black lips (Sat, 3:30p, ZYNC card)
What do you do when you're sixteen and in deep?...“Where is their answer?” you may ask. Do those psychedelic swamp guitar drones bear witness to a faith of some kind? Does the quasi-violent sexual comedy of their stage show underscore a deeply held belief system? Does their commingling of Deep South, big-tent revival rhetoric with hoary-throated, drug-haze mumble truly mean anything, to them or to anyone else?
local natives (Sat, 4:45p, Austin Ventures)
Local Natives make soaring, sky-scraping harmonies, dreamy orchestral melodies, and throbbing tribal beats that bash their way into your soul. Theirs are songs you can dance to almost as well as you can swoon to them. Drawing a line from the vocal stylings of Crosby Stills Nash & Young and the Zombies through the more esoteric edges of post-punk and Afro-beat, this California five piece have communally crafted a brand of indie rock all their own.
For Local Natives everything is a collaboration, from song writing duties to the band’s self produced artwork. The three part harmonies come courtesy of keyboardist Kelcey Ayer, guitarists Ryan Hahn and Taylor Rice. Then there’s Matt Frazier on drums and Andy Hamm on bass, who look after the band’s equally impressive graphics and artwork.
temper trap (Sat, 5:30, Honda)
The Australian quartet Temper Trap has fate on their side. The foursome came together when lead singer Dougy Mandagi moved from his birthplace, Indonesia, to Hawaii and eventually to Melbourne, where he just so happened to work at the same retail store as drummer Toby Dundas. The pair decided to form a band, so Mandagi brought longtime friend and bassist Jonathon Aherne on board, and guitarist-keyboardist Lorenzo Sillitto rounded out the lineup. Temper Trap’s debut album, Conditions, produced by Jim Abiss (Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian), came out last year, and the track “Sweet Disposition” brought them even more attention when it was featured in the indie-flick hit 500 Days of Summer.
and/or
the xx (Sat, 5:30p, ZYNC card)
One of this year’s biggest South By Southwest buzz bands, British indie pop act the xx scored huge acclaim with its maiden release, 2009’s xx, propelled by the singles “Crystalised,” “Islands,” “Basic Space” and “VCR,” as well as the AT&T commercial featuring Olympic speed skater Apolo Ohno and the song, “Intro.” The xx’s shoegazey soul, informed by the Cure, Pixies, Aaliyah and New Order, harks back to the house/trip-hop of Portishead.
monsters of folk (Sat, 6p, Austin Ventures)
A deep love of creating music coupled with the fresh, invigorating energy that comes from working with a new band drives the four minds in Monsters of Folk. Each a young legend in his own right, Jim James (My Morning Jacket), M. Ward (She & Him), Mike Mogis and Conor Oberst (both Bright Eyes) came together as friends to form a group in which everyone’s style can be felt and heard, woven through the band’s self-titled debut like an Americana quilt. Live performances reflect this, too, as members join forces on their unified tunes as well as delve into their own cache of songs from their alternate projects.
deadmau5 (Sat, 7:30p, ZYNC card)
Don’t let the elaborate mouse masks fool you—Joel Zimmerman is cheese-free. The progressive house artist takes his role as a musician seriously, playing most of his own material and assembling his tracks on the fly. His talent stems from a lifelong fascination with PC technologies and making music on computers.
lcd soundsytem (Sat, 6:30p, Budweiser)
James Murphy, the mastermind behind indie-rock favorite LCD Soundsystem, is equal parts musician and producer. In fact, he formed the band at the same time he formed his label, DFA Records, in 2002. The band garnered buzz quickly with the single Losing My Edge, a danceable, snarky dissection of how people rate “cool.” The group released its self-titled debut album in 2005, which featured “Daft Punk Is Playing at My House,” “Disco Infiltrator” and a second disc full of singles released over the previous three years. The album was nominated for a 2006 Grammy for Best Electronic/Dance Album.
muse (Sat, 8:30p, Budweiser)
Growing up in Teignmouth, Devon, Muse singer-guitarist Matthew Bellamy, bassist Chris Wolstenholme, and drummer Dominic Howard have been friends and bandmates since they were 13. Over the course of their five full-length albums and sold-out world tours, they’ve ruled the realm of dramatic rock ballads and punchy, fuzzy head-bang-worthy anthems.
They followed up their 1999 debut album Showbiz with 2001’s U.K. platinum-seller The Origin of Symmetry, and 2003’s U.S. gold-certified Absolution — the band’s first album to chart stateside. 2006's gold-certified Black Holes and Revelations further raised their American profile as the epic single "Starlight" dominated the airwaves. That same year, Muse headlined their first appearance at the Austin City Limits Music Festival.
Three years, a chart-topping fifth album (The Resistance), and a "secret" South By Southwest 2010 performance later, the band are back to properly rock the hearts and minds of ACL-goers with an army of lights and lasers and a barrage of heart-pumping rock songs.
