Unknown Mortal Orchestra And Foxygen Plumb The Past At Lincoln Hall

By Michelle Meywes Kopeny in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 12, 2013 9:00PM

Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Last Thursday Lincoln Hall hosted a couple of hot young bands who were undoubtedly really into their parents’ record collections. Influences of Bowie, Jagger, The Beatles, Jefferson Airplane and Zeppelin could be heard throughout the night from Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Foxygen, two groups who have taken and made love to the sound of the '60s and '70s. The retro psych genre, while always in season, is especially hot right now given Thursday’s sold-out show and the popularity of other likeminded bands like Tame Impala.

Foxygen’s opening set was jamming, but had it’s bumps. We sang our praises of their sophomore album, We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic, but sloppy harmonizing at times took away from their relaxed flowers-in-your-hair sound (fitting since we observed one of the venue's waitresses literally had a crown of flowers in her hair).

Unknown Mortal Orchestra was decidedly tighter than their tour-mates once they took the stage. The image of a sword bearing woman from the cover of their new album, II, hung as the backdrop as the guys did their thing without too much fanfare. The vibe in the room was super chill, as you might expect, but they could (and would) rock it out during songs like “Boy Witch” and the boppy “How Can You Luv Me” (the tune that turned us onto UMO), both from their self titled debut album. They saved their most recognizable track, “FFunny FFriends,” for the encore where they also played a raging version of Jay Reatard’s “My Shadow.”

The group recently released a couple of music videos (below), and they continue on the circuit hitting the requisite SXSW music conference beginning today, with six performances including parties official and unofficial. If you’re headed to Austin for the fest, find times and dates on their website.