SXSW Preview 4 : The Bots, Eminence, and Cerebral Ballzy

My head is literally spinning from all of the rsvp'ing that I have been doing lately to get into the hundreds of awesome day parties this year. I'm secretly hoping that Fader Fort decides to come up with another creative musical marriage between R. Kelly and Mumford and Sons so all of the scrubs run over there and I can catch Outkast's secret show, wherever that will be. Actually I would love to catch Sir Robert but the second he started to play Black Panties, I would impregnate someone on the spot and I'm way too broke for all of that. So on the future R. Kellys.

First up is The Bots, a duo that hails from Glendale, California; and lucky for them it appears that Fader has found two more black kids to like. They just so happen to be brothers (not like soul brothers or anything)and one plays guitar or bass while the other bangs away on the drums. Their style is punk music with a garage band feel to it and you get the sense that they fit this in somewhere in between skateboarding and listening to Bad Brains albums. For being kids they certainly seem to have a bright future. And while their music isn't  not quite mind melting yet, they do have the ability to get me rocking from time to time. I rate them as FRESH!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb5P4cqsLj0

Next up is Eminence, a band out of Brazil that I hope can bring back my love for metal. Recently I have discovered that all of my favorite metal bands are either racist or wannabe Satan worshipers and clearly I'm not down with either. But since these guys are from Brazil they can't be racist right? Most of the country is actually blacker than I am. And with the gigantic Jesus statue they have on that mountain they'd be too scared to be devil worshippers for fear of lightening bolts coming from his eyes! Well musically they bring back memories of when metal was simple; a time where it had punishing guitars, deep screaming from the lead vocalist, and drums that made you want literally bang your head against the wall in ecstasy. I'm not sure if they will blow up but I give these guys a rating of FRESH.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1EJa4bq-vs

The last act for today is Cerebral Ballzy, a hardcore punk band from the dirty side of NYC. NME mag is apparently in love with them, so that alone will get them a lot of attention. I like but not love these guys as their style doesn't really separate them from most of the decent punk bands that are out there today, but they are still solid. I think their terrible cover of Stone Roses' I Wanna Be Adored is the single thing that's holding them back. But their songs about Cutting Class and being a Junky for a Girl have the typical material that you are looking for in this kind of music. Right now I'll rate them as barely WEAK.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTB1XGyTBoo