These are tough times for true rawk – pop and electronic music are imposing their charming but innocuous sound on the masses of music fans, and it’s getting harder and harder to find quality and original bands with a pushy sound. LA’s own Dead Sara is certainly such band. We stumbled upon them at BuzzbandsLA.com‘s unofficial SXSW show in Austin and were impressed by the intensity of the delivery and by the songwriting. These guys sound a little as if Rage Against the Machine had a female (early) Bono as a singer, and the results are as incendiary and epic as you can imagine. Check out the video of the single "Weatherman" below, and head to Club Nokia on March 29 for the release party.

If there was a label for "horror music", like there is one for horror movies (metal would go under a separate label, the equivalent of "splatter") masters of sonic suspence White Hills would probably top that chart. If quality horror music had as much market as quality horror movies do these guys would be millionaires – I wonder why we are more prone to be scared visually than sonically. Anyhow, this new video of the single "You Dream You See" will frighten both senses. It’s taken from their brand new album "Frying on this Rock" out today on Thrill Jockey. See them live at Glasslands on 04.09 and at Mercury Lounge on 04.10.

St. Patty’s Day marked my final day in Austin. Although I forgot to wear green, I still maintained a festive attitude as I headed “uptown” to the Victory Grill for an outside show hosted by Sol Collective, highlighting several multi-cultural artists, including Zuzuka Poderosa and Los Rakas. A very far walk to the Auditorium Shores, I arrived to see the final half of Shiny Toy Guys. Following the dance-pop troupe, Austin’s infamous funky dance-blues group,The Bright Light Social Hour, had the honor of supporting legendary act, The Cult, who are still churning out music that channels the energy of their classic sound. Heading back to the downtown chaos via pedicab, I caught Brooklyn’s rising success story, rowdy party rockers, Semi Precious Weapons (and Deli cover band back in 2008), who shook the venue with mostly new music from their upcoming third full length album, set for release on Epic Records. Finishing my evening and my SXSW, I squeezed into the Treasure Island Pirate Bar for Peelander-Z (pictured), a Japanese punk/metal band based in NY. Their highflying energy, Evil Knievel helmets/outfits, and humorous antics were the consummate elements to tie up 2012’s festival. –Meijin Bruttomesso

Now that McCarren Park looks like it’s finally re-opening the pool this summer, we should all start thinking of its soundtrack, and Strange Shapes might be a good place to start. The power pop group are practically engineered for board shorts and sunglasses, keeping their pop numbers simple and clean, and sounding all the warmer for it. Especially ‘Moment Kept Arriving’ from their first EP, where light keyboards and open string guitars provide the perfect breeze to lift up singer Ezra Tenenbaum’s floating vocals. Get your spring started right, and see the band when they play this Friday with Banned Books at Big Snow Buffalo Lodge. – Mike Levine

There are streaks of Vashti Bunyan in Sharon Van Etten‘s lulled, willowing voice, and Will Oldham in her dimly lit recordings. No effects, no tricky vocal lines or harmonies. The raw power of Etten’s dark melody — the way she holds the sad notes and sighs them out like a line of twisting cigarette smoke — is stunning. A patient guitar and harmonizing vocals shuffle along underneath Etten’s prayerful ascending voice and then lilt back down like leaves. Just a few days following her highly lauded performances at SXSW where she played the NPR showcase and headlined the Jagjaguwar showcase, Sharon Van Etten will play Conan tonight (Tue March 20). Check out the video of the single "Leonard" below, and download the free single "Serpents" here. – Andrew Spaulding

In San Francisco’s Mission District, the most “Brooklyn” neighborhood in the city, Matthew Dear represented his borough at Public Works on Feb. 24 as part of the Noise Pop Festival. Co-founder of Ghostly, which just put out the new School of Seven Bells, Dear represents the darkest sound on his label, dwelling in the purgatory between new wave and no wave.
In his 2010 album Black City and his latest Headcage EP, Dear’s composition feels entirely electronic. Featuring a five-piece band with Dear on guitar, his live sets reinterpret the polished original recordings into live percussion-and-horn driven chaos, more warehouse party in the 1980s’ Lower East Side than a multi-storied nightclub. A few songs off Black City were nearly unrecognizable, while newer tracks “Headcage” and “In The Middle (I Met You There),” with their simpler pop structures, rendered closer to the original tracks.
Shy and brooding, Dear spoke little during the nearly two-hour set, sweating into his guitar work and focusing on leading his band. Working almost as hard as Dear was his drummer, often seen sans sticks, gripping the cymbals with his hands to control the timing and perfect the noise.
The packed show swelled into a pulsing pit of fans crowding the stage and demanding an encore from Dear who humbly delivered two more songs. Unlike previous tours, Dear’s recent live performances have received glowing reviews and his DJ sets consistently deliver. Don’t miss him on the last leg of his North American tour, dates listed on his website. – Whitney Phaneuf – photo by Graham Hommel