Cannibal Cheerleader

The Cannibal Cheerleader Crew caught Holly Miranda performing an in-store performance at End of an Ear records on Wednesday in what was easily the standout performance of the SXSW 2010 Fest so far. Away from the hipster hordes and with only her talent to lean on, not riding a wave of unfounded hype, the chanteuse sounded as if descended from heaven, dripping down like the torrents of thunder that her guitar pedals created. Performing alone with only her touring guitarist providing backup in front of a sparsely populated record store crowd, Miranda invited all the listeners into her woozy, bluesy world of haunting fuzz-filled guitar swathes and twangy, soulful melodies, equal parts exposed and honest as well as murky and ghostly. Blasting through already classics like “Waves” and “Sleep On Fire” the singer-songwriter proved to be the greatest find of SXSW 2010 for this music journalist – her captivating presence and her singular sound hewing the hyped competition in half left and right.

Holly Miranda – “Waves”

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From the best show of SXSW 2010 to the greatest find of the festival, we turn to local act Megafauna who stunned the CCC at a house party on the East Side. Not to be confused with the Bon Iver associated act Megafaun, Megafauna is an Austin-based rock trio featuring riot grrrl extraordinaire Dani Neff as the axe-wielding guitar goddess in the vein of Marnie Stern and Ume’s Lauren Larsen with a taste for experimentalism and whip-crack heroics. While Stern relies chiefly on sheer speed and finger-picking, and Larsen throttles with waves of crushing sound, Neff pummels with pedal-less snarl, letting her Hendrix-inspired sensibilities do the talking as the group’s excellent rhythm section, featuring slap-bass and crashing drums, supply a smorgasbord of indie-rock madness for all to enjoy. Not enough can simply be said about this group whose loud-quiet-loud formula mixed with supremely satisfying and amazing guitarwork lead to a band that can kick out the jams with gusto while still granting themselves an experimental edge. Definitely check them out!

While we Austinites may have been lamenting the start of 2010 with the University of Texas’ loss to ‘Bama in the BCS Championship, down at the coolest venue in town, the Mohawk, local indie-rock titans Ume were ringing in the new year with burst eardrums and blood-curdling guitar-squalls, reaffirming their presence at the best rock group the capital city has to offer. The trio of Lauren, Eric, and Jake hiss and pound like a well-oiled deathmachine, trading off the pulsating forward momentum from instrument to instrument – from the propelling bass crashes, to the whip-crack guitar wails, to the careening drumlines, all add up to an equation of mayhem and fury that’s as much indebted to hardcore punk sentiments as shoegaze, pedal-happy antics. The group pounded through an all-too-short set that seemed to flow seamlessly from one song to the next, the silences in-between only serving as an opportunity for the audience to take a breath and empty the blood from their ears. Definitely watch out for these guys in 2010.

Ume will be on tour this summer and are busy recording a full-length LP, due this year. Tune in to Cannibal Cheerleader for an upcoming video interview we did with the band. Much more to come so stay hungry…

More Ume pics below…

Ume – “Sunshower”