I was told by my friend Nick when I arrived Wednesday, after pulling off yet another Jazz for the Masses show, which I've put together for the last four years just up the street at El Sapo, that Comal St. would be the crucial route needed to ride throughout Austin and avoid too many oppressive hills and even more oppressive traffic. It's Austin, Texas, during the 30th annual South by SouthWest music festival and they've already closed off the Cesar Chavez exit on IH-35. Chicon would be clutch for me Thursday as I spent much of the day speeding down to the Yippie Ki Yay Records // Fuzzland Productions show and climbing back up to El Sapo for the Music for Listeners show, two excellently made San Antonio-produced day shows, before braving downtown and the official hullaballoo.
The Yippie-Ki Yay show was at Zenfit, a dojo deep on E. 7th St. This seemed befitting. In an ever-changing Austin that seems to be bulldozing over everything cool and putting condos in their places, it would stand to reason that these guys would hold the most DIY show in a place so off the beaten path. The business wasn't listed on the Facebook event, just the address. There often wasn't much more throughout the day than a dozen people in the crowd so it didn't draw a lot of attention to itself. It'd be easy to pass by and miss if the door didn't open, letting out the immense loudness like occasional bursts from a geyser. This showcase was like a secret club with an open invitation.
Go!Zilla's 2:25pm set contained the loudness, the energy, the bombast expected, but a certain pleasant surprise came when the beat went sexy for a breakdown before turning to cacophony and arriving back at the head. It was a clever arrangement indicating there's a lot in these guys' bag of tricks. In that bag of tricks: bongos. More bongos on everything, please. Bongos are totally underutilized in music today and they have so much to offer. It's good that this band understands this in the creating of their loud but sneaky aural tapestries.
