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Thursday
After a day of relaxing I made my way over to see Alex Dupree
And The Trapdoor Band play an amazing set of music and then once
more make sure that the folks in attendance could hear Zookeeper
pretty well at their show. Amid some conversations about what we should
all try to see later that evening it was decided we should do our
best to make our way to catch Black Mountain at the end of
the evening, so we were off!
Standing in line we heard a band called Evangelicals. From
the road they sounded really good; solid rock and roll with blazing
drums and raucous guitar playing, kind of like early Strokes.
From the street, the most noticeable thing was how incredibly solid
and groovy their bass player was. Wicked is the word I would use when
drinking… which I was, coincidentally.
 The
band we had come to see was Bon Iver from Wisconsin, as I was
with some folks with Wisconsin connections. Bon Iver throws down some
serious heart in their music, while it is fairly straightforward lyrically,
the music is dynamic, ranging from slower tempo numbers and sparse
arrangements to some downright stompy backwoods rhythms. The band
juxtaposes indie pop with Appalachian folk, creating what is sure
to be one of the most memorable performances of the festival for me.
I would most closely relate what Bon Iver does to Akron/Family,
but I find it quite a bit more pleasant to listen to. The songs are
very tender and personal, almost invoking the kind of brash sentimentality
of The Frames. This set was all folk-based but with a keen
indie sensibility, stark acoustic guitar, and some divine falsetto
vocals. This band proves again what is fast becoming my theory for
this year's SXSW - making great music is extremely possible with minimal
instrumentation, and quite enjoyable when made that way.
 Jens
Lekman takes a much different approach to his music than our backwoodsy
friends. Having never heard Jens' music before I was pleased to hear
his take on creating music resembling The Style Council all
Swedish-styled out with a hearty sense of humor and some strings for
good measure. Or maybe he's just the Swedish Morrissey. Either
way, the girls love him and his music and his performance, and it
is very easy to see why. He plays his straight-ahead jazzy 80's style
pop in a way that is lively and involving of the audience. His music
has all the great pop tricks, dynamic changes augmented by droning
hook lines with a little bit of Motown thrown in for good measure.
And who can resist a song that includes the refrain from "Give
Me Just A Little More Time." I can't not like this… and
the girl fiddle player, the girl drummer, and the girl bass player
certainly don't hurt, either. Maybe he's just Morrissey singing Dexy's
Midnight Runners… yeah, that's it. Kind of.
 The
evening was wrapped up with the ultra-loud stoner/jam rock acrobatics
of Vancouver, BC's amazing Black Mountain. This band is loud, folks.
I mean, really F'ing LOUD… with copious amounts of real guitar
tone, drum tone, bass tone, synth tone. It's all here. The band opened
with a song that laid down a severe Black Sabbath style groove
and then moved into more psychedelic almost-pop. Even thought he girl
singers voice is really warbly and strange, it works very well in
this environment. Vocal harmonies mesh remarkably well, her Bjork-like
tones smoothly (somehow) blending with the guitar player's voice.
The drumming was very tight, blending seamlessly with the groovy bass
lines and throbbing synth hooks. The guitar playing was buttery soft,
if 120 decibels could be called buttery… as a guitar player,
I took a few moments to totally geek out tonewise. Aside from the
girl singer's off-handededly unstable Grace Slick style singing,
this band is like It's A Beautiful Day for the new millennium…
only a lot harder and louder. Seeing this band live, with a crowd
that was entranced and super into the music, it made me wonder why
stoner rock still exists… I mean, outside of the drug culture,
what makes people still love Led Zeppelin? It's one basic thing,
I think; really loud and excellent guitar playing is visceral, guttural,
and sexy. Super sexy.
-David DeVoe
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