1 Chris Bathgate
photo by Erik Adams
SXSW08: Don't need Explorer’s Club’s good vibrations
March 15, part 1, in Austin
By Erik Adams
Published: March 16th, 2008 | 2:00pm
All apologies to the bands at the Prelude to Heat Death, Pt. 2 party, but if I'm going to reach my filing quota today, I've got to semi-live blog this stuff — I've got a feeling that the wireless service at Waterloo Park is going to be crappy.
Showed up to Lamberts in time to get the tail-end of War on Drugs and some free Live Oak. Though I crack myself up thinking that the band's name should be read with the emphasis on the first word, they don't sound like ’70s soul soldiers War under the influence of illicit substances. What they do sound like is Bob Dylan playing Loveless — My Bloody Valentine On the Tracks, if you will.
For various reasons, most of which are completely beyond my understanding of world economics, my home state of Michigan is swirling around the toilet bowl of recession. As the state that once moved the world grinds to a halt, its musical communities are pulling closer together, chronicling the downturn and celebrating the beauty of parts of the state that escaped the reach of the auto industry. When I put it like that, it sounds hippie-dippy, but it's producing some awesome music. At the forefront of the scene emerging from the stretch of I-96 that reaches from Lansing to Detroit (with a quick detour down US-23 to hippie-dippy capital Ann Arbor) are Frontier Ruckus and this afternoon's headliner, Chris Bathgate. Frontier Ruckus specializes in a backwoods folk that verges on bluegrass and leans heavily on some Athens, Georgia, influences, into which singer-songwriter Matt Millia weaves intricate tales of depressed small town-living. Increasing prolific, the band rolled out mostly new songs and closed with the triumphant combo of "Rosemont" and "Adirondack Amish Holler."
I really want to like The Explorer's Club, but they've got two things going against them: They're little more than a tribute to The Beach Boys and they're the third effing band I've heard this weekend to lift that iconic "Be My Baby" drum intro. Then they take the beat from "Don't Bring Me Down" by Electric Light Orchestra. These are touchstones that are great to hear for somebody who's been obsessed with pop hooks for the last few months, but by this point of SXSW, everything old isn't new again — it's just old. They're givin' me good vibrations, but I don't want 'em.
Chris Bathgate has a voice that could break the heart of a recent lottery winner. His songs function effectively with just that voice and a guitar, but he brought a nine-piece band with him to Lamberts that fills the space just fine with pieces of alt-country, free jazz and shoegaze. It's the epitome of the collective spirit so many Michiganders are looking to in these troubled times, easy to lose yourself in but much easier rest your head on.
It's probably too late to see anything at Mess With Texas and make it The Parish in time to get prime real estate for the Arts & Crafts showcase. Hooray for lines!
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This is the second installment of Venus Zine’s 2008 SXSW coverage. Visit venuszine.com daily through March 16 for twice-daily reports.
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