New Wave, New and Old

I've always been sure that I would have made a totally radical 80s teenager. I would have been wearing an off-the-shoulder turquoise sweater over a pink leotard, leg warmers, and a puffy side ponytail, and jammin' out to Depeche Mode, Talking Heads, Devo, and probably a good helping of Pat Benatar and Nena. I just know it.

I may have missed out on that opportunity, but I sure as hell won't let it stop me from being bitchin' now! So I've prepared for you a little smattering of some of my favorite New Wave-y tunes, as well as some modern descendants of the synthesizing gods of old.

Witness the synthy wonder that is New Order! Seriously New Wave. Seriously awesome.
"Bizarre Love Triangle" - New Order


Oh, Gary, honey--you are safest in your car. It's ok.

And speaking of cars...how about The Cars? Yes please!
"Just What I Needed" - The Cars

Aaaand THE SAFETY DANCE cannot be forgotten! They just don't make music videos with medieval dancing midgets like they used to, huh?



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In the good old 2000s/2010s, we have a different style going on, but some bands admirably carry on the sounds of the 80s.

Thom and I got to see We Have Band back at SXSW '09, when they only had demos. Their recently released album WHB demonstrates their love for catchy, bold, synthy songs--and for making crazy cool music videos!



In the vein of Cut Copy, fellow Aussie band Van She makes some great stuff with a mix of 80s fabulosity and modern style. I'm giving you this song in particular because it's great, and was OBVIOUSLY written for me because there are no other Kellys in the world.
"Kelly" - Van She

But I think Austin's own Built By Snow takes the 80s cake. They embrace all things 80s and video-game-nerdy with a passion that rivals the 80s itself!



Keep the 80s alive! Love,
Tilly

(OH and my 80s alter ego would also have been Ferris Bueller's girlfriend. Really.)

Nerds make the best music

Most of you must have noticed the influx of insanity that is SXSW over this last week! Austinites said "Hello!" to a plethora of pretentious Brooklyn hipsters wearing all black (isn't the world over that yet?!), to which the hipsters replied, "Fuck you." Ahh, tourists.

But thankfully awesome music and free food/drinks were just as plentiful as the hipsters, and Thom and I partook as best we could. I was hindered by my minor-ness and couldn't get into the venues or enjoy the free beer that Thom could...and so I would like to formally apologize here to Thom for my 21st birthday being but two weeks away. Will you ever forgive me? :(



Of the free shows we did see, one of the best was from one of Austin's very own bands, the 80s-nerd-fabulous Built by Snow. We have blogged about them before, over a year ago. And not once had we seen them until now! Oh the shame.

We totally made up for it since they absolutely rocked the robot socks off of Fado Irish Pub on Friday night! After announcing themselves to hail from Tokyo, Japan, they played some catchy tunes from their most recent release, Mega, and a couple of experimental new ones. When the small crowd cheered them one for "one! more! song!", they returned to kick ass with Devo's "Girl U Want." They were nerdy, hilarious, and fun, and they have earned a 2g1k stamp of approval for all-around awesomeness.

"Something in 3D" - Built by Snow
"All the Weird Kids Know" - Built by Snow

As Thom and I get back to SKOOL this week we'll be posting here about our other SXSW experiences, including bands like:

-Neon Indian
-Memory Tapes
-Dam Funk
-The xx
-We Are Scientists
-She & Him

And other adventures like:

-Mildly famous people sightings
-Window cats
-Tripped out LSD guy

Stay tuned and keep rockin'!

Tilly and Thom’s favorite things this week!

Tilly:

Continuing on my Zooey Deschanel kick, I have gotten into an all-synth, all-girl band from San Francisco called Von Iva who coincidentally make quirky music with Ms. Deschanel in the recent movie Yes Man. While I do have a soft spot for Jim Carrey’s humor, the movie is pretty stupid. The saving grace is the super-indie (averaging 5 fans per gig) band Zooey and Von Iva portray, called Munchausen by Proxy, and I sure wish it were real. At least Von Iva is!

“Living for It” - Von Iva



Another badass lady making music is Brody Dalle, under the mantle of Spinnerette, along with (seemingly) random others. The song “Ghetto Love” is crazy catchy and full of attitude. I ghetto love it.

“Ghetto Love” - Spinnerette



Lastly, what do you get when MGMT and Cut Copy have a secret child? The answer is the band Empire of the Sun, who sound all set for summer (oops) and infectious indie-fame.

“We Are the People” - Empire of the Sun

Thom:

My favorite thing this week is… Myspace? What? Not for its social networking capabilities (for that facebook is far superior) but because smaller bands have actually acknowledged my existence through it. After a Tilly and the Wall show where Sebastian Grainger was a no show I wrote on their myspace ‘why no show in Austin?’ To my surprise they got back to me.



Built By Snow is another band that has recently communicated with me.



A local Austin band, Built By Snow satisfies my lust for nerd rock (a need left unfilled by Weezer’s latest albums). A band that worships the days of Atari and Pacman, understands the finer side of killer robots, and has successfully brought the word ‘rad’ back, Built By Snow is everything one could need (and so much more). Thus, our conversation on myspace was all the more beautiful.

(you will probably need to click on this picture to get the un-cutoff version)


Although, in the end I was still unable to make it to their CD release show.

"Algometric Touch" – Built By Snow
"All the Weird Kids Know" – Built By Snow

Check out http://www.builtbysnow.com/rad/ for more free Built By Snow mp3s.