SOUTHBYSUDS
Whip In, Friday, March 16Where do uncelebrated local bands play in the melee of South by Southwest? Anywhere with half an audience: parking lots, garages, and in this case, a convenience store. Whip In, located on a highway access road in South Austin, is a place where people can cruise by and grab specialty beers and dank Indian food. Perfectly accenting the store’s eclectic vibe was Boessi Kreh. Its take on blues sounded like it came from Mars more than Mississippi. Pulling double duty was local harmonica iconoclast Walter Daniels, who sat in with Boessi Kreh and freaky Spanish bluesmen Guadalupe Plata, whose guitarist filled the room with dense echoes and outlaw swagger. The worst fit for the venue was local junk rockers Cunto!. The gang’s knock-it-over-and-jump-into-the-crowd approach is better suited for a 7-Eleven than a market of Whip In’s caliber. That was evident when one member kicked a plate of chana masala off the stage. Like going 90 mph in a Ford Festiva, the Austin quartet’s set was dangerous, stupid, and painfully overexerted. Perhaps its saving grace were memorable songs such as “I Wanna Break the Law,” during which the band encouraged listeners to park more than 10 inches from the curb and deface dollar bills, and the self-affirming “Baby, I’m a Garbage Man.” The spitting, the snack breaks, the skillet drumming, the nasty lyrics about fucking polar bears – it all added to up to something that’s just plain retarded. As the mandolin player in Cunto!, I should know.
This article appears in March 16 • 2012.