Hacienda
SXSW showcase reviews
Reviewed by Jim Caligiuri, Fri., March 20, 2009
Hacienda
Headhunters, Wednesday, March 18
With all the Doug Sahm tributes taking place this week, it's appropriate that Hacienda is one of this week's must-see bands. The young quartet from San Antonio conjures a brand of garage-y Tex-Mex that Sir Doug is surely smiling down upon. Performing on the tiny patio behind Headhunters, with a dicey sound system and a couple of flashing colored lights for illumination, they ripped through 10 songs in just about 30 minutes. "Let's do it!" one of them yelled, and off they went as if it were their backyard set of bamboo and wooden beams, and they were damn happy to be there. Concentrating on tunes from the band's revered 2008 debut, Loud Is the Night, Hacienda overlaid harmonies rough and hollered, while Abraham Villanueva's keyboard swirled around innocent sentiments and unadorned melodies. Songs such as the pounding "She's Got a Hold on Me" and slinky "Shake Ya" showed a definite early Britpop influence that wouldn't have sounded out of place on Nuggets. Still, this was no imitation. Hacienda brought sweat and smiles to its youthful brand of Texas rock, one that will seemingly never grow old.
