Article and Photos by: Melanie Allen
This past Sunday night was filled with fresh Indie Pop sounds from Cayucas and Hibou at The Parish in Austin. Although the venue is a relatively small upstairs bar on 6th St., these two lo-fi acts drew in a pretty solid crowd. Headliners Cayucas are touring in support of their sophomore album, Dancing at the Blue Lagoon, just released earlier this summer. Though the crowd was excited for Cayucas, they were sure in for a treat with the headliners’ opening act, Hibou.
Hibou, originally from Seattle, put an unforgettable start to Sunday night’s show. Frontman Peter Michel took the stage barefoot, so he clearly meant business. The band dressed casually and demonstrated great comfortability and chemistry with one another throughout their performance. They played songs from Hibou’s upcoming self-titled debut album (expected to be released Sept. 18 of this year), and even threw in a Gorillaz cover towards the end of their set. Their onstage presence was consistently energetic and captivating (lots of dancing, spinning, and jumping), bringing the audience closer towards the stage. By the end of their performance it was clear that Hibou had left quite an impression on the crowd as their cheering begged the openers not to leave the stage. Hibou is definitely an artist to keep your eye on in upcoming months.
Finally, the indie duo (twin brothers Zach and Ben Yudin), headliner Cayucas, along with their additional three live members, got started and kicked off their set with the first single from their new album, Moony Eyed Walrus. The crowd, which ranged roughly from high school kids to 30-something adults, was clearly familiar and able to sing and sway along with just about every tune. The show wasn’t sold out but sure sounded like it, which was likely quite encouraging. Cayucas kept a cool presence and remained quite relaxed as they grooved their way through each song. Even if you didn’t previously know that Cayucas was from California, you probably would have been able to tell by their performance (in the best kind of way). Once the headliners began to play their 2013 single “High School Lover” off of their debut album Bigfoot, the audience instantly became even more excited and had probably been waiting for this song the entire night. All in all, both bands rocked the stage and will surely be welcomed back to Austin with open arms.
