We here at Panic Manual have been big fans of San Fermin for a long time. Their self titled debut album was one of my favorite albums back in 2013, back when I was a young lad. Since then, I have matured significantly and perhaps this too is reflected with the sound of the new album. Maybe it has not, I don’t know. I have not listened to their new record, which is entitled Jackrabbit. The album is out on April 21st but for those of us lucky enough to go to Austin, they will be playing a plethora of shows at SXSW this year.
The picture above was a party they played in Austin for SXSW. What’s not pictured? Free muther fuckin bbq’s! Sausages! Brisket! Ribs galore! This type of gastronomical satistfaction was reflected perfectly in the San Fermin live show – a little bit of everything, high peaks and deeply satisfying. I don’t know if this post makes any sense. Regardless, they are a band to check out and I mean that in the most honest, sincere way.
They are also playing NXNE for those who can’t make the journey to Texas.
SXSW is fast approaching and come March, Austin will have no lack of bands evoking the sounds of the ’90s, from those who’ve kept it going since those days to the reunited acts hoping to relaunch their career and on to the newer performers inspired by the sounds of yesteryear.
Nashville’s The Lees Of Memory will be one of those bands and they come by their ’90s sound honestly – members John Davis and Brandon Fisher were formerly in alt-rock one hit wonders Superdrag (remember “Sucked Out?”). However, rather than revisiting the power pop sounds of that group, The Lees Of Memory dive headfirst into Kevin Shields territory with some blissed out shoegaze and they do it well. “We Are Siamese” is the lead single off of their album Sisyphus Says. Give it a listen.
This year, Panic Manual is aiming to provide more coverage to international bands. The first band we looked at is El Conjunto Nueva Ola, a group of anonymous rockers out of Mexico. In a way, they are like Slipnot, but in many ways they are not. Blending a variety of genres with an equally elating mix of covers and original material, the masked group will probably give you quite a jolt when they rock the Clive Bar on the 21st of March.
We sat down virtually to ask them a few questions.
1. Are you fans of luchadore wrestling? Who’s your favorite?
Yes, we all grew up as fans of wrestling or as we call it, Lucha Libre. Primarily watching the Mexican federation of wrestling. We each have our own favorite wrestler. My favorite is La Parka, my mask is inspired by his mask.
Editor note: I was hoping he’d say Rey Mysterio JR or Juvy. Because those are the only Mexican wrestlers I know
2. This is not your first time to SXSW. What did you learn last time?
We learned that getting out there and networking is very important in this industry, especially when there’s so much competition. It’s all about exposure at SXSW. Doing as many showcases as possible, and even that playing at 12 in the afternoon is as important as being the headlining band at a night time showcase, you never know who will be there.
What do you expect to do differently this time?
We plan on doing it bigger this time around. We want to make out of our showcase a big party, a show that people will remember forever, and leave them wanting more. Not that we didn’t execute that last year, but we like to top ourselves each time. The crazier the better, the more fun the better.
3. What’s the primary difference between tacos in Mexico and tacos in Texas?
Woah! When it comes to tacos, it’s like a science for us. We consider ourselves taco experts. In Mexico city there are types of tacos that you won’t find anywhere else in the world. So it’s almost like comparing apples to oranges. Texans have their own idea of tacos, like breakfast tacos with egg and chorizo and whatever else they come up with. In Mexico they’re just regular tacos, and you can have them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You also get more for your buck in Mexico City. There’s a deal where you can get 5 x 25, that’s five tacos for 25 pesos, about $2USD. Where else can you get that!
Here’s one of those covers:
4. How do you decide what songs to cover?
We don’t choose the songs, the songs choose us. We feel that when we cover a song we are actually interpreting that song the way the original artist intended to play it, so we’re doing the song justice. The parodies are not really parodies, those are the actual lyrics that the original artist wanted to write in the beginning but couldn’t, so we like to think of it as doing them a favor.
5. What advice do you have for fans at SXSW?
Get there early, get ready to have a good time, and don’t plan on going home that night because we can play and party all night long (until someone kicks us off the stage).
SXSW will be a nice homecoming for the duo of Jillian Talley and Lauren Mikus aka Gal Pals. The two moved from Austin to LA some time ago and since have formed a band whose sunny blistering rock sound perfectly epitomizes a lot of the successful bands that have come out of the West Coast in recent times. I call it ‘the Burger Record sound’, even though Gal Pals is not on that label, I think.
What is it about these bands? Why do they have such a good time? I guess it’s wonderful to be sunny and warm outside every single day. Gal Pals just released their new album Velvet Rut earlier this year so look for that to get some attention at their SXSW show case.
