SXSW 2010: The Low Anthem, Beauty Bar, Austin

have been receiving a lot of press recently. They’ve garnered a good amount of attention for a few very good reasons: They are, like most, excellent musicians; they are also, like some, willing to trade small bits of their souls for applause. But more than that, and unlike many other bands, they seem to be constantly expanding their repertoire, incorporating, like a good chef, many disparate ingredients in the name of the final product.

Calling out plaintively at times, forcefully at others and playfully even fewer than that, this sad sounding group manage to defy their own cadences in the faces of their listeners. People love this group, and it’s because it hurts so good. Keeping up with each members instrumentation, the rise and fall of their fiddle bow or the long wail of a brass bowl from half a world away, is challenge in and of itself. But walking out of the venue afterward the real difficulty is pinpointing just what part of the song it is that’s going round and round your head, to the dismay of your peace of mind.