SXSW: Rock n Roll and Pop Preview

I know that I’m not bringing up anything groundbreaking with this next observation but I love witnessing the fast but awkward transformation that happens during SXSW. The first few days before the festival officially starts you see all these bright eyed and bubbly intellectuals walking around wearing matching t-shirts while waiting patiently in perfectly formed single file lines as if they were grade school kids on their first ever field trips. And it doesn’t take you long to realize that they’re not actually Scientologists in training but in fact some of the country’s best educators who are all in town for the education portion of SXSW. Now I know it’s tough to differentiate the two, especially after Tom Cruise cloned himself and claimed that he and Katie Holmes actually had sex to produce offspring, but you have to get used to it sooner rather than later because that jackass will have an entire army at his disposal before you know it!

And if talking to them didn’t make me feel stupid enough, talking to the tech nerds who roll into town for the interactive portion certainly does. I’m meeting people who are creating safari apps for the Google Assistant and coming up with ways that we can better communicate with deaf children while all I have to offer in return are corny jokes that I’ve written in some of my worthless blog posts. Needless to say however, I’ve made out with one or two of these geniuses fairly recently so I guess my Tyler Perry jokes are more fire than I think.

Anyway, it’s not long before you notice a plethora of Marvel t-shirts and hoodies milling about and it’s in this moment when you realize the movie nerds are taking over. But sadly their reign doesn’t last long because the scent of mustiness and PBR starts to fill the air and this is how you know the music portion has finally arrived. And this is what I want to focus on today, the 5 or 6 best Rock n Roll acts to check out this week while I contribute my scent of Colt 45 and Afro Sheen that I double as cologne. Actually I no longer have an afro, I just had leftover bottles from back in the day and can no longer afford actual cologne but moving on…

The first band I want to talk about is Francobollo from London. All of their songs start off fairly basic and to a certain extent boring but they always evolve into something chaotic and kind of creepy by the song’s end. They’re like the David Lynch of Rock n Roll and believe it or not, that’s actually a good thing. I’m happy to say that these lovely Brits are making Rock n Roll interesting again and it’s because of this that I give them a rating of FRESH!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrjsnx3LeIY

Next up is Moaning out of LA. Imagine if The Smiths and The Cure had a baby and he got hooked on Sinead O’Conner and Kurt Cobain; well that’s this band. So if you want to wear all black, break out your nipple piercings, and dance like crazy, do yourself a favor and check these guys out. This is post-punk at its best and it definitely gets a rating of very FRESH from me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdNWCgnqeMY

After them, go check out Porches. He sounds like an 80’s gender bending artist who has a desperate voice and a Casio keyboard which is stuck on Samba mode but I have to say that his style is both groovy and catchy. And while he looks like the kind of guy who gets overly sentimental when it comes to reminiscing about that last piece of avocado toast he had while in Brooklyn don’t let that keep you from enjoying his music as I give him a rating of FRESH.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO4hmxtt2dc

Billie Eilish is playing something like 20 shows this week. She’s beautiful and can sing but this kind of pop music isn’t for me. I can however see her appealing to the masses and playing festivals like ACL for the next two years. She gets a rating of kind of WEAK.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBRi6aZJGj4


It feels as though that while they were listening to Freedom Rock (turn it up!!!) in their van in the 70’s, the dads of White Reaper all formed a pact to force their kids to listen to nothing but Cheap Trick their entire childhood. And when they were finally able to pick up guitars, this is the music the band spit out. I have to say that it’s not half bad. It’s fun, it’s easy to get into, and it’s definitely worth a listen. They get a rating of FRESH.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahglrb_z7wQ

This last artist isn’t that new but I have feeling that not a lot of people know Gemma Ray. Well do yourself a favor and get into her because her music sounds like an electronic gothic soundtrack to a Western. She gets a rating of FRESH.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ILAFyj-0wo