The 2023 version of Stereogum’s Range Life celebration went down Thursday afternoon at Cheer Up Charlie’s in Austin. For six hours, the indoor-outdoor venue was graced by a number of the best artists at this yr’s SXSW, a genre-jumping slate of acts who by no means ceased to maintain the strong crowd entertained. It was just like the pages of our venerable weblog had sprung to life! But severely, the present was unbelievable, if we could say so.
(On one hand, we had been so fortunate that the forecasted thunderstorm by no means materialized. On the opposite hand, what are we going to do with all these unused Stereogum-branded ponchos?)
Set up in a circle on the ground with Doug Dulgarian’s backed turned to the viewers, They Are Gutting A Body Of Water kicked issues off at midday with a set of searing shoegaze on the indoor stage, interspersed with digital interludes that appeared to return at you from all angles. From the dense partitions of distortion to the piercing guitar melodies to the ballistic drum ‘n’ bass breaks, all of it got here throughout like some noise-fucked alternate-universe pop music. Outside, Algiers morphed in numerous methods, conjuring a form of apocalyptic industrial soul music guided by Franklin James Fisher’s howling vocals. His hypeman-slash-backup singer had some severe dance strikes.
TAGABOW’s Philly buddies Knifeplay had been up subsequent with a extra plaintive and regal type of dream-pop that generally drifted into folk-rock and slowcore with out shedding its out-of-this-world qualities. After Hotline TNT singer-guitarist Will Anderson blessed us with a run by means of pop-country smash “Need You Now” throughout soundcheck, the band introduced a traditional shoegaze-pop vibe to the outside stage, letting their three-guitar arsenal blur right into a mesmerizing alt-rock churn. Back inside, Truth Club matched Travis Harrington’s laconic vocals with an assortment of indie-rock sounds. Sometimes the guitars veered off at acute post-punk angles, whereas different occasions the music took on the texture of a bashed-out punk-rock drag race, however no matter type it took, it all the time led someplace thrilling.
Outside, the siblings of Frost Children turned the entire present on its head with a wild, theatrical extravaganga that segued between shout-along hyperpop, snotty pop-punk, unhinged noise freakouts, and even a prolonged spoken-word piece about Bob Dylan and capitalism. Despite the band’s knack for pop pageantry, it was very a lot a rock present too. (They additionally helpfully knowledgeable us, “If you’re a vegetarian, you should be taking iron pills.”) Inside, hometown heroes Portrayal Of Guilt warned anybody who didn’t like heavy music to filter out, then proceeded to play the filthiest, bleakest, heaviest set of the day. Miltarie Gun introduced some melody again to the proceedings on the outside stage, enjoying rugged rock music that sprang from hardcore and landed someplace close to mid-’90s various radio. If MTV nonetheless performed movies, we’d have Ian Shelton barking at us as soon as per hour.
On the indoor stage, Strange Ranger continued their metamorphosis from indie rock to experimental digital pop, holding one foot in every style with stirring, fascinating outcomes. Rising indie-world celebrity Bartees Strange performed a stripped-down set exterior: generally solo, generally accompanied by a second guitarist, all the time summoning a strong depth of feeling. Turns out his songs cross the campfire take a look at! Debby Friday closed out the within stage with a commanding efficiency that concerned singing, rapping, strutting throughout the stage, and sauntering into the viewers to spit bars instantly into individuals’s faces. (Also, her backing tracks had been sick.) The afternoon ended on a wonderfully chill observe with headliners Coco & Clair Clair, whose hyper-online pop-rap hit excellent after six hours of festivities. The hooks had been intuitive, the rhymes idiosyncratic, the vibes immaculate.