because when I say they shared the floor, I mean, literally just that: that was no stage, no platform.



But the band seemed perfectly happy being part of the melee, clearly enjoying the chaos that their powerful punk pop invoked.


Me, toting my Nikon, I was glad to be engaged in it all from the safety of the staircase. But just being in the room allowed you to experience what a joyful and exciting noise it was, the perfect antidote to the sad news of Chilton's passing. Broadway Calls takes three chords to make some great fist-pumping pop punk, complete with sing-along choruses. Green Day, Broadway may be calling you to its Great White Way, but don't be surprised if Broadways Calls takes over the reigning punk sneer while you're gone.

(More photos)

Give a Listen: Midnight Hour-Broadway Calls/Buy Good Views, Bad News

4. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings at Stubbs

The Stubbs venue typically has the most popular acts during SX so the line to get in is typically long. But for Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings the line wasn't just long, it was loooong (and for a comparison, it wasn't like that for The Walkmen-sorry guys). It seems soul may be taking (back) over because I'm sure every SX attendee was at, or trying to get into, Stubbs for her set. I definitely think every single photographer was, given the supreme jam-packedness of the photo pit.

This makes the second time I've seen Jones and the Dap-Kings, and it's such a great experience, they are so utterly bad-ass live. Jones seems to be almost single-handedly exposing a whole new generation to that wonderfully big, deep, and raw sound that was Stax and Muscle Shoals.

The Dap-Kings just kind of hung back and let Jones lead the charge (I love the lead-in by the band, playing for a few minutes, then introducing Jones, like they used to with James Brown. No cape, though she did sport a dress that would have made Tina Turner and Grace Kelly jealous). And though Jones may front the band, it's never just her in the proverbial spotlight. The bass and horns play off her voice as her soulful and emotive timber weaves around them, and both sides connect in a way that only experienced musicians and long time band mates can achieve.



While Sharon Jones may have been 20 years older than the average person in the Stubbs crowd, she definitively proves that age is nothing but a number, and some things, like grace, style, and good music, are timeless and only improve over time.

(More photos)

Give a Listen: I Learned the Hard Way-Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings/Buy I Learned the Hard Way (out 4/6)

5. Findlay Brown at Galaxy Room

I'd heard a bit of the Brit, Findlay Brown, and his slightly-twangy and smooth "Wall of Sound"-esque style, and live, he holds up.


But only getting 90 minutes of sleep the night before, I was starting to falter a bit. Yes Mr. Brown, everybody does needs love, but what I really needed about then was a more driving sound to keep myself standing vertical, so I had to go. However, I will be sure to see you the next time you're through DC. PS: Love the Elvis 'do, btw...


(More photos)

Give a Listen: I Had a Dream (acoustic)-Findlay Brown/Buy Love Will Find You

6. We Were Promised Jetpacks at The Parish


The Parish is one of the bigger venues at SX and this year, it housed the Scotland Showcase. One thing I love about seeing Scottish/English/Irish bands playing in the States is how excited and supportive their country's ex-pat brethern get during a show. Maybe it's because it's a little bit of home or something, but whatever the reason, their enthusiasm is always so darn infectious. This was the definitely the case for the latest indie darlings, We Were Promised Jetpacks.


The Jetpacks' music is quick and pulsating, and the crowd's reaction made their playing sharper (or so it seemed). Many of their tracks put me in mind of Boy-era U2 in terms of drums and thick guitar sequences.


And it was good-for a few songs. But after a while I noticed a definitive pattern and honestly, it began to sound like the same song again and again. But you couldn't knock the crowd's excitement; it was probably the most psyched-up group I saw all SX.

(More photos)

Give a Listen: Quiet Little Voices-We Were Promised Jetpacks

7. Fitz and the Tantrums at Galaxy Room Backyard

I've been listening to the blue-eyed soul of Fitz & the Tantrums since December when I got the info that they were opening for Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings on New Year's Eve here in DC. I loved what I heard, so when I saw they were on the SX schedule, they were marked as a definite must-see. The Stax label, including its house band Booker T & the MGs, was heavily influenced by the British version of "blue eyed soul" or "white soul," so whomever did the pairing of Jones and Fitz together was genius.




The Tantrums definitely give the Dap-Kings a run for their money style-wise, as well, being one of the better dressed bands I saw while in Austin. More on the pop side of soul, as opposed to Jones and the Dap-Kings' R&B side, if the Tantrums can rock a tent this well, I'd love to see what they do in a true nightclub. Many of the songs have these incredibly-hooky choruses that you'll find yourself mindlessly humming days later (and I was).



Though it did start 15 minutes late, I was pleased to see that their live show definitely holds up to the recorded version. Both Fitz and the female backup singer, who did not stop moving the entire time, have pretty incredible voices you just have to hear. You want energy? You want to dance? You want joy? Do not miss Fitz & the Tantrums. They were one of the most enjoyable acts I saw over my four days in Austin, definitely falling within my top 5.

(More photos)

Give a Listen: Winds of Change-Fitz and the Tantrums/Buy Songs for a Breakup

My 1am hour was supposed to be with Surfer Blood. But their venue was an uber bad choice for a latest "It" band (the second floor of a bar, the access to which was to the left of the band playing and its crowd on the first floor. "Clusterfuck" only slightly describes it correctly). So I joined one of my travelmates for a band from Spain, The Right Ons, and boy, was I glad I did.

8. The Right Ons at Barbarella

What was most apparent to me about this band from Spain who played American rock and roll, in English, was that they didn't do it halfway. Even at 1am on a Wednesday (well Thursday actually), they were playing like their lives depended on it. A little bit of garage punk merged with a heavy dose of soul, The Right Ons are like Wayne Kramer got a mohawk and started playing with Sly and the Family Stone at school in Spain. No way I could fall asleep on my feet with this band.

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It was so cool to see this band wind up a crowd to the point where every person in the place was dancing. Did I mention it was 1am on a Wednesday (ok, Thursday)? If they can achieve that in such a setting, imagine what a regular venue setting would be like? Moral of the story-a) catch The Right Ons if they're playing the States, b) rest up, and c) bring your dancing shoes. At the very least, let yourself pogo. And don't be surprised if the lead singer jumps into the crowd and pogos right along with you.

Give a Listen:

That´s New York - The Right On...