SXSW Overflow 2011: Day Three (Ugly Elephant & Shut Up Sidney)

Okay, so I’ve lucked out yet again; utterly swamped & out of time all this week, and lo and behold, here comes another relatively-light day of the SXSW Overflow Fest over at Super Happy Fun Land.

I’d initially thought there’d be more bands playing tonight, but eh, that’s how it goes sometimes; it should be a good one, even still. “Light” doesn’t mean “not worth checking out”; here goes:

UGLY ELEPHANT: I have to admit to being somewhat pleasantly surprised by these Austin funk-rockers, honestly. I went into Ugly Elephant a big, steaming pile of half-assed, faux-funk crap, the kind that was way too common in the waning years of the ’90s…and yet, here I am, bobbing my head along and fucking enjoying myself. The band’s funky as hell, to be sure, with plenty of horns and whacka-chicka guitars, but it’s the further-back parts I’m liking best, like the “Superstitious”-esque Stevie Wonder keyboard vamp on “Bodhisattva” or the flute on “The Metal Song” (which isn’t, btw). If you like funky, soulful things (and impressive slap bass), well, here you go…

SHUT UP SIDNEY: A relatively recent gang of local folks, I’ve been intrigued by Shut Up Sidney in the not-too-distant past; they play some seriously throwback-style punk rock with metal leanings, like all those old SST bands back in the day. The semi-theatrical vocals make me think of the Dead Kennedys’ Jello Biafra, but the bellow-along choruses and metallic guitars make me think of bands on the rawer, heavier end of things. I’ve never seen ’em live, sadly, but they sound like they’d be a lot of fun, like stage-diving backwards into the heady days of your misspent punk youth (assuming you had one, at least).

And yes, they’re the ones who provided the flyer over there, which kinda says to me that they’re going to clash with the next band up tonight. Whoo, boy — funk-punk fight!