Austin – Brooklyn chillwave quartet Small Black came through Austin on Tuesday, to play a quick set on the outdoor stage at The Mohawk. An outdoor show at the tail end of the lengthy Texas summer had the kind of mixed results most people would have predicted. Lead singer Josh Kolenik commented on the heat through a thick polish of sweat, but that didn’t keep the band from leading a sold-out house through a set of dance-demanding songs.

We singled Small Black out earlier this summer, when they played at Capitol Hill Block Party in Seattle. The Band debuted in 2009 with “Despicable Dogs,” a blend of lovely, smudgy production and a beat that sounds like it might have been cribbed from When in Rome before you do a side-by-side listen. Since then, they’ve stayed near to the heart and soul of chillwave, building up a nice portfolio of EPs, singles, and two full-length records. In April they released their Real People EP (on Jagjaguwar), five cuts that stay centered on propulsive dance music, with the forgivable exception of “Lines of Latitude” (feat. Frankie Rose). Only the title track made it into the Mohawk set, though, with the rest of the list devoted to their 2013 LP, Limits of Desire, and a grab-bag of older material.

The outdoor stage was set up as the focus of a weird little amphitheater, which, despite the packed crowd, offered plenty of great views of the band once they took the stage. Small Black’s set made good use of the band’s four-on-the-floor style tracks, with Limits of Desire’s “Free at Dawn” starting off with a light, tap-tap beat and cottony vocals before building to a full-blown dance song. They slowed down a couple of times for funkier cuts like “Canoe” and “Photojournalist,” both also from Limits of Desire. They matched that energy with an enthusiastic performance, a hunched-over-my-instruments jam-out that gave the impression of a band actually having fun.

“Breathless” and “Despicable Dogs” deserve mention as standout tracks. “Breathless” hooks you immediately with a rough-edged synthesizer that carries the song, otherwise a pretty standard, very catchy Small Black product. “Despicable Dogs,” despite its age, is a great addition to the set for its pumping drums and its overall feel of coming out of a year when the genre hadn’t quite settled in.

The live mix changes somewhat from the album version, which has a special impact on a genre of music produced to be delicately hazy. The drums become a little more noticeable, the synthesizers a little rougher, and the vocals shuffle forward. The songs aren’t damaged, though; it felt like the right way to be listening. Through home speakers this music, though undeniably pretty, can have a lot of trouble holding one’s attention for more than a couple of tracks. Performed live, allows some of its other virtues to be revealed.

The tour isn’t over, with additional dates scheduled through mid-October. Indoors or outdoors, it comes highly recommended.

Photo By Will Jukes

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Will Jukes

Will Jukes has lived in Texas his whole life. It doesn’t bother him as much as you’d think. A Houston native, he studied English at the University of Dallas before moving to Austin in search of the coveted “Grand Slam” of Texas residencies. He comes to music journalism from a broad reporting background and a deep love of music. The first songs he can remember hearing come from a mix tape his dad made in the early 90’s that included “Born to Run,”, “End of the Line,” by the Traveling Wilburys, the MTV Unplugged recording of Neil Young’s “Cowgirl in the Sand,”, and “The Highwayman,” by The Highwaymen. He has an enduring love for three of these songs. Over the years he has adored punk, post-punk, new wave, house, disco, 90’s alternative rock, 80’s anything, and Townes Van Zandt. He’s not sorry for liking New Order more than Joy Division.

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