Kevin Bronson on March 20th, 2011

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[Aussies on a rooftop, not a bad way to spend a Saturday:]

Cloud Control (at Maggie Mae’s) – The only bad thing that happened to the young quartet at the Sounds Australia showcase was that their banner was felled by the stiff Texas breeze. That didn’t sully the smile of Alister Wright, who led his band through some synth-kissed stomps like “There’s Nothing in the Water We Can’t Fight” and “Death Cloud” – and even stitched a verse from the Butthole Surfers’ “Pepper” into a song. Cloud Control’s tunes are a catchy concoction of ’60s folk-pop and indie-rock from decades later, all shaped into an ice cream cone of optimism. Their debut “Bliss Release” is doing quite well in their homeland right now; 30 minutes with them Saturday, and we could see why.

The Jezabels (at Maggie Mae’s) – Hayley Mary flaunted quite a bit of star quality in the Sydney foursome’s set, along with leather jacket and pants that grabbed the attention of anybody who happened to grow weary of the siren’s entreaties. Not that there was too much boredom, though: Mary, Heather Shannon, Nik Kaloper and Sam Lockwood roared through songs off their three EPs sounding like a slightly more disco version of the Duke Spirit. They’re at the Satellite in L.A. on Tuesday.