1 Zooey Deschanel of She & Him
photo by Erik Adams
SXSW08: She & Him, Portastatic lead Merge showcase
March 14, part 2, in Austin
By Erik Adams
Published: March 16th, 2008 | 1:50pm
Zooey Deschanel let the world know she could sing in Elf, the movie in which she and Will Ferrell paired up for the perennial (and kinda creepy) Christmas-time favorite "Baby, It's Cold Outside." Some time afterward, she was possessed by the spirit of a lonesome, never-was country singer. She then met M. Ward, and that, I'm pretty sure, is how She & Him came to be.
But seriously, why has Deschanel been sitting so long on the songwriting chops she displayed at the 2008 Merge Records SXSW showcase? Maybe she was just waiting for the right collaborator, which Ward definitely is. The songs aren't mind-blowing, but backed by a band that sounds ripped straight from an old Nashville 45, they're a rollicking good time. Ward's a hell of a guitarist, and he spent much of the set rattling off guitar lines that made sure She & Him didn't sound completely stuck in the past. They're completely welcome to keep reaching back for covers like the slow-burning take on Smokey Robinson's "You Really Got A Hold On Me," however.
With eyes wide open and feet firmly planted, Deschanel looked like she's not quite accustomed to playing to fevered crowds like the one that showed up at The Parish on March 14. She should talk to Destroyer's Dan Bejar about getting over those nerves. Still prone to turning his back to the audience every now and then, the notoriously performance-shy Bejar pounded out a set heavy on material from Destroyer's upcoming record Trouble In Dreams. Destroyer's name seems like it's becoming less and less of a joke on superficial listeners — they dealt a massive sonic blow to The Parish. At the end of a very long day, it was nice to have some rock to keep me awake.
In testament to both the camaraderie of the Merge artists and the allure of Bejar, Wye Oak's Andy Stack and Portastatic's Mac McCaughan could be seen backstage replacing the A string on Bejar's Gretsch, which snapped during Destroyer's second song. It's fantastic to see that as huge as Merge has become in recent years, label co-founder McCaughan can step up for his artists like that.
McCaughan opened the night with a solo set of Portastatic tunes, which gave me the feeling in my gut that I usually get when thinking about sitting by a lake at sunset in late summer. This lyric from "Song For a Clock" sums it up nicely: "Be still, be still please / Oh I just want this frame to freeze."
I can't quite figure out Wye Oak. How come some of their songs are gloriously noisy, while others just come off like mild-mannered standard-issue guitar indie? Does the band remain a duo out of necessity or impulse? Because Stack's a basher of a drummer, and he could accomplish so much more if only his left hand wasn't playing synth bass most of the time. I've got one thing figured out: "Warning" makes great use of circular structure and Jenn Wasner's sugar-sweet vocals.
Following She & Him's backward-looking cue, Shout Out Louds brought the '80s, as well as a poorly chosen set-closing cover: Chicago's treacly "If You Leave Me Now." They should have just left things on the surging high note of "Tonight I Have to Leave It."
Evoking sad sack California doldrums, Radar Bros. was responsible for the night's most unremarkable performance. Expertly played, but just short of beautiful.
March 15 is the last big day of SXSW 2008. No other non-SXSW-sanctioned event is as huge as the multi-stage Mess With Texas 2, which is sprawling out over Waterloo Park. Later, back at The Parish, the "second-most punk rock band in Britain," Los Campesinos!, will make one of the week's most-anticipated appearances as part of the Arts & Crafts showcase. Viva la International Tweexcore Underground.
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CHECK BACK OFTEN
This is the second installment of Venus Zine’s 2008 SXSW coverage. Visit venuszine.com daily through March 16 for twice-daily reports.
Issue #35
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