Red Bull’s Sound Select program has previously hosted a show at Holy Mountain, and this Tuesday the program found themselves across the street to Austin’s Empire Control Room for a Tuesday night bill that included Houston indie pop outfit The Tontons, Dallas dance-pop band Ishi, and experimental electro group The Clouds are Ghosts.
The Tontons have garnered spots on increasingly high profile bills including playing Hangout Fest in Gulf Shores, AL alongside bands such as Kings of Leon and Kendrick Lamar and Austin’s Fun Fun Fun Fest, where they performed on the same main stage as Snoop Dogg and M.I.A. Frontwoman Asli Omar’s voice is the band’s strongest weapon, and the songs center on melody and her vocal dexterity. However, the instrumetal prowess of the remainder of the band can’t be overlooked; subtle guitar hooks, catchy riffs, and upbeat snares create the backdrop for Omar’s vocals.
The Tontons embrace vocal pop in an age when our culture has become fascinated with honing the voice as a primary tool of artistic expression. Then, they’ve tempered that tendency with listenable indie-rock, effectively creating music that universally likeable. The clincher is the band’s dynamic onstage performances driven by Omar’s impassioned vocal delivery. Even the band’s slower songs kill live with Omar tapping into some serious soul grooves. Here is a band on the rise, and we recommend you tune in.
Knowing nothing of Ishi other than the dance-pop track I located and posted in the show preview I ran ahead of the event, I went into his set with an open mind and few expectations. At once, the performance made it clear that the live show transcends the band’s recordings. JT Mudd is a madman, dancing onstage in illuminated neon sunglasses, a Native American headdress, and patterned leggings. It’s performance art. It’s electronic rock. It’s dance pop. It’s infectious and irresistible. The crowd spent the entire set unable to avoid dancing. The band plays Houston and Dallas at the end of the month. If Austin’s lucky, they’ll be back soon.
Austin’s The Clouds Are Ghosts opened the night with a set of appropriately ghostly experimental songs that drifted over the crowd in electronic waves. You can see photos of all three of these bands below. Keep your eyes and ears open for the next installment of Red Bull’s Sound Select Program.
All photos © Bryan Parker & Pop Press Intenational. Click any image to open in slideshow viewer.
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- The Tontons perform a Red Bull Sound Select show at Empire Control Room. Photo by Bryan Parker.
