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SXSW review: The Strange Boys
Austin’s retro-rockers The Strange Boys played a tight, rag-tag set of songs that pleased the full-to-capacity audience at Emo’s inside room (aka Emo’s Jr.) during the opening volley of SXSW’s opening night.
The national and international media and word-of-mouth buzz surrounding the Strange Boys had fans and curiosity seekers gathered in a line that stretched out the front door and across Red River Street before the band even came close to taking the stage.
Led by the Bob Dylan-influenced, frog-voiced guitar-poet Ryan Sambol, the Strange Boys were at their best when they steadied the shambolic looseness of their garage rock influences, brushing them right off their sleeves. Jenna Thornhill-DeWitt (saxophone, backing vocals) really lent the band a unique, classic feel with her jazzy saxophone middle-eight bridges. The band wasted no time before coalescing into a set energized by the homecoming confidence that only months of touring yield.
About midway through their set, the Strange Boys raised the crowd’s collective energy with the title track from their recent album, “Be Brave.” The song possessed a timeless, prosaic feel that most twenty-something musicians can’t come close to touching. Likewise the 1969-ish ballad-meets-railroad steam engine “A Walk On the Beach” appeared to recall such deep emotions in listeners that most would’ve been willing to bet money that it’s a favorite cover song, even though it’s not.
The Strange Boys might not be the most original band, and Sambol’s croaky vocals can be an acquired taste, but they’re one young psychedelic rock band that you will not forget anytime soon.
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