Gold Class performing at the Aussie BBQ, SXSW 2016. Image: Sounds Australia
A week and a half of relentless tweeting, making eye contact with desperate-to-be-cool corporate sponsors, and securing European touring slots with bands you’d be embarrassed to listen to in public. Austin’s SXSW Music Festival is the opportunity of a lifetime, if you’re willing to shed some dignity - and especially if you’re an emerging artist from the antipodes.
Over 30 Australian acts sponsored by Sounds Australia are playing showcases at this year’s event, which runs until March 20. Whether or not you’re in Texas, these are the ones to keep an eye out for.
Spookyland
Fronted by scratchy-voiced Sydneysider Marcus Gordon, Spookyland mix a compulsory sense of Australiana with an intrinsic sense of Americana. Their music sometimes borders on folk, but mostly strives for thundering, roadtrip-style bangers that would make Springsteen proud.
The band’s debut album, Beauty Already Beautiful was recorded in Omaha, Nebraska. Get to know them before it’s released in May.
Hockey Dad
Hockey Dad boast not only a great band name but also infectious surf pop tunes that come straight out of Wollongong. Fresh off the back of the summer festival circuit, they’ve just signed to US label Kanine and have scored spots at more than a few good showcases.
Nite Fields
Brisbane’s Nite Fields create moody soundscapes that feel at once deeply personal and completely robotic. Frontman Danny Venzin’s vocals recall The Cure’s Robert Smith, but his pessimism is more New Order.
Their debut album Depersonalisation came out last month, and it’s perfect for late night nihilistic bedroom listening.
Vallis Alps
The hypnotic electronica of Vallis Alps is the product of Canberra vocalist Parissa Tosif and Seattle musician David Ansari. The pair are now based in Sydney, and the SXSW nod has launched their first ever US tour.
Julia Jacklin
Sounding a little like Sharon Van Etten if she’d grown up in the Blue Mountains, or Angel Olsen strolling the streets of Newtown, Julia Jacklin examines themes of love and loss and youthfulness with a prickling sense of self-awareness.
The twenty five year old’s upcoming debut album, tackling the existential mid-twenties blues, will be titled Don’t Let the Kids Win. Like many of the Australian artists heading up SXSW, her songs feel much more college radio than they do Triple J - she’ll be right at home in Austin.
Gold Class
Their album It’s You was shortlisted for the Australian Music Prize album of the year, they’ve supported Thurston Moore and Kurt Vile, and they’re on the same label as Mac DeMarco. Melbourne post punk outfit Gold Class are killing it, and their addition to the Australian SXSW lineup makes plenty of sense.
DZ Deathrays
With a little more experience under their belts than other Australian artists at the festival, the dancing duo from Brisbane will be lighting up stages (and presumably a few house parties) at SXSW with their unique thrash pop stylings.
Methyl Ethel
From Fremantle, WA to Austin, TX travel Methyl Ethel, a psych rock trio rising from Perth’s densely layered independent scene. Have a listen to their debut, Oh Inhuman Spectacle, let the ambience of the reverb wash over you, and picture the beach.
Pretty City
The boys of Melbourne’s Pretty City combine shoegaze and britpop to create power chord-heavy anthems that wouldn’t be out of place in Manchester, 1990. Cheerfully retro, they cite Mystic Spiral, the fictional grunge band featured in Daria, as their primary influence.
Gooch Palms
Kat Friend and Leroy Macqueen make up the unstoppable force that is Gooch Palms, a garage punk duo whose catchy pop choruses lurk beneath unapologetically raucous noise. Originally hailing from Newcastle, they’re now based in Los Angeles.
Listen to their album for sure, but the authentic Gooch Palms experience can only happen live.
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