Carter and Robin Talk About SXSW: Day 4

CarterMarch 15, 2014

Robin: Let’s do your stuff first this time.

Carter: Okay, I’m starting with J. Roddy Walston and the Business at 9:30. Basically, this is the Stubb’s showcase. I saw these guys at Cedar Street back in 2012.

Robin: And now they’re the Kings of Leon.

Carter: They certainly have hair like one of the phases of the Kings of Leon.

Robin: I’m not a big fan of this singing – this Kings of Leonesque, singing like you’re not all there mentally –

Carter: It raises – elevates the stakes a little bit in this song.

Robin: I like that riff, it’s kind of like a Fugazi riff.

Carter: Oh. Well, that’s not what I would have said at all, but whatever it takes to get you on board. They put on a really energetic show, and I like – it’s got a hard rocking, rootsy feel to it.

Robin: I like the riff, but I know that I would hate it if I went and saw it. I’ve learned that liking one riff in one song doesn’t mean much. And this – they’re just a haircut band.

Carter: I’m happy that this is one of the warmest receptions you’ve given to one of my SX bands, so I feel optimistic.

Carter: All right, next at Stubb’s are The Preatures.

Carter: Yeah, you’re going to hate this.

Robin: They kind of play like a mod band.

Carter: In visual style?

Robin: No, like the way the two guitars – one really muted, one playing more aggressively – they sound like the Vapors or something.

Carter: Yeah, the playing here is really restrained. It’s in service of the song.

Robin: The video is ridiculous. It’s like when a middle schooler gets to use a video effects unit for the first time – “I can make it fade, I can make it bounce around, I can do 3×3, 4×4,” and so on. But they could be good live. I’m don’t know why you thought I’d be so offended by this. It is, musically, not that different from some of the other bands, but there’s a decent live drummer, and –

Carter: So I think of this as being just as poppy as some of the other stuff I’ve brought to the table, but because it’s a live band you’re a little more on board with it?

Robin: Oh, yeah. It’s just a different thing to see a tight live band playing, than it is to see a tight prerecorded track playing.

Carter: This band is going to have a really big year this year. They’re from Australia, and they’re booked for Coachella and Lollapalooza; I think this is going to be a big year for them.

Robin: Next, you have The 1975. “Chocolate,” I don’t think I’ve heard this one.

Carter: Honestly, I have you to thank for this band. You brought one of their other songs, I believe it was “Sex,” to the podcast. We reviewed them before “Chocolate” blew up, which it most definitely has.

Robin: Whoa, 11.5 million people have listened to this song.

Carter: Yeah. This is really big. Which is why they are headlining Stubb’s on Saturday night. Which still surprised me a little bit; I didn’t realize they were that big. But I really do like this song a lot.

Robin: As on that EP, the playing here is pretty good, which curtails my obvious and impending extremely negative reaction. I mean, the singing is just so obnoxious.

Carter: Same kind of whiny thing that J. Roddy Walston had, maybe? I mean, they’re both singing at the top of their register, and straining a bit.

Robin: Also, I know this guy is singing about nonsense.

Carter: Yeah. I looked up the lyrics at one point, and it’s about teenage hijinks.

Robin: This is an amazing video of young people kissing.

Carter: Who doesn’t like watching that?

Robin: Apparently no one.

Carter: 11.5 million people.

Robin: Yeah man, that’s upsetting. This song is so boring, and there’s nothing going on in it.

Carter: Except for that really fantastic hook.

Robin: What is the hook?

Carter: Every part of the song is really catchy and memorable.

Robin: No it’s not. It – where’s the hook?

Carter: Well, it – I don’t know what part you’re on.

Robin: I’m at 2:19. I’m at the part that sounds like every other part of the song, Carter.

Carter: Every part of the song is definitely catchy.

Robin: Now they’re smoking cigarettes. Yeah, I don’t have any time for this. All right, here’s my schedule.

Carter: Just judging by the band names coming up, I’m excited.

Robin: All right, American Sharks.

Carter: I’ve run across these guys, given that we run an Austin music blog. But I’m a little late to the game.

Robin: You did not blow them up.

Carter: No. But I like the message they’re coming out with here.

Robin: Anti-drug message.

Carter: Uh, no. They’re message about injecting some fun into the –

Robin: Ugh. That’s what you like?

Carter: Yeah! How well do you know me? Of course that’s what I like!

Robin: Because that’s the most canned stuff – people say that stuff all the time. And how can you like anything it says in a bio unless the bio is just a complete bunch of nonsense, like a bunch of random words strung together?

Carter: All I’m saying is, I appreciate where they’re coming from.

Robin: Because you don’t know metal! There’s so many metal bands that don’t take themselves too seriously. So of course you can be swayed by something like “Metal takes itself too seriously. We’re the one metal band that doesn’t.” I mean, how many Goblin Cock records have you listened to?

Carter: Look, I’m fully admitting that I don’t know metal. And that’s why a band like this – and I’m sure there are many others – appeals to me. So as a non-metal fan, that makes them a bit more accessible. And it sounds like they have a lot of classic rock in the sound.

Robin: Hey, kids, they aren’t going to bite your face off or convert you to Satanism. They’re just going to play some good old two-chord rock’n’roll. Yeah, I like this song okay; it’s the best option at 7:15, which is not really a banner time.

Carter: You don’t have to go out then.

Robin: It’s true. I could eat burgers. I could have burger mania, by myself.

Carter: You could watch a TV show

Robin: Okay, now I jumped to 10pm, for High Tension on the Headhunters Patio. Sorry, the schedule seems kind of thin this year; I couldn’t find anything between these hours that I wanted to see.

Carter: Yeah.

Robin: Too many hair bands.

Carter: Look, we just agreed on something, can we just highlight that for a second. Neither of us – as disparate as our tastes – think this schedule is fantastic.

Robin: These guys are going to rock the little Headhunters Patio, I’ll tell you that much. It definitely sounds a little by-the-numbers, but I think it’d be a good show.

Carter: I feel like I have to preface this very explicitly: I don’t know this style of music very well, but it seems different to me that there’s a woman doing the screaming. It’s interesting, because when she’s screaming, she sounds just like a dude. A scream is a scream, no matter the gender. And I don’t like it, either way.

Robin: What about a jazz scream?

Carter: I’m not – I can’t get behind this. Look at you: Headhunters, Hideout. Headhunters, Hideout, Headhunters, Hideout.

Robin: Hey now, there was that Relapse showcase at the Dirty Dog. I’m not a one-trick pony here. And at least I’ve never said “And then I’m going to spend the rest of my night at Icenhauer’s.”

Carter: Dude! It’s not – okay, first off, this is no normal night.

Robin: This shall be no ordinary night at Icenhauer’s!

Carter: It’s not like it’s, like, June 4th, and I’m saying, “I think I’m going to go to Icenhauer’s tonight.” And, we hung out at Icenhauer’s one time!

Robin: Yeah, we did. I think you invited me. All right, let’s listen to Protomartyr, with the 11:10 spot at the Hideout. I’ve had good experiences with Monofonus Press. I went to a crawfish boil they had three years ago, and the crawfish boil was great, so maybe this band at their showcase three years later will be as well.

Carter: I’m all right with this. While you know I’m not the biggest fan of punk, I like that this is a more minimal approach to it. There’s a lot of space in the arrangement.

Robin: Yeah. I like the busy drum track, actually.

Carter: But the juxtaposition of that with the really not-busy guitars I think is nice. And that means that when this chorus kicks in, it has a lot more power.

Robin: Right. It’s not like that song by The 1975, where the whole song sounds the same.

Carter: It’s not like a lot of the crappy songs you were playing me on the Friday one. This is a bigger contrast, and I appreciate it. I could get behind these guys.

Robin: Man, the Hideout. I’m not sure that’s the best place for these guys. A small room with seats.