Features | Festivals
SXSW 2007 -- Day Four: Track Reviews
By Craig Eley & Andre Perry | 4 February 2008
The Teeth :: "High School Confidential"
>Live at the Habana; March 17, 2007
The Teeth had no intention of ending my festival experience on a quiet note. After a set full of high-paced, hard-played songs, it seemed that a calm waltz would have been appropriate. That's not what they had in mind. Enter their bassist: hadn't sung a lead vocal during the entire set but, still, he walked over to the mic and without an ounce of irony proceeded to drop the most blazing rendition of "High School Confidential" ever committed to these ears. The song's high school innuendo lyrics were transformed into a devilishly predatory number that would have made Jerry Lee proud ("I wanna rub you at the high school hop"), though what was actually said was buried beneath a furious stomp from the band. The Teeth hail from Philadelphia and are currently sitting on an album for release through Park The Van records. Keep yer ears peeled.
Andre Perry
The Polyphonic Spree :: "Everything Starts At the Seam/When a Fool Becomes a King"
>Live at Club deVille; March 17, 2007
"Everyone wants to feel love," Tim DeLaughter sang at the beginning of the epic "When the Fool Bcomes a King," and the cult-mania brotherhood was certainly shared by everyone under the small tent at Club DeVille during this amazing surprise set. After alerting us that they only had one more song, DeLaughter launched into this two-song suite that appears on 2004's Together We're Heavy. Just the latter of the two tracks sprawls out over 10 minutes and moves through at least 4 distinct sections; nothing this band does is small, and this closing number would be no exception. At deVille, the 20+ people on stage made the song even more grandiose than it is on the album, with trumpets and harp and the carnival-barking that marks the song's midpoint. Being from just up the road in Dallas, the Spree were certainly playing for a hometown crowd, and the enthusiasm was infectious even for those of us from the Midwest. The "band" is more like a performance troupe, and DeLaughter is their maniacal ringleader (I would keep the "cult" thing going, but the band has turned in their robes for what looks like either military issue gear or a mechanic outfits. So, yes, it's a one-piece jumpsuit with a Polyphonic Spree patch on the shoulder.) Anyway, these two tracks are of the Spree's most ambitious and well-defined work, all sun shining and trees growing and love flowing, etc. Afterwards, I was ready to follow the day and reach for the sun, energized for the final night of a crazy week.
Craig Eley
The Walkmen :: "What Happened To You"
>Live at the Red 7; March 17, 2007
The Walkmen appeared to be thoroughly uninterested in rock 'n' roll during their Saturday set at the Mess With Texas Party. It was perhaps their seventh or eighth SXSW show and from the blank look on bassist/keyboardist Walter Martin's face it seemed like he'd rather be taking the SAT. But this is why the Walkmen are so good: despite their apparent boredom, the set was sharply executed and the songs were hot. Furthermore, it doesn't matter if the band looks disconnected because their music often embraces the very essence of feeling disaffected. Like, on "Emma, Get Me A Lemon," from last year's A Hundred Miles Off, Hamilton Leithauser sings, "Emma get me a lemon / And if there are none get me a lime / And if there are none go out and get some." That opening line expresses the main character's devastating malaise, emotional defeat, and utter loss of any hope for the relationship he's in. All he can do is bark at his lady to go get him lemon-lime accessories for his alcoholic demise. He just doesn't give a damn anymore; To hell with it is a recurring notion in Walkmen music. The band taps this bitterness on one of their new songs, tentatively titled, "What Happened To You?" A slow organ-heavy verse has everyone steadily chugging along while Leithauser croons in a low voice. On the chorus, everything explodes (cue Matt Barrick's tom rolls and cymbal crashes) and Leithauser amps to a scream. Three times he shouts, "What Happened To You?!" That's it, no other lyrical exploration, but his delivery is so convincing it doesn't matter. One senses how acerbic the song's narrator is with the outcome of everything in life, with his girlfriend, with his friends, with the rest of us, and, ultimately, with himself. This song is a Walkmen standard: sadness in lyrics, excitement in sound, and conflicts unresolved. For the first time it occurred to me how depressing this band is.
Craig Eley
>Live at the Habana; March 17, 2007
The Teeth had no intention of ending my festival experience on a quiet note. After a set full of high-paced, hard-played songs, it seemed that a calm waltz would have been appropriate. That's not what they had in mind. Enter their bassist: hadn't sung a lead vocal during the entire set but, still, he walked over to the mic and without an ounce of irony proceeded to drop the most blazing rendition of "High School Confidential" ever committed to these ears. The song's high school innuendo lyrics were transformed into a devilishly predatory number that would have made Jerry Lee proud ("I wanna rub you at the high school hop"), though what was actually said was buried beneath a furious stomp from the band. The Teeth hail from Philadelphia and are currently sitting on an album for release through Park The Van records. Keep yer ears peeled.
Andre Perry
The Polyphonic Spree :: "Everything Starts At the Seam/When a Fool Becomes a King"
>Live at Club deVille; March 17, 2007
"Everyone wants to feel love," Tim DeLaughter sang at the beginning of the epic "When the Fool Bcomes a King," and the cult-mania brotherhood was certainly shared by everyone under the small tent at Club DeVille during this amazing surprise set. After alerting us that they only had one more song, DeLaughter launched into this two-song suite that appears on 2004's Together We're Heavy. Just the latter of the two tracks sprawls out over 10 minutes and moves through at least 4 distinct sections; nothing this band does is small, and this closing number would be no exception. At deVille, the 20+ people on stage made the song even more grandiose than it is on the album, with trumpets and harp and the carnival-barking that marks the song's midpoint. Being from just up the road in Dallas, the Spree were certainly playing for a hometown crowd, and the enthusiasm was infectious even for those of us from the Midwest. The "band" is more like a performance troupe, and DeLaughter is their maniacal ringleader (I would keep the "cult" thing going, but the band has turned in their robes for what looks like either military issue gear or a mechanic outfits. So, yes, it's a one-piece jumpsuit with a Polyphonic Spree patch on the shoulder.) Anyway, these two tracks are of the Spree's most ambitious and well-defined work, all sun shining and trees growing and love flowing, etc. Afterwards, I was ready to follow the day and reach for the sun, energized for the final night of a crazy week.
Craig Eley
The Walkmen :: "What Happened To You"
>Live at the Red 7; March 17, 2007
The Walkmen appeared to be thoroughly uninterested in rock 'n' roll during their Saturday set at the Mess With Texas Party. It was perhaps their seventh or eighth SXSW show and from the blank look on bassist/keyboardist Walter Martin's face it seemed like he'd rather be taking the SAT. But this is why the Walkmen are so good: despite their apparent boredom, the set was sharply executed and the songs were hot. Furthermore, it doesn't matter if the band looks disconnected because their music often embraces the very essence of feeling disaffected. Like, on "Emma, Get Me A Lemon," from last year's A Hundred Miles Off, Hamilton Leithauser sings, "Emma get me a lemon / And if there are none get me a lime / And if there are none go out and get some." That opening line expresses the main character's devastating malaise, emotional defeat, and utter loss of any hope for the relationship he's in. All he can do is bark at his lady to go get him lemon-lime accessories for his alcoholic demise. He just doesn't give a damn anymore; To hell with it is a recurring notion in Walkmen music. The band taps this bitterness on one of their new songs, tentatively titled, "What Happened To You?" A slow organ-heavy verse has everyone steadily chugging along while Leithauser croons in a low voice. On the chorus, everything explodes (cue Matt Barrick's tom rolls and cymbal crashes) and Leithauser amps to a scream. Three times he shouts, "What Happened To You?!" That's it, no other lyrical exploration, but his delivery is so convincing it doesn't matter. One senses how acerbic the song's narrator is with the outcome of everything in life, with his girlfriend, with his friends, with the rest of us, and, ultimately, with himself. This song is a Walkmen standard: sadness in lyrics, excitement in sound, and conflicts unresolved. For the first time it occurred to me how depressing this band is.
Craig Eley