SXSW Day 1: A little Fang and dance

The South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas, got underway Wednesday -- the same day it was announced that Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor brought in more than $1.6 million via orders/downloads. The annual four-day event is the time for artists and labels to shop for deals, and for those who already have them to try and hype new releases.

Reznor's claim, however, shades the fest in a new light. While few artists are of the stature to reap the kind of rewards that Reznor did by going it completely alone, it points to a time when the taste-making filters provided by independent and major labels are going by the wayside.

Perhaps that had something to do with why there wasn't a must-see, overly-talked-about act heading into SXSW. Late in the day a buzz started to swirl around Atlanta's Dead Confederate, but one got the sense that was largely due to the band's fortuitous opening slot for R.E.M.

So with about 30 acts circled to try to catch Wednesday night, here's some thoughts on the ones I did, and the ones I remember:

Discovery of the night: This belongs to Louisville, Ky.-based band Wax Fang. Believing that most of those in Austin would be trying to get into R.E.M., I was feeling overly ambitious about getting into other venues, and had pegged three artists to catch between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. Along with Wax Fang, I had been curious about jazzy hip-hop act Kidz in the Hall and the bluesy Americana of Saint Bernadette.

Wax Fang, however, tore those plans to shreds.

The three-piece possessed a Who-like grandeur and psychedelic bent, and kept me parked in one venue for the hour. Wax Fang is epic guitar rock, with melodic solos breaking free from hypnotic loops. The band's "The Doctor Will See You Now" rode a rattlesnake rhythm and a pummeling drum break, which hooks the listener by sputtering and starting. Yet the song's full payoff isn't revealed until more than halfway in, when a playfully electronic bridge cuts through the seriousness of the band's guitar force. It was the best song I heard all day, and it came from a band I didn't know existed until last week.

Someday, somehow, more people must be awakened to this band: Scotland's Sons & Daughters. The act's recent album, "This Gift," is a killer rock record, and with vocalist Adele Bethel drenched in the glitter, she looked the part of the star she should become. Taking its cues from American folk and country, Sons & Daughters have a timeless swing, and the songs' hooks come from a driving melodic tension that stops just short of recklessness, resulting in sing-along choruses that slyly tease. Check "The Nest," with its scalding bass line that slinks around Bethel's vocals, or the lurching guitar notes of "Rama Lama," a song with so much space that the snapping of Bethel's fingers becomes a damning punch.

Does the world need more '80s-inspired dance-rock? The answer is yes, if judging by the attention surrounding Does It Offend You, Yeah? But if solely judging the band, the jury is still out. The band is raising plenty of eyebrows overseas, and will see its debut released in the U.S. on April 15 via the Sony-affiliated Almost Gold, the label home to Peter Bjorn & John. While taking notes on the band Wednesday afternoon, I noticed Almost Gold founder Isaac Green was standing to my right. He noted that after the act's Coachella date, Does It Offend You, Yeah? will head out on the Warped Tour.

There were moments in which the band shows it has the power to control the floor, namely on "With a Heavy Heart (I Regret to Inform You)," where hand claps and a ferocious guitar and disco grooves are smashed together with all sorts of rickety electronic noise, and somehow all the heavily manipulated instrumentation makes sense. But other times, such as single "Let's Make Out," where a beer bottle was turned into a rhythm instrument, a gimmicky lyrical refrain couldn't mask that this was electro-punk that lacked nuance.

Another Almost Gold act, Wild Light, its exquisitely crafted keyboard-laced pop, lacked the flash, but was more impressive. Especially on "New Year's Eve," with its slow build and intertwining vocals.

Closing out: The evening's first big band faceoff came at 1 a.m., when dance act Simian Mobile Disco was timed against blues duo the Black Keys. In a last-minute impulse decision I went with the latter, based solely on the strength of the new songs from the Black Keys' upcoming "Attack and Release," and the hope that I'll catch Simian later in the week. After a Captain Beefheart cover ("Here I Am Always I Am"), the Ohio duo brought on new cut "Strange Times," a song based less on blues riffage and more tight and curt guitar notes. Elsewhere in the set, the Black Keys brought out a keyboard, and toyed with the sound until it became difficult to tell if the keys were mimicking guitars or the band was using guitar loops.

And now with the clock approaching 5 a.m., and festivities getting underway at 10:30 a.m., this blog is calling it a night.

(Wax Fang photo courtesy of MySpace Jessie Kriech / Chris Higdon)

Comments

[linda p]

yay! Wax Fang! So glad you liked them!