Recap Part 2

I could go on for paragraphs on why SXSW is so great but you don't want to hear me get all mushy. I'll just stick to the standard boilerplate of my top bands, even though it's hard to leave the other bands out. When you think that these bands mostly paid their own way here to play for free it's hard to knock them. They have to play in front of an audience tweeting on their iphones yet I found the bands still had a great time just sharing their music and hoping that someone in the audience enjoyed it.

I'll break down the bands into 4 groups of 3 for my top 12:

1. ACL Bound
Head and the Heart
Oh Land
Jessica Lea Mayfield

These three were polished, professional, and had a full catalog. Not one-hit wonders, I expect them all to be making the talk-show/festival/Grammy circuit. They'll be getting lots of press soon so Michael Corcoran should discover them and write about it in the Statesman about two years from now.

2. Adult contemporary/Americana sounds
Still Corners
Zoe Muth and the Lost High Rollers
Storyhill

Three unknowns for me that had a great mellow sound. They would easily fit on KUT or KGSR playlists. I'll post some songs soon.

3. Indie/pop sounds
Harrys Gym
Chapel Club
Jezabels

Probably my favorite shows among all the indie bands I saw. I wished I'd seen a whole Jezabels set but I was impressed by what I heard. The others had strong sets throughout. I previewed them earlier.


4. Surprises
The Belle Brigade
Yuck
Leslie Stevens and the Badgers

I'll cover each of these individually:
a. The Belle Brigade: I figured they got the KCRW showcase because of their connections to the LA music scene and not for their musical catalog. I was wrong. This band was excellent. Their energy and enthusiasm was contagious. Plus, their music was really good. I'm hoping to see them again.
b. Yuck: I heard a couple of their songs on XMU that were straight 90s alt. rock fuzz/distortion and read the comparisons to Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine so I blew them off. Thanks to Leana and Casey I was talked into checking them out. I'm glad I did. Their music is much mellower than they let on, with good pop sounds. I've listened to their album now and it's really good. I'm a convert.
c. Leslie Stevens: didn't know anything about her but I'm glad she played. She won my sister over and proved once again that you can find your new favorite bands at SXSW if you just get out and listen.