SXSW dispatch part one

by John McCarthy on Sun, 2009/03/22 - 12:06am Post to Twitter

 Efterklang

Once again thousands of indie kids from all around the globe have arrived in Austin, Texas for SXSW, all feeling a sense of smug satisfaction knowing that in years to come they’ll be able to tell their children ‘I once saw AIDS Wolf play in a venue the size of cupboard. This was before they sold out to The Man and started writing all those Disney soundtracks of course’.

The fun begin in the Convention Centre with Jarvis Cocker giving a lecture about why song lyrics are important. The answer he comes up with is "because they are", however the ninety minutes he spends reaching that conclusion are extremely enjoyable and includes some hearty praise for Scott Walker, some predictable criticism for James Blunt and an acoustic version of everyone‘s favourite Pulp song ‘Babies‘. Jarvis claims that most groups just see lyrics as being a necessary evil, a chore which needs to be completed after the exciting challenge of writing the music is completed.

One group who don’t appear overly concerned with giving any great insight into the human condition using their lyrics are hip young rockers Wavves, Their new album is standard issue punk pop about being young and getting high, all buried beneath a layer of fuzz which makes it sound like it was recorded using a dictaphone, a string and two Coke cans.

However at SXSW Wavves main man Nathan Williams proves that his tunes shouldn’t be hidden away, ‘Calfornia Goth’, ‘So Bored’ and ‘Space Raider’ all sound spiky, crisp and exciting when played live on the outdoor stage at ‘Red 7‘. Lets hope he gets rich quick so he can afford some proper recording equipment next time around.

And, inspite of the slacker-esque tone of some of the songs, you can’t fault the boy Williams work ethic, his band are due to play 11 shows over the course of the next four days. By Sunday night they only person whose name will have been on more poster in Austin is the superbly monikered Majoral candidate “Brewster McCracken“.

Next it’s over to the more tranquil surroundings of SXSW’s finest outdoor venue the ‘French Legation Museum’ to see Danish group Efterklang create an ethereal world of Sigor Ros-eque loveliness.

They play a beautiful set of gorgeous glitchy orchestral songs which stir the soul, however seeing them in such sunny and lush surroundings feels a little odd. I suspect that to fully appreciate the Efterklang experience it would be necessary to see them play at midnight, in a castle made of ice, in the middle of a haunted forest.

As I wander off to search for such a venue I bump into LA rockers Hank IV who pose the question "Do you want to hear a song about really hot girls who wear ponchos or one about celebrity virgins?". You could lock the finest scholars in the world in a room for a year and they still wouldn’t be able to reach a unanimous verdict on this hot topic.

After some frenzied debate the crowd at ‘Ms Beas’ venue chose the poncho option and as the song powers along they appear satisfied with their choice. The ‘IV play old grizzly old-school punk rock, they play it fast, they play it loud and they really quite good at it. It’s enough to make you want to run home, pick up a guitar and form a band.

However, today doing that is simply not an option. Because today anyone with any sense will abandoning their families, quitting their jobs and moving to Monterrey, Mexico in order to devote the rest of their lives to following the work of the magnificent Bam Bam.

Playing their only SXSW show at the ‘BD Rileys; bar on 6th Street they take to the stage and declare “We’re all single and we’re all up for anything” before launching into a blistering 40 minutes of fiesty indie rock, including the finest song which will be played anywhere in Austin today ‘Sin Las Patas Traseras‘.

They look great, they sound amazing and they give out free stickers at the end. You can ask for no more from a band.

Submit your visa application to the Mexican authorities right now (http://mexico.visahq.com/) and while you’re waiting for them to process it download the Bam Bam album for zero pesos from here and read our interview with the band here.

Downloads:

Efterklang - Mirador
Hank IV - Feeding Me Back
Bam Bam - Sin Las Patas Traseras