Highlight of Dallas' NSFWknd Festival: Temples, Night Beats and More
Photography: Bryan Yalta
Not So Fun Weekend kicked things off on Friday March 17th throughout some of Deep Ellum's main venues: Trees, Club Dada, and Three Links. Each venue had their own set of bands for each night, and if you were one of the people who attended the Trees show on Friday, you were treated with psychedelic vibes emanating from a trippy, pulsating liquid light background and, of course, the Desert Daze Caravan tour acts.
JJUUJJUU
This psychedelic trio opened the evening with some garage rock tunes that delved a bit on the spacey side of the genre. A mixture of fuzzy, reverberated guitar notes, hypnotic bass lines and dynamic drum beats, JJUUJJUU's sound had a bit of everything that the other acts would go on to display later on. The band served right as an introduction for what was to come.
Froth
Froth definitely knows how to keep the spirit of dream pop alive. Their jangling guitar melodies and echoing, almost-coy vocals provided a sense of imaginary, carefree landscapes that went well with the simple, indie bass and drum sections. Shoegaze in a chill, fun form.
Deap Vally
The duo exemplified what a single guitar and drums can do in terms of bringing out the jams. The raunchy tone of the lead singer's guitar along with the drummer's pounding rhythms was enough to get some heads banging. Deap Vally's stripped-down sound felt like a force gripping on the audience's shirt collar and not letting go. As raw as a shout in the face.
Night Beats
This trio practically lives off of heavy riffs and energetic rhythms, with a sound bound to get people jamming hard to. There is certainly a collective fast energy from the band. One can tell each chord plays off each beat and vice versa. Once the band started playing, there was no denying their essential rock 'n roll foundation. If seeing each band member spitting beer on each other doesn't display the nonchalant rock 'n roll vibe Night Beats has, the music should do the trick.
Temples
Currently promoting their newly-released album Volcano, which came out on March 3rd, the English band is back with more tunes that call back to a time when psychedelic music was just expanding. Along with their retro fashion, Temples' songs played live give a glimpse into what a rock band in the late '60s might've been like. Although their new songs go well together with songs from 2014's Sun Structures, the new tracks don't seem to be a continuation of Temples' last album. There is a stronger focus in synth and texture, which was noticeable in their performance. Nevertheless, their guitars still have a large part playing off eah melody throughout their songs. Psychedelia has more than a heavy influence in modern music and Temples seem to be on top of the genre.
The Desert Daze Caravan tour ended on Sunday March 19th but be on the lookout for these bands when they come back to town. Check out some more photos from the show below.