SXSW In-Store: Burger Records

It’s not just the 50 Cent SXSW shows that make you stand in line all night. Burger Records has that game on lockdown. At Trailer Space Records Wednesday afternoon, the celebrated L.A. indie had a line extending out the door all day.

The niche popularities of the two – Burger, a Fullerton, Ca., label famous for cassettes filled with gritty, denim-encrusted garage rock; and Trailer Space, the Rosewood Avenue mecca to all things garage, psych, and punk – prompted an early wait list, with dozens in line by 1:30pm and more camped out in vans around the parking lot. Happily, Trailer Space reps BYOB like north Texas reps the Bible.

Beautiful day, Dos Equis in the coozie. Shop doors are open and the music’s free-flowing. Hey, Aussie rockers Boytoy sound good.

The femme-fronted threepiece pushed frantic, sweeping, big-hook rock and rapid drum fills before making way to Rich Hands, a San Antonio trio pressed to pop like ATX garage deviants Grape St., whose Cody Mauser packed a walloping guitar solo onto the end of a half-hour set. Psych ride Mr. Elevator & the Brain Hotel took over afterward, the Angelinos delivering pre-breakdown Foxygen via bass, drums, organ, and tambourine.

All the while, a capacity crowd of just under 50 drank beer and thumbed through diverse collections (Delbert, Otis, Ice Cube, Taylor Swift) as Burger Records’ brass rolled dice on the shop counter with Trailer Space honcho Spot Long and Dikes of Holland singer Elizabeth Herrera.

Lovely Bad Things (Photo by John Anderson)

Most stopped what they were doing to take notice of SoCal’s Lovely Bad Things, a standard fourpiece brandishing big hooks and an even bigger sense of teenage angst that went over much better than Denver trio Pizza Time, whoich delivered a friendly train wreck.

That proved easy suit for White Mystery, a Detroit-based brother/sister duo, to follow. Like Burger Records and Trailer Space, they put on a show designed all in good fun.