SXSW 2015 Preview: Vic Mensa and Girl Band

The point of all of these previews is to help make the SXSW experience just a bit easier for you. I know that it can be a bit overwhelming with over 1900 bands playing over a five day span but if you simply narrow it down to 5-10 bands that you want to see, you can just sign up for the free parties they will be performing at and at the same time get exposure to a ton of additional artists that you never would have otherwise seen before.

The worst thing you can do however is to simply just wing it and go downtown to see what you can get yourself into because there is a high probability you’ll be stuck listening to some hipster singing  covers of Muppets songs while Sam Smith is singing in a restaurant right next door to you. Seriously, I’m not a big fan or anything but last year I was literally 5 feet away from the guy at Fader Fort and now he’s headlining arenas. So with that in mind, here are a few acts you should check out before they blow up this year.

First up is Vic Mensa out of Chicago. When I first heard Orange Soda I thought he was just a stoned hip hop artist with a smooth flow who reminded me of the Pharcyde but the more I listened to him, the more I realized that there’s an actual method to his apparent laziness. He has the skills to be as deep as almost any rapper out there but that would limit what he could do musically as he wants so badly for hip hop to be fun and interesting again. He is able to utilize both his ability to sing and to rhyme to try and accomplish this; so while he’s singing over house music in one song, he’s dropping lyrical literature over 808 beats in the next to help turn his mix tape into one of the most diverse albums to drop in a while. As you can tell I’m pretty excited about his potential and apparently so is Kanye as he already put him on his latest song Wolves with Sia; check it out when you get the chance. Mensa was more than able to hold his own on that song and you should check him out while you have the opportunity this March. He gets a rating of TIGHT! You should also check out his song Down On My Luck.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUIIVJMY7jQ

Next up is Girl Band, a four piece noise rock band out of Ireland. They finally provide a show that you can absolutely lose your mind to as every piece of the band screams noise. The lead, who looks like Justin Bieber, initially sings/moans barely discernible lyrics in the early parts of their songs but then the distortion kicks in and all hell breaks loose! They are another one of my favorites this year and you should definitely see them when they play. They get a rating of FRESH!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqxe3NZKYL0