A Week of SXSW 2009: Bang! Bang! Eche!

[SXSW 2009]
Bang! Bang! Eche!
Sounds Like: Dance-Punk
Drinking Buddies: Death From Above 1979, The Rapture, Foals, Test Icicles
Synopsis: Volatile, vehement dance-punk echoing with feedback.
Appearances at SXSW:

• Friends (8:00 PM, March 17)
• Nueva Onda (11:30 AM, March 18)
• SXSW Party (8:00 PM, March 18)
• Maggie Mae's Rooftop (8:00 PM, March 19)
• Agave (1:45 AM, March 20)
• Bush Square Park (8:00 PM, March 20)
  

[Myspace]




All this week, Voilà! is covering South by Southwest.
Time for the seventh Voilà! featurette.
Today, the featured SXSW artist is Bang! Bang! Eche!.



The key to enjoying music - the key to finding "good music - as so many call it - is being very liberal. The key is being very open minded. Music can be as deep or as shallow as anyone wishes it. But if you're not willing to swim around the whole pool of music, you're not going to make much headway. You have to see beyond "song structure" and "noise," and look for the creativity, ingenuity, and art in the chaos. You have to see beyond geography, or languages, or tastes to truly appreciate any music you hear. But most importantly, you need to know how to have fun. That's what Bang! Bang! Eche! is all about.

These days, when you hear people chatting about New Zealand, you might guess they're gabbing about the latest hilarious antics of Flight of the Conchords. But if you're delving deep into the music scene spread out through the south-Pacific, you'll definitely be wanting to gab about Bang! Bang! Eche!. These blokes hailing from Christchurch are anything but tame; maybe you catch that drift from the exclamation marks in their name.

If you didn't, you'll be wonderfully surprised by the insanely wild stylings of Bang! Bang! Eche!, who are ready and willing to blow you and your mind right off the face of the map. Bouncing rhythms mix with bass-centric songs, along with chirping keyboards and off-kilter guitar chords, all at lightspeed. All this blares out of the speakers with the hypnotic kick-drum in the background and the lyrics begging for you to sing along. The result is a vibrantly colourful, speaker shattering sound that hints at artists like Foals, and would give Montréalais ex-band Death From Above 1979 a run for their money if they were still in the business.

And here comes Bang! Bang! Eche! like a Pacific typhoon. They've been slowly expanding to the Australian mainland with consistent airplay on Aussie station Triple J, and on several podcasts internationally. Of course, the songs off their eponymous debut EP are the topic of discussion, and Bang! Bang! Eche! refuses to disappoint, with alt-punk begging to be introduced to a dancefloor through all 17 minutes of fast-paced play time. You can drop by their Myspace to check their latest tunes! You can also snag Bang! Bang! Eche!'s EP on iTunes or through CD Baby... that is, if you don't want to get it for free from B!B!E!'s Myspace.

Now, the news from the warfront: Bang! Bang! Eche!'s invasion of Texas is tearing through the musical competition at all angles. The boys are busy-busy getting everyone in Austin to dance their hearts out. For any soldiers wanting to fight on the front lines with their latest dance moves, you can catch Bang! Bang! Eche! at Friends - 8:00 PM, on the 17th; Nueva Onda @ 11:30 AM, followed by a second show at the SXSW Party with We Have Band, The Golden Filter, French Miami, Diagonals, and Fungi Girls. Then, Bang! Bang! Eche! will perform on the 19th at Maggie Mae's Rooftop at 8:00 PM, on March 20th at Agave, early at 1:45 in the morning; finally, their last show is at 8:00 PM in Bush Square Park, during the New Zealand SXSW showcase. WHEW, that was a mouthful.




Bang Bang Eche - 4 To The Floor from Bang Bang Eche on Vimeo.