I hope you’re all prepared because the SXSW apocalypse is now upon us. Which is why we’re going to abstain from activities today and just jump straight into Saturday, because honestly there isn’t much of note going on tonight anyway, so you might as well slack off and wander aimlessly and indulge in picking up swag and snacks and booze that you will regret grabbing later. Because let’s be real, that’s exactly what you’re going to do.
Saturday
We’re definitely biased, but we think the event we’re throwing with Pop Press International at Swan Dive on Saturday is where you need to be. We’ve put together a great line up of punk, pop and indie bands for you to delight in, ranging from the epic anthems of Messages to the dance rock of Ghostbunny to the multi-vocal garage rock of Those Howlings to the deranged pop punk of Basketball Shorts and it’s totally fucking free. Except for us and our other sponsors Down Home Diner, Loser City and Comics Bulletin because your good times are just that important to us. So don’t let us down and come see us from 1 pm to 6 and then go wander off to some other party sponsored by not quite as cool but vastly richer entities.
As far as the night goes, we suggest you head over to Beerland and catch Coma in Algiers, who released the epically noisy Happy Forever back in January and have been playing out regularly in support of it. But this show has them paired with the more electronically inclined noisemakers Beth Israel meaning this is going to be a show that will literally move you, either through vibrations or sonic epiphanies or both. Twin Bitches are a little more melodically palatable, exploring the Dinosaur Jr.-Sebadoh end of ’80s hardcore that seems to be en vogue with a decent sized chunk of the Austin punk scene at the moment, and then Cincinnati visitors Leggy round out the bill with the most melodic sound of all the acts, a kind of cavernous warehouse party take on Elastica with a Penetration fetish instead of a Wire one. It’s a weird, fun bill, so hoof it on out.
Sunday
Because it wouldn’t be a SXSW weekend roundup without some kind of hip party, we’re picking Dresscode at Mohawk. Why? Mainly because this line-up makes no fucking sense. You’ve got Baltimore electro-acoustic symphony madman Dan Deacon, and then Octopus Project kind of fits with that, but then you’ve also got Mobb Deep and the stupidly underrated Houston rapper Fat Tony as well as Danish punks Iceage. It’s a whole lot of weirdness and we’re not sure how it will work, but we’re into it and willing to see what happens. It’s free and there is some nonsense in the copy about robots so maybe Daft Punk will show up too. WHO FUCKING KNOWS
Nick Hanover got his degree from Disneyland, but he’s the last of the secret agents and he’s your man. Which is to say you can find his particular style of espionage here at Ovrld as well as Loser City, where he mostly writes about comics. You can also flip through his archives at Comics Bulletin, which he is formerly the Co-Managing Editor of, and Spectrum Culture, where he contributed literally hundreds of pieces for a few years. Or if you feel particularly adventurous, you can always witness his odd .gif battles with his friends and enemies on twitter: @Nick_Hanover