A dozen bands that will be more popular after playing shows next week in Austin
By MICHAEL MAROTTA | March 9, 2012
BREAKING OUT Crafts Spells are ready to get past the New Order comparisons and stake their own claim to bouncy love-pop. |
The headlines and posts for South by Southwest 2012 (the music portion of which this year runs March 14-18) have not only been fast and furious, but also packed with some serious celebrity appeal: Bruce Springsteen is performing in an intimate venue and arriving in Austin as a keynote speaker; Insane Clown Posse are repping juggalos and ensuring Clown News gets as many scoops as Pitchfork; the Jesus and Mary Chain are reuniting as the Band We're All Stoked About But Probably Passed On Last Time They Actually Played Our Own City During Their Heyday (but not me, I <3 them for real), and Fiona Apple is back to remind us what a polarizing pop star was like in the '90s. It hasn't even yet begun, but this year's SXSW is already shaping up to be a weird one. Even The-Dream, who wrote the biggest hits for Rihanna and Beyoncé, is ready for unmitigated hipster embrace.And that's all well and cool. Because last year's agro-show — led by Odd Future — could have used a heady dose of dreamy music to mitigate the disruptive vibe. And it exists, once again, in the trenches.
Last year the lines up and down Sixth Street ran around corners and side streets to see indie-darlings like Yuck, Beach Fossils, Twin Shadow, and the Naked and Famous, all while the Fader Fort — always the go-to spot for emerging artists — remained the place to hang (last year Diddy came out and surprised the crowd during Lil B's headlining set, and the "secret" guest was DeYarmond Edison, the former band of Bon Iver's Justin Vernon).
But SXSW isn't Coachella or Lollapalooza or any other in-a-field-or-park festival where the "headliners" are the main attraction. Honestly, screw everyone mentioned in the lede up top — SXSW is the place to see your new favorite band playing Rusty Spurs or the Mohawk before the world, and maybe even the blogosphere, catches on. That's why everyone from writers to talent buyers to label owners to band managers swarm Austin for several glorious days in March — to schmooze, booze, and cruise, all in search of the Next Big Thing.
Of the thousands of bands ready to play Austin next week, here are a dozen we're digging: 12 bands that will emerge from SXSW way more popular than they are right now.
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
next >...
last >>
1 of 13 (results 13)
Related:
PHX @ SXSW!, SXSW 2010 (Wednesday): Horse Feathers, Male Bonding, Freelance Whales, SXSW 2010 (Saturday): [Photos]: Hey Champs, Bad Rabbits, Karen Elson, More 
- PHX @ SXSW!
Don't be so shocked if the coming week brings with it not just a stretch of balmier weather but also a palpable decrease in the douche point. That's because the vast majority of the music industry has up and JetBlued 2000 miles south to Austin for SXSW (a/k/a South by Southwest).
- SXSW 2010 (Wednesday): Horse Feathers, Male Bonding, Freelance Whales
Photos of Horse Feathers, Male Bonding, Freelance Whales and more
- SXSW 2010 (Saturday): [Photos]: Hey Champs, Bad Rabbits, Karen Elson
Photos of Hey Champs, Bad Rabbits, Karen Elson, Dead Confederate, and Carsick Cars at SXSW 2010
- SXSW 2010: The band who wasn't there
This past Saturday around noon, about a dozen of us were cracking our first Lone Stars of the day at Peckerheads, one of scores of dimly daylit venues lining Austin’s teeming Sixth Street.
- SXSW Music 2011 Photos Day 2: First Contact Austin day party at Klub Krucial
Phoenix, Stuff and WFNX staffers party with SXSW performers and attendees at the First Contact day party at Klub Krucial on March 16, 2011.
- SXSW Music 2011 Photos Day 2: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. at the Phoenix
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. performs live at the Phoenix in Austin, TX, for SXSW, on March 16, 2011.
- SXSW Music 2011 Photos Day 2: Lady Lamb the Beekeeper at the Swan Dive
Lady Lamb the Beekeeper performs live at the Swan Dive in Austin TX for SXSW on March 16, 2011.
- SXSW Music 2011 Photos Day 1: the adventure begins
Phoenix staffers explore SXSW Music on its first day, March 15, 2011.
- The good, the bad, and the indie: Boston may have broken Austin at this year's SXSW
The South by Southwest Music and Media Conference hadn't even wrapped up its third day before local news outlets were already bitching about the rowdiest batch of spring-break hipsters Austin has seen in the event's 24-year history.
- Various Artists | Casual Victim Pile: Austin 2010
The notion that regional musical flavors exist independently in American cities is quickly becoming an archaic truism, seeing as how the world really is a stage these days, at least in the digital sense.
- SXSW 2010: Lost in Austin
I can’t resolve an obsession with a sound until I find it live.
- SXSW 2010: Hare band
By 7 pm on day three of South by Southwest, Bad Rabbits bassist Graham had flashed his naked ass in the crossroads of two thriving, alcohol-drenched Austin arteries.
- Less
Topics:
Music Features
, SXSW, Austin, festivals, More
, SXSW, Austin, festivals, music features, sxsw2012, Less
