South by Southwest is drawing ever closer and we here at Overload are getting infinitely more excited as the days march on toward the fest. With three rounds of bands already announced, we know there’s going to be a great mix of artists playing the fest this year. From jam band Tea Leaf Green to rapper Talib Kweli, almost the full spectrum of genres will be well represented. In order to further prepare us for the fest, the people at SXSW have put together a solid collection of music videos from showcasing artists at their YouTube channel. Amounting to 40+ videos, the playlist includes national, international and Austin’s local acts. Check it out to see the great range of talent that will be coming our way this March.
Being a huge fan of music videos, I definitely made it a point to peruse the playlist SXSW curated for us. One video that stuck out for me was “Me and You” by The Strange Boys. Yeah, I was initially intrigued by the glorious 360° spinning jump to piano note strike that opens the video, but what drew me in was the song. Complete with an old-timey piano part and vocals that sound Dylan-esque, “Me and You” is a rambunctious garagey rhythm and blues rock song.
In the low-fi video, we follow along as a piano-obsessed main character plays every piano in sight. Be on the lookout for local landmarks like the UT Fine Arts Library and the old Scientology building on Guadalupe as our protagonist roams the capitol city. The Strange Boys have been around since 2001 and have released three LPs along with numerous EPs. In the time leading up to SXSW, I’m definitely going to catch up on their previous work which retromongers say is even better than their latest release, Live Music.
-Dan