Letting Up Despite Great Faults Release Neon at Holy Mountain: Live Review

Photo by Bryan Parker

Local synthpop dreampscape band Letting Up Despite Great Faults released their third LP Neon this past Saturday at Holy Mountain.  Supporting the band and filling out the rest of the superb lineup were Löwin, Whiite Walls, and Shmu. Bryan Parker covered the first half of the night (his writing embedded below), while I checked out Vagabond’s over at Empire Control Room. Later in the night, Parker headed to Spiderhouse for The Mole People’s album release, while I took over duties covering sets by the final two bands to play Holy Mountain’s stage.

Photo by Bryan Parker

With Sara Houser at the helm, Löwin kicked off the night with a set of crunchy rock and roll. Austin’s indie rock community has an array of sounds, ranging from buzzing psych pop to somber folk, but Houser’s projects have always brought muscular riffs to the fore. The fact that she can kick so much ass and look killer in a dress at the same time makes Löwin doubly awesome. In case you hadn’t heard yet, the band’s moniker is German for “lioness.” Hear them roar indeed. –BP

Photo by Bryan Parker

Whiite Walls is a band I’ve managed to miss more times than I’d like. I’ve now only caught parts of sets twice, but I’m damned determined to see a full set soon after being sufficiently impressed with the little amount I’ve been able to catch from this up and coming band. Diversifying songs by utilizing an array of instruments and vocalists, the band’s live set always seems to be moving the focus of the show to another part of the stage, thus keeping the crowd engrossed. Whiite Walls seems an apt name for a group whose songs swell into shimmering noise pop anthems–towering cliffs of sound. –BP

Photo by Lukas Truckenbrod

Shmu is not for the faint of heart.  Similar to related progressive rock band Zorch, the band is guided by drummer Sam “Shmu” Chown (also of popular progressive experimental rock band Zorch), who leads the group through a sonic assault of machine-gun percussion and super-feedback vocals delivered through a funky strapped-on microphone that sits in his mouth.  Heavy distortion and spinning samples washed over the audience as various old-school cartoons and lasers were projected through fog and onto the three-piece.  The pure volume that hit me was enough to brush some of the sweat off. –LT

Photo by Lukas Truckenbrod

Leaving the melting dungeon of Empire Control Room, where I was pulling double duty, I walked swiftly back across 7th Ave to catch a breeze and cool off before the electronic  waves from Letting Up Despite Great Faults heated things back up. The four-piece has been crafting their compressed digi-gaze sound for at least five years now, first releasing a self-titled nine-track long player in 2009. The jamz are ripe for an Urban Outfitters dressing room with breathy vocals from lady lead singer Annah Fisette. The most immediate comparison would be French synthpop giants M83, which shares the same hugely compressed synth driven pop sound.  Having long given in to the sweat, I accepted the heat and rode the chill waves of a solid summer evening featuring some of Austin’s most promising talent. –LT

All photos in this post © Bryan Parker/Lukas Truckenbrod as indicated & Pop Press International; all rights reserved. Click any image to open in slideshow viewer.