Font Resize- Mar 19:
- SXSW 2013: Hot festival bands headed to the Bay Area
- SXSW Film 2013: `Big Ass Spider!' is creepy, crawly good time
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- Mar 18:
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- Best shows at SXSW 2013: Justin Timberlake, Kendrick Lamar, Nick Cave and more
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- Mar 16:
- Green Day at SXSW 2013: Billie Joe Armstrong back; band delivers glorious night of music
- Mar 15:
- SXSW 2013: 'Broadway Idiot' gets world premiere in Austin
- Billie Joe's ode to recovery
- Mar 14:
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- Mar 13:
- SXSW 2013: Macklemore & Lewis and Motown
- Jim James takes search for connection to SXSW
- SXSW 2013: Japandroids
- Mar 12:
- SXSW 2013 music lineup: The best big acts with Prince, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and more
- SXSW 2013: A playlist of the buzzed-about musicians
Japandroids
City: Vancouver, BC
Website: http://japandroids.com/
Local shows: 9 p.m. April 16-17, the New Parish, Oakland; $22-$25, www.ticketfly.com.
Download these: "Younger Us," "The House That Heaven Built"
The skinny: It's easy to compare the Japandroids to the White Stripes and the Black Keys, since those are the two best known alt-rock duos of recent years. Yet, this Canadian twosome definitely has a different, though equally enticing, sound than either of those touchstone acts. The Japandroids are more of a garage-rock outfit, one that seemingly favors noisy pop over bluesy rock. It also puts on an extremely energetic live show, which had a crowd cheering and chanting like European soccer fans at SXSW. Brian King rips at his guitar like Dave Grohl, while David Prowse pounds his drums like, well, Dave Grohl.
Follow Jim Harrington at http://twitter.com/jimthecritic.
