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Saturday
I spent a good part of Saturday at the excellent Porchlight Pop Festival,
now in it's seventh year (?), give or take. Zookeeper played
an awesome set, probably the finest of the week. Also playing were
indie-pop sensations Let's Go Sailing, a very nice bunch of
folks come out from Los Angeles. Their set was plagued by inevitable
sound problems, but they worked through it nicely, giving the audience
a good dose of their shiny happy pop, fronted by a beautiful tall
girl with a Yamaha guitar. Nice. Also playing was a little band called
Hollywood Gossip who sounded like a real good indie-style version
of the Housemartins mixed with The Jam… if that
makes any sense. They were nice guys and played a rocking set as the
sun slowly faded below the horizon.
 I
made the trek down to Sixth Street one last time and stopped off to
catch my old buddies Neva Dinova play. Having not seen them
for a couple of years I was a bit shocked by how visually old they've
all become. Kind of weird, because I always thought they were younger
than myself. But the good news is the music has aged really well,
maintaining the same great hooks and thick sounds on which the band
has built their career. The new songs are tender, but have an underlying
strength and power. Maybe that power comes from two Les Pauls and
a Gretsch Duo-Jet through half-stacks… some of the newer songs
have a touch of country stomp lite, recalling the more rocking moments
of The Band… The lyrics are still in fine form, better
than ever, featuring some fine Dylan-esque absurdist imagery
hidden within their power and sincerity. But with three fine LPs under
their belts, the band didn't hold back and take it easy all night.
They rocked it hard, invoking melodic "grunge" at its finest,
like the Screaming Trees or older Meat Puppets. The
band has really smoothed out any edges that existed before, working
in some tremendous dynamics and slow melodic passages. They also played
very tight; probably the tightest band I'd seen all week, hands down.
 Next
I wanted to catch a set by Austin's own rock chameleons, Brazos.
I'd been told they were very good by a few different people and so
made my way to their showcase. The band is certainly not tied to one
particular sound. One minute they purvey Yankee Hotel Foxtrot-style
Wilco and then the next they are all October-era U2.
This band plays some very compelling songs that are not afraid to
let you know where they got their influence. They even work in a hint
of twang at times, evoking the spirit of their home state and making
their benefactors proud, I'm sure… an angsty, loud Beatles,
maybe?
 To
finish up the night I slipped in the back door at Emo's to catch the
closing set of the festival with the enormously influential punk band
X as they blasted through a lightning-paced set. Each member
of the band was filled with the same energy they commanded some twenty-five
years ago. Having seen X before in these later years, I was quite
impressed with the setlist; the band blasted through songs in true
punk rock fashion, eschewing playing the slower, more melodic "hits"
of the later records. Exene looks awful, but sounds so much
better than she has the last couple of times I've seen her. She was
right on top of her game, professional and energetic, while John
Doe simply rocked, as always. His voice was an exercise in perfection
and fell in line perfectly with his fine bass playing. Billy Zoom
was a happy figure, ripping out the tunes on his trademark Silver
Jet while standing at the front edge of stage with a huge smile on
his face, playing the chunky and fast lines effortlessly and perfectly
- the calmest punk rock guitarist ever. And let us not forget DJ
Bonebreak and his amazing, pounding drumming, keeping the cadence
and energy up perfectly. So much power on stage at one time, one has
to wonder with all of this touring that the band has been doing the
past year or two if there is going to be new music from X… I
would not be surprised if there was, as this original lineup is as
tight and perfect as they ever were. The first set was short, and
the second set was only a few more songs, but a tiny hint slower and
more melodic… not enough to break up the punk rock, though. All
the songs the band ripped through during the night had the visceral
energy that their early records contained. Pure, emotional punk rock.
Did I mention it was perfect?
-David DeVoe
 Talk
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