Kevin Bronson on March 17th, 2012

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Superstar showcases be damned: South by Southwest is made for bands like You Say France & I Whistle. Five people with a silly band name and just-happy-to-be-here attitudes hop off a plane from frozen Sweden and dive into a flurry of shows showcasing their impossibly catchy and improbably clever pop songs. From the first clink of their cowbell, you are hooked.

Even though their gig Friday night the Loft was their last in an exhausting week in Austin, it was clear that Claes Carlstrom, Ida Hedene, Patrik Marcus, Petter Wesslander and Christian Wester were not going to go quietly into the night. They launched stuffed animals (species not quite clear) from the second-floor windows onto the 6th Street revelers below (the toys had a download code, natch), then energized a half-full room with a frolicky set that could be described as Los Campesinos!-meets-!!! (Chk Chk Chk). Between Wester’s elastic bass lines, the quintet’s fun onstage antics and their tongue-in-cheek lyrical instruction for their single “OMG” – “You can learn these lyrics,” Carlstom said in mock seriousness, “they go ‘Oh my God” – you almost wanted to hop the plane back to Sweden with them.

Also notable . . .

Was Friday evening’s gig really Delta Spirit’s 15th show at SXSW? Sure, their self-titled third album came out this past week, but is that any reason to run them into the ground? We guess so. Friday’s show couldn’t have been any cozier had it been played in a tote bag – the tent at the Clive Bar (one of three “venues” that have been created by remodeling old houses near downtown Austin) was about the size of a three-car garage. Matt Vasquez and crew had no problem filling it, and it’s clear even in a short set that the SoCal quintet’s days as a folk/nu-folk/neo-folk band are over. Stinging guitars, heavy or doubled percussion, the Who power chords: Delta Spirit now has more in common with the Killers and Modest Mouse than any twangy bands. And it’s still good.

Chad Valley’s expansive set at IAMSOUND’s party at Club 606 offered shelter from the SXSW storm – the Oxford, U.K., electro artist is a one-man army of cascading melodies, samples, whooshing beats and deep-throated, tweaked vocals. Tears for Fears, with special effects. Somewhere in there lies a chewy center.

A moshpit at 1:30 a.m.? On Day 4 of SXSW, when everybody’s legs have either turned to jelly or tree trunks? Cloud Nothings can inspire that, apparently, and they so did in the wee hours at the Windish Agency showcase and ND.  The Cleveland quartet can morph from one of the better power-pop bands you’ve ever heard to fearless post-rock explorers with a dance jones in the space of a breakdown, and that dichotomy helped their set feel about as punk-rock as it gets. Frontman Dylan Baldi’s nerdy charm and adenoidal vocals are like an injection of youth serum – and atop his band’s furious riffs and rhythms, not bad for your vetical leap.

Quote of the Day . . .

“Adrenaline is a real thing.”
– Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit, on his band’s SXSW show schedule

Only in Austin, I . . .

A vessel for ideas.

Only in Austin, II . . .

Planting the seeds.