AUSTIN, TEXAS She kicked it off with a few all-too-meaningful verses of "Sympathy for the Devil," and in the end she might've actually drummed up some sympathy.
After a half-decade of troubling tabloid reports and alleged addictions, alt-rock queen Courtney Love debuted an all-new lineup of her band Hole during the annual Spin magazine barbecue party Friday at the South by Southwest Music Conference. That she even showed up was a triumph on one front, but Love also managed powerful if scrappy versions of old favorites "Miss World" and "Violet," plus the catfighty new single "Sexy Skinny Bitch."
As the new song suggests, Love hasn't lost her penchant for mouthing off. She mocked "Rock of Love" star Bret Michaels and used varying expletives to introduce her new band mates. She saved a few more for the crowd, too, saying, "We are Hole, whether you like it or not you [expletives]."
A night earlier, SXSW's second round of evening showcases ran a wide sonic gamut from harmonious Los Angeles country-rock band Dawes to the dizzying London-based African electronic dance band the Very Best to South Carolina-reared guitar scorchers Band of Horses, who played to SXSW's record-geeky masses by with a Yo La Tengo cover.
It was a big night for a pair of young Twin Cities bands who recently landed ever-elusive recording contracts. Guitar/drums/vocal-loop duo Peter Wolf Crier -- signed to prominent indie label Jagjaguwar -- played a riveting set at Austin's serial-killer-decorated rock palace Emo's. Later, punk quartet Off With Their Heads tore up an outdoor stage well enough to start making demands from its new label.
"We're on the Epitaph Records expense account now," frontman Ryan Young said, "so a whole round of drinks on me."
Chris Riemenschneider • 612-673-4658
