1700 bands.  68 venues.  5 days.  2 ears. 

Once upon a time in the land of beer and queso lived a homegrown music festival known only by the savvy snobs who went to peek and poach.  And all was weird with Austin. 

But what was once a small town operation has turned into a global phenomenon.  And the annual SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, is today, one of the most well-attended and influential music showcases on the planet.  The BBQ ain’t bad either. 

The Los Angeles talent showed up en force last week with over 160 local acts representing at official and unofficial showcases over the five day span.  Business and pleasure mixed with Ro*Tel and Lone Star bottles, while websites, calendar applications and mobile services helped coordinate show schedules, track parties, find friends and get notified about the latest secret everything.  Stop! Twitter time! 

Though I was tethered to my desk, judging by the light lineups in town, and the noticeable dip in traffic, I am going to assume that every other music-minded professional in the greater Los Angeles area did in fact make it there safely.  LA blog celebrities were conspiring with club promoters, venue icons schmoozed up radio personalities, magazines made nice with record labels, and each threw a party to outdo the lineup of the last one.  That’s an away-team to be proud of.

And luckily, someone you trust is one of us and many of this year’s break-out artists are rocking-out regularly in your own back yard.  Below are just a handful of outstanding bands that will be coming back to town, high on... life, ready to ring the victory bell.  Mark the shows on your agenda, make a night of it, and support live music.

Besides, when the book is written on the “Silverlake Sound” and the next John Cusack stars in the romanticized, bittersweet, satire of your life set against the indie revolution of the 2000s, these bands will be the soundtrack of your tragically hip shenanigans.  You should really be there.  Let us hoist high our radios, and together we say, Amen.

Le Switch

If your drunken uncle was actually a charming musician who could channel his frustrations into gurgly, pop ditties, his band still wouldn’t sound as great at this band.  Their peppered pop expressions are just slightly this side of sad, and will most likely play during the part of the movie when the heartbroken hipster heroically emerges from her studio apartment after being broken-up with for the second time on her birthday.  Nothing accompanies first sun better than a jangly classic.

-- LIVE | Le Switch @ The Echo, every Monday in May

The Mae Shi

Remember that time you woke up hung-over for a year?  This band is the fun you had the night before, and conversely, the pounding in your head each morning.  It’s a fascinating, caffeinated, paradox, perpetuated by perky post-adolescents with penchant for noise making.  Their catchier tunes, however, get exquisitely close to experimental pop like The Flaming Lips, and on occasion go so far as to veer into, blissful, Supergrass, finger-snapping territory.  I won’t tell them it’s cute if you won’t.  These ambitious lads were scheduled for no less than 20 shows in Austin, but you can see them right here at home.  BYOQ(ueso).

-- LIVE | The Mae Shi @ The Knitting Factory, 3/21/08

The Deadly Syndrome

This California foursome crafts lush, emotive songscapes and pairs them with a high-voltage live shows and cardboard cutouts of ghosts.  Currently occupying the “In” in “Indie,” the boys paraded their melodic whimsy around SXSW making all due stops at LA showcases.  Expect to see a hero’s welcome when they return to town.

-- LIVE | The Deadly Syndrome @ The Roxy, 3/25/08

Taxi Doll

LA-based band Taxi Doll is described as a Rocktronica outfit, but I prefer to think of their vibe as “When Blondie met Kylie.”  Lead singer, sex bomb, and all around pro, Dhana is a mesmerizing, live action, dancing queen with a pretty, crisp voice and an enchanting accent that’s one part German, one part Spanish, one part UK, and twenty two parts fairy dust.  She and her band of brothers (they’re not really brothers) are grade-A musicians who make shiny music with a fully DIY ethic.

-- LIVE | Taxi Doll @ Crash Mansion, 3/21/08

Autolux

Shoegaze.  Dream pop.  Noise rock.  Call them what you will, but labels really aren’t their thing.  The far-off, far-out sounds of Autolux seems to live category free, representing the deliberate and stylish choice to edge textures and fuzz genres atop accessible melodies.  They’re bringing din back with a much anticipated record; the first since 2004.

-- LIVE | Autolux @ Coachella Music Festival, 4/27/08

The Weather Underground

The Weather Underground is like an alt-county, Wilco-parody of “There Was An Old Lady Who Swallow A Fly” meets the Jerry Garcia cover of Dylan’s Simple Twist of Fate, but dolled up, soul-style.  They may also be some kind of militia; like erudite revolutionaries who happen to make pop music.

-- LIVE | The Weather Underground @ Viper Room, 3/24/08 (Presented by Indie 103.1)

Sea Wolf

Misty histories and watercolor narratives tell the urgent story of Sea Wolf.  A few years in the making, the success started in Silver Lake, but the album sings of a wholly California wanderlust.  Pretty and indie and grey.

-- LIVE | Sea Wolf @ Henry Fonda Theater, 3/19/08