It was while watching the remarkable Micah P. Hinson in action that I realized I had a theme for this year’s SXSW festival. He introduced a song by explaining that he wrote it in London’s Union chapel in honour of his engagement. As he smiled shyly at his fiancée in the front row, the song resonated with pure emotion.
Having sprained my ankle the day before leaving, there was no question of the traditional charging around searching for hot new acts, so instead I decided to spend time with artists I already knew I could rely on to be great. And all of them featured a male / female duo of front persons who are partners in real life.
Canada’s Luke Doucet and Melissa McLelland (pictured) are both solo artists, but now, teamed as Luke Doucet and the White Falcon, their joint show sparkles with good humour, love and musical brilliance. The same is true of Detroit’s Deadstring Brothers. Since Masha Marjieh has stepped up to the plate to share vocal duties with partner Kurt Marschke, this band (with a little help from their English friends) has been transformed into a rocking powerhouse like the Faces fronted by Tina Turner. You get the feeling they are on the cusp of much greater recognition.
Again, the same is true of Chuck Prophet and the Mission Express. With Chuck cajoling, teasing and encouraging Stephanie Finch into ever more prominence in the band (check her version of the Flirtations’ “Nothing But A Heartache”), it’s charming to watch this shy person’s amazement and joy at the affection the audience shows her. So fantastic musically and personally were all three of these acts that I went to see all of them twice.
It was impossible to resist doing a bit of chasing (hobbling) after the “hot new acts” though, and a pretty mixed bunch they were. Surely the Americans will have more sense than to fall for the bland MOR of Duffy, who made you want to cry “Bring back Bonnie Tyler.” Then there were the dozens of wham-bam indie outfits propping up the showcase gigs, of whom only two stood out: the extremely cool Rascals, who feature a mini-Lennon with great attitude (Miles Kane), and the cheerful Scouting For Girls, whose Roy Stride may well have a future of Elton John proportions. Austin’s Okkervil River celebrated their breakthrough with an epic set at Stubbs, while Southend’s These New Puritans took the prize for daftest shirt (chain mail, anyone?) and Lightspeed Champion bordered on the unconvincing with just acoustic guitar and fiddle being unable to do justice to the songs.
Returning to the sexual chemistry theme, two acts who exploit it rather than letting it speak for itself came head to head, but it was no contest; the Raveonettes remain resolutely monotonous, while the Kills crackle with static. And let’s not forget the ubiquitous Sons and Daughters, whose Adele and Scott are partners too.
What has rock and roll come to? A hotbed of contented domesticity, it would seem, and none the worse for it.
--Oliver Gray [April 5, 2008]
Photo: Oliver Gray
