Watch Man Man and Islands SXSW Performance on Stereogum.com

Wednesday March 19, 2008

This South By, Man Man were good good (last time we make that joke). We caught the face-painted Philly boys twice this week -- both outdoors -- once at Cedar Street Courtyard as part of the Anti- showcase (great), then a late-night set out at the way-off-the-beaten-path Scoot Inn for the Solid PR showcase (even better). We managed to get some video footage of Rabbit Habits standouts at the Cedar Street show -- raucous, organ-pumping "Mister Jung Stuffed" and kazoo funk-vamp jam "Hurly/Burly." Impressive beard growth, dudes. Can we do a top five bands of SXSW? OK, cool. Man Man makes the list. Meet "Mr. Jung": -Stereogum.com

Click here to watch their performance.

It's in the blogger code to toss out superlatives with reckless abandon, but really -- we weren't lying when called Islands set at Cedar St. the best of this fest. (OK, maybe Fuck Buttons @ Volume today is a contender.) Yeah that's Nick strangling Subtitle with a drum mallet, and yes Nick was wearing white face. (Move over List Christee, there's no monopoly on theatricality.) Islands stormed the Cedar St. Courtyard with black outfits and a perfect mix of Return To The Sea + their excellent upcoming Arm's Way. But don't take these words for it: Stereogum videographer Matt Neatock (newly converted Islands fan #1) fought the crowd to capture three tunes of new and old. -Stereogum.com

Click here to watch their performance.

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