Maserati

To quote Nirvana, "Wouldn't you believe it? It's just my luck." We just lost around 600 words here in the mobile Flagpole newsroom because some pushy person tried to gank my connection in the SXSW press suite causing everything to come unplugged. So here we go again…

Wednesday wasn't as band-filled as I'd hoped but still managed to catch Athens boys Maserati sweating up the stage at the Brookly Vegan day show. Gene Woolfolk (The Powder Room) is travelling with them as soundman and rode the faders quite nicely, I'd say.

Peace (Birmingham, England) sounds like The Cure if The Cure were also The Outfield. I tweeted as much when I saw them and stand by it. Girls Names (Belfast, IRE) can noise-pop with the best of them, and Nu Sensae and White Lung both proved that Vancouver has a lot more going for it than remaining the only city in which I've ever gotten cussed out in French. Nu Sensae was throbby almost-metal and White Lung is Los Angeles-style punk with only a smidgen of hardcore, and even then, it's only the rudiments. Killer way to end the night, this pair was.

There's lots of photos coming soon. So be patient and hold onto your eyes. For ongoing SXSW news from please follow @gordonlamb on Twitter. If the cell signals hold and the creek don't rise I'll still be able to update you nearly constantly. But I swear the only way to fix all the connectivity overload here would be for everyone to carry around their own microwave oven.