Concerts

SXSW Review: De Lux

Posted on March 22, 2014 by Ricky in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

LA group De Lux pulled off one of the smoothest and most south by moves I saw at the music festival this year. Playing the Filter Cedar Courtyard on a Friday afternoon, the group was halfway through their set when some other guy went up to the lead singer Sean Guerin mid-song and whispered something into his ears. Without missing a beat or lyrics, Guerin then reached into his pocket and handed the guy car keys. It wasn’t a big deal, but it was somewhat hilarious.

I accidentally caught De Lux twice at SXSW but I thoroughly enjoyed their set of disco-dance-rock music. It really took me back to the 80’s and somehow I think they could perfectly soundtrack the next Adam Sandler 80’s era movie. Their music was fun, a bit Talking Headish and has some nice hooks. Guerin’s vocal work was different then a lot of singers, a bit scratchy and sometimes a bit off key, it gives their music a form of sincerity which is sometimes a lacking feature in the new wave-disco kind of world that De Lux exists in.

The band also gave away a lot of free EP’s after each show, and judging by the amount of people who went up to get them, I would say that they gained a few fans with their sets, including me.

SXSW Review: The Pizza Underground, March 15, Buffalo Billiards

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Paul in South By Southwest | 1 Comment

This is how I envision the brainstorming session that led to the formation of The Pizza Underground, presented in the form of a one act play:

Scene: A darkened apartment.  White Light/White Heat is on the stereo, a half eaten pepperoni pie lays on the table.

PU MEMBER #1: Dude, this album is amazing!
PU MEMBER #2: Dude, so is this pizza!
PU MEMBER #1: Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could combine these two awesome things together?
PU MEMBER #2: Totally! We should start a band!
PU MEMBER #1: But how would we get anyone to listen to it?
PU MEMBER #2: Dude, you’re a celebrity. People will pay attention.
PU MEMBER #1:

home-alone-feature

Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s almost exactly how it went down.

In case you haven’t heard, The Pizza Underground is a band featuring former child star Macaulay Culkin whose modus operandi consists of singing covers of Velvet Underground songs with lyrics changed to be about pizza. “Do you like pizza?” asked Culkin as they took to the stage.  “Do you like punny songs about pizza?  Good.” And with that they launched into a set that included such tunes as “Papa John Says” and “I’m Beginning To Eat The Slice.” Combine this with the use of a pizza box for percussion and some guy dressed like Andy Warhol milling about and the stage was set for some pizza-themed shenanigans.

It was fun to watch for awhile, but obviously if the band didn’t feature the star of Uncle Buck and Richie Rich, there would probably be about 10 people at this show. It’s a cute, clever concept and amusing for awhile, but essentially it’s the same joke over and over and the joke tends to get old before too long.  I’m glad I checked it out, but admittedly, I left before the end of their set. Just like pizza, you want to take it all in before it gets too stale.

SXSW Review: Perfect Pussy, Fat White Family, March 15, Holy Mountain

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Paul in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

perfect pussy

What’s in a name? In the case of a band, their chosen name really can mean a lot. Take Perfect Pussy for example. The band obviously knows the power of a memorable name, even though it makes it difficult to do a Google image search on them. A name like that sends a message before you’ve even heard a note played. Fat White Family is another example. When I first saw the band’s name in print, I imagined a horrible sounding band, something you might find on a sidestage at the Warped Tour. Luckily, some good writeups from reputable sources and comparisons to early Pink Floyd and The Fall made me curious to see what they were all about. And thanks to the folks behind St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival, I had the chance to see both bands in one location.

Despite my reservations about the band’s name, Fat White Family totally blew me away with an impressively noisy, psychedelic, shambolic performance of songs off their debut album Champagne Holocaust.  Singer Lias Saoudi’s got a bit of David Yow in him, with his confrontational style and penchant for taking off his clothes. He also stuck his hand down the back of his pants for a bit, which had me worried he was going to touch someone in the audience with a poo finger, but happily that did not come to pass. They seem to be getting a bit of hype from the British press lately and played the NME showcase later on in the day. That kind of push often means a quick burnout for bands, but here’s hoping Fat White Family sticks around for awhile.

More heavily hyped and also playing a ton of shows at SXSW this year was Syracuse noise rock band Perfect Pussy, who took to the stage a couple of hours after Fat White Family. “We tried to play this same set two hours ago and we blew like four speakers and they pulled the plug on us. This is our last show at SouthBy. Thanks for having us. We’re Mötley Crüe,” said vocalist Meredith Graves as they took to the stage. And true to her word, the band did seem to blow out something shortly after they launched into their first number. I’m pretty sure Graves’ microphone wasn’t totally working for the majority of their set; it didn’t matter. This was a powerhouse performance, even though it lasted 15 minutes at the most.

SXSW Review: Hurray For The Riff Raff, March 12, Mellow Johnny’s

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Gary in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

hurray for the riff raff

If growing up in NYC is an instant badge of honor to your range of worldly pursuits, Hurray For The Riff Raff’s Alynda Lee Segarra certainly carries it proudly. This was a fairly small and intimate set at Mellow Johnny’s. To give a good impression what the crowd was after, there was a lady who overheard my casual conversation with Paul about whether or not to wear a KEXP button. In order to address my lackluster attitude, she decided to abuse me: “You must strive to expand your horizons,” she implied. I assume I can do so by simply attaching a metallic plaque for an American public radio station that was made in China to my chest.

Then again that’s probably why most of the audience came: to live vicariously through the soulful musings of Segarra because they lack the courage to even contemplate moving to Seattle before putting on a KEXP pin. This self same frustration hides behind some of their songs, simmering. Together with the rest of the band, she delivered just what the audience needed – murder ballad and all. As I mentioned before, her voice isn’t particularly bright but distinctively alto and fitting for her songwriting. The short set also showcased the rest of the band, having an instrumental number. All in all, a very enlightening and enjoyable session.

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