Many of us Austinites who decisively chose to steer clear of ACL for one reason or another gathered at Empire Control Room Saturday for Raw Paw’s Ditch The Fest Fest 6. There, 25 local bands played half-hour sets, 16 of which I was fortunate enough to catch, as we all united in blissful appreciation of the brilliant music ripping at the seams of our city.
As I step foot into the control room to start my day at DTF, doom pop songstress Emily Cross plays haunting arrangements of a beautifully dark quality under the moniker Cross Record, wrapping us all, metaphorically, in a black tulle sheen as airy vocals float about in a subtle sullenness with the strumming of her overcast guitar.
In a sunny psychedelia, Calliope Musicals joyfully involves the crowd in their folksy tunes, bringing out a confetti cannon and passing around bubbles as we collectively slip away into an early sunset of love and tribal drums.
The musical equivalent of running around back alleys in high heels, Annabelle Chairlegs contributes elements of lo-fi and vintage pop to DTF 6, bringing the audience to a definite sway.
Indie neo-psych-rock band The Human Circuit applies deliciously lengthy interludes of trumpet, drums, and keys between groovy songs that make genius use of synths to infuse the atmosphere with sunshine and creativity.
Four-piece Feral Future rocked DTF with their biting punk and uninhibited rock influences.
In a dark whimsy, Patch utilizes the woes of Taylor Tazewel’s accordion and Benton Allen’s bittersweet vocals to communicate worldly laments to our spellbound ears.
Major Major Major’s poppy hooks and galloping percussion already have quite the establishment and a great following within the community, explained by the captivatingly magnetic energy that flows between the duo and out into the audience.
Liongrl & Gmonk collaborate together peacefully to create hybridized tracks of the upmost chill, bringing down the house in a positive fashion.
Cleverly, the four-piece pop-rock outfit Buhu manipulate vocals and incorporate 80s-esque synthesizers to create an encompassing dance groove that stands as a mirrored representation of the band members themselves.
Closing my eyes, I use the sounds preformed before me to slip into a daydream where Daniel Francis Doyle & The Dreams are at one end of a tunnel experimenting with experimental, while we are on the other, our eardrums bombarded with a deconstructed, frayed-at-the-edges groove of sensible nonsense, a vision not too far from reality.
Shmu, sits with a microphone in his mouth, as samples fill the feedbacked void between distorted vocals and powerful percussion.
Vibrantly, Big Bill occupies the outdoor stage, putting their outlandish garage punk out there as the audience dance battles and, almost involuntarily, bobs around to the freaky, infectious surf tracks with our heads in clouds of good vibes
Harmonious not only in vocals but also in spirits, the female trio Keeper soaks the control room in passion with their songs of soul and melodiousness.
Ever youthful yet mysterious, Young Tongue lays their guts out for Ditch The Festers to see via emotion-drenched progressive indie rock tunes, as Stuart Baker leads the fivesome, and wife, Liz, prances around the stage in a fairy-like fashion when not contributing her keys, percussion, or vocals.
BLXPLTN puts their indoor audience in a steel chokehold of electro-punk as they draw upon hip-hop and industrial qualities to create a sincerely grasping sound.
Closing out my night, SIP SIP storms the stage, proclaiming themselves as “the best party band in the universe.” That may be a pretty steep declaration, but can we really disagree? With the multitude of artists that make up SIP SIP, a veritable Venn diagram of other bands we love, the ensemble is able to produce a truly distinct sound, combining elements of jazz, rock, and electro that does its absolute best to encourage the audience to dance their faces off. Saturday night at DTF 6, SIP SIP succeeded in that endeavor once more.
I for one am eternally grateful for DTF and other comparable events, as they serve as reminders that it is not only okay, but good to turn away from the headliners and the “big deal”s and observe the greatness that is seeping profusely out of our own neighborhoods and support it as it parades down our streets. A great opportunity to hold your eye up to the musical microscope would be, conveniently, Ditch the Fest Fest 7. It’s this coming Saturday, and a whole new round of 25 artists will be playing – a lineup I’m particularly stoked about. Otherwise, get down and dirty with the clubs downtown! There is so much to see on any given night. Get mobile, get groovin’, and keep reinforcing the good things that Austin has going.
All photos © Madeline Harvey & Pop Press International; all rights reserved. Click any image to open in slideshow viewer.
