Kevin Bronson on March 20th, 2009

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[Actual conventioneering, along with various glad-handing and business dealings, curtailed my show-going on Thursday – not to mention some unmanageable lines. Here are a couple buzzy bands I caught …]

Black Joe Lewis (at Cedar Street Courtyard) – Hometown guys Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears get the booties shaking in Austin, that’s for sure. Their vintage soul/blues – with its content naughtied up a bit for the rap generation – is robust, earnest and technically brilliant … and therein lie the rub. Not once during their supposedly rousing set at the Filter party did I get the notion they were actually feeling it. And that’s what the blues are, ain’t it? Maybe because it was the band’s middle show among seven at SXSW, the set had all the soul of calisthenics. The band’s album, “Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is” doesn’t pack the punch of its live show, and even that, well … don’t make it so college-educated, guys.

Cut Off Your Hands (at Emo’s) – This New Zealand quartet should be the last band allowed to candy up post-punk to make it safe for shopping malls, frat parties and the FM airwaves. Turn off the spigot. Stop the flow, for the love of Ian Curtis. Playing a prime slot at one of Austin’s prime venue, the foursome only faintly got the crowd in motion (mostly during the irresistible “Happy As Can Be”), and it probably isn’t their fault. I just get the feeling that despite its four-on-the-floor beats and Smithsy pastiche, what bands such as Cut Off Your Hands are doing has simply become background music these days.