Atlanter - Cedar St. Courtyard, SXSW, Austin TX - March 15, 2014

[Norway] We were in the Warehouse District at 11am specifically to see this band. It turned out to be a set of Nordic shows with free breakfast tacos – Rockboy was pleased (by the tacos). 4 males on 2 guitars, a bass guitar, and a drum. They had a big dense lush sound – melancholy – a little bit of Godspeed You but more Calexico. They mixed atmosphere with hard beats. When they got really anthemic, they reminded me of U2. They were charming fellows. The guitarist mouthed along to his own guitar picking. Another had a blonde Norwegian hipster moustache. The lead singer told the crowd: “Our songs stretch out so we don’t have time to play many” – and at first I thought he was describing the music very aptly with metaphor but then realized his English was just a little sketchy. In reference to the rainy morning: “Lone Star state… with all this humidity… god is making love to us right now.” He really said that.