The Hear Nebraska eagle has completed its landing at SXSW 2014.
HN contributor Chris Dinan continued his photo coverage throughout the afternoon on Wednesday, while Bridget and myself arrived on 6th Street last night to a sea of bodies and a few late shows. We caught the first Nebraska act we could in Twinsmith at The 512, their only currently scheduled set of the festival.
Through the next three days, Hear Nebraska’s coverage team will check in on the Nebraska acts performing at SXSW, including Orion Walsh, AZP, Digital Leather, Jimmy Hooligan and Latin Threat. Please email chancesp@hearnebraska.org if you know of more, and stay tuned to HN’s coverage of the festival on HearNebraska.org.
See photos and read reviews from Protormartyr, Coachwhips, Empress Of, Perfect Pussy, Cashmere Cat, Twinsmith, Ex Hex, Natural Child, Gardens & Villa and Leftover Cuties below.
Protomartyr at French Legation Museum
Photos by Chris Dinan
Coachwhips at French Legation Museum
photos by Chris Dinan
Empress Of at French Legation Museum
photos by Chris Dinan
Sopjie at French Legation Museum
photo by Chris Dinan
Perfect Pussy at French Legation Museum
photos by Chris Dinan
Cashmere Cat at French Legation Museum
photos by Chris Dinan
Ex Hex at French Legation Museum
photos by Chris Dinan
Twinsmith at The 512
review by Chance Solem-Pfeifer | photos by Bridget McQuillan and Chris Dinan
photo by Chris Dinan
On Wednesday at 11 p.m., Twinsmith played on the lower floor of The 512 — a bare-walled cantina with two levels and an enormous half-moon bar — to a crowd of about 40 or 50, which included a healthy smattering of homebase support from Nebraskans at SXSW.
If you can tell how well a Twinsmith set is going by how present Jordan Smith’s falsetto whooping is, Wednesday was both on-point enough to make the noises warranted and free enough to elicit the extra vowel sounds.
As more time passes between the Omaha rock quartet and their debut 2013 album, they set about to twisting and warping their otherwise ultra-tight rock songs. Opening Wednesday with “The Thrill,” Matt Regner and Smith fuzzed out their guitars for almost 30-second interludes. Same token, different side of it: they accelerated “Easy Thoughts” to almost 1.5 time, rendering it just a raging beat and a melody line. It’s another gear in the repertoire of a band that structurally relies on driving their songs forward by breaking into eighth and sixteenth notes always at the end of 4-beat phrases, and then all coming together for a sharp clap on the first beat of the next measure. It’s also why almost every Twinsmith song ends with sharp (and sometimes unexpected) snap, the perfect quiet space for an Austin crowd to applaud.
Just before and after “Honestly” — a single released on a Saddle Creek seven-inch in November, Twinsmith rolled out both brand new and newer material. This included the set’s wormiest groove from Regner on synth in a song Smith called “John Elway’s First Touchdown Pass.” Whether Smith was envisioning Elway’s inaugural NFL 33-yard strike to Rick Parros in his 1983 game against the Philadelphia Eagles or the quarterback’s first touchdown ever, as in junior high, having Regner control the melody line on synth seems like an apt way for the band’s new material to trend. It means a bigger bed for drummer Oliver Morgan’s lightning hi-hat work and more opportunity for Smith to prance and work the crowd.
photos by Chris Dinan
Natural Child at Cheer Up Charlies
photos by Chris Dinan
Gardens & Villa at Cheer Up Charlies
photos by Chris Dinan
Leftover Cuties at Lambert’s BBQ
review by Chance Solem-Pfeifer | photos by Bridget McQuillan
At every glance, Stuart Johnson’s drumkit seemed to produce another piece of novelty percussion. The larger structure was recognizable with a kick drum and toms and snares, but wait. Is that an old timey receptionist’s bell? Is that a cowbell? Is that an airhorn secured under his hi-hat? Wait, is that another old timey receptionist’s bell?
This crop of dusty antique store fare was written all over the aesthetic of Leftover Cuties from Venice, Calif., who played a midnight show on the upper level of Lamberts Downtown Barbecue about a mile off the beaten path of 6th Street.
Devoted to four-chord pop, the quartet took on a very specific kind of Americana veneer: soda fountain, dimestore sweetness with straw hats and an accordion and Shirli McAllen’s sugary cooing. The biggest stretch of their orderly bounce was a cover of Regina Spektor’s “Fidelity.” Otherwise any defying of their clopping rhythms were done via trumpet, accordion or kazoo. This produced the moments, mostly in the bridges of songs, when they pop morphed into gypsy folk, eliciting mock salsa dancing from the small crowd. Then it quickly renewed its vows to McAllen’s ukulele jaunts.
Chris Dinan and Bridget McQuillan are Hear Nebraska Contributors. Chance Solem-Pfeifer is Hear Nebraska’s managing editor. Reach them all through Chance at chancesp@hearnebraska.org.