MP3: Tahiti 80 – Crack Up (Extended)
South By Southwest is upon us, and many of our fair city’s finest bands are playing hometown sendoffs before heading to Texas.
Tahiti 80, on the other hand, are 5,000 miles away from their native France, so they don’t have the luxury of playing to an adoring hometown crowd before the Big Gig. They will, however, have the luxury of playing this Saturday’s Rumble, where San Diegans will nonetheless shower the Parisian popsters with praise.
The sextet is known for its danceable brand of indie pop that combines live instrumentation with electronic elements and airy vocals, and its songs have been described by Pitchfork as “creamy dreamy delicacies.”
On February 22, Tahiti 80 released The Past, The Present, and The Possible, the kind of album that can brighten even the darkest of days. If you buy the album at Saturday’s Rumble, it’ll help you beat the blues while your rich friends are partying without you in Austin. In anticipation of their show, Tahiti 80 frontman Xavier Boyer sent us a list of his influences.
Poetic Memory: Tahiti 80’s Xavier Boyer
The Stone Roses – s/t: Recorded in89 but sounds like 2011.
The book Eating Animals by JS Foer: So you won’t have to explain anymore why you’ve become a vegetarian
Akai LPK25: The most useful instrument in my collection. I can write songs on the train.
Mojo Magazine: The Bible.
Mexican botines: Cheap, stylish. Need to play some shows there, just to get a new pair.
Marvin Gaye – Live in Montreux 1979 (or 1981) DVD: Badly filmed, but great because you get to see a lot of unwanted moments (Marvin spitting out chewing gum).
EP’s: EP’s are the new LP’s.
Whisky: Whisky is the new wine.
Other bands playing this month’s Rumble include San Diego garage rockers Dreamboat (MP3: “Inner Tubes”) and Belgium-based indie pop charmers The Tellers (MP3:Â “I’ve got A World”).
As always, the Rumble is free, and this month, it’s brought to you by Future Sounds, Indigenous, San Diego: Dialed In, Bedoin Vintage Collective, Friends With Both Arms, Strong Screen Printing, Eventbrite, Veoba, Pabst Blue Ribbon, and your smarter-than-the-average Owl and Bear.
Photos from past Rumbles