A Belated SXSW Discovery

Although I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was disappointed because I hadn't really "discovered" any new bands at SXSW this year, it turns out that I spoke too soon. While we were in Austin, part of our group spent the first couple of days talking about wanting to catch Mary Weiss and Reigning Sound. I had never heard of either (although I had, of course, heard of Mary's old group, The Shangri-Las), and unfortunately didn't make much of an effort to catch their show.

About a week after I got back from Austin, I discovered that Ross from The Broken West had posted a list of 16 of his favorite songs over at Discollective (a great list -- check it out). Coming in at #6 song was Reigning Sound's "Your Love Is A Fine Thing". This is how Ross described the song:

I missed out on—or more accurately, avoided—the whole garage-rock renaissance a few years ago. Though these guys were, from what I read, a touchstone for a lot of those clowns, they are rightly in a league of their own. The guitar at the beginning of the song will quite literally slice through your skull if you listen to it too loud. (Also, on a geeky production note, it’s so cool how, at the beginning, the electric guitar is miked both at the amp AND at the strings... anyway...)

This song sounds like it was written 40 years ago, which is to say it sounds timeless. The chorus sounds like it could have been from a Motown song, replete with tambourines and luscious female backing vocals. And Greg Cartwright sings with such intensity and conviction... not to be missed. (Plus, they’re from Memphis, and so am I.)

Needless to say, I ran over to eMusic and downloaded the album that the song is on, entitled Too Much Guitar. It's one of the best things I've heard all year. Ross is exactly right -- the album sounds like something that was written (and recorded) in the late 60's. But instead of just duplicating the sound of the era, the band writes incredible songs that would have dominated the airwaves had it come out at that time. In a just world, the band would be dominating airwaves today. But we all know that won't be happening anytime soon.

Here's a couple songs from Too Much Guitar [BUY], including the aforementioned "Your Love Is A Fine Thing":

"Your Love Is A Fine Thing"
"If You Can't Give Me Everything"

And here's a recent video of the band backing up Mary Weiss on her song "Don't Come Back":



For more information see:
Reigning Sound's MySpace page
Mary Weiss' website