SXSW – Peter Wolf Crier, 3/18/10

Thursday was by far the most productive day considering that we saw new bands, “must sees” and old favorites. The fourth band of the day came before noon at Habana Calle on Sixth Street. We decided to make the trek to the dreaded street because we figured that most people were still recovering from Wednesday night. I had only heard of Peter Wolf Crier a couple of weeks prior to SXSW when one of my favorite labels, Jagjaguwar, announced that they had signed the duo and planned to re-release their debut album.

The band was setting up in the basement of the Cuban restaurant when we arrived. The next 30 minutes was filled with harsh guitar lines mixed with sweet melodies. The band had won me over by the middle of the second song when Peter Pisano, the guitarist and vocalist, started looping his vocals in a surprisingly pleasant way. Looping vocals started gaining popularity a few years ago with the rise of certain artists like Andrew Bird and St. Vincent. This movement led to everyone and their mother looping everything on stage and creating unpleasant experiences for everyone involved. Pisano loops the right way and has a great understanding of how to use his vocal range with the band’s unique style of music. The Minneapolis-based band seemed genuinely appreciative of the early morning crowd and stated how happy they were to be on Jagjaguwar. Pisano also talked about the fact that he was a teacher and that he should have been grading papers instead of playing an 11 am show. Luckily for us he decided to play a few selections from the band’s album, Inter-Be.

The band infuses reverb guitar with old time blues to create something that is unique and refreshing. I enjoyed their set so much that it stood out in my mind even after seeing seven other quality bands on Thursday. I can’t wait to hear their full album, but I don’t know if it will beat what could be described as the perfect SXSW day show. The attentive crowd mixed with a great environment helped the band play at the top of their game. Muzzle of Bees did a great job noticing the band and having them play the party at a time when real music fans can enjoy real music. Check out some live footage of Peter Wolf Crier from other shows at SXSW here.

Inter-Be will be released on May 25th by Jagjaguwar.

(Photo credit Stacy Schwartz.)