Dryvetyme Onlyne

I’ve been quite busy attending all manner of music festivals this year. Last weekend, I had the opportunity to get up to Austin for Fun Fun Fun Fest, a festival that, in only its third year in existence, has risen to become a standard-bearer in Austin’s true underground/indie music community, bringing together a collection of punk, indie, and rock acts that was both deep and wide in representation. “How deep and wide?” you might ask. Here’s a sampling of who I did not see: Trail of Dead, The National, DOA, Kool Keith, Bouncing Souls, Clipse, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.  So yeah — I had an amazing time. Enjoy the rundown!

Saturday, November 8th

Parts & Labor
(2:10-2:40pm, Stage 1A)
While the assembled crowd may have been small, they were privileged to hear a furious, passionate set from this excellent quartet. There is nothing even remotely resembling lame about the band’s brand of electro indie rock.

Centro-matic
(2:45-3:15pm, Stage 1B)
If you have yet to hear this well-traveled Texas band with their simple, unadorned post-Springsteen rock, then you have been missing out. They owned their thirty minutes of stage time.

Bishop Allen
(3:20-3:55pm, Stage 1A)
This is the definition of hipster indie music: quirky instrumentation, clean pop music, and a lead singer who resembles Paul Simon. Similar to Vampire Weekend’s inclusion of Afrobeat sounds, Bishop Allen brought in a heavy calypso feel to their overall upbeat and fun sound. But with four-fifths of the band clad in traditional preppy attire, it seems that a good trust fund is what enables you to create decent indie-pop these days.

Octopus Project
(4-4:45pm, Stage 4)
This was the first big crowd of the day, eager to see this industrial-meets-indie quartet perform their keyboard/synth-led instrumental rock. The band exuded tremendous energy: three of the four members switched instruments constantly and were drenched in sweat by the end of their set. Nevertheless, I wasn’t that impressed with their set, because when you need dancing ghosts and a weird contraption that manipulates electronic waves with the clenching and unclenching of a fist to get your crowd going, you have definitely jumped some sort of shark.

Yacht
(5-5:45pm, Stage 4)
Newly signed to James Murphy’s DFA Records, this electro-pop duo danced and pranced their way around the stage as they sang over pre-recorded beats and loops. Sadly, as catchy as the music itself was and even though the preppy guy and punky girl bounded about with gusto, their on-stage personas were entirely too self-indulgent for our tastes. So, while I thoroughly enjoyed the glammy, funky, ’70s disco-soul music, I would have preferred to see Yacht play instruments and not be so distracting with their dancing.

Brownout!
(6-6:30pm, Stage 4)
This was a half-hour of electric Latin funk music. The horns were tight and precise, the rhythm section was solid and smooth, and the dual dueling guitar players wowed the crowd with their lead lines. Amazingly, with eight musicians on stage, no one person or group overpowered another, as the band flowed and grooved with aplomb. As any band can tell you, when your crowd is diverse and dancing, you’ve got a great crowd and this was certainly the case for Brownout!.

Deerhoof
(6:30-7:30pm, Stage 1A)
It takes a certain level of indie rock appreciation to really “get” the vocal stylings of Deerhoof’s lead singer/bass player, but for every bit of weird vocals, you earn the privilege of hearing an awesome instrumental freakout. Drummer Greg Saunier’s intensity rivals that of Keith Moon and Ginger Baker, while the band as a whole puts on a wicked display of acid jazz chops. Deerhoof spent an hour playing the best of their catalog (including tracks from the brand-new Offend Maggie), giving each song room to breathe so that the band could jam.

ALL
(7:50-8:40pm, Stage 3)
As opposed to the typical well-behaved indie rock crowd, it’s always enjoyable to get into the fray at a good punk rock show and this was certainly the case at ALL’s set. For forty minutes, it was non-stop, driving ‘80s punk and hardcore music, complete with gang vocals and space for the crowd to sing along with the band. What was most amazing about this time (as well as all subsequent punk sets we viewed over the course of the weekend) was how appropriately punk the stage security was as they allowed all forms of moshing, crowd surfing, and (shock!) stage diving. If you weren’t being a jerk and didn’t interfere with the band’s performance, then you were allowed free reign to enjoy the music as you saw fit.

The Dead Milkmen
(8:45-9:45pm, Stage 3)
The crowd for this reunion show was huge, expectant, and hung on the band’s every word the band for the entire hour. The band themselves proved that they hadn’t lost any of their energy and punk attitude, playing all of their key hits to an adoring crowd who raised their voices with each and every track. Punks of all ages were here to witness these punk rock icons and their raucous response to the music was thoroughly encouraged by the band. From “Punk Rock Girl,” “Tiny Town,” and “Big Lizard In My Backyard,” to “If You Love Someone, Set Them On Fire,” “Beach Party Vietnam,” and “Bitchin’ Camaro” (complete with political commentary!), The Dead Milkmen first met and then destroyed my expectations with their enthralling, exciting set.

Sunday, November 9th

The Annuals
(4-4:45pm, Stage 1B)
This was one of my least favorite performances all weekend long and it wasn’t because the band isn’t obviously talented. It was more that, for all of their chops on their respective instruments, there was never a clear overall coherent focus to their sound. The band bounced from indie to pop to rock and occasionally found there way into prog territory, creating a wholly dischordant flow to their set. In their attempt to cobble together disparate genres into their act as a way to display their proficiency, the band simply appeared to be trying way too hard.

Islands
(4:50-5:35pm, Stage 1A)
Keeping with the general tone for many of the hip indie bands in attendance, Islands produced some really smart and poppy rock music (complete with appearances by a violin and bass clarinet!). However, despite being a solid, enjoyable act with clever rhythms and melodies, the group struck me as being too intentionally cool for school.

Black Angels
(5:40-6:25pm, Stage 1B)
Now this was a great show, complete with wave upon wave of dirty bluesy guitar rock reminiscent of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The key to the band’s overall sound was that, even with the thick layers of guitars, each guitar line was discernable from the other, keeping the band away from appearing to be a drone-y, shoegaze band. Moreover, the lead vocals were a great complement to the big rock songs (imagine that – a real rock singer!) and the band performed their music with very little pretense. I was suitably impressed.

Cro-Mags (Jam)
(6:50-7:35pm, Stage 3)
Ahhh… There are few joys like witnessing a passionate punk rock crowd get a full-on pit swirling around in front of the stage. And the best part was how the band just ate it up and encouraged the crowd, while ramping up the energy with their brand of intense political punk. The lead singer was a literal maelstrom of righteous anger and fury, as he stomped about the stage challenging everyone to stand up to the evils of the system, while loving their fellow humans. It always warms my hearts to see that true punk and hardcore ethics are still alive and well in the music community.

Minus The Bear
(7:35-8:35pm, Stage 1B)
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the Minus The Bear show, since their technical, ambient brand of math rock would probably work better at an inside venue, and sadly, the band’s aesthetic didn’t quite carry over to an outdoor stage. This Seattle, WA quintet put on a fine show, but the speaker volume was either reduced for their set or the tighter aspects of their sound dissipated into the atmosphere before reaching everyone’s ears. Also, it doesn’t hurt that hipsters tend to stand still at shows, regardless of how rocking the music might be, creating a rather underwhelming experience that we can’t quite blame on the band themselves. Seriously, when the band implores the crowd to get into the music and display their responses externally, it doesn’t bode well for the rest of the show.

Bad Brains
(8:45-9:45pm, Stage 3)
Simply put, the crowd expectantly waiting for Bad Brains to take the stage was probably the largest of the weekend and I was not disappointed, as the band rocked for an entire hour. Whether they were cranking out the tunes as hard and fast as ever or churning out some deep reggae tunes, it was evident that the band has lost nary a step in over thirty years of playing music together. Admittedly, some of H.R.’s quirky antics on stage (namely his constant fiddling with his head scarf and random banter in between songs) caused the crowd to thin a bit with each of the three principal slow jams, but the actual music quality increased as the show progressed. But in the end, this iconic punk/hardcore/reggae outfit played all of their key hits, including “Pay To Cum,” “Soulcraft,” “The Youth Are Getting Restless,” and “I And I Survive,” for a truly excited crowd.