SXSW: 25 L.A. bands to see in Austin (Nos. 1-5)
Kevin Bronson on
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The South by Southwest Music Festival, our favorite annual music orgy, kicks off Wednesday in Austin, and Los Angeles will be well-repped. Besides a lot of the familiar names – Queens of the Stone Age, She Wants Revenge, Cold War Kids, the Airborne Toxic Event, Ariel Pink, Fitz & the Tantrums and, yes, even the Bangles – there are throngs of new kids, or older kids trying to be new kids. If we hadn’t seen almost all these bands already, we’d be downright stoked. In the interests of sharing, we winnowed down a list of 60-some L.A. acts we’d pay a cover charge to see to 25. Here’s the first installment, alphabetically:
If you like: Edward Sharpe, Alex Ebert, Mungo Jerry, kazoo, self-taught clarinet players
What’s up with them: Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros frontman Alex Ebert recently released a solo album under the moniker “Alexander.” It’s a DIY number that (to an extent) embraces the same themes as the Magnetic Zeros’ wildly successful “Up From Below,” and Ebert will be debuting the material in an ensemble he’s calling Alexander & Friends.
Catch them: Midnight Wednesday at the Phoenix.
If you like: Seemingly unlikely collaborations, genre-mashing, this year’s Broken Bells, songwriters who decline to tell you their real name.
What’s up with them: There was a lot of curiosity about the collaboration between the L.A.-based songwriter and the London-based producer even before we premiered “Dark Into Light.”
Catch them: 10 p.m. Friday at the Ale House.
If you like: Timeless pop songwriting and guitar-slinging, drinking, magic.
What’s up with them: Ross Flournoy regrouped after the Broken West, wrote a new batch of sparkling songs and with his new bandmates Adam Vine, Brian Whelan and Andy Creighton is preparing of a year of magical touring behind “The Year of Magical Drinking,” just out on Merge.
Catch them: 8:15 p.m. Friday at the Parish.
If you like: Anything shamelessly over the top, space helmets, Under the Influence of Giants.
What’s up with them: This week marks the release of AWOLNATION’s aptly titled debut “Megalithic Symphony” (stream it), which features ex-UTIOG frontman Aaron Bruno crooning soulfully atop synths the size of the U.S.S. Enterprise. They’ve been premiering the songs with lyric videos on YouTube, and it’s Shiny Toy Guns on happy pills. Dance party on Deck 5, Spock.
Catch them: 10 p.m. Wednesday at Rusty Spurs; 10:30 p.m. Saturday at Stubb’s.
If you like: Classic rock from the ’70s, sibling revelry, drummers who move to the front, singalongs.
What’s up with them: Barbara Gruska, longtime drummer-around-L.A. who’s worked with the likes of Jenny Lewis and Inara George, has teamed up with kid brother Ethan to front this winsome band of folk-rockers. Harmonies, melodies, songs that stick to you like last night’s perfume – their self-titled debut (coming April 21) has them all.
Catch them: 8 p.m. Friday at Maggie Mae’s Rooftop.
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