Kevin Bronson on March 20th, 2011

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[And so SXSW ends … ]

Elephant Stone (at Spill) – Strange that two names on the Saturday night calendar stirred fond memories of Britpop past. The first, Babe Rainbow (the title of a fantastic 1992 album by the House of Love), turned out to be a Vancouver DJ. Not in the mood for that, I scrambled to a Canadian showcase for Elephant Stone (the name of the Stone Roses’ 1988 single), a Montreal five-piece toting a beautiful sitar and a suitcase full of psychedelia. Frontman Rishi Dhir (ex-High Dials), who has played with the Brian Jonestown Massacre, the Black Angels and Hopewell (among others), allowed as how “this is our seventh show in four days, and then we’re driving 40 hours home,” but the quintet kept the energy level high and the show only sagged when things got too jammy. And damn, that sitar was was pretty.

High Highs (at the Velveeta Room) – Thankfully we were undaunted by the name of the venue. The Brooklyn-based, Australia-bred trio of Jack Milas, Oli Chang and Zachary Lipkins dispense a spacious, atmospheric brand of indie-pop that, we swear, healed all our SXSW blisters. High Highs have released only three singles, but even with Milas’ tenor faltering from the weight of too many festival shows in too short a span, the trio showed they have plenty more songs in their arsenal.

Army Navy (at the Swan Dive) – Each year at SXSW I try to swear off L.A. bands, figuring I can get home cookin’ at home. But every year one seems to be playing right around the corner just as the festival closes, and  … so … why not? The songs off their forthcoming second album “The Last Place” sounded crisp and jangly, especially “Ode to Janice Melt,” which surfaced here last month. Since it was Louie Schultz’s birthday, the mood was particularly buoyant; even the most festival-weary bounced a bit at their Britpop-derived tunes. A nice way to finish, with “Saints” in your head on the ride back to the hotel.

Twitter: @krbronson