Sucré – Live at The Mohawk
On Monday April 23rd I had the pleasure of seeing Sucre perform at The Mohawk in Austin, Texas. Sucre is an Indie Pop band from Tyler, Texas comprised of Eisley’s Stacy King, Husband/Mutemath drummer Darren King, and friend Jeremy Larson. I was sitting in the library at 9 working on some homework when I saw Eisley tweet about Sucre playing The Mohawk that night. I instantly dropped what I was doing and ran to my car. When I arrived at the Mohawk I was happy to see the band would playing the inside stage. The opening band was Emily Wolfe, a local Austin musician and St. Edwards student. The crowd was really into it, shouting at the end of every song and even convinced Mohawk to allow an encore. The next band to play was Houston’s Ton Ton’s, I wasn’t a big fan. Sucre was next, the band was scheduled to play at midnight and anticipation was killing me. Sucre’s album has been out for a few weeks but I wouldn’t say I know it too well. I love what I’ve heard but I just haven’t had the time to really sit down and listen to the record. The band came on stage right at midnight and I couldn’t have been standing in a better spot, somehow throughout the night I unknowingly moved to the center of the crowd two rows back from the stage. I could see everything perfect, and Stacy King was right in front of me. Stacy kicked the show off with “Hiding Out”. Hiding Out, like most of the record, starts off with a beautiful piano part building up to the verse. Stacy’s voice poured out of the speakers like an angel. I was drawn into the song, completely forgetting where I was and who was around me, It was me and the band and that was it. It was only after the song ended that I remembered where I was thanks to the roaring applause of the huge crowd that almost appeared out of nowhere. The most amazing part of the show had to be Darren King on drums, I knew he was good after hearing Mutemath and Sucre’s but good is an understatement. King is one of the best drummers I have ever seen live. He managed to take the simplest drum beats and make them unique, there were certain points of the show where the audience was only watching him. The band played every song off the record and the show ended at around 1 am. I was so happy I went, it was one of the best shows I’ve seen all year and that’s including SXSW. If you have the chance to see this band live don’t miss out. Sucre’s debut album “A Minor Bird” can be found on Itunes, Amazon, and Spotify, it’s a worth a listen.
Photo Credit: Brooklyn Vegan
I found this video of Sucre performing “Hiding Out” live and had to share it. This song is so beautiful and this perfomance is perfect.
Sucré – “Hiding Out”
Eisley: Live At Savannah Theatre Photos
Eisley recently tweeted some great photos from their show in Savannah, Georgia. The photos were taken by Bliss Katherine Braoudakis and posted on her blogspot. When I saw these pictures I felt the urge to share them, the colors and lights give the photos a really cool magic feel. I regret not seeing Eisley when they came to Austin last month but I’ll be seeing Sucre in a week and hope to be blown away.
Original Post from: BlissKatherine.Blogspot
BONUS: Merriment Photos
New The Coathangers Music Video – “Go Away”
Another band I talk about way too much is Atlanta’s own The Coathangers. The all girl “punk” band recently released their video for “Go Away”, a favorite of mine off their lastest record “Larceny and Old Lace”. The video reminds me a lot of Summer Camp’s video for “Down” that was made entirely of GIFs. At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about this video because frankly it seemed a little plain compared to the bands other videos (i.e. “Hurricane” and “Trailerpark Boneyard“). After watching the video a few times I decided that, “I really dig it”. It’s slow and not much is going on but honestly that’s how the song is, simple and to the point. If you haven’t checked out The Coathangers yet I highly recommend it. “Larceny and Old Lace” is out now on Suicide Squeeze Records. Buy it!
The Coathangers – “Go Away”
SXSW Spotlight: Slingshot Dakota
Hometown: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Genre: Pop Punk, Emo
I was going through some old posts and I realized that my “SXSW Spotlight” posts fell flat pretty quickly. The festival was keeping me pretty busy/exhausted but there were some bands I discovered that I would hate not to share. I think it was tuesday when my friend let me know about a HelloGoodbye show at midnight. I looked up where the showcase would be and headed over early to check out the opening bands. It was the Topshelf Records Showcase at Gypsy Lounge, it started at noon and it was already 5 so I made my way over. The first band I saw as I walked in was TS & The Haunts, to my surprise the lead singer of the band was the old singer from Piebald, but more on that later. The show went on and I watched some cool bands like Look Mexico and A Great Big Pile Of Leaves while enjoying an overpriced Frito Pie. My friend met up with me around 9 and we headed into the indoor stage to wait for HelloGoodbye and check out a few more bands. A band set up with simply a keyboard and drumset and introduced themselves as Slingshot Dakota from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The band started jamming out and the crowd responded immediately bobbing there heads at first and then jumping up and down singing along by the end. There was something really comforting about the band that I have yet to figure out. Slingshot Dakota is a great example of that new “pop punk” sound coming out of pennsylvania right now (check out The Wonder Years) and I can’t wait to see where they’ll take the new record. You can hear the band on Spotify and probably some other places!
Slingshot Dakota – “Until The Day I Die”
New Reptar Song – “Orifice Origami”
If you read my post “The Best Bands You Haven’t Heard Yet” then you may already know about Reptar, but if you haven’t it’s time to jump on the bandwagon. I saw the Athens, Georgia 4-piece last year at Austin City Limits Music Festival. A couple of my friends and I were wondering around trying to find some band worth watching. It had just finished raining when the sun decided to come out, and for all of you who live in Texas you know how incredibly humid and disgusting it got within seconds. We stumbled upon the band setting up at one of the smaller stages and decided to give them a shot. They were loud, yelled a lot, danced around, and made some of the craziest faces humanly possible, we couldn’t have chosen a better set to watch. A friend of mine fell in love with the band instantly and we ended up seeing them in Austin for his birthday in February. There is something about the passion and energy the band has in their songs when you see them live that just doesn’t translate well to the recordings. Not to say the band isn’t awesome in mp3 form, the band recently posted a song called “Orifice Origami” from their upcoming debut record “Body Faucet”. Every time I listen to the song I get really excited for the new record. The song has all the energy and attitude of the bands first EP but with a more polished sound. Reptar was one of the most talked about bands at SXSW and that’s always a good indicator of success. “Body Faucet” is out May 1st, make sure you check it out.
Reptar – “Orifice Origami”
New Best Coast – “The Only Place”
If you live in Texas, or anywhere else in the states, you noticed we didn’t have much of a Winter this year. Spring is in full gear in Austin and I couldn’t be happier. Maybe it’s the Texan in me but Winter is really my least favorite season, I need summer, I need the sun beating down on the city warming the air. Best Coast released the title track of their upcoming album today “The Only Place”. The song is a tribute to Summer and her home state of California. I’ve only been to California once when I was about 7 years old and we visited my grandparents in Sacramento so I didn’t really get to the side of California people write songs about. One day I’ll make it out west but for now I’ll enjoy the Lonestar state.
Best Coast manages to write a simple song that makes me pine for Summer and all the things that come with it, the water, the sun, the heat, and the girls. A perfect song for summer, which I’m sure her record will be the soundtrack for my summer. The first thing that I noticed when I heard this track was the lack of distortion on her voice. I think Bethenny finally realized, after all the success, that she has a great voice and she shouldn’t hide behind all the distortion. Distortion and the “Noise Pop” sound really define Best Coast’s so it could have been a risky move but I think they pulled it off perfectly, the band managed to remove the distortion off the vocals without compromising the sound of the band. I was lucky enough to see Best Coast at SPIN Magazines SXSW showcase. The band played only new songs and I caught my self jamming out to each one and I couldn’t be more happy about that. This album is going to be fantastic and I can’t wait to hear it on May 15th. Oh by the way did I mention this song is Free? Enjoy.
Best Coast – “The Only Place”
Chairlift – “Met Before (Choose Your Adventure Video)”
I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that Chairlift’s newest release “Something” is one of my favorites of the year, but more on that later. I’ve been pretty busy with SXSW stuff and I happened to over look this amazing little video Chairlift put out for their song “Met Before”. You follow lead singer Caroline Polachek as a PhD student facing choices that cause some very different outcomes for her life. Interactive videos are not a new thing, Arcade Fire has been doing them for years, but many of the videos put out by artists are confusing, require a special browser, or are just plain boring. Chairlift manages to pull past all of those fall points with this video. The instructions are simple and you’re given 2 choices letting the different stories flow smoothly, depending on your choices. To be completely honest I wasted a good hour on this video just trying out all the different alternatives, it’s just so cool!
The band posted the interactive video on their website:
Chairlift – “Met Before (Choose Your Own Adventure)”
Sleigh Bells – Irreplaceable (Beyonce Cover)
I found this track on RCRDLBL today and knew had to share it. I missed Sleigh Bells at SXSW this year so finding this was a nice treat while I wait for them to come back around in April. Sleigh Bells did this cover of Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable” for their Maida Vale session on BBC radio. I can honestly say the only times I ever listen to Beyonce are in public places when I can’t avoid the radio or it’s 4 am and MTV is playing the video and the remotes on the floor. That being said I actually really like this song, I know the original somewhat but there is something about the roughness of this cover that nails it for me. It’s a live cover done for a short radio show, the track alone only being 2:14 minutes long, and they rocked it. Another reason I really like this cover is how it shows the dynamics of the band, not in a directly musical way but just how diverse the artists that influence that Sleigh Bells sound are. If you get the chance I really suggest checking out SPIN Magazines cover story on the band.
Sleigh Bells – Irreplaceable (Beyonce Cover)
SXSW Spotlight: Wild Moccasins
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Genre: Indie/Pop
Saturday night I went to my first SXSW party of the year, Girl + Guy 2012. It had been raining all Friday and most of Saturday but I made the decision to go based entirely on the fact that this band was playing. I first heard Wild Moccasins on a Daytrotter Session a few months ago and was delighted to hear they were from Houston. Houston is a very musical city but doesn’t get the same credit as Austin, so it’s always exciting to find a new band hailing from my “hometown”. Wild Moccasins are a great Indie Pop band and a real treat to see live. When the band came on the party was a little dull, the opener was boring and we were all standing in mud drinking overpriced beer. Wild Moccassins were right on schedule, they started off with their single “Skin Collision Past” and you could tell the crowd was getting into it. The band continue to draw the crowd as the party got bigger in anticipation for the headliners, UME. I was really impressed with the bands live show, if you’re at SXSW this year you should definitely check them out.
SXSW Shows:
Thursday, March 15 8:00PM – 8:40PM at TenOak
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Wild Moccasins – “Skin Collision Past”
The Best Bands You Haven’t Heard Yet (SXSW Edition)
South By Southwest is just around the corner and I’m sure you’ve been RSVPing to all the parties. South By Southwest is one of the biggest music festivals in the world and thousands of bands from all over come to Austin, Texas for one week in March to finally get their big break. My favorite thing about SXSW is walking aimlessly into a random show and hearing your new favorite band. SXSW has a lot of great shows with a lot of popular bands but those shows have the longest lines and usually the lamest people. So this year I suggest taking some time to skip that big showcase and venture around, you’ll never know what you might find.
Here is a list of a few of my favorite “lesser” known bands playing the festival this year.
Reptar
Blastoff:
Natural Bridge:
Lydia Loveless
More Like Them:
Crazy:
Ringo Deathstarr
Two Girls:
So High:
Starslinger
Mornin:
May I Walk With You?:
Bleached
Think Of You:
Searching Through The Past:
Typhoon
The Honest Truth:
Common Sentiment:
The Eastern Sea
The Mountain:
The Snow:
