Cory Graves
This Week, St. Vincent Makes Her Triumphant Return.
Each week, we take a survey of the local music scene and try to determine which acts in town are really putting in work and seeing it pay off. Which bands have the most intriguing shows coming up? Which bands are getting the most press around town? Which bands have accomplished the most notable feats of late? Based off these criteria, our music writers submit a list to be weighted and compiled into a master list revealed each week in this here space. We like to think it's fairly revealing. Check out our previous Buzz Rankings here.
At this point, the top two acts in this week's rankings should be about the least surprising thing on the planet.
While both St. Vincent and the Toadies have bordered on overexposure for a couple weeks now, the former has not just taken the area by storm, but the rest of the country as well. And, for what it's worth, that attention is mostly warranted. We've written more than a few times ourselves that St. Vincent's latest LP is not only a career best, but an early album of the year contender.
That said, the pair of performances that specifically helped St. Vincent edge out the rest of the pack this week included yesterday's NPR-sponsored SXSW kickoff show at Stubb's, where she performed on a bill with Damon Albarn's new solo project, and, of course, her homecoming concert tomorrow night at House of Blues.
The Toadies, meanwhile, will get a Stubb's performance of their own this Saturday, where they'll perform Rubberneck from front to back for the first time ever. That album, you might remember, was also the subject of a short documentary that debuted on Monday night at The Kessler. And were that not enough, the seminal album, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, will get a commemorative beer launched by Martin House Brewing Company this Sunday. The band will be on hand to mark the occasion with an acoustic performance. Tickets to that one, we might point out, sold out in under five minutes.
Those were far from the only two acts using their trip to SXSW to rake in tons of buzz points of their own, though. As we pointed out earlier in the week, Dovetail has already received some praise from BuzzFeed, and Yung Nation, Oil Boom and The Unlikely Candidates earned nods from The New York Times. Air Review, on the other hand, filmed an upcoming episode of Last Call With Carson Daly, and Mystery Skulls DJed a Funny or Die party.
Back in Dallas, a whole slew of bands have big shows on the horizon as well. Party Police, Sam Lao and Home by Hovercraft, for instance, will open for Ludacris at the annual Greenville Avenue St. Patrick's Day parade. Then, Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights and Oil Boom will hold things down at the Granada's post-parade after-party. Fox & the Bird, meanwhile, will hold a release party for their new full-length at The Kessler, and Son of Stan will perform at Sunday's excessively stacked Spillover festival.
Elsewhere, Pinkish Black announced an upcoming tour with Goblin, Snow Tha Product earned a spot on HBO's star-studded Game of Thrones mixtape, and Buffalo Black got a nod from Spike Lee.
(Also receiving votes this week: Street Arabs, The Relatives, Bobby Patterson, Crown The Empire, The Baptist Generals, Pageantry, The Reds, Snarky Puppy, In Memory of Man, A.Dd+, Ishi, Kill The Client, Ejecta, -topic, TEAM*, Cleric, Sealion, Infidelix, Dark Rooms, Somebody's Darling, Vulgar Fashion, John David Kent, Ynfynyt Scroll, Brutal Juice, TX Connect, Blessin', Ronnie Heart, Roy Robertson, Bashe.)
Cover photo of St. Vincent by Renata Raksha.
