Women’s history month, so let us celebrate with the most underrated female-fronted group I’ve had the privilege of allowing the Spotify algorithm to bring to me: U.S. Girls.
One of few names I jumped in reaction to seeing on the official SXSW lineup, I scheduled the rest of my days around that 8:20p.m. set at Austin’s beloved Mohawk Outdoor Stage.
I set expectations high, subconsciously, and the show I got still exceeded them. Kicking off with a mood-setting stunt catching the crowd completely by surprise, the band onstage began playing at their exact scheduled time. The audience looks around lazily, trying to locate vocalist Meg Remy.
Is she backstage? Will she make a dramatic entrance from the terrace, climbing down the rickety wooden stairs?
Seemingly materializing from thin air, she pulls herself onstage from somewhere deep within the crowd, wearing a plain blue-and-white checkered dress with an oversized green army jacket to pair. Barefoot as to keep herself from floating away with her voice, she settles into her spotlight behind the microphone.
Photo by Rachel Greene | @rgreendesign
Once onstage, the band kicks into full-drive with their 2012 indie classic “Jack.” The heavy rock riffs emanating from guitarist Dylan in this record carry on throughout the setlist. Remy clearly steals the show here, but the troop of talent carrying her vocal performance make U.S. Girls a standout relic of the experimental pop movement of the early 2000s.
Through unreleased track “28 Days,” the band proves its genius in utilizing extreme talent in moderation.
Having the guitar echo Remy’s vocals and vice versa, they share the spotlight, one incomplete without the other.
Photo by Rachel Greene | @rgreendesign