What's In a Name: ThaBombShelter's Look at SXSW Part 3

Today we'll continue our trek through the alphabet, discovering bands based on their name alone. So far we've had some pretty good luck, and I'm planning on contacting these new finds after this whole undertaking is over and done with. Now, where were we, oh yeah...

Emmy the Great (London, UK)
When you're getting married to a wonderful girl named Emily, you're kind of obligated to check out a band with a name like Emmy the Great. Well, their first SXSW performance is at an Urban Outfitters, which just so happens to be Emily's favorite store of all time, so that's pretty neat. So far, the song, "We Almost Had a Baby" is pretty good, nice girl-girl harmonies. A little on the fey side, but then I'm wondering if girls can really be fey. I'm at least intrigued, but I'm not instantly hooked with this song, I think I'll check out another one...Ooo, "Easter Parade" is nice. Emma is singing strong and her slight warble is perfect at the end of her phrases. I'm liking this. Quite.

"Easter Parade" Emmy the Great

Esser (London, UK)
Esser claims "Pop/Pop/Pop", but it sounds like Mike Skinner with a shitty pop-beat behind him. Not good, not for me. Wait, the song, "I love U" is actually not that bad. Not great, but not bad. I'll let you form your own opinions.

David Ford (Eastbourne, UK)
Honestly, if this guy wasn't from the UK, I'dve probably passed him up. As it stands though, that's one of my qualifiers, so color me intrigued. Oooh, strings are nice on "Go To Hell", he looks like he might be a David Gray clone, but his vocals are a bit more baritone, more BDB, warm with some rasp at the end. I'm willing to bet that some of my UK blogger pals probably hate this guy, but it's something I've always enjoyed, like Robbie Williams and Jamie Cullum and the like.

"Go To Hell" David Ford

Furthest Drive Home (Farnham, UK)
I guess this is UK night, sorry about that, it totally wasn't intentional, I promise! Not gonna lie, these guys look like fucking douchebags. It's pretty pompous string-rock, reminds me of The Kin. I mean, honestly, how can I take these guys seriously!? Just the look of them takes me back to Blimey British Week and the terrible rhyming of The Winterkids. I mean jesus, that collar is almost to his EARS! Furthest Drive Home might not be rhyming episode with episode, but they're not too far removed from the d-baggery of The Winterkids.

Gin Palace (London, UK)
This band immediately brings to mind one of my favorite bloggers, Matthew over at Song, By Toad. He of the gin soaked podcasts and the undying love of all things Nick Cave and Tom Waits. I honestly can't stand the stuff: gin or Tom Waits. And here's Gin Palace kicking things off with a live take of something almost unlistenable. As some of you probably know by now, I'm often not to be bothered with tunes that aren't easy on the ears, and this is like a sharp pencil perched precariously close to my naked eardrum. With a quick listen of something else on their page (they're not unlistenable to the point of immediate dismissal, just more rough around the edges than I'd anticipated) and I'm pretty sure they're not something I could be down with. They're like the Times New Viking covering The Raveonettes. No thanks.

In Case of Fire (Belfast, IRE)
We'll finish up tonight with one last band from the British Isles. Well, they're certainly much more rock than I was really anticipating. I guess my myopic view of the British (and Irish) rock scene is really coming out in spades tonight, that's for sure! They've got the neo-prog sound of one of ThaBombShelter's favorite indulgences, Coheed and Cambria, but without the falsetto, Geddy Lee vocals. I mean, it's good for what it is, but honestly, now that I'm out of my Prog Phase, my brain and ears are pretty well closed to anything new.

Check back tomorrow as we return to The States with Io Echo from LA and others.

Thanks to Club Kingsnake for the bare minimum list I'm working from. The SXSW list now has genre info that I didn't want to interfere with my choices.

SXSW Listings, alphabetically, of course