Live4ever @ SXSW Festival – Day One feat. Viva Brother, The Vaccines


Brother

Viva BROTHER

The mountain of guitar cases clogging up the baggage carousels at Austin airport yesterday was a perfect illustration of the number of musicians descending on the SXSW festival this week, intent on proving themselves as the next big thing to an equally large number of music industry execs and writers. Apparently, there would be over 600 events to choose from today, a number that will only get bigger as the festival progresses, so while hotel space might be in short supply this week, choice certainly isn’t.

First up is the New Music From Wales showcase at Latitude 30; free beer and food all round as the event, hosted by BBC Radio 1 DJ Jen Long, is kicked off in style by the impressive We Are Animal. Like all the bands on the showcase today they’re loud, nostril shakingly loud, but the wall of noise doesn’t hide some great melody, and the set is punctuated with a succession of pleasing guitar breaks which calls to mind early Arctic Monkeys. Headliners Gallops justify their billing with some ferocious instrumentals which would have delighted 80s ravers in the Hacienda. Armed with just two guitars, an iMac and a drummer beating his skins into submission, the band rounded off the showcase in style, and left a positive vibe for the Welsh music scene.

When discussing SXSW, the unrivalled variation and plethora of different genres which can be discovered just a short distance from one another is often the first thing that comes to mind. This diversity couldn’t have been more apparent when just a short time after the group of Welsh noisemakers had wrapped things up, Floating Action could be found treating just a handful of people to their soothing, gorgeous brand of Americana over at the Convention Centre’s Exhibit Stage. Led by multi-talented musician and songwriter Seth Kauffman, Floating Action quietly gave a wonderful walkthrough of 1970s nostalgia and should, if there’s any justice, find themselves entertaining a much bigger crowd next year.

Just a short elevator ride up from the Exhibit Stage, 21-year-old songwriter Jessica Lea Mayfield had some of her own folk/country vibe going on. Best realised on ’Somewhere In Your Heart’, Mayfield’s consistent set showed the spirit of Janis Joplin and Joni Mitchell is still very much alive and well in these parts. As the evening draws in, the diversity of SXSW is once again played out with the accordion, clarinet playing, Asian drum banging and exotic belly-dancing of 1001 Nights Orchestra at the Copa Bar.

For the young UK bands who’ve been lucky enough to secure the funds, and dodge the mountainous visa issues which keep many others out, SXSW offers an opportunity to transfer their growing status’ in their homeland to a potentially make or break US audience. Within an hour of each other on Wednesday evening, two of the most hyped of the those acts took their turn to win over a new audience.

Playing their first US gig at Latitude 30, Slough-based Brother, led by their super-confident frontman Lee Newell, played a tight set to a near capacity crowd. The performance once again brought to mind the many Britpop comparisons that have already been made by sections of the press. It’s bouncy, catchy guitar music made for radio and the pub jukebox, but Brother still lack that killer track or genuine consistency to back up the cheek and bravado the band indulge in from the start. For now the Britpop label is fine, but it remains to be seen whether Brother will be this decade’s Oasis or Pulp, or more a new Shed Seven or Embrace.

Brother

Another act arriving in Texas with a large degree of NME-led hype surrounding them are The Vaccines, who’s astonishing rise to fame in the UK means they are playing their first SXSW less than a year after forming. Like Brother, The Vaccines are short, sharp and straightforward, and are come and gone at the Club de Ville in less than 20 minutes. It’s unashamedly pop, but pop done properly. Recent singles such as ‘Wreckin Bar (Ra Ra Ra)‘, ‘Post Break Up Sex’ and ‘If You Wanna’ are ripped through at a blistering pace, and has even the most sceptical of onlookers roaring with approval come the arrival of their swift exit. On this evidence the Londoners aren’t going to change the world, but they are going to inspire singalongs wherever they choose to play, and every festival, and indeed music fan, needs a band like that.

(photos: Liz Lomax)




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