SXSW 2013: Wednesday (Part 1)

If I was cynical, I would categorize South By Southwest 2013 as my year of misses. I flew in late Tuesday night, missing what has effectively become the new first day of SXSW. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Savages, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Thee Oh Sees, every event at the Hype Hotel, and a plethora of other wonderful, outstanding bands and showcases were unattainable to me, either due to scheduling or the madness of yet another overcrowd and poorly organized SXSW. Not to mention the amount of sponsorship and advertising, not something in short supply at all during SXSW, felt more pervasive than ever with that stupid, Doritos sponsored monstrosity of a "stage" being as much an eyesore ever and as far removed from the purpose of SXSW as ever.

But I'm not cynical, and these are the same complaints everyone throws at SXSW in some capacity every year. The truth is SXSW was just as crazy, intense, manic, and mind-bendingly fun as it always is. I got to see 33 different bands (35 if you can the two bands twice) within the time span of four days, most of who were stellar or captiviating in some capacity during their poorly soundchecked 30 minutes on stage. Let's see if I can deconstruct everything I went through.

Alex Bleeker & The Freaks @ Red 7



Alex Bleeker and his back-up band The Freaks were an nice ease into the whirlwind of SXSW. He stepped on stage, said a kind and awkward thanks to the crowd for being their so early (it was 12:45 P.M.) and proceeded to play some noodled out indie rock for his set. The light, Real Estate meets Grateful Dead guitar pop of his early work has given way to a Neil Young style of soloing, letting the songs sprawl, like they've spent too much time in the sun. And despite their hippie demeanor, Bleeker and the Freaks were tight as they bended their guitars and jammed out. The set definitely made me more interested in his upcoming new material, even if the set was a bit lackluster in general in the band's ability to grab your attention. 

PAWS @ Red 7



PAWS on the other had no problem grabbing a hold of everyone's attention. Three punky snots from Scotland, they managed the usually impossible feat of bringing a SXSW audience closer to the stage, and proceeded to blast the audience with the scuzzy indie rock that they magically yack off '90s radio and imprinted into their record. Despite the 14 hour airplane ride they were bantering about (and how hot Austin was to their currently freezing Scotland), they were still a sonic blast of energy, blasting through their songs like an even more high strung Yuck. People filtered in from outside when they heard the distorted guitars, people pogoed momentarily ,and PAWS made 1:30 on a Wednesday afternoon much more enjoyable.

Parenthetical Girls @ Red 7



This is a slight cheat to the SXSW rules considering I had seen them twice before, but there was no way I could pass seeing them again. Parenthetical Girls know how to put on a live show, with frontman Zac Pennington emoting the lyrics with such dramatics, then proceeding to jump on the stage's speakers, running into the crowd, and making such a specticual of himself to go along with the songs. Songs which, sounded pitch perfect as they were crafted by the rest of the band, from the drum boom of "The Privilege", or the blaring, siren like synths of "Young Throats", everything echoed with a professional crispness that is usually lost at SXSW. If there was any complaint to be found, it was how short Parenthetical Girls set was, something remarked on by even Pennington himself. But they just shrugged it off, and closed in their own tiny grandiose way

Wax Idols @ Red 7



Like I mentioned above, I did not get to catch the current post-punk goddess that are Savages when they played SXSW. However, I got to experience the closest possible equivalent when I caught Wax Idols. Heather Fortune and co. were an utter force of nature, four impossibly tight musicians that managed to cram a 10 song set into 30 minutes. The intensity of the band was matched by their songs, a dark and lethal combination of '80s post-punk and goth that pulled almost entirely from their upcoming Discipline & Desire, sounding at times like the byproduct of Bush Tetras if they had listened to the entire of Echo and the Bunnymen discography, in the best way possible. No smiles, almost no words to audience, just song after song of excellent post-punk fury. It was only later that I discovered that Fortune had been suffering from a severe cold during her entire performance, not only rising how impressive their set was, but making what a Wax Idols show at 100% would be like.

Parenthetical Girls-Good Christian Men Rejoice, It's Parenthetical Girls EP

As is their proper, yearly tradition, Parenthetical Girls have released a batch of self-crafted, original Christmas tunes to take the place of the usual traditional, repetitive, and generic tunes that flood the years during this time. Not that the band dives head first into holiday cheer, instead capturing the complexity of emotions (i.e. anguish, stress, melancholy, and occasional happiness) that comes with the season. It's all there on superbly titled Good Christian Men Rejoice, It's Parenthetical Girls, from the off-kilter and forced joy of "Rejoice, Rejoice" to the sad, morning-after waltz of "After the Holidays". Tracks like "Christmas Mourning" and "The Salvation Army Bell" bring forth concepts and thoughts that are so rarely talked about during the season (death and lust respectively), yet are still omnipresent there as well. The twelve-minute long, narrative prose "The Christmas Steps" is a surreal and haunting piece that more than anything captures the magnitude of emotions attached to this time of year. Parenthetical Girls may not be spreading pure, holiday cheer, but Good Christian Men Rejoice, It's Parenthetical Girls still captures Christmas time, if a bit more three dimensionally than others.



Links:

Parenthetical Girls' Website
Buy the Good Christian Men Rejoice, It's Parenthetical Girls EP here, from the band themselves

Parenthetical Girls-Curtins

Parenthetical Girls' five 12" EP long album Privilege will finally come to a close when the band releases Part IV: Portrait of a Reputation on September 11. After almost two years, I cannot wait to experience Privilege its intended, complete form. And what a better way to end the whole project than with a track like "Curtains". As the title suggests, the song is a eulogy, and beautiful one at that. As glowing synth lines wobble through out, Zac Pennington coos out pointed but heartfelt goodbye to someone. Cut a little deeper though, and you realize that he is actually singing about the end of itself and saying to the audience with it. By the time the parallel female vocals start to utter the lines "You payed for the privilege...now let it go" it's clear what she's actually referring too. However, whatever dimension by which you choose to view the song, "Curtains" is just a plainly gorgeous goodbye song, and hell of a way to go out.



Links:

Parenthetical Girls' Website
Pre-order the Privilege V: Portrait of a Reputation EP/ Privilege box set here, from Slender Means Society

Stay Calm-Let Me Clear My Throat

Stay Calm are an anomaly in the indie world. They don't really have a proper website, Tumblr, Bandcamp that will allow you to further ones' knowledge about them or really dive into their music. You know things about them, that they are the Portland equivalent of a supergroup and that they have only played live a few times, but outside of that there is a little out there to grasp onto. They set a sense of mystery in their ascetic without intending or trying.

This also carries over to their music, which is an anomaly as well, in the sense that one cannot possibly hope to pigeon hole it. "Let Me Clear My Throat" expands on everything "Take What You Need" hinted at and completely reworks it to insanely great levels. The band has about three million hooks into, from the pulsating and beautiful bass lines that thunder through out, the chatty lyrics between Explode into Colors' Claudia Meza and Parenthetical Girl's Zac Pennington, and the tension fueled breakdowns that excellently create quiet seeming moments, before Stay Calm leaps back full throttle into the swirling vortex of intense synths and askew drumming. At times "Let Me Clear My Throat" almost seems like a remix, with the way it weaves seamlessly between different sounds, but in turn this style shows off how skilled the band and how much they have control over their sound.

(mp3) Stay Calm-Let Me Clear My Throat (via INTO THE WOODS)

Links:

Stay Calm's Facebook

Parenthetical Girls-A Note to Self

Parenthetical Girls get better with each Privilege EP they release. This is not just a blogger's opinion, just an indisputable fact. Case in point with “A Note to Self” from Privilege IV: Sympathy for Spastics. Jaunty would never be a word to consider when describing a Parenthetical Girls song, but from the Neutral Milk Hotel style of the intro mandolin chords, “A Note to Self” has a strangely upbeat vibe to it, though coupled with a macabre undertones thanks to the synth whirls as well as the dancy yet pounding drum line that play throughout the song. But that is what makes some of the best Parenthetical Girls songs; their ability to juxtapose elements of their songs to unimaginalbe degrees of greatness.

(mp3) Parenthetical Girls-A Note to Self

Links:

Parenthetical Girls' Website
Pre-order Privilege Pt. IV: Sympathy for Spastics here, from Parenthetical Girls

Video: Parenthetical Girls-A Doughnut in My Hand

I will freely admit that I will post nearly anything concerning the Parenthetical Girls, whether to fanfare or complete general apathy of my viewers. However, even if I was not the massive fan of the band I already was, I would have still posted this video for how outstanding it is. Using the band's song "Doughnut" (from their 2009 10" of Ivor Cutler reinterpretations), the video is on the surface just a standard lyric video. Deeper though, it is one of the greatest tributes to vinyl fans/music lovers the world over who happily spend hours digging through crates of music to find that one hidden gem. As an added bonus, see how many different covers you can recognize/name.

(mp3) Parenthetical Girls-A Doughnut In My Hand

Links: 

Parenthetical Girls' Website

I'm Still Fond of You: An Interview with Zac Pennington of Parenthetical Girls (Part II)

The second and final part of my interview with Zac Pennington of the ever awesome Parenthetical Girls. Here we dive into his upcoming new musical ventures, how he was convinced to appear and act on Portlandia, and the deeper purpose of both "The Pornographer" video and the band's discography.
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The Creative Intersection: Has the process of creating Privilege differed or evolved from the way you originally planned for it to turn out? Like, you said you wanted the entire project to be completed in fifteen months, right?

Zac Pennington: Yeah, we did want that (laughs). We set up these sort of arbitrary confines, like “it’s going to be five records” for no reason what so ever just other than it’s going to be five records and “it’s going to be done in fifteen months” which is really impractical and not really thought out in terms of time line. Mostly because the process we work with is pretty much myself and Jherek (Bischoff) working on these recordings, and Jherek is busy with a million other projects, so ultimately it all depends on our schedules lining up. However, every time we work on it I feel it comes very quickly, it’s just he more than me is kind of unable to devote as much time to it as it would be necessary to make it come out as quickly as possible. The process has been weirdly organic in a way that nothing we’ve ever made has been, and I feel the working relationship Jherek and I have now is better than it’s ever been. I know that sounds really trite, but it’s actually true, things are working pretty well.

It’s a weird experiment, and in some ways it’s failed and in some ways it’s succeeded. Initially the idea was to be able to keep releasing things in a way that could the whole Parenthetical Girls project sustainable because of the practical matters of not being able to tour and...not that we’re challenging the idea of the album, but I feel like the way most media works. It still works around the notion of album as the definitive statement, so it’s been interesting to hear how people have responded to this project more than anything I think.

TCI: Have your non-Parenthetical Girls projects played a role in the way the music? For instance, you did a very extravagant play in Austria with an experimental theater trope?

ZP: Yeah, we did a theater piece with this group called Implied Silence that I think went relatively well. It was apparently big, and we made a bunch of music for it that I don’t know will actually come out. One of the songs we recorded from the piece in a different form for a seven inch that we released on Tomlab this year. Other than that though I don’t know if it will ever come out in anyway. In some ways that project, and some other things I’ve been working on, have allowed me to focus on what I want Parenthetical Girls to be. Because essentially Parenthetical Girls has always been a pretty open environment. We don’t really have a specific sound that we are aiming for, or we don’t feel people have that expectations about how we’re going to sound. It’s ultimately up to us, and where our whim are. But doing that Austrian show, which was really grand, ambitious, more orchestral than anything else, I was sort of really able to stream line and get down to a really different kind of Parenthetical Girls then we’ve had before.

I'm Still Fond of You: An Interview with Zac Pennington of Parenthetical Girls (Part I)

Zac Pennington is a talker. This is meant in the best way possible. It means that in this interview I did with him, my longest and possibly most enjoyed, he manged to give context and shape to even the simplest questions that demanded even simpler answers. Here, split into two parts is the interview, where Pennington discusses band mates moving on, the concept and formation of the Privilege project, and why the album as a delivery system is not needed.
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The Creative Intersection: The first question that springs to mind is what is it like now that Rachel (Jensen) is leaving the band?

Zac Pennington: It’s sort of been in the works for a while and only been officially been stated, but we’ve been dealing with it for a while. Presently we’re getting to play the first shows with this new group, and it’s seeming to be working out pretty well. Rachel’s way was very essential to the way the live band work for a long time, but for the most part she wasn’t that...essential to recording process, and the writing process, so we’ve been working on things this way for sometime without Rachel being...extremely...umm...

TCI: Crucial in studio presents?

ZP: Yeah, yeah. In terms of how the band operates, the only major difference is how the live band is going to work. That’s always changed pretty dramatically in short bursts of time. We’ve had a pretty heavy turnover so we’re pretty use to people coming and going.

TCI: I’m sure it must be a little bit different with how long Rachel has been with the band. I mean just a little.

ZP: Sure. No, it’s quite a bit different. I mean, practically speaking it’s not exceptionally different, but for the sake of the dynamic of the band it’s a lot different, and it feels like we’re starting the live band over again. Which is a exciting thing because I feel like it’s been a while since we’ve been super confident as a live band. We haven’t been playing a lot of live shows because it’s become more and more difficult schedule wise to do it with Rachel and other members of the band. At this point I feel like we are in a position were we can actually take playing live a little bit more seriously, and be more consistent with it then we have in the last year or so.

TCI: So you’ve been wanting to tour, it wasn’t the studio recording? I always assumed it was a concentration on recording Privilege that was holding you back from touring massively.

ZP: Well, it’s a number of factors. It’s mostly been personnel and getting to a place where we felt we had a consistent and reliable band, which we just haven’t had in a while. Essentially since Matt (Carlson) left some time ago we haven’t had a real consistent line up, so an opportunity to go on a tour, we would always have to scramble to figure something out. Because I don’t really play anything in the live band any more it ends up being a lot of focus and pressure on the people whom we get, and often time as such opportunities rise in such short order that we haven’t been able to capitalize on going on tour.

Ultimately, we haven’t...it’s hard because the way the Privilege project works, because it’s not a full length album. Essentially the sort of cycle you have when you’re in a band, you put out a record, then you go on a few tours, and then put out another record. But because we don’t actually have a full-length coming out for a while, instead we are doing these sort of incremental things, there hasn’t been a real logical time to make it work.

Parenthetical Girls-The Pornographer

Nothing brighten ups a day quite like one of your new favorite bands releases a brand new song even if it's one like the Parenthetical Girls' new dark "The Pornographer". "The Pornographer" is probably what would have happened in some alternate dimension if the Parenthetical Girls had tried to be a blues band or The White Stripes. Thick slow guitar lines are layered over a steady thumping drum beat, with backing vocals even thrown in for good measure. It's haunting and so utterly different from everything the band has ever done, and should not work in any sense, yet Zac Pennington and company manage to pull it off ...again. The song is from their upcoming third 12" in their Privilege series, Privilege pt 3: Mend and Make Do, which is up for pre-order now.

(mp3) Parnethetical Girls-The Pornographer

Links:

Parenthetical Girls' Website
Pre-order Prvilage pt. 3: Mend and Make Do here, from Slender Means Society

Parenthetical Girls-The Common Touch

A near single shot video for the increasingly more loved by me Parenthetical Girls' "The Common Touch", off one of my favorite releases period of last year Privilege, pt. II: The Past, Imperfect. A simple, eloquent video bring the poeticness of the song to life visually. I don't post a lot of videos, but when it's for band this good (that I think defines what it means to be an under appreciated band) and perfectly captures such a great song, I think I can make an exception. Also being brought with this video is the news that Parenthetical Girls have started work on their next 12", dubbed Privilege, pt. III: Mend & Make Do.

Links:

Parenthetical Girls' Website

Your Alt Christmas

It's that time of year. The time of year where no matter where you go, the FUCKING EXACT SAME Christmas songs are playing on a constant loop out of the really bad loud speakers that hang over you. You can't escape and eventually they start playing in your mind like tribal drums, and you half wish you saw your head open just to let the evil tunes leave your mind. Fear not, for although it may seem incredibly unlikely, many wonderful indie bands have managed to create memorable tunes that match the holiday times. And while I don't actually celebrate the holiday, I can appreciate the sentiment and songs all the same.



First in crafting wonderful holiday tunes is my beloved Los Campesinos! This is a band in my mind that can do absolutely no wrong, and this tune proves me right. "Kindle a Flame In Heart" is a the perfect example of what a Christmas pop tune should be, with a winter vibe, nostalgia lyrics of days past, and a stellar showcase of the band's new vocalist Kim. I would kill for this to become an actual holiday staple. As an added bonus, the band also craft a second holiday tune, "The Holly and Ivy" for those who subscribed to their incredibly awesome new zine Heat Rash, that included digital hymn sheets and art by Rob (Sparky Deathcap) Campesino! Now that's fan service.

Kindle A Flame In Her Heart by Los Campesinos!



My newest love, Parenthetical Girl, are no strangers to Christmas time songs as they have been releasing a steady stream of original and cover tunes in the forms of singles for years now. Recently, they decided to bring all the lose ends together and have released a digital compilation of all their Christmas tunes through their bandcamp. It is a nice balancing act, bringing attention to both the joy and pains of the season. Also, on a small side note, band member Zac Pennington has put together two Christmas mixes from his apparently extensive Christmas music collection over at the Parenthetical Girl's website.





Christmas time is also another chance to bring up my personal heroes Nosferatu D2 and their anti Christmas tune "It's Christmas Time (for God's Sake)". Well, it's less anti Christmas and more a realization of the pain the holiday tends to create for some people. It's heartbreaking, emotional, and point blank why I love this band. No wonder they decided to end their album on this note.

(mp3) Nosferatu D2-It's Christmas Time (For God's Sake)



I'm starting to release I have tendency to draw more closely to the depressing Christmas songs that seem to be crafted. Though I don't think the new Crystal Stilts Christmas song "Practically Immaculate" is actually suppose to be a sad Christmas song. Chances are it's just do front man Brad Hargett's monotonic voice that adds to the tone of the song. On the upside, cool Christmas style organ!

(mp3) Crystal Stilts-Practically Immaculate

And finally, a bit of an oldie from Oklahoma's favorite nut jobs, The Flaming Lips. Before the band decided to bless the holiday season with the LSD and drug induced surrealist film Christmas on Mars, the band actually crafted one of their best and underrated psych pop tunes "Christmas at the Zoo". The song of course being about what else...the band freeing all the animals at the zoo! OK, yes it is a bit silly, but would you rather hear this, or "Grandma Was Run Over by a Reindeer" for the one millionth time? I thought so.

Parenthetical Girls Are Bleeding For You

Parenthetical Girls are releasing their second 12" EP of their 5 part Privilege album this coming Tuesday, titled Pt. II The Past, Imperfect. "Young Throats" was released along with that news of the coming 12", and it's lays in complete contrast with what was heard on Pt. I. A pure and utter synth induced song, complete with drum machine and airy keyboard notes, it's kind of reminiscent of a darker Of Montreal song, but without any funk influence and even more painful lyrics, as is the pedigree of Zac Pennington. It might make you get on the dance floor, but it might make you cry there as well.

(mp3) Parenthetical Girls-Young Throats

Update: Parenthetical Girls have released a very bizarre, artsy video to accompany the song. View it in all its nonunderstandable and unwavering in difference glory.



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As long as we are talking about the Parenthetical Girls, I would like to back track a bit and talk about Pt. I of Privilege for a second. In pure honesty, I had never really given the Parenthetical Girls the time of day, with the orchestra pop "A Song for Ellie Greenwich" really throwing me threw a loop. However, a few months ago when I decided for whatever absent minded reason to download "Evelyn McHale" and fell over in utter disbelief. A sweetly sad song to one of the most perfectly picked subject for a band, "Evelyn McHale" is a song that just manged to hit with it's acoustic strum and lyrical prowess that I just listened to it over and over again. I finally got Pt. I in the mail after putting it of for so long, and I can honestly say that it might be one of my favorite EPs, if not records, of this year, especially how the whole 12" manges to convey the same sense given that was felt on "Evelyn McHale". It's looking like each new part will lead to the band diving into new musical territory, as evidenced by "Young Throats", but I can say I am still wonderfully excited for what is to come next by Parenthetical Girls.

(mp3) Parenthetical Girls-Evelyn McHale



Links:

Parenethical Girls' Website
Slender Means Society Label, run by Parenthical Girls