It’s that time again boys and girls. It’s SxSW 2014. Which means I’m here to sate your hunger for backwoods burial, taboo rendezvous, and all things that are strangely sickening yet cling beautifully on your psyche like a cobweb-ful of morning dew. Not that you actually asked for it.
“The Body Electric” from Hurray for the Riff Raff fills me with exactly that sense of tragedy even before I read about the reason for its writing (a dedication to the 2012 rape victim in Delhi). Channeling the southern charms of O Brother Where Art Thou, it cleverly veils an angst that likens to Johnny Cash’s The Man Comes Around.
I am reminded of Audra Mae, but Alynda Lee Segarra’s smokier, heavier voice carries her punches well and strikes a resounding cord in a mere 2:50 min. Have a listen to an excerpt from their KEXP performance.