Sweet Apple, J Mascis' Indie Supergroup, Hit SXSW Sweet Spot

Posted on Mar 21st 2010 1:15PM by Joshua Ostroff
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"We only played our first practice two days ago," boasted Sweet Apple lead singer John Petkovic, grinning widely at his new bandmates, including alt-rock legend J. Mascis. "And this is our last show ever," he joked. "We got together for no reason and we're breaking up for no reason."

That's not true, of course. Petkovick and his Cobra Verde bandmate Tim Parnin joined forces with Mascis and his Witch bandmate out of a shared love of riff rock, which they delivered in spades throughout their SXSW debut. (It was actually Mascis' second supergroup debut, as he also joined with Andrew WK and Thurston Moore for a one-time-only performance as Demolished Thoughts).

Though Sweet Apple played a club showcase Thursday and a Waterloo Records in-store the following day, Saturday's "garden party" at the sprawling French Legation compound should have been the perfect opportunity to see them outdoors on a beautiful spring afternoon. But a freak cold front had kept most folks away from the outdoor day parties and so Sweet Apple third show ever was played to a sparse but up-for-it crowd (which included Sean Lennon).

"I'm sorry for the cold," Petrovic apologized, "we're from Vermont, Massachusetts and Ohio so we came here to get away from that s---." Thankfully, their guitar licks were pretty hot.

Mascis' more famous band Dinosaur Jr may be known for sludgier guitar heroics, but here he showed off his classic rock chops (though on the band's upcoming record 'Love and Desperation' Mascis largely plays drums) on songs like first single 'Do You Do You Remember?'

Mascis' more famous mug was also mostly stone-faced (when it wasn't completely covered by his long stringy grey hair) which left the excitement to his scorching guitar work and the unbridled enthusiasm of Petrovic, a frontman who comes from the Mick Jagger school of showmanship.

Sweet Apple may be new, but based on the supergroup's first batch of super-catchy concoctions, they should stick around for a long while yet.