These Bands Are Way Cooler Than Whatever You Saw at SXSW 2015

The Spits, photo by Steven Michael Ruud

If you were to add all of the bajillion goddamn bands and divide that by the quadrillion fucking showcases/day parties/invite-only events/whatever, chances are it would equal one thing: a fuckload of chances to see buzz band X at SXSW. But just who the fuck were buzz band X at the 2015 version of the Austin festival? Especially considering that this year was designed to ratchet down the hype and branding to focus on the music? You probably read some of our recaps of highlights from the fest (catch up here) but if not, here is a list of Noisey’s highlights from the festival.

Sheer Mag their first interview – Fred Pessaro Title Fight Hyperview – Fred Pessaro Ibeyi We Skyped with the French-Cuban sisters back in November – Kim Taylor-Bennett GFOTY Kyle Kramer Power Trip – Fred Pessaro Ty Dolla Sign – Kyle Kramer The Spits – Fred Pessaro Keith Ape – Kyle Kramer Kero Kero Benito This London trio are the internet made real: Cutesy, bleepy, boinging Tumblr-pop made totally international due to singer Sarah who delivers sing-raps in French, English, Japanese, and writes tunes about selfies and bossy chickens. They were easily the best thing we saw on day three of SXSW. Theirs is a kind of video-game pop to pull you out of even the most vociferous of cynic-slumps. 1-UP! KKB are winning. – Kim Taylor-Bennett SAVEMONEY + Chance the Rapper and the Social Experiment – Kyle Kramer Christine and the Queens which we premiered a few weeks back – Kim Taylor-Bennett Viet Cong – Fred Pessaro

Meatbodies

I can honestly say that Meatbodies were the best band that I saw the entire time I was in Austin this week. I say this because I saw them play three times in completely different settings, and they crushed it every time. This band fucking rules. If you’re a fan of heavy guitar rock and want to aggressively bang your head until it hurts then Meatbodies is the band for you. All of these dudes have the appropriate amount of long stringy hair meant for collecting sweat and flipping it all over the place. –Kayla Monetta

Twin Peaks

Probably the most promising guitar band in the game right now, these dudes have already perfected their amazing live show– able to entertain an audience full of vans-wearing, stage-diving millennials at night, and a bunch of stoic, canadian-tuxedo industry folk during a sobering day-time showcase. If you’re unfamiliar with the band (not the show, don’t get it twisted) Twin Peaks, you should probably educate yourself because these early 20-somethings know a thing or two about shredding guitar, and crafting catchy guitar rock. The first time I saw the band this week was at Noisey and JanSport’s Bonfire Sessions show at Cheer Up Charlies, and they had the entire crowd going batshit crazy– a weird scene for a crowd about to be lulled to sleep by Real Estate, but very #SXSW. –Kayla Monetta

Ultimate Painting

I spent the entirety of the UK band’s set standing behind a group of people who kept talking about how “Ultimate Painting are tooootally the 2015 version of The Velvet Underground, bro!” To be honest, they were kind of right. Ultimate Painting were probably the most talked about “buzz band” (I use this term with all sincerity) at SXSW this year– or at least, at all of the primarily guitar-rock shwocases that I attended. I saw the four-some play late afternoon inside of Hotel Vegas to a packed crowd (and a lot of #important #music #industry #folk) who were all riding the same big throwback wave. Every single one of Ultimate Painting’s songs will get stuck in your head forever, in the best way possible. Check these dudes out now before they blow up big time. –Kayla Monetta