By Cool Kel
As a local Austinite, I’ve been attending SXSW for 25 years. This year, I’m embarking on a weeklong journey of reviewing only musical acts I know nothing about.
The Animeros @ Shangri-La
The first band I saw was The Animeros–a local Cumbia quintet that fuses bolero, desert psychedelic, and Colombian cumbia, and also what I call “Tex-Mex chic”. With an overpriced can of non-alcoholic beer in hand, I have to admit I was initially detached from the performance, but as I got more into their sound, the overdrive of the organ reminded me of some of my favorites–the late Augie Meyer’s work with Doug Sahm’s various bands, or the classic Chicano Rock vibe of Santana and Malo. The Telecaster was washed in “wah-wah”; the percussion was doubled, the organ, possibly a Vox Continental, was prodigious; and the bass player created mammoth tones with a feather touch. Fans of Santana, Malo, the legendary Roots of Chichas, and Adrian Quesada–tune in!
Los Juanos @ Mala Fama Rooftop
After The Animeros set, I made my way “over the Interstate” and saw the young San Antonio dream-pop-Tejano band Los Juanos. SXSW had Los Juanos as “Cumbia”, “Norteno”, “Corrido”, as well as “dream-pop”, “punk”, and “psychedelic” which threw me off. The nerves weren’t all worked out for their first two songs–the drums were out-of-sync and there were a lot of pedals and a mess of XLR cables on the small stage. For a second I wondered if I should stay or go. It seemed the band had clicked on Tejano but “clunked” the indie-pop part.
But, eventually, all the signals clicked and the boys from San Antonio started grooving. The cross-generational vibes were there and Los Juanos definitely hit on all those elements they cite in their description. They veer more towards Tejano music than dream-pop (an accordion will do that), and, on one number, the vocalist killed it with a Ranchera ballad with psych-washes. By the end they had the audience–It’s clear these young artists are on their way to being a sensation.