Countdown to NX35 2010: 43 days ’til… wait, y’all aren’t from ’round these parts, are y’all?
Only a week in and this is where the NX35 2010 countdown switches gears and I can no longer rest on my laurels. If you haven’t noticed, five out of six bands thus far are from Denton. The oddballs out are actually our big city neighbors in Richardson so you can see I’ve stuck to bands I know, I’ve seen, and that I love. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen 90% of the 168 bands currently listed (and I have a feeling the list is going to grow a bit more before we’re done!) but fortunately, the wonders of the world wide web exist. The catacombs of Myspace, the world’s beloved time-killer, Facebook, and Google! oh my god, Google! how could bands exist and thrive without these three wonders? Sure, they could spend $$$ or bug their designer buddy for their very own web site but money and time ain’t cheap, my friends, and musicians – despite what you see on Cribs – are low on both. So, here’s one giant step for mankind, out of DFW and into the internets, to help you narrow down your NX35 schedule (you know, whenever it is published!)
photo credit: www.brianstevensphotography.com
Birds and Batteries
I grew up playing the piano and the guitar, and I grew up tinkering with computers. Why my brain can’t make a lovechild out of both of those facts, I don’t know but I do love it when others do. I’m an odd duck though as ’80s music doesn’t do it for me even though it was The Decade of the Synth. I need a bit more weight. I need some crunch. But I still need to dance.
Far from NX35’s nest in Denton, Texas, Birds and Batteries will be making the trek for the festival from San Francisco, California. (I told you it was one giant step!) Why no one has ever pointed them out to me before is beyond me as Fort Worth’s Telegraph Canyon helped kick off their latest album release and they have already received much national and international praise. And rightfully so, as they ignore genre boundaries and melt the ’70s and ’80s with electronic sounds. But with weight. With crunch. And they make me wanna dance.
While making my trek through the NX35 lineup, I’ve been hitting up every bands’ Myspace page and listening to their most listened song first. So, I started with “Ocarina” which starts out with a little light and playful loop which had me thinking Birds and Batteries is a synthpop band. Not the case at all. Geez, not. at. all. It’s evident as the song continues that they know how to rock as well, and even moreso evident if you listen to “Lightning.” The first time I listened to it, I had to hunt down the tab in which it was playing (sidenote: you know the show Hoarders? I’m that way with my internet browser tabs) to make sure it was the same band. Rock. A hint of country. Yup, same band. Go ahead, listen to every single song on their Myspace page and make note of every genre they hit within every single song. And make note of your toe tapping. And maybe even some head bobbing. I know I did.
DFW, make sure you break out of your comfort zone in March and check out a band that normally doesn’t swing by this area. Birds and Batteries, I look forward to seeing you live.
Notable tunes to preview online: “Star Clusters,” “The Villain” / Myspace / Facebook
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