SXSW 2009: Day One

AUSTIN, Texas — You hear a lot nowadays about America's declining place in the world, and how our importance (cultural, economic and otherwise) is on the wane. But the truth is, the rest of the world still wants in. All you have to do to understand this is see my favorite new band, Sprengjuhollin, the highlight of South By Southwest's opening night -- and wonder how the heck a scruffy quintet from Reykjavik, Iceland, could wind up sounding so, so simpatico to bands on the underground circuit all over this great land of ours.

I'm told that Sprengjuhollin means "Palace of Explosions" in Iceland. But don't ask me how to say their name, even though the band coached the audience on how to pronounce it. It was, alas, not much of an audience. The unfortunate part of all the thousands of bands South By Southwest draws is that a lot of them get stuck in a situation like Sprengjuhollin, playing for a crowd numbering perhaps 30 after traveling all the way from Reykjavik.

Bless their Icelandic hearts, it didn't seem to bother the band a bit. A scruffy young indie-rock quartet, Sprengjuhollin whipsawed between rustic jingle-jangle and overdrive riff-rock, punctuated with genius stage moves (falling down in unison, hilariously) and deadpan stage patter. "Give it up for the weather," was one observation. And, in response to applause: "Yes, we expect the same for you." Their songs were pretty great, too, especially a lovely ballad called "Worry Till Spring." Take a listen at their MySpace.

Sprengjuhollin was literally the first band I saw Wednesday night, which meant the evening peaked early. But another high point was The Cheek, a very young, British and preppy group that was equal parts Clash, Hives and Buzzcocks, jumping up and down on a tiny stage; big kicks and big, big fun. Our homeboys Valient Thorr also did great, as usual, bringing the metal to the masses. But the rest of the night provided no buzz to match that opening salvo, despite lots of time spent fighting crowds.

We'll see how the rest of the week goes. But I've already got one great find for this year.