What's In a Name: ThaBombShelter's Look at SXSW Part 8

Well, here we have the last five bands. Let's get this show on the road...

Tiny Animals (New York, NY)
We'll have to see what I can glean from the two demo tracks they have posted on their MySpace page. While they claim influences like "Muse, Radiohead and other cool bands" I'd probably add a few power-pop bands from the early 00's (think All American Rejects, Wheatus, etc). It skirts the kind of emo stuff that drags most of those bands down, but in exchange for the emo earnestness, "Useless Demo" seems to lean heavier toward The OC or The Hills. More MTV than wrist cutting. I think if I was about 10 years younger and cruising around in my Dad's BMW X5 I might be more into Tiny Animals, as it stands, I don't think I can endorse these guys.

Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue (New Orleans, LA)
I think I might be a glutton for punishment, as I've already admitted my dislike of Zydeco, but I'm willing to give Trombone Shorty a try, but we'll see. "Whole Lotta Lovin'" isn't so much Zydeco as it is Lennie Kravitz fronting for Robert Randolph, jammin' out in the sweaty bayou. I think this might appeal to those who enjoy any of the above descriptors, but I'm not really feelin' it.

The United Steel Workers of Montreal (Montreal, QC)
They're claiming "Citygrass" on their MySpace, which as "Small Town Banks" starts up, is an adequate descriptor, I must say. Sounds like Tom Waits and The Hackensaw Boys. Only Gern F, lead singer, doesn't have the guts of Waits, so it comes off like maybe a Waits tribute band, bluegrass style. The guys behind the singer sound fucking awesome, but these vocals are just godawful. I've never been a huge fan of the overly-gravelly "singing", Mr. Waits included. But, oh what have we here? With Felicity Hamer at the helm on "Tracie Dean," I'm enraptured. Whipcrack speed and a little squeak at the end of her phrases, flapper aesthetics with electric bluegrass as a backdrop, man, I need some overalls with some deco buttons in alabaster and ebony.

"Tracie Dean" The United Steel Workers of Montreal

Untitled Music Project (Birmingham, UK)
I was intrigued by the obviousness of this name, but the sound is painful. It's tuneless shouting over distorted guitars. I know for a fact that loads of folks enjoy this, but I'm sure you all know by now this is not my cup of tea.

And here we are, the last of the bands I stumbled upon based solely on their name. Will we end on a high note? I certainly hope so...

Foy Vance (Belfast, UK [or is it IRE?])
"Alternative/Acoustic/Soul" and the guy looks like he might be a ringer for Fran Healy of Travis. With "Treading Water", I'm immediately reminded of Oscar Award Winner, Glen Hansard, but that's just the kind of passionate singing and Irishness of it. I think Glen has the edge, but Foy is definitely nice. I'm a sucker for hard-strummed, loosely strung guitars (you know that rattling buzz, god I love it), and the soul of the vocals, and the interesting percussion, it all adds up. It all adds up to some great music.

"Treading Water" Foy Vance

Well, I'm glad Foy Vance came through to end this endeavor on an upswing!

I know that some of the bands I talked about didn't actually play SXSW, but that's because the list I was working off of was released a few weeks before SXSW actually kicked off. With almost 800 bands slated to play, there were bound to be a few cancellations, a few changes, a few what-have-yous. And while this little project was originally intended to shed some light on some of the hundreds of bands playing SXSW this year, it evolved into a great way for me to share my experience of finding new bands with all of you. Now that it's all over, I am going to look back through my list (I've been crossing off the bad bands and circling the good ones) and contact those bands that truly struck my fancy. Hopefully in the coming weeks I'll even be able to feature some of them as I take a closer look at their music.

They say you can't judge a book by it's cover, but I've found some of my favorite books by wandering down the aisles of my local library, and just pulling books that have a snazzy spine and an interesting font. I found "The Rotter's Club" this way, I found "Paris Trance" this way, I found "Microserfs" this way (btw, I highly recommend ALL of those books), and I think that the old adage can be complete crap. I think that a book's cover can communicate a wealth of information (see Danielle Steele or John Grisham), just like the name of a band can tell you so much. As this past week and change is a perfect example, this method is far from perfect, but if you go into something like this (or a trip to the library) with no set goal in mind, it's a great way to discover new and wonderful artists.

I encourage all of you to go Club Kingsnake and browse their list of bands and hometowns (the very list I worked off of) and have your own little experiment. Check out the bands that sound interesting, I just punched the name of the band into Google with MySpace at the end and it worked every single time. Let me know if you stumble upon any new and great bands that I missed here (I know for a fact I did) and thanks for joining me on this trip.

-Harry