Saturday Sleepers
SXSW picks & sleepers
Fri., March 18, 2005
PURE REASON REVOLUTION
10pm, Tambaleo
10pm, Tambaleo
PICCOLA ORCHESTRA AVION TRAVEL
11pm, Buffalo Billiards
11pm, Buffalo Billiards
Sleepers for March 19
All showcase times subject to changeEPHRAIM OWENS
8pm, Elephant Room One of Austin's young jazz lions for going on a decade, Ephraim Owens has played with the city's best jazz and hip-hop acts and isn't afraid to bring his trumpet to rock shows and jump onstage. – Raoul HernandezWALTER DANIELS & WADE DRIVER
8pm, Blender Balcony @ the Ritz Veteran Austin harpman Walter Daniels fronted blues-punk kingpins Jack O'Fire. Drummer Wade Driver pounded the skins for local cowpunk legends the Hickoids. Their 2003 7-inch paired covers by Blind Willie McTell and the Stranglers. – Greg BeetsFACELESS WEREWOLVES
8pm, Latitude 30 After forming in Denton in 2001, the Faceless Werewolves are making the move to Austin. The trio is rooted in the garage, but the Velvet Underground/Sonic Youth buzz that girds their interplay sets them apart. – Greg BeetsAQUI
8pm, Club de Ville The otherworldy nuances of a thrash show invaded by Diamanda Galas and Karen O come across on these New Yorker's anxiety-inducing The First Trip Out (Ace Fu). – Darcie StevensBUNKY
8pm, Maggie Mae's This San Diego duo's debut, Born to Be a Motorcycle, is a punk rock version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Weird lyrics, saucy choruses, cheerleader chants, and Dadaist rants, all dolled up in a glittery ska/pop pantsuit and radiating sunshine. – Audra SchroederTOM VEK
8pm, La Zona Rosa This 23-year-old Brit isn't the only one kicking out Pro Tools-enhanced electro-rock in his garage, yet few of his brethren have put out anything as ultra-stylish as "If You Want," which splits the difference between Soul Coughing and Franz Ferdinand. – Andy LangerTAYLOR HOLLINGSWORTH
8pm, Continental Club Baby-faced Birmingham boy Taylor Hollingsworth isn't afraid to let his nasal J. Mascis vocals cut through his Stones, Petty, Crazy Horse riffs, evidenced by the old-school carnality of his February debut, Shoot Me Shoot Me Heaven (Brash). – Kate X MesserMATT THE ELECTRICIAN
8pm, Lounge @ Crowne Plaza This local singer-songwriter has been slogging it forever, but that hasn't dimmed his spirit. The ebullient father of two turns in a collection of songs on his self-released fourth album, Long Way Home, that crackle with wit and hum with nostalgia. – Melanie HauptTIMONIUM
8pm, Blender Bar @ the Ritz Ten years of Timonium resulted in an all-time Low, Until He Finds Us (Pehr), echoed church music – as in recorded in a wooden hall filled with ghosts and confessions. A Cali trio better suited to the Velvet Underground than the great outdoors. – Raoul HernandezTHE BLACK SWANS
8pm, Friends Columbus, Ohio's Black Swans favor bittersweet minor-key reflection. Who Will Walk in the Darkness With You? (Delmore) presents the quintet's acoustic drums, double bass, Minutemen/baroque-influenced violin, languid vocals, and warm guitars. – David LynchTHE EVERYOTHERS
8pm, Buffalo Billiards Uncannily similar to Austin's Real Heroes, this New York quartet specializes in unapologetically Bowie-inspired pop-rock. The songwriting on 2004's self-titled debut is first-rate pop fare. – Andy LangerPONY UP!
8:30pm, Emo's Main It took Montreal fivepiece Pony Up! one show and a few heckles to win over Ben Lee, with whom the all-girl group shared a split 7-inch last year. The girls put out a self-titled EP on Dim Mak in January. As their bio proclaims, "You don't need a penis to play rock & roll." – Darcie StevensTHE ROCKET SUMMER
8:50pm, Redrum Dallas' one-man wunderkind Bryce Avary embodies the earnest, uptempo exuberance of the Militia Group's mission. The pink power pop of 2003's Calendar Days finally follows up with May's Hello, Good Friend. – Raoul HernandezTHE WILLOWZ
9pm, Blender Balcony @ the Ritz The ages (19), style (suburban spazz), and locale (SoCal) lock up three cherry pies with some notable teen babes from Monsanto 20 years ago. Of course the Willowz had barely been born, which is why Sympathy for the Record Industry wastes no time in reissuing debut The Willowz Are Coming just prior to a proper label bow in May. – Raoul HernandezPO' GIRL
9pm, Fox & Hound This Vancouver trio's eponymous debut presented their traditional acoustic music delivered with a punky twist. New album Vagabond Lullabies (Nettwerk) features Daniel Lanois' knob-twiddling, guitar, banjo, fiddle, clarinet, and harmonica. – David LynchHAROLD RAY LIVE IN CONCERT
9pm, Jackalope Oakland's Harold Ray Live in Concert expands the land of 1,000 dances from Berkeley all the way down to Boca Raton. Their excellent 2003 self-titled debut on Alternative Tentacles brings to mind Tom Jones, Mitch Ryder, and a big bottle of bennies. – Greg BeetsELIAS HASLANGER
9pm, Elephant Room After an apprenticeship in New York, Austin's Elias Haslanger returns to blow his tenor saxophone, his extensive experience here and abroad belied by his youth. With Alex Coke, he's Austin's Little Boy Bop. – Raoul HernandezTHE CUBAN COWBOYS
9pm, Mambo Kings The self-proclaimed "bastard love-child of Ricky Ricardo and Tom Waits," Latin lover/Miami native Jorge Navarro growls, spits, sways, and swoons, melding the traditional and mod to concoct an indie-flavored hybrid of surf and Son. – Kate X MesserGEORGE W. BUSH SINGERS
9pm, Cedar Street Courtyard Mad malaprops to Austinite Steve McAllister, who directs the polyphonic politi-choir that preaches the garbled gab of our commander-in-thief. – Kate X MesserMY WAY MY LOVE
9pm, Exodus Bludgeoning Tokyo threepiece with a serious Sonic Youth short in its post-punk programming of Bo Diddley beats and slithering synthesizer sleeze. – Raoul HernandezDOUG GILLARD
9pm, Friends You've probably heard Doug Gillard's guitar with Cobra Verde or Guided by Voices. The Cleveland multi-instrumentalist plays nearly all the noisemaking tools on debut Salamander (Pink Frost), layering lovely guitars and vocal melodies like a rust-belt XTC. – David Lynch127
9pm, Tambaleo Despite cultural reform and the emergence of pop bands amid sanctioned traditional music, tight regulations make rock shows in Iran a rarity. Tehran's 127 is the first Persian rock act to play out for international audiences. Don't you dare gaze down at your shoes. – Kate X MesserTAMMY FAYE STARLITE
9pm, Chuggin' Monkey She's the wayward Hee Haw Honey whose pornographic gospelization of Cheap Trick's "Surrender" earns an all-expenses paid trip to Fire Lake. 2003's Eric Ambel-produced Used Country Female (Diesel Only) is a blasphemer's bonanza. – Greg BeetsVIENNA TENG
9pm, 18th Floor @ Crowne Plaza San Franciscan, 26-year-old pianist, and vocalist Vienna Teng introduced the world to her beautiful images of real-life drama on last year's sadly poetic Warm Strangers (Virt). – Darcie StevensWESTERN KEYS
9pm, Velvet Spade Band bellwether Ben Dickey pulled up stakes from Austin late last year and relocated his label (Post-Parlo) to Chapel Hill, effectively dissolving Western Keys. Since then, he's been performing as a solo act with looped backup. – Melanie HauptCASTANETS
10pm, Maggie Mae's Castanets are the brainchild of San Diego's Raymond Raposa, whom Asthmatic Kitty snapped in a move that made the wanderlusty young man's debut, Cathedral, widely available. While Raposa is the project's center, he's got players from fellow San Diegans Tristeza, Pinback, and Rocket From the Crypt. – Melanie HauptTHE MAGIC NUMBERS
10pm, La Zona Rosa Are two sets of boy-girl siblings that look like a Norwegian version of ABBA a gimmick? Not with this UK quartet's organic Sixties vibe and familial harmonies. Sean, Romeo, Michele, and Angela: an erstwhile Summer of Love letter. – Raoul HernandezTHE M's
10pm, Velvet Spade From the oddly fashionable Ukrainian Village neighborhood of Chicago, the M's mélange of warmly overdriven guitars, falsetto harmony vox, analog drums, and bass-driven upbeats has earned them slots with Wilco, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Stephen Malkmus. Brilliante released their eponymous debut last year. – David LynchTHE GRASSY KNOLL BOYS
10pm, Mother Egan's Led by Dobro player David Hamburger and guitarist/vocalist Will Walden, Austin quintet Grassy Knoll Boys self-released Buckeyed Rabbit in 2004. Traditional tunes and like-minded originals, it showcases the Boys' primo chops and fine harmonies. – Jim CaligiuriTHE SMALL STARS
10pm, Cedar Street Courtyard A motley crew of Austin all-stars including Fastball's Miles Zuniga (as the oily Guy Fantasy) and utilityman Jeff Johnston, Small Stars could've easily stayed on the side-project/joke-band stage. It's still hard to tell if their hypercheesy take on lounge rock is serious or not. – Christopher GrayHARVEY DANGER
10pm, Red Eyed Fly After doing time in respectable indie outfit the Long Winters, Sean Nelson has reassembled his crack squad of pop assassins to have another go at greatness. The Seattle-based outfit released EP Sometimes You Have to Work on Christmas (Sometimes) on Sonic Boom Records last year. – Melanie HauptUNCUT
10pm, Momos The Dance Dance Revolution continues in this Toronto quartet. Uncut's beginnings were much more electronic than what's witnessed on 2004's Jesus & Mary Chain/U2/Wire-inflected Those Who Were Hung Hang Here (Paper Bag), but that techno edge still lingers. – Darcie StevensTHE ANTARCTICANS
10pm, Whisky Bar Instrumental guitar drifts from just off the L.A. coastline, the Antarticans' self-titled, handmade debut isn't as black (metal) handsome as its packaging, but rather white-hot glacial rock. – Raoul HernandezTHE BLOODY HOLLIES
10pm, Blender Balcony @ the Ritz Delta garage-bang trio the Bloody Hollies play with a fervor derived from jumping around during those long Buffalo winters. Signing with Sympathy for the Record Industry in 2003, the Hollies released the acclaimed Fire at Will, with If Footmen Tire You ... soon to follow. – Greg BeetsTRE' HARDSON
10:15pm, Zero Degrees When Slimkid Tre' left the Pharcyde, the unobstructed Hardson took a path similar to Andre 3000 of OutKast: salacious crooning and live instrumentation. As 2003's Liberation expressed Hardson's newfound artistic freedom, guests such as MC Lyte and Kim Hill served as its primary asset. – Robert GabrielHOT YOUNG PRIEST
11pm, Blender Balcony @ the Ritz Hot Young Priest burst out of the Atlanta scene last year with a sizzling tour and self-released EP Burning Hot and Free. Mary Byrne's guitar ricochets between Gibson SG skronk and jangled noodling, as her vocals evoke Nineties post-mod indie pop in the shape of sisters Deal. – Kate X MesserTHE BONES
11pm, Emo's Jr. No one recaptures American rock & roll glories like international bands, Sweden's Bones breaking into the Social Distortion business with 2004's pistoning Straight Flush Ghetto. One tempo, one track minds. – Raoul HernandezMIDNIGHT MOVIES
11pm, Exodus The noir-pop of L.A. trio Midnight Movies captures the zeitgeist of the city's hazy past. Dreamy pop mixed with singer/drummer Gena Olivier's Nico-in-Wonderland vocals and stark drumming makes for a dark yet groovy time, as heard on their eponymous debut. – Audra SchroederJIM AND JENNIE & THE PINETOPS
11pm, Parish Canton, N.C.'s Jim and Jennie & the Pinetops play acoustic music that wavers between bluegrass, Southern rock, and folk. Two studio LPs, world tours, and backing Neko Case's recent live CD, the quartet's Bloodshot debut, Rivers Roll on By, is due in April. – Jim CaligiuriTHE PIERCES
11pm, Cedar Street Courtyard These Alabama-gone-NY sisters' February Universal debut, Light of the Moon, combines gorgeous singer-songwriter material with unapologetically pop production. Two Austin City Limits Music Festival appearances prove their live show ain't so shabby either. – Andy LangerAQUEDUCT
11pm, Red Eyed Fly The brainchild of Tulsa-based bedroom-pop king David Terry, Aqueduct followed a pair of smart introductory EPs with a similarly striking debut, I Sold Gold. It's cheeky in all the right places ("Growing Up With GNR"), melding perky pop with eccentric flourishes that hint at homeboys the Flaming Lips. – Andy LangerC-MON & KYPSKI
11:15pm, Caribbean Lights Lacing strands of hip-hop, jazz, samba, and dancehall with felonious abandon, Dutch producers C-Mon & Kypski initially established themselves by way of Kypski's reign as a champion battle DJ. The childhood skateboarding buddies dabble with live instrumentation on 2004's stupefying Static Traveller. – Robert GabrielSCAVONE
11:15pm, Zero Degrees Don Scavone provides lyrical protection for hip-hop intent on misrepresenting itself. The gruff Brooklynite collects tribute and radio spins with his 2004 single "Revolution" mandating Scavone's paternalistic hands to be gripped tightly around every facet of his rough-and-tumble neighborhood. – Robert GabrielDUB TRIO
12mid, Flamingo Cantina Following the tradition of dub masters like King Tubby, Augustus Pablo, and Lee Scratch Perry, this NYC trio puts out a deep roots sound. Their recent Exploring the Dangers Of was a favorite of both reggae and down-tempo/chill-out fans alike. – Jay TrachtenbergCUT COPY
12mid, Club de Ville Australia's Cut Copy loves Eighties, synth-heavy dance tracks, but this isn't your typical dance band. Cut Copy's debut, Bright Like Neon Love (Modular), blends everything from dial tones to hand-claps into a simple symphony. – Darcie StevensNIGHTINGALES
12mid, Maggie Mae's Morphing out of their 1977 UK Prefects garb, singer Robert Lloyd and bassist Eamonn Duffy gravitated toward a skinny tie sound until they split in the late-Eighties. Reunited, Lloyd and Duffy return as their era boomerangs back for the twentysomethings. – Raoul HernandezTHE GOOD LOOKS
12mid, Blender Balcony @ the Ritz 2004 saw Austin's rock elite welcome the Good Looks, who earned their stripes with debut Let the Needle Drop, a louche, sexy trip back to the stacked heels and basement crash-pads of Iggy, Aerosmith, and the early-Seventies. – Christopher GrayELECTRIC EEL SHOCK
12mid, Beerland Tokyo's Electric Eel Shock pounds out a motley punk/metal mash with the unstoppable hyperactive intensity of the MC5 and Bad Brains. Gearhead releases their first album, appropriately titled Go-USA!, this month. – Greg BeetsTHESE ARMS ARE SNAKES
12mid, Emo's Annex
TIA CARERRA
8pm, Whisky Bar
8pm, Whisky Bar
Fugazi fans, take note of these Seattle art thrashers. The quartet's debut, Oxeneers or the Lion Sleeps When Its Antelope Go Home (Jade Tree), is a vicious attack of guitar hooks and squealing vox. Energetic and pounding, the full-length is the follow-up to last year's stunningly powerful EP, This Is Meant to Hurt You.
HOT YOUNG PRIEST
11pm, Blender Balcony
11pm, Blender Balcony
– Darcie Stevens
EDITH FROST
12mid, Latitude 30 Welcome back Austin ex pat Edith Frost, whose distinct vocals have a way of hovering over songs. The now Chicagoan's recently issued free e-album, Demos, looks back at this magical vocalist's early work. – Kate X MesserBRENT BEST
12mid, B.D. Riley's With the demise of Denton's Slobberbone fresh on the table, Brent Best still has a lot on his plate. His Southern-rock fueled melodies meet with whiskey dreams, broken hearts, and morning-after wisdom. New West reissued the band's juicy catalog, a reminder that Best has bitten off a lot by going solo. – Margaret MoserROBBERS ON HIGH STREET
12mid, Exodus Yes, they're definitely robbers; this NYC foursome has found the Magical Rolling Stones Songbook and lifted a few hot licks for their debut, Tree City. ROHS weave a few of their own sweet melodies into their songs, making Tree City a confrontation between piano ballads and rock swagger.– Audra Schroeder
JESSE SYKES & THE SWEET HEREAFTER
12mid, Red Eyed Fly Seattle's Jesse Sykes gained national exposure earlier this year as opening act for Bright Eyes. Jesse's second disc, '04's Oh, My Girl (Barsuk), was hailed for its seductive blend of brooding, atmospheric rock and haunting country noir.– Jim Caligiuri
