Slow Club Leaves Its Mark at SXSW

Posted on Mar 21st 2010 12:00PM by Laura Leebove
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"Is everyone having loads of fun yet?" asked Rebecca Taylor of the charming British folk rock band Slow Club during their SXSW gig at Barbarella Saturday evening. The bar had an impressive-sized crowd for 5:30 p.m., and there's a good chance it wasn't just to hide from the 40-degree weather outside.

Taylor (drums, vocals and guitar) and Charles Watson (vocals and guitar) played a seven-song set taken mostly from their upcoming U.S. debut, 'Yeah, So,' a record that's already been out for a while overseas. In Austin, the duo proved themselves a band to watch on this side of the pond, too.

Watson switched between acoustic and electric guitars, while Taylor played a stripped-down kit of a bass, snare and tom drum. They traded vocals on every track: 'I Was Unconscious, It Was a Dream' and 'Wild Blue Milk' found them singing in soft croons, but other songs built up to bursts of screaming and shouting. Favorites like the rowdy 'Because We're Dead' and the waltz 'Dance Till The Morning Light' turned into crowd sing-alongs.

Between the chorus of 'Dance' -- "Cause there's always that someone who'd be easier on your eyes / So forget the politics of livin' alone and dance till the morning light' -- the ladies of Sweden's First Aid Kit sang the verses.

To end the set, Slow Club pushed their way to the center of the crowd for an unplugged rendition of Chad VanGaalen's 'Willow Tree,' and while it was tough to hear the words, it still had everyone clapping along.

Slow Club on AOL Music