SXSW Day 3 w/ Hinds, Bat Fangs, Wye Oak, Ruby Boots, Sarah Shook & The Disarmers, Panels from Superchunk, Steve Albini & Kim Deal, and more, 3/14/18

Steve Albini & Kim Deal

All Official and Whatnot

I've spent lots of time during my previous trips to SXSW at unofficial shows and showcases. There will be plenty of that this year, too; but, yesterday, I decided to take it a little bit easy and do some stuff around the Convention Center during the day. My plan was to sit in a lot of chairs all day and then take in some bands in the evening.

Tuesday's shenanigans kind of wore me out. The crew from Dentist and I had some slumber party hangs that night and then went our separate ways in the morning. They headed out for an interview, and I went to the Convention Center to check out the "Featured Discussion" with Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan of Superchunk / Merge Records. The pair discussed running an independent record label in the era of the Internet (which, according to McCaughan, "Has ruined everything with a few exceptions"), their thoughts on "getting political" as artists, Ballance's thoughts on running for office, and quite a bit more. It was a really interesting discussion and the words "disrupt" or "blockchain" didn't even come up until the Q&A session, which must be some kind of record for SXSW 2018.

Laura & Mac

After that it was time for some barbecue from the really quite good Iron Works Barbecue around the corner from the Convention Center. I manage to eat there every year, and it is solid.

I made it back in time for Wye Oak's set on the "Radio Day Stage" inside the Convention Center. In three years, I've never seen a band there; and, while it does kind of feel like a huge conference room, hearing Wye Oak fully sound-checked and coming through a great system was a real treat. Plus chairs.

Wye Oak

Then, I hoofed it down 4th Street to the Cedar Street Courtyard (more like an alley, really, but still cool) for Hinds' set at FLOODFest. I really do love this Spanish four-piece. Jangly, messy garage pop and they have a total blast. They just make everyone happy, you know?

Hinds

Anyway.

It was back to the mothership for a packed out "Conversation with Steve Albini and Kim Deal." Albini opened that by saying that Kim Deal is one of his favorite people to work with, one of those people for whom he'll say yes before even knowing the details of the request. "And that's how I ended up here, a place where I swore I'd never set foot as long as I lived."

Their talk was engaging, and I'm really glad I made the time for it. I'm also glad that I got up the nerve to walk up front when it was done to tell Kim Deal how much I love the new Breeders' record, All Nerve.

After some re-charging at the hotel, I headed over to Barracuda to catch the set from DC's Bat Fangs. It was just pure rock, delivered with all the big guitar solos and high kicking energy that comes through on the band's self-titled album. So much fun.

Bat Fangs

Call a Lyft. Head over to the Continental Club for some country music at the Bloodshot Records showcase. Sets from Ruby Boots and Sarah Shook and The Disarmers as well as a meetup with our good bud, Matt Chrystal.

Ruby Boots

Ruby Boots blew us both away. The Nashville via Perth, Australia singer / songwriter was backed by a band that brought a real edge to her live performance. Sarah Shook is simply brilliant, an honest voice with a real gift for writing songs about whiskey, broken relationships, and being a general fuck-up that you can't help but sing along to.

Sarah Shook

That was it for me. Three more days to go. I got this.

Check This Out Plus Some New Videos for You to Check Out from Elephant Fire and Ruby Boots

Check out Check This Out.

Expansion

Last week, I think, Max Rauch (the hardest working man in NJ indie music) posted a status on Facebook that said "Link me to your bandcamp page and I'll sum up your sound like a nerdy music journalist." The response was overwhelming, and Max went ahead with some pretty on-the-nose write-ups that started making me feel self-conscious (I always feel self-conscious) about some of the stuff I write here.

I jokingly commented that I was just going to start posting music under the simple caption, "Check this out." Within seconds of hitting enter on that comment, though, the idea started to make real sense to me. What if I posted that stuff that I enjoyed but didn't have time to write about and said, "Check this out?" What if, when I had writer's block or was really busy or distracted, I just posted cool stuff I'd heard without all the additional work? What if I let people come up with their own nerdy music journalist descriptions in their minds? What if I drove them to find out the information I usually put into a post on their own? That could be cool, no?

After a few attempts to find a somewhat appropriate and available domain name, I bought checkoutthismusic.com. On Wednesday, I launched Check This Out with Warbly Jets' "Raw Evolution." No descriptions. No PR info. No nerdy music journalism. Just the song. I'll tell you here that "Raw Evolution" is the sixth track on Warbly Jets' self-titled debut. You should check that album out. You should also check out Check This Out and let me know what you think. I've added a little tab across the top of our site up there so you can get there from here when you feel like it.

[Note: Thanks Max. And everyone should check out the latest release from Max's band LKFFCT. Dawn Chorus is out now on Sniffling Indie Kids.]

Now, this presents me with a mini dilemma. What goes on Check This Out and what goes on CoolDad Music? Like much of what I do here, I have no plan. We'll just have to see what happens.

So...

Here are a couple of things that I'd like to tell you a little more about.

Elephant Fire, "Natural Heart"

Elephant Fire are a lo-fi, psych-rock four-piece consisting of frontman Adam Wall (vocals, guitar, synths, percussion), Steve Wall (guitars, vocals, synths), Dave Hellman (drums), and Zac Colwell (formerly of Of Montreal, bass). The band released Natural Heart at the end of September, and they just released a trippy new video for the title track.

Adam Wall "embarked on a six month pilgrimage into the hearts of North America's national parks for this album" and "traveled from sacred land, city, and national park writing songs to bring those blessed experiences and vibes to a full-length album."

The video for "Natural Heart" captures some of the exuberance that Wall felt on his sojourn. It also happens to feature a cameo by Francie Moon's Melissa Lucciola.

Natural Heart is out now.



Ruby Boots, "It's So Cruel"

Nashville, TN via Perth, Australia artist Ruby Boots will be releasing Don't Talk About It via Bloodshot Records on February 9th, 2018. It's the follow-up to 2014's Solitude and features contributions from some heavy hitters like Nikki Lane as co-writer / background vocalist and The Texas Gentleman as backing band.

To coincide with the release announcement, Ruby Boots released the video for album opener "It's So Cruel." In keeping with the image that Bloodshot have cultivated over the years, "It's So Cruel" combines country with other, more rock-oriented sounds. In the case of "It's So Cruel," there are hints of power pop and even glam rock.



...so, check those out; and, when you get a chance, check out Check This Out.