SXSW Picks & Sleepers

Sunday Sleepers

SHABAZZ 3: "Dallas hip-hop is under construction and Shabazz 3 is the architect," this conscious trio's Fatz once told The Dallas Observer, the weekly that's compared them to "N.W.A. onstage at Birdland." A year after their first LP, Late Nite With Shabazz 3, the paper reports they're already knee-deep into a follow-up. More proof that south isn't the only way to take I-35 for real hip-hop. (The Metro, 9pm) -- Andy Langer

THE LOWER CLASS BRATS: Streetpunk, Oi, punk rock, whatever you want to call it, Austin's Lower Class Brats stick it right in your face. With two albums (their latest being 2000's Punkcore release The Plot Sickens), LCB stick to their guns with Bones' vocal snarl, sing-along choruses, and chainsaw guitars. As long as there are bands like the Brats keepin' it real, there'll always be punk. (Room 710, midnight) -- Jerry Renshaw

THE CRUEL AND UNUSUAL: This underappreciated local band plays an angular, brittle brand of punk that hearkens back to the Eighties without ever falling into Reagan-era hardcore cliches. Their self-titled Mortville release shows them to be a unique quantity in a sea of spiky-haired punx, an intelligent, inventive band that's machine-tight but still rocks like nobody's business. (Room 710, 1am) -- Jerry Renshaw