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Review: |
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This year at South by SouthWest, one of the more pleasant surprises was catching an
unexpectedly good set by My Education at a small record store. They created a nice post-rock sound out of the standard instrumental rock band lineup plus pedal steel and violin. In retrospect, it was one of the sets that both Tracers and i enjoyed most, so when My Education wrote EvilSponge to tell us that they were coming on tour, we made plans to head to The EARL on a work night.
The first band started playing around 10 PM. They were called Ours to Alibi, and i must admit to not being sure exactly what is meant by that. They were a space rock band, apparently from Atlanta. They had the standard 4-piece lineup, and played mostly instrumental droning music. At times, the lead guitarist played with an e-bow for added spaciness. They also had a few tunes with vocals, and when there was singing, the band reminded me more of a slightly mellower Hum, as opposed to the Mogwai-ish rock they normally did.
Ours to Alibi in action at The EARL.
Ours to Alibi in better, but less dramamtic, focus.
Overall, not bad. I would go and see them again. There were a few rhythmic oddities here and there (someone skipped a beat, etc.), and this leads me to believe that they are a young band. With time, they might be very interesting. They are certainly off to a good start.
My Education, post-rocking The EARL.
Up next was My Education, the Austinian act we had come to see. They played with a godawful amount of pedals, something that i am very appreciative of, and which i did not notice in the record store. They play post-rock of an epic sort, like Godspeed or Potomac
Accord. At times, with the pedal steel and the violin added in, some of the longer jams have a certain feel of The Band to them, and that's not a bad addition to the overall post-rock genre. At other times, when the violin dominates, they have that deep swaying sound of The
Dirty 3, and that is something i definitely appreciate.
Mr. Travis Weller of My Education.
Based on the strength of this set, i continue to be impressed. They played for about 45 minutes, and i thought that the set was too short. That is a favorable review, in my book. My advice to all of you post-rock fans reading this is go check them out when you get the chance.
My Education = powerful, epic post-rock.
By now it was fast approaching midnight, and i needed to be at work at 8 AM the next day. Such is the life of an indie rocker. Nonetheless, Tracers and i toughed it out to at least here a few tunes by the headliner, another local act i had never heard of before and who have an odd name, Sound of 73. I wonder what they mean by that, because the loud, echoing shoegaze that they played certainly is not reminiscent of 1973. I doubt it is similar to the music of 1873 either, for that matter… They made a nice noise, and if i had not been so tired and in need of sleep before a long work day, i would have liked to stay and see them play more.
Maybe it's the sound of 2073?
This shot is included just because i think i captured a beautiful
image of
the lead guitarist in
Sound of 73 in action.
Later, i got an email from one of the band members, who indicated that this show was the inaugural date for a hopefully recurring series of local post-rock shows to be called Going
PostATL. Check out the
MySpace page, and if you are into the drone and the echo, then maybe i'll see you at their next event. Based on this one event, i am looking forward to the next.
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