Kevin Bronson on March 18th, 2011

0

[Baggy eyes, blisters, battered limbs, a bruised ego – we wish we could say SXSW has been a romp, but it’s been rough so far. Got a late start on St. Patrick’s Day, so here goes …]

Wise Blood (Windish House) – The Pittsburgh hip-popper might have a single called “Loud Mouth,” but his falsetto on Thursday evening was showing signs of too many SXSW shows. No worries, the young man born Christopher Laufman still had his sense of humor. “Hi, we’re Friendly Fires,” he said, name-checking the headliners who would play four hours later. Wise Blood’s sample-heavy collages have a lot of white-boy soul, and if you can imagine Eminem, without the maternal angst and happily channeling Michael Jackson, you can hear what’s in Wise Blood’s veins.

Goldheart Assembly (Latitude 30) – The U.K. folk-pop harmonizers are making their U.S. debut at SXSW, and the comparisons to Fleet Foxes are at least partially valid. Their amiable songs occasionally dip further back in pop’s history, and both bassist James Dale and guitarist John Herbert are solid in their turns as lead vocalist. But the quintet’s set at the British Music Embassy lacked a knockout punch. Not enough there there? Maybe not this instant.

The Kingston Springs (Ghost Room) – If you don’t do the following at least once at SXSW, you’re not in the spirit: Just throw a dart at the schedule. That’s how we found ourselves at a BMI showcase smitten by the Kingston Springs (named for a suburban community outside Nashville, their home base). Groove-heavy indie blues, arrestingly harmonic folk, a sprinkling of good ol’ Southern rock – the young quartet fronted by singer Ian Ferguson (nice St. Louis Cardinals hat, by the way) do a lot of things very well, and their stomper “Weight of the World” has the stickiness of a big single. About the time the Strokes’ big outdoor show was ending with a fireworks display not far away, the Kingston Springs set off some sparklers of their own.

The Features (Dirty Dog) – This is our seemingly annual missive stating that the Nashville quartet is one of the most criminally underappreciated bands out there, that we like Kings of Leon a whole lot more for taking the Features under their wing (2009’s “Some Kind of Salvation” came out on an imprint the arena rockers launched), that Matt Pelham writes the kind of songs that stiffen our necks and that the Features’ indie blues are welcome on our mixtape anytime. New Features music is on the way, we hear. Good. Thanks. Till next time.