BALTHVS, March 11, The 13th Floor
Colombian trio BALTHVS spoke a few times during their Monday night set at The 13th Floor about how much they loved Austin and it became clear at this show that Austin (along with the many non-Austinites like myself who invade the city every March) also loves BALTHVS.
Throughout their set, the Bogota-based band (pictured above at their Saturday night show at Mohawk) put on one of the most impressive displays of musicianship we saw all week with their psychedelic funk meets surf rock sound.
Population II, March 12, Swan Dive
Random discoveries are always a treat at SXSW and Population II were certainly one of those discoveries. Walking into Swan Dive on Tuesday night for the Mothland/Fair Enough/M For Montreal showcase, I had a vague idea of what to expect from the Montreal psych rock trio, but hadn’t given them a listen ahead of time. With the band already playing as I walked in, I was suitably impressed by their blend of psych sounds with a bit of jazz and funk.
For Toronto folks, Population II play The Garrison on April 23 alongside Meatbodies.
O., March 14, The 13th Floor
London sax and drums duo O. put on a fun, high energy show during their Thursday afternoon set as part of the Creem Magazine/Third Man Records party. Also, there were free copies of Creem and free pickles being given away at this party and in my book, any show where you can snack on a delicious pickle while enjoying an effects-laden saxophone freakout is a pretty good one.