Over spring break I went back home to Austin for the SXSW, a week-long music festival where hordes descend upon the city while locals bitch about all the fucking people. One of the highlights of SXSW was catching Royal Trux at Hotel Vegas on Friday. Royal Trux is an experimental noise rock band that was active during the late 80s through the 90s, but until recently hadn’t played a show since 2001. They closed out the LEVITATION day party, where Wand, Merchandise, Cherry Glazerr and some other great bands also played, but seeing Royal Trux killed, and it made me listen through some of their records I was less acquainted with. One of those records was 1995’s Thank You, which features some of their most straight-up alt rock material. “Granny Grunt” is a fantastic punk-blues tune, with some sick, fuzzy guitar riffs and sharp lyrics. Dave Berman of Silver Jews also has a writing credit and is featured on the track, and his witty, poignant lyrical chops add a lot to the track. Dig it.
