There has been so much hype about Harlem, the three piece rock band, out of Austin, TX, originally from Arizona.  XMU has been playing them consistently.  They are even hosting for a week on XMU, playing their music among other artists they like and have inspired them.  Maybe I set my expectations too high.

Don’t get me wrong, the same poppy, fifties influenced, music that I have loved on the radio is still in the forefront.  However, I think for a record release party, there should be a less sloppy and carefree approach.   After the second song, one of the band, who shall remain nameless, proclaimed, “I am sorry, I can’t believe you all paid f***ing money to come hear this s**t!”  I wanted him to be wrong and for them to continue on a smoother path, yet it wasn’t meant to be.  I think there is something to be said for not having a plan and improvisation and having fun, but I didn’t get it; I mean if you’re The Who, that’s one thing, but I wanted to see what they could do.  My cohort with me compared them to Pere Ubu, but I could only see some Haircut 100 and that was simply for the clothes…

Harlem’s songs are simple, poppy, catchy and really easy to love.  And the band members switching instruments during the show is impressive and makes them unique.  But, I can only give them an A for Effort this time around.  I will definitely see them again and I still really like the band, just wish it had blown me away.

–Ellen Green

Waterloo Records will host the DVD release party for One Peace at a Time this coming Friday with Kat Edmonson playing a free 5pm show… One Peace at a Time takes on the small task of basically saving the world; trailer for the film, which features music by Explosions in the Sky (along with some other sizable names), is here.  

The Frontier Bros. ran away with our most recent poll and will therefore shortly adorn the top of our homepage with their cuddly faces; congrats to them! They’ve got an EP forthcoming & will celebrate its release in the company of the Lemurs at the Parish 4/16. And…in honor of the upcoming Austin Psych Fest we’ve created an all-psychedelic poll for you to kick off April: Headdress, Ringo Deathstarr, Shapes Have Fangs, Smoke & Feathers and The Tunnels (above) – all of them on the schedule for APF 3 – are now nominated for your consideration…check ’em out upper right & cast your vote! 

Full Friday and Saturday lineups are out for Austin Psych Fest 3 – bringing weird to the weird city, this year’s incarnation includes out-of-towners Raveonettes, Warpaint, & Pink Mountaintops, and from home you get The Black Angels, Shapes Have Fangs, Smoke & Feathers (above), Ringo Deathstarr, and many more…all coming to the Mohawk April 23-25. Fri & Sat lineup here, Sunday TBA. 

Merely three years after writing her first song, Celeste Griffin founded Monarchs in both Birmingham, Alabama and Austin, Texas, catching the attention of the “Music Capital of the World” by independently releasing two EPs and playing regular gigs at Emo’s, Cactus Cafe, and Mohawk. Celeste has developed the music emergent in her and cultivated her own unique brand of intimate songwriting. Her rugged, feminine lyrics combined with her smoky vocals make for dreamy yet anthemic music. Monarchs’ EPs, “The Oak EP” and “Those Words, Those Frames,” are the sonic equivalent of a summer evening on a back porch. Griffin takes these moments wherever she goes, ultimately keeping every thread in Monarchs intimate. Monarchs’ identity is ultimately that of family, and Celeste collaborates with musicians in both Birmingham and Austin to find creative catalysts, such as artist Van Hollingsworth, and develop her craft organically. Currently, Monarchs’ Austin assemblage features musicians Alex Tomaino (guitar), Josh Halpern (drums), and Phil Ajjarpu (bass). This summer, Monarchs will record their first full length LP with producer Mike McCarthy (Spoon, Heartless Bastards) and plan to tour the U.S. extensively in the fall.

(this post taken from Monarchs’ post on our DIY Open Blog, check out other Open Blog posts in the Deli Kitchen. As for Monarchs – check them out at Stubb’s on April 8th)

 

 

Deli writer Melanie Gardner caught the ONOM show last night & had this to say: "Oh No Oh My headlined an unofficial late afternoon show at Lovejoys and had the crowd dancing all set long. The foursome played old material, as well as new songs from their upcoming album. The band’s light and cheerful keyboard playing drove the set, always keeping the poppy flow of heads bobbing in the audience. Lovejoys stayed relatively packed through the end, with new fans getting up and moving along to the catchy rhythmic vibe…" 

Meanwhile I don’t know who’s booking for the new So Co diner Snack Bar, but nice work! They had San Saba County early and The Lemurs (photo below by Chris Carson) late; I missed SSC but the Lemurs stole the thunder from the nearby (and much larger) SXSanJose…they’re made up of some parts What Made Milwaukee Famous, some parts mysterious and many parts pop and guitar and synth. I walked away impressed…

 

Things are soggy now so we look back fondly on the sun-dappled deck at Jovitas where we caught Monahans followed by Matt the Electrician; things happen fast during SXSW and somehow we missed Dodecahexagoniconiggle, or whatever the crazy thing was that the Octopus Project unveiled at Whole Foods…but we’re looking forward to hearing about it. Anyone? 

Here’s a good SXSW Friday – if you have a teleporter – starting at High Noon, and including several totally unnecessary editorial comments:

Candi & The Strangers @ The Independent; The Monarchs @ Creekside;

12:15 Ideal Soul Mart @ the Dog & Duck;

1:00 The Davis Levels (pictured above) @ Waterloo Cycles; (+ Fucked Up @ Red 7 @ 1:12, btw);

1:30 Suzanna Choffel @ Jovitas (where I yesterday, in quick succession, saw Monahans, Gordon Gano, and Matt the Electrician, more on that soon);

2:00 (We call this one Austin Indie Fan Sophie’s Choice:) Shearwater @ Waterloo Records + The Wooden Birds @ The Mohawk + Ume @ The Independent;

2:50 Brazos @ Red Eyed Fly (odd venue for them…);

4:00 …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead @ The Independent + Brazos (again) at Downtown Burgers + New Roman Times @ The Ghost Room; 

4:30 Amy Cook @ Jo’s Coffee + Centro-Matic @ Club DeVille;

5:00 Neon Indian (who we will continue to claim as an Austin artist, regardless of his mailing address) @ Emo’s; 

5:45 Grupo Fantasma @ Mess With Texas; 

6:30 Oh No! Oh My! @ Lovejoy’s; 

9:00 Strange Attractors @ The Spider House; 

10:00 Ume (again) @ 21st. St. Co-op…and official tends to dominate the evening, but much much more Unofficial coming tomorrow…

  

One could, if one were so inclined, spend a a good SXSW exclusively on South Congress: It’s always a little tricky to get this schedule, but here is what they’ve got going on for SXSan Jose this year, definitely free, definitely worthwhile. Just across the street you’ve got your Music By the Slice happening, this year with Brazos (above) playing an early Thursday set + dozens of other excellent bands, no wristband, no RSVP, no problem. Guero’s has the Boxing Lesson, My Education, Dan Dyer, Suzanna Choffel, and many more for their day parties, full lineup right here. Of course the Continental has a full slate. Yard Dog gallery always packs in some weird and wonderful bands, like these, plus Friday they have the Bloodshot Records day party, no badge, no wristband, and no shortage of Exene Cervenka. As the Austin Motel says, so close yet so far out…

A dusty codebook of journalistic ethics I found recommends that I disclose the following: the Deli Austin editor had a hand in putting together the Frog Music Licensing showcase, but even so, the all-local, stellar lineup (below), the killer venue (Ghost Room), and the price (free) combine to require that you spend part of your Tuesday there; for the other part, of course, you’ll be at the Deli-sponsored Music Tech Mashup at Rusty Spurs, awed by the three stages, the emerging technologies, and its own extensive and none-too-shabby lineup.

Frog! Tuesday 3/16 @ The Ghost Room…

7:30 Peoplefood

8:15 Sunset

9:00 Leatherbag

9:45 Wiretree

10:30 New Roman Times

11:15 The Morakestra

12:00 Followed By Static

12:45 Frantic Clam

Alan Palomo, aka Neon Indian, has unveiled his first new track since the release of the much-acclaimed Psychic Chasms: "Sleep Paralysist", recorded with Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear, is now available for download at Green Label Sound. You’ll also have several opportunities to check him out live if you happen to be an Austin-based or Austin-bound individual: Neon Indian is as busy as everyone else this SXSW, playing the Terrorbird/Force Field gig, the Pitchfork gig (which makes sense, since Pitchfork gets the assist in launching Neon Indian), the Friendly Fire gig at Club de Ville (excellent venue) and Mess With Texas 4, a huge hoedown on East 6th that also features Gwar, Crystal Antlers, and Billy Bragg – reason enough.  

It was Whitman (pictured above, photo by Jay West) who first pointed out to me that Free Beer Needs Be Drank: how true, how true. There’s 1000 of ’em (Lone Stars, of course) due to the first arrivals each day at the Six Stages Over Texas Block Party, taking place amidst the SXSW madness. The shows benefit the victims of the Haiti and Chile earthquakes and feature massive numbers of Austin bands, so many in fact that I can’t even begin. Just trust us. Or check the link. 

Deli writer Ellen Green recently tracked down our Year End Poll grand champions STEREO IS A LIE for a quick Q&A. SIAL plays the Ghost Room this Friday (3/5) along with an all-local lineup of New Roman Times, Sad Accordions, The Distant Seconds, and DJ Parklife. And here’s what STEREO IS A LIE had to say…

So, you have an album coming out.  How was it working with Chris Cline?

We’ve been tracking the album on and off for the past seven months, but we’ll be completely wrapped up next week. It has taken a little longer than we thought it would, but we wanted to explore every possible avenue, leaving no stone unturned so to speak. We’ve used every mic imaginable, smashed guitars, plugged in as many amplifiers at one time as we possibly could, learned new instruments etc. Finally, what we’re left with are ten songs that we feel, capture the band. Chris Cline (…Trail Of Dead, The Society Of Rockets, Explosions in the Sky, etc.) is going to mix the record, so that’s really the next step. Chris is one of the few people outside of the band that we trust to put the same amount of love into the record that we have, so we’re very excited to be working with him.

 

When is the album due out?

 

It’ll definitely be this year, but we don’t have an exact release date just yet. I’m sure it would just change anyway, so I don’t want to tell you any fibs.

 

What influenced the music (ie life, kids, other music, politics) for this album?

 

Lyrically there’s a lot of social commentary and the music certainly reflects that as well. It’s hard to ignore the rate at which the world falls further into chaos everyday, but I mean why would you ignore that? I’d much rather make honest observations as opposed to churning out another distraction that helps anesthetize the masses.

 

What is the live show about?  Tour plans?

 

Blood, sweat and beers. I guess maybe watching a SIAL show is a bit like taking a non-stop train journey. Although you may be familiar with your carriage’s environment, the surroundings outside of that are constantly changing.

 

We’ll definitely do a bit of touring to support the release. Now that the recording part of our lives is nearly finished for this record, we can shift some focus toward more shows, festivals and tours.

 

What is your Saturday night album?  Sunday morning album?

 

I don’t know, there isn’t really an album I go for when I’m putting my lipstick on, doing my hair and getting ready to hit the town on a Saturday night. Hit shuffle and go I say! Sunday mornings are for sleeping, but if I have to listen to anything then it had better be sensitive to my hangover.

 

First concert you ever saw??  Best concert?

 

The first concert I saw was The Mission at Newcastle City Hall, I think they were touring the Carved In Sand album. The best? That’s way too tough to answer, there are just so many to choose from…Radiohead, Dubstar, Constantines, Suede, TVOTR, Longpigs, The Raveonettes, Suzanne Vega, BRMC, Ladytron, These Animal Men…the list goes on.

 

What are your/the band’s musical influences?

 

There are countless influences, but definitely nothing we really lean towards, instead we prefer to subconsciously absorb everything and see what our brains spit out. We take from everything, be it a Renaissance piece by John Dunstable or Phil Collins ‘In The Air’ tonight. Nothing is out of bounds and nobody is safe.

 

–Ellen Green