Dum Dum Girls (Dee Dee & Jules) - "I Will Be" Live @ Mohawk, 08.12.11

This past Friday the beautiful duo Dee Dee & Jules of the Dum Dum Girls made a stop at Austin's Mohawk for a stripped down set. The performance gave them a chance to test out the quieter side of the band and preview new material from their forthcoming album Only In Dreams. However the quieter side of the band isn't that much quieter than the full band. Stripped down to two guitars, Dee Dee & Jules sound extra reverby. The performance was far from an acoustic one as Jules kept with her pedals and effects. It did help emphasize the harmonies found in the vocals. Dee Dee's love sick tales had a little extra brood effect.

Along with new songs, the Austin show also included familiar Dum Dum tunes like the title track off their debut I Will Be-- video of which is below.

After the jump check out the trailer for Only In Dreams.

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Balmorhea @ Mohawk, 02.25.11

Let me start by saying that my recent trend of naming blog posts with the artist's lyrics really won't work when the band doesn't have words in their music.

Austin band Balmorhea is directly responsible for the revelation of how much I like modern classical. Or is it called chamber music? Either way, their are some really great artists composing masterful symphonies these days— Brooklyn Rider, Clogs, Sarah Kirkland Snider— but Balmorhea is the most prolific. Lead by the duo of Michael Muller and Rob Lowe, the band has a massively impressive catalog including last year's album Constellations and their most recent release the "Candor / Clamor" 7-inch. Each project is pure awe inspiring beauty.

Mohawk was the scene of Balmorhea's first hometown show since September. Here are some photos from that night and a video of them performing the Constellations standout "Bowsprit."

I also uploaded video of "Night Squall" and "Candor" on youtube. Balmorhea is swinging around the west coast for a couple of weeks. They will be back in town for SXSW as they are part of the Western Vinyl Showcase at Lamberts on the Saturday the 19th. 

I Am Free, I Will Begin Again

Swans @ Mohawk, 02.18.11

I can’t say that I’m a long time Swans fan. Prior to last year they were just one of those names I heard in passing, a band you hear about when your favorites list their influences, an New York underground band that was said to pave the way for many more. The brainchild of Michael Gira, Swans were major players during the “no wave” scene with a barrage of post-punk, industrial, and noise rock. Then for the most part they were considered a done deal after the flow of new material stopped in 1996. In 2010 Gira resurrected the Swans with members old and new. Included in the latest lineup is Austin’s very own Thor Harris, best known for his work as part of Shearwater. The result of the revived band is My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky, which to say the least is a monstrous album. From the opening wall of mammoth bells and guitars to the closing acappella verse, the album is as dark as it is spiritual and elegant as much as it is chaotic. I instantly understood why Gira is considered a modern day legend.

Swans took the stage at Mohawk this past Friday to bring that wall of sound to life. They didn’t disappoint, as each song was a massive assault of sound. At many points it was as if the band were literally beating the fuck out of their instruments. Images of the Incredible Hulk danced through my head seeing Harris’s bare-chested pummeling of a gong during the closing “Eden Prison.” As @TransmitAustin mentioned through twitter, “Swans. EPICITY”

Here is video of the previously mentioned “Eden Prison.” I apologize for the sound quality. Standing in front of the speaker during Swans is pretty much like standing next to a jet engine as it fires up.





I put an even longer video of the set opener “No Words, No Thoughts” over on youtube.

We're Off To See The Sea

Follow That Bird! @ Mohawk, 02.12.11

I finally got the chance to catch Austin band Follow That Bird! last night. They had been on my to see list for quite a while. They stole the show on the first Casual Victim Pile album last year with their song "The Ghosts That Wake You." Then I saw a picture and noticed that the girls in the band are ridiculously gorgeous, which only further sparked my interest. Musically, they have that traditional indie-guitar rock meets riot-grrl punk thing. It's a little Sleater-Kinney, a little bit of the Strokes, and full adrenaline inducing.

Somewhere I read that they are working on a full-length album, but until then they have a new 7" hitting the streets in time for SXSW. Those two songs are already digitally available on bandcamp in the meantime.

I'm really digging this band to say the least. Count me as a full fledged fan now. Here are video and pics from the show.

Sunset Rubdown @ Mohawk, 06.20.09

“If I ever hurt you, it will be in self-defense,” those were the first words to come from Spencer Krug as he began his set last night (06.20.09) at Mohawk. They were sung in his trademark vocal style that sounds like he is either on the edge of bursting into tears or teetering on the brink of insanity. The lyrics themselves are also a brand of their own as most of the time they are so cryptic you never really can tell what he is talking about. “No I’m not the type of that whore, but I am a little lord,” Krug sings and later leads the crowd in chants of “You snake!” The song is “The Empty Threats of Little Lord” and the band he was with was Sunset Rubdown.

The song leads directly into “Idiot Heart,” the first single off of the band’s newest album Dragonslayer. For Spencer Krug it’s his third release in just over a year with as many bands: the others being Wolf Parade’s At Mount Zoomer and Swan Lake’s Enemy Mine. With a constant stream of material coming from him it would be easy for Sunset Rubdown to fall into the cracks, but undoubtedly this band stands out as the most prolific of Krug’s projects. It also stands out as the most critically acclaimed. Thanks is due mostly to the rest of the band. Initially conceived as a solo outlet, Krug has since drafted a mighty group of musicians to make up Sunset Rubdown— most notably vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Camilla Wynne Ingr and Jordan Robson-Cramerwhose drums perfectly complement the theatric moments of Krug. Sunset Rubdown is an epic band in every sense of the word.


The crowd at Mohawk was with Sunset Rubdown at each step. “Idiot Heart” received a welcome response and got more than just a few people dancing. After the two opening songs Krug moved from guitar to his more traditional place at the keyboard. Old favorite “The Mending of the Gown” kept the crowd dancing. From there we were treated to several new tracks including the soft melodies of “Silver Moons” and the blazing movement of “Black Swan.”

Towards the end of their nearly hour long set Krug and company again reached back to their earlier release Random Spirit Lover for the grand “Winged/Wicked Things” with Krug belting out like he was at the top of a mountain “And if chaos is yours, then chaos is mine. And chaos is love, and they say love is blind.” To close out they gave us a pair of newbies: the long and quiet “Dragon’s Lair,” and the larger than live “Nightengale/December Song.”

This being my second time seeing Sunset Rubdown live, I can truthfully say they are one of my favorite live bands. Their performance comes across as epic and majestic as their albums. And listening to Dragonslayer (their third full-length as a full band) as I write this, I can definitely say that I’m hearing one of the best albums of 2009. While there is plenty of Spencer Krug material to go around these days, he has always been strongest when surrounded by his Sunset Rubdown bandmates.

Dragonslayer officially hits stores this Tuesday, June 23. Do yourself a favor and pick this up. It is officially Trinity Stardust approved.

The Rosebuds "Leaves Do Fall" SXSW Performance Video

I came across this video today, and figured I would take the chance to chat about one of my favorite bands.

A big highlight of this year's SXSW for me was getting to see The Rosebuds perform several times. Within the last year this band quickly became one of my favorites thanks to their spectacular fourth album Life Like. After hearing album I dug into their previous work, and I can pretty much say now that I love everything The Rosebuds have put out. The North Carolina duo of Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp have remained a genre defining band with each release-- sometimes traditional indie rock, sometime synth dance, other times a little of both.

The song "Leaves Do Fall" comes from their second album Birds Make Good Neighbors. Here's a video off crawdaddy.com of The Rosebuds performing at Mohawk during SXSW. 

It really was quite the pleasure to see them multiple times during that week. Much like the musical turns found on their albums, for each show they added a little extra spice to the performance. Whether it was the "Nice Fox" sing-along at the My Old Kentucky Blog party or the "Bow to the Middle" waltz-along (same Hot Freaks party as vid above), Ivan and Kelly kept it exciting each time. Hopefully, it wont be long till they come back to Texas. Even after seeing them three times in three days, I am edger to catch them again. 

Shearwater @ Mohawk, 01.30.09

Chances are that long time Austinites have been rocking out to Shearwater for years now. Since the band's inception in 2001 by two now-former members of Okkervil River, they have five full-length albums to their credit. The latest of those being 2008's Rook released on indie powerhouse Matador Records. This album popped up on several best of year lists and very deserving so. If I had actually taken a listen to Rook last year, it probably would have ended up on my own personal best of list. Unfortunately, sometimes I suck and jump on things late. I heard Rook for the first time only two weeks ago, and since have been in awe of the haunting beauty of this album. With my newly found admiration for Shearwater, I was excited to see that they were playing Mohawk last night (1.30.09).


The band lead by vocalist Jonathan Meiburg braved the cold weather outdoors to put on an amazing performance. They hit the with the song "Rooks" early on and received a great response from the crowd for it. While you'll notice the frequent references of birds in their titles, it's something that seems warranted when you listen to them. Much like the flight of a bird, Shearwater's music is filled with grace, epic movement, and flawless tone. It creates a sound that could be orchestral. Other songs played from the latest album included "The Snow Leopard" and "Leviathan, Bound." As with their recordings, the strength of Shearwater's live show comes from Meiburg. His voice is simply amazing and the vocals are as close to perfect as anyone can get. If he was at all affected by the bitter cold he didn't show it. Their wasn't a shiver to be found.

Shearwater will be touring Europe later this year, but surely Austin will get plenty of opportunities to see this hometown band play in the future. I myself will be taking the time to become fully integrated with their back catalog.

Grand Ole Party @ Mohawk, 9.27.08

With all the official ACL After Parties going on during the festival, it was easy to overlook the other great bands that were in town to play that weekend. It was even easier to overlook that Grand Ole Party was doing a rock star move by playing two shows in one night on that Saturday. The first being an opening spot for Sunset Rubdown at Mohawk, and the second was a late nighter at Beauty Bar.

The three-piece band from San Diego is riding the wave from their 2007 debut album Humanimals, which was produced by Rilo Kiley’s Blake Sennett and helped them win “Best Alternative Band” at the San Diego Music Awards. Having visited a year ago while on tour with Rilo Kiley and playing several shows during SXSW '08, they are no strangers to Austin.

The unique band construction puts Kristen Gundred on lead vocals and drums, resulting in a rarely seen setup on stage. Gundred’s drums are placed front and center with guitarist John Paul Labno and bassist Michael Krechnyak to each of her sides. They were immediately able to grab the Mohawk crowd with their funk-punk style. However, the appeal of the group undoubtedly sits with Gundred. Yes her pinup Dita Von Teese-like beauty garners a lot of attention, but it’s her distinct vocal sound that truly wins over audiences. She sings like Karen O injected with the power of Janis Joplin, all the while controlling the band by playing drums at the same time.

The crowd was treated to the best songs off Humanimals– like “Look Out Young Son,” “INSANE,” and “Nasty Habits”–and even got the rarity “Next Day Nightmare” which can be found on their Daytrotter Session. Unfortunately their set was short, as they had to pass the stage off to Sunset Rubdown and rush off to Beauty Bar for gig #2 of the night. Hopefully Grand Ole Party will return to Austin in the near future; with an expanding fan-base and growing media attention, they are definitely one to keep your eye on.