ACL 2010 -- Friday Preview; Match-Up: Those Darlins vs. The Soft Pack

ACL Strategery

Making it through all three days of the ACL festival requires some stamina and common sense. Even when the festival has taken place in early October as opposed to late September, there have been days with few clouds and temperatures hovering at the 100-degree mark. The festival gates usually open around 10:45 or so each day, and the music doesn’t stop for 12 hours. If you have tickets to a late night “aftershow,” even more careful planning is necessary.

Leaving aside the schedule and which days your must-see bands are playing, if there is one day to go all-in at ACL, it would be Friday. The crowds tend to be lighter. A lot of locals with three-day wristbands work all or part of Friday and show up late or don't bother going until Saturday. Some people coming from out-of-town can’t get in until Friday afternoon or later for various reasons. Those light crowds simplify so many things: parking, navigating the festival grounds, getting close to the stages, food and t-shirt lines, etc.

This year, Rachel and I got aftershow tickets to go see Sonic Youth on Saturday night (yeah, I know, I'm a fogey). The schedule this year is front-loaded, too. Lots of bands I want to see play Friday. It’s a bit early to lay out a final plan, but our preliminary strategy is going to be to pack a lot in on Friday, then go for a shorter stay on Saturday to conserve energy for the late show.

Friday, Friday, Friday!

While you won't lack for good music on Friday this year at ACL, there really aren't that many conflicts. Last year, there were all sorts of time slots where Rachel and I couldn't decide who to go watch until the last minute. If you make it there before noon this year, you might be forced to decide whether to check out Vonnegutt, a foursome whose music the ACL website describes as the “unlikely recipe” of good rapping, pop sensibility and a rock & roll ‘tude, or the cheery indie-pop of GIVERS. From about 2:00 on, though, there seem to be clear paths forward for nearly every taste.

• If you like modern/indie rock, you can go see The Mountain Goats at 2:00, Girls at 3:00, The Black Keys at 4:00, Beach House (or The Sword, depending on your testosterone level) at 5:00, Spoon at 6:00, Sonic Youth (or Vampire Weekend, again depending on taste) at 7:00, and The Strokes at 8:00.
• You can take a path that goes deeper underground instead and go see The Kicks, Angus & Julia Stone, and The Ettes.
• Prefer more roots? Go check out Blues Traveler, Pat Green, The Band of Heathens, Amos Lee, Ryan Bingham, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, and Phish.
• Is your taste a bit more urban/dance oriented? Maybe the choices are slimmer, but you will find a bit of hip-hop (Vonnegutt, Chief) and electronic music (Bostich + Fussible, Miike Snow) scattered around.

1:00 - 2:00: Those Darlins vs. The Soft Pack

From 1:00 to 2:00, the festival schedules gets full of names I don't know too well or at all. The two acts that grab me the most in that period are The Soft Pack and Those Darlins.

The Soft Pack
(1:00 - 2:00, ZYNC Card Stage)

ACL website ][ Last.fm ][ Wikipedia ][ YouTube ][ Insound

Home Base:
-- San Diego, CA
Members:
-- Matt Lamkin – Vocals/guitar
-- Matty McLoughlin – Guitar
-- David Lantzman – Bass
-- Brian Hill – Drums

The Soft Pack used to be The Muslims, until controversy caught up to the band and they decided that enough was enough and changed their name. So what does the new name mean? Singer Matt Lamkin commented on that: "The Soft Pack describes us as a group of well mannered young gents. It is also a fake flaccid penis that can be worn in the trousers of someone who doesn't have a penis that wants to convince people otherwise."

Musically, The Soft Pack give you straight ahead garage rock. Classic, no frills, guitar-driven. The songs are short and built on simple, catchy hooks. In other words, they play the sort of stuff that sounds good live. Which is why we might go see them. If anything gives me pause, it might be that when I do a YouTube search, almost every video that comes up is a version of the same song, "Answer to Yourself." Does the rest of the material not hold up? I haven't listened to enough to really know. The little that I heard on Grooveshark did suggest that the band had the ability to stretch out a bit on tracks like "Mexico," which sounds somewhat like a Walkmen song both musically and in the song title. "Beside Myself," from their days as The Muslims, sounds like it could have warped in from England in the late 60s (early Who, Kinks) or 70s (Buzzcocks, Undertones). To me, it sounds like The Soft Pack have enough material for a 50 minute set. I'm not convinced, though, that a mid-sized stage at a big festival in the afternoon will be a good environment for the band.


The Soft Pack: Answer to Yourself (official video)


The Soft Pack: SXSW 2010 interview & live performance

Those Darlins
(1:20 - 2:00, Austin Ventures Stage)

ACL website ][ Last.fm ][ YouTube ][ Insound

Home Base:
-- Murfreesboro, TN
Members:
-- Kelley Darlin - Bass/guitar
-- Jessi Darlin - Guitar/Bass
-- Nikki Darlin - Baritone Ukulele/bass
-- Linwood Regensburg - Drums/Guitar

I've seen Those Darlins described in reference to lots of other musicians. ACL's website notes that Those Darlins' music has been called things like "The Carter Family meets the Black Lips." Amy Granzin from Pitchfork went with "Vivian Girls' hillbilly cousins." I don't know about all of that, but what I have heard so far, I would describe as a mix of roots country (bluegrass) and rock (rockabilly) with a bit of a punk aesthetic, filtered through a modern indie lens. Can they sing? Yes, enough so that I'll give them that one. Can they play? Depends what you mean. Are the songs good? Well, some show promise. I happen to like the country-leaning material better. One last thing I'll add: As soon as I heard them, I pictured some young women wearing little dresses and cowboy boots playing old school guitars. Turns out that that's exactly what they look like performing. So you might find their image a bit of a cliché. You can decide if that means anything to you. It does seem to me like these young musicians have some presence live, which can go a long way. Again, like with The Soft Pack, maybe a late night club show would be better, but that isn't what we're talking about. I think they'll be good on the small Austin Ventures stage.


Those Darlins: Wild One (live at South Paw)


Those Darlins: "The Whole Damn Thing" (live, Philadelphia, 7/11/09)

So who should we go see? We would love your feedback. Help us decide - leave a comment!