The Ghost Room
Spells @ The Ghost Room on May 19, 2011
Spells' brand of bouncy dream pop doesn't come around Austin very often. It's an aesthetic more synonymous with north Brooklyn, but don't tell the local quartet. Pulling out "Present Joys" through a synth-heavy, spacey haze, Spells nestled into an eight-song set ranging from "Young Math" rock to the depths of muddied electro-pop. Oh yeah, and they covered a Whitney Houston song! No joke. "I Wanna Dance With Somebody." Whit, you wouldn't even believe it.
Monarchs @ The Ghost Room on May 14, 2011
Austin scored a big win when the city lured Celeste Griffen away from her native Alabama. The young songwriter - whose songs are at once delicate and soulful - shares a likeness to Laura Burhenn's Mynabirds, but don't get too comfy on that tip. "Not Sure What's Real" bangs and slams with the fury of Erika Wennerstrom's Heartless Bastards.
Jesse Woods @ The Ghost Room on May 14, 2011
The most impressive thing about Jesse Woods is not that the songwriter once played wide receiver for Texas A&M. It’s that he wasn’t writing songs until his senior year, when five surgeries in four years gave him ample time to pick up the guitar. This may explain the general melancholia of his material. Like his idol Townes Van Zandt, Woods’ songs ebb on somber melodies over minor chord changes but never feel depressive or gloomy—a wonder in its own right. Just don't put it on during the game.
Mr. Lewis and the Funeral 5 @ The Ghost Room on Mar 11, 2011
The similarities between Mr. Greg Lewis and Tom Waits can be striking. There’s the crisp fedora both wear atop their crowns; the gruff growls they emit; the expansive songs that seem to come straight out of an after-hours lounge for drunks, derelicts and outcasts. As such, you feel it a little more when Lewis sings, “This life ain’t no bowl of cherries. I say it’s the pitts, and I’m sleeping underneath the burning bridge.” Dead on, Mr. Lewis. “Delirium Tremendous,” indeed.
The White White Lights @ The Ghost Room on Mar 11, 2011
Midway through their set, The White White Lights would send a chill up the crowd’s collective spines when lead singer Jenny Gacy dedicated “It’s Cold Out Here In Japan” to the troubled country. Before and after, however, the cosmically post-punk foursome had everybody in a fit, shaking down with a devilish touch on the Friday night before South by Southwest.
Bearkat @ The Ghost Room on Jul 29, 2010
It takes guts to stand up on stage alone, with all eyes fixed on you. But guts alone will not hold the audience captive for an entire 45 minute set. Bearkat stepped on stage armed with guitar and ukulele, and more than held her own. On this summery night in Austin, a lucky group got to see a wild kat in her element.
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