Tinted Windows | Highline Ballroom

Oh Snap!

This new "supergroup" is the kind of band much of SXSW's jaded industry crowd would probably never admit to liking, but it was unmistakable how much they perked up to their first blasts of buzzy power-pop during their set at this year's festival. Visually, the band makes no sense at all. To one side of the stage, there's the white-haired James Iha, radiating alternative cool; to the other, the eternally frumpy Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne, looking like he just wandered up on stage from the media tent. In the back, there's Cheap Trick goofball Bun E. Carlos, happily bashing away, and up in front, it's Taylor Hanson, dressed like Simon Le Bon. But somehow, musically, all the elements gel, and the whole thing winds up sounding like Smashing Pumpkins for the Miley Cyrus crowd. With Locksley.

More concert photos: Art Brut at Mercury Lounge | Franz Ferdinand at Roseland Ballroom | The Sounds at Santos Party House | Crystal Stilts at The Shank | Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Santos Party House | Chris Cornell at Webster Hall  | The Roots at Highline Ballroom | Katy Perry at Irving Plaza