Shearwater
Maggie Mae’s, Saturday, March 20 Even as late as Saturday, after a whirlwind of bands, parties, guests, meals, and libations, it was hard to dispel the powerful image of Okkervil River’s SXSW Wednesday daytime set at Emo’s. Fresh off a marathon drive from Oklahoma, Austin’s Americana rock masters boiled over with a mammoth intensity bordering on the absurd. This was the standard Shearwater had to live up to. Will Sheff and Jonathan Meiburg are key voices in both bands, so the comparisons are unavoidable. This performance at the Misra Records showcase found Shearwater shedding their slo-core skin, edging out in bold directions, starting with a noisy, dissonant opener. Yet even when the volume faded, the Okkervil intensity bled into the performances of co-frontmen Meiburg and Sheff, percussionist Thor Harris, upright bassist Kim Burke, and violinist Travis Weller. A heavy passion buoyed dreamy numbers like Sheff’s “Wedding Bells Are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine,” off the band’s new third album, Winged Life. Spicing up the showcase were bouncy tunes like Meiburg’s “(I’ve Got a) Right to Cry,” easily the band’s catchiest song. Shearwater’s progressed much as a live act, and on Saturday they demonstrated an ability to corral the fiery edge of their brother band while maintaining the crucial dividing line between the projects.This article appears in March 26 • 2004.