Pitchfork

Though it's centrally located right on Red River St. in the stretch between Emo's and Stubb's, Bull McCabe's isn't listed as an official venue in the SXSW 2008 Pocket Guide. It's not quite a dive bar, but the place definitely has a local feel. There's no natural space for a band to perform there, so Slim Cessna's Auto Club were forced to block the bathrooms during their set of rumbling, overdriven blues tunes.

If Mad Max were a cowboy, this would be his favorite band. Between the banjo feedback and the vocal tag team of Cessna and second singer/guitarist Munly Munly, the Auto Club brought an apocalyptic snarl to the bar that had the two singers dancing like there was a revival going on. At the ends of songs, the audience would hesitate a second before cheering. Cessna and crew had done such a good job of establishing a wild, unpredictable mood that people weren't sure if the band was done.

David Bazan [Maggie Mae's Rooftop; 8 p.m.]

Speaking of revivals, the Christian dude formerly known as Pedro the Lion kicked off the Barsuk showcase. David Bazan has gotten a lot of flak for his faith, but as someone who got into punk through MxPx and checked liner notes for shout-outs to god until high school, I liked it. In fact, Pedro the Lion was one of the bands that ushered me into the indie music world. But somewhere along the line-- and I suspect because of all that flak-- Bazan got ornery. And frankly, his irreverent approach to Christianity got dumber. He went from writing songs about the merits of girls who don't shave their legs to a constant stream of adultery and corporate business tales with "casual" references to cum, like he was the Perez Hilton of indie songwriters.

Needless to say, I stopped paying attention. But my curiosity got the best of me the other night. Unfortunately, my expectations were justified, as Bazan played a set that felt more like a soundcheck than an actual show. The whole time he seemed distracted, and while he said it was a pleasure to be there, it felt like the exact opposite. There was none of the standby Q&A he used to do at shows, and overall, he was less spirited than he used to be. It's sad that someone who used to make music so insightful and touching has become so depressing. Instead of the new stuff he played, I recommend checking out the song about the girls who don't shave their legs.

Jim James [St. David's Church; 10 p.m.]

People who diss bands who use a lot of vocal reverb say that since it's not a natural effect (unless you're in a cave or grain silo), it's a mask for an insufficiency of some sort and shows a lack of confidence. Or, it might be simpler than that: reverb sounds cool. There are certainly worse reasons for making an aesthetic choice.

As it happens, another place with built-in reverb is a church, so My Morning Jacket frontman and reverb addict Jim James barely needed any in his mic for his performance at St. David's. His set blended directly into the M. Ward set beforehand, and the two shared duties on songs by both. They ended the partnership with a very sweet hug, after which James launched into the one song I most wanted him to play, "Bermuda Highway". The rest of the night held guest appearances by MMJ band members and light banter from James throughout. The Evil Urges songs sounded great in this context, and the fact that I quickly recognized them after hearing them for the first time only two nights ago felt like a very good sign. That record can't come soon enough.

Wiz Khalifa [Austin Music Hall; 9:30 p.m.]


Pittsburgh MC Wiz Khalifa played a totally competent set at the Austin Music Hall on Saturday, but that's about the most I can say for his portion of the show. It's always strange to see future mainstream/aiming-for-mainstream rappers play small shows, but the fact that the crowd was not particularly into him called into question his appeal beyond blogs. Really though, his biggest faux pas was wearing a Houston Astros hat. Sure they suck, but you should be repping the Pirates, dude! At least pick a team from a different division. That shit is shameful.

Murs [Austin Music Hall; 10:40 p.m.]

Assuming everyone likes sex and jokes and video games, Murs has an everyman appeal that's hard to deny. Couple that with a self-effacing, totally energetic stage presence, and you've got one of the best shows I saw this week. It took a while and a couple of utterly mediocre mixtape rappers for him to reach the stage, but when he did, it was worth the wait. Murs is such a generous performer, manifested literally through his vocal support of people who download his music, and he complimented his song choices with banter like, "MySpace fucked up my life. All these girls promise to give you some pussy, and then all they want to do is watch movies." The highlight of his crowd-altering set was "Bad Man!": sexual, frustrated, and hilarious, all at the same time.