Shark Attack

by Carrie Brownstein

Stephen Thompson texted me that he was over at Emo's. I headed over there sans sunglasses or ear plugs (clearly, I am unprepared) and watched a few songs by a band called Headlights. My initial observation had nothing to do with the music: apparently, it's never too early to start drinking. Go ahead and bump into me, stinky breath, no shave, drunk man, but do it when it's dark out and I can't see you. As for Headlights, singer Erin Fein has a great voice: clean, breathy, confident. The band meshes pop with glimpses of psychedelia but I wanted the weirdness to stretch further and create a starker contrast.

I then left Emo's and stopped in at a bar that was hosting 'Athens in Austin'. Four men called We Versus the Shark were playing. The first thing I heard as I walked in was a riff from Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker" inserted into the middle of their song. (Later they would employ the same trick with Stevie Wonder's 'Higher Ground'). Both the bass player and rhythm guitarist had tiny synthesizers in front of them. My mind flashed to a Mike + The Mechanics video. The drummer was shirtless and wearing what I thought was a skirt. But after he stood up to get some tortilla chips during the middle of the song, I realized that they were just baggy, floral printed boxer shorts. We Versus the Shark are music nerds in the best sense. They devour their instruments as they play, they sing too loud, they let go and get lost in their songs. In the picture below, one guitarist is fiddling on his tiny synth and the other guitarist is biting down on the crash cymbal. Not much I can add to that.

Check out their MySpace page to hear We Versus the Shark's brand of experimental beard rock.

Also, over at Monitor Mix, people are helping me to come up with a moniker for my blank NPR name tag. Thus far, some of suggestions include: Client 9, Those Guys From Car Talk, and CB McGrumbleton. Feel free to add your own ideas.

4:19 PM ET | 03-12-2008 | permalink

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