With Two Door Cinema Club’s second album in the works, it seems fitting that I throw out a review of their first album. Tourist History received a lot of critical acclaim — and for good reason. The 10-song indie dance-rock album has quite a few amazing tracks on it.

Two Door Cinema Club is doing something very refreshing for the indie scene. The lead single off of their album, “What You Know,” made a solid dent in alternative charts with its hot melody and dancey chorus.

What Two Door does for modern music is actually quite revitalizing. It is pretty apparent that they have worked heavily on their melody and their rhythms. Tracks like “Cigarettes In The Theater” display strong riffs that were carefully plotted out. “Do You Want It All?” is a melodic track in 7/4 time, which catches the listener off guard — in a good way of course.

Despite the strength of most of the tracks on here, Two Door Cinema Club’s main problems are quite basic. A lot of their songs tend to run together as they do not exactly experiment with what they do. They know what they do well and they stick to it. Unfortunately, their second problem is more significant: They lack substance in their songs lyrically.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, in Alt Tuesdays, I place a lot of emphasis on writing quality lyrics that actually mean something. Two Door tends to fail entirely at presenting those. After learning all of the lyrics to “What You Know” for my a cappella group, I realized that the song literally says nothing from beginning to end. A little disappointing, to say the least. Fortunately, this is not a problem that is apparent unless you look for it. Although I suppose I just made you look for it… whoops.

Here’s the thing about Two Door, though: They are simply a band that knows how to sound tight on an album, which is quite admirable considering that a strong sense of rhythm and melody both seem to be absent from a lot of modern music. Look out for a new record from them soon, as I would bet that their second effort is a similar sounding pop gem.

There is a special place in my heart reserved for the majestic autumnal folk of The Wilderness of Manitoba. After hearing the band’s song “Hermit,” I immediately sought out a Canadian release of their debut album When You Left the Fire (they would not be distributed in the states for another seven months) and kept it on repeat throughout the fall and winter months. The band’s wandering compositions manage to capture a romanticized idea of nature in a way that no other modern folk can.

I saw The Wilderness of Manitoba for the first time at The Black Cat in Washington D.C. while they were touring in support of the American release of their album. Their performance, as expected, was phenomenal. The band performed songs off of their album as well as a couple of songs from the Hymn of Love and Spirits EP. After the show in D.C., the band was gracious enough to give me an interview. We discussed the differences between festivals and isolated shows, the origin of their name (a museum exhibit), and the differences between American and European audiences, among other things. This was my first interview and I was anxious about whether I could actually interview well, however the musicians were so chill and thoughtful that we ended up talking for almost twenty minutes and I was sad to leave.

After all of this, there was no question that I would be at their SXSW performance at the Velveeta Comedy Room on Thursday, March 15. There couldn’t have been more than 30 people in the audience, a fact that was both infuriating and exciting. On one hand, it was frustrating to see that the band was not getting the kind of attention they deserve, however I couldn’t deny the intimacy this small size lent the performance.

I was thrilled to see that The Wilderness of Manitoba had not lost its magic. The band performed a mix of older songs and songs that will be released on their upcoming album, which the band has just recently finished recording. At first the newer material was a total shock: Electronics! Who would have thought that a band that could produce music as beautifully as The Wilderness of Manitoba would turn to electronics? I admit, it took me a little bit to adjust to the idea. Once I did, though, I found myself enjoying the new material just as much as their older material — not only because it sounded great but also because I was curious. How could electronic aesthetics fit into the ethos of The Wilderness of Manitoba?

After the show, lead vocalist and guitarist Will Wettwham was kind enough to share some of his thoughts. Also, he remembered me from the last time I had interviewed the band. What a great guy. Click more for the interview.

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On Wednesday, March 14, Cheer Up Charlie’s stage on East 6th St. in Austin was terrorized by CHRISTEENE. Backed by dancers C-BABY and T-GRAVEL, along with DJ JJ BOOYA, CHRISTEENE’s performance was centered around a broke ass grunge aesthetic smeared with sweat and sensuality. CHRISTEENE’s performances are full of the fury of the most aggressive metal, oscillating between whimsy and rage with unsettling speed.

When CHRISTEENE hit the stage, it was serious business. The music had a serious edge that wavered on fanaticism. The lyrics took front stage, tackling gender roles, race, sexuality, celebrity, religion, and morality by combining a hyper sexual aesthetic and grotesque aggression with electro, R&B, hip hop and dubstep.

CHRISTEENE, the drag persona of Austin-based performer Paul Soileau, embodies the primal rage of a neanderthal channeled through the self-obsession of the contemporary American woman.

Fans of Peaches, Die Antwoord, and Big Freedia are sure to appreciate CHRISTEENE.

CHRISTEENE is currently running a Kickstarter campaign in order to launch and release their first album. The album has been in the works for two years.

A year and a half ago, CHRISTEENE set up a kickstarter to help fund the production of videos for “African Mayonaise” video along with “Bustin’ Brown.” The success of those campaigns is the core motivation to reach out to their fans via Kickstarter again to help make their album a reality.

During their set on Wednesday, the four tore the crowd apart with the ferociously incisive reflection on the sexualized cult of fame. African Mayonaise. It sure is a crowd pleasure.

Post by Juan Fernandez