Tejas Video Meltdown #3 – Women in Prison

14 07 2011

TVM Numero Trois. Does this count as part of the fest? Are you bothered? Okay, technically a pre-fest gig, this late night exposé at Chain Drive marked our initiation into that inimitable live hardpunk music gigger experience native to Austin, quite outside of the whole Fest deal.

We learnt that in the case of WOMEN IN PRISON, this can often involve large amounts of beer, spit, and glitter. Formerly of a hundred other bands, these gallant stallions of the Texan undergrowth proved conclusively that this is no locals only outing, and their record out right now on Hozac echoes this point. Driving, writhing rage-a-thon hardcore tunes good for fightin’ round the world to. Vaaska and The Altars also played. Sweet.

Women in Prison, Live at Chain Drive, (1st June 2011)


July 14th, 2011 by Bryony
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Categories : Show reviews, Video of the Week

Tejas Video Meltdown #2 – Nü Sensae

6 07 2011

Welcome to the second installment of TVM, this time brought to you from the sticky floor of Austin mainstay Beerland. Despite being kinda low down on the bill, and playing only one time at a sort of peripheral-to-the-fest show, the chance to catch NÜ SENSAE live was a serious deal breaker in our attendance all the way from the U of K.

For the louts at the back, this Vancouver duo make the soundtrack to somethin’ seriously seismic. Their short set was a hidden nugget of totally furious tightness in a sea of sweat-encrusted averageness. It was pared down, spooky, and they managed to play the hardest and most directly blistering set I saw all Fest, albeit to less than thirty people.

Pfft, right? But those who missed them due to clashes or being in dumbo festival-fug mode, despair not because their intense two month (yeah, two month) “Clown Life” tour of the USA with British Colombia buds White Lung is not yet over! To whet your appetite, see here and peep the remaining dates here. Without further ado, here is the footage. Feeeeel the Darkness.

Nü Sensae live at Beerland (June 3rd, 2011)


July 6th, 2011 by Bryony
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Categories : Show reviews

Tejas Video Meltdown #1: Crazy Spirit

1 07 2011

HEY! Here’s a brief interlude of visual treats from the fiery pit of heat and spikes that was Chaos in Tejas 2011, Austin’s annual punk rock circle jerk.

Now that the sunburn is just scar tissue and the inevitable post-fest flu has finally abated, you can sit back and enjoy the finest wobbly-handed documentation, courtesy of video/tape label enterprise Kiss Ass To Your Peer Group, with some accompanying words from your very own columnist Bryony B.

In the interests of avoiding overstimulation, we’ll be drip-feeding y’all. Get ready.

Crazy Spirit (NY) Live at Lake Travis (“The Boat”)

As a virgin to the gently swaying, salty smellin’ environs of this eponymous party boat, the cameraman and I, together with our other reserved British pal, could do little other than gawp in awe that anyone could have fun in this heat, let alone play the raging set of tight, scummy, moron punk that CRAZY SPIRIT so effortlessly did for the second time in two days, and all in less than ideal sonic circumstances.

Wild beasts of urban decay transplanted to a craggy inlet off the Texan coast, the video shows the weirdness of the situation all too well. But weird is GOOD, right? The rest of their short set is otherwise a blur, perhaps beause we also forgot to bring any food or water. Dick move.  You can also see their debut set at Emo’s here, in case ya missed it, and buy the repress of their killer demo now on 12” from this fine label.


July 1st, 2011 by Bryony
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Categories : Show reviews