SXSW Weekend Recap: Jasmine.4.T (featuring Julien Baker), Fragile Rock, SWEET SPINE, and more.
Photo credit: Shannon Johnston (@me_onlylouder) - Jasmine.4.t at Mohawk for FLOOD Fest
As the last amplifiers cool and the final hangovers subside, Austin exhales, reclaiming its streets from the annual migration of badge-wearing music devotees. SXSW 2025 is officially in the books—a sprawling, exhausting, occasionally transcendent testament to music's enduring power to unite, surprise, and deplete one's physical reserves completely. Before we pack away our credentials and promise ourselves "fewer day parties next year" (a lie we tell annually), let's revisit a few acts that exemplified the festival's beautiful extremes.
We caught (portions) of Jasmine.4.T’s sets not once, not twice, but three separate times on Friday. The newest names signed to Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records, the four-piece had us so enraptured that the multiple visits were much needed. A late arrival to the morning set at FLOODfest luckily had us running to Rivian Park for her second show of the day where she brought out Julien Baker for "Skin On Skin" and a cover of System of a Down’s track “Toxicity.” Our plans for the evening already included the Line of Best Fit showcase at Swan Dive so the triple ended up being one of the highlights of our SXSW.
We had already been fans of her album You Are The Morning, ahead of our trip, but Jasmine.4.T’s band absolutely elevates the experience. Bassist Emily Abbott consistently caught my eye as one of the more energetic bassists and Phoenix Rousiamanis rounded out the quartet beautifully on violin.
Photo credit: Shannon Johnston (@me_onlylouder) - Jasmine.4.t at Mohawk for FLOOD Fest
I was disarmed by Jasmine Cruickshank’s honesty at the Mohawk stage earlier in the day, as she talked about the fears that come with touring as a group of transwomen. Cruickshank mentioned that the entire band took self defense classes ahead of the tour, and talked about what would happen if they were arrested while in America. While many bands have to handle the various anxieties that come with touring, I hadn’t considered the real and present threat that touring outside of their home country would bring.
Travelling to a majority-red state like Texas brought forth anxieties of our own ahead of our visit, but hearing Jasmine.4.T’s songs of joy and heartache in crowds of other queer people felt truly special.
Whether it was dancing to Chappell Roan drag mixes at Cheer Up Charlies, or thrashing in a mosh-pit to a System of a Down cover, for a moment it felt comforting to be with our community.
Photo credit: Shannon Johnston (@me_onlylouder) - SWEET SPINE at Empire for Smartpunk Records
The Smartpunk Records House delivered dual adrenaline rushes with their combination punk showcase/skateboarding exhibition. While kickflips and ollies provided vertical entertainment on the built-in ramp, emo revivalists SWEET//SPINE supplied horizontal emotional devastation with their tightly wound performance.
Drawing from the golden era of early-2000s emo while infusing contemporary urgency, SWEET//SPINE balanced vulnerability and aggression with surgical precision. The band's dynamic shifts between whispered confessionals and full-throated screams created natural moments for the crowd to catch collective breath before plunging back into catharsis.
What separated SWEET//SPINE from countless emo-adjacent acts was their willingness to embrace the genre's theatrical elements without slipping into self-parody.
Photo credit: Shannon Johnston (@me_onlylouder) - SWEET SPINE at Empire for Smartpunk Records
That’s not to say we don’t enjoy a little self-parody. As a lover of all Jim Henson creations, Austin locals Fragile Rock were an absolute must-see “emo” group. After checking out their NPR Tiny Desk concert, I was looking forward to their performance, but nothing could’ve prepared me for the dedication they put into their live shows. From the Sweetums-sized puppet outside drumming up excitement before the show, to throwing socks into the audience, and even the appearance of a handmade fan in the crowd, Fragile Rock’s set was a completely unique standout in our SXSW experience. Antics aside, the music is also catchy as hell! The lead singer puppet has a distinctly Conor Oberst appearance and the band’s riff on emo music stereotypes had us laughing. We might’ve been the perfect target audience for an emo puppet band. But from the size of the crowd packed into the Parish, we weren’t the only ones! Austin loves emo puppets!
Photo by: Jess Arcand - Fragile Rock @ Parish
By the time 1:30 AM rolled around on the festival's final stretch, only the most dedicated (or chemically enhanced) remained standing. Enter PEELANDER-Z at Valhallen, the Japanese-American punk-adjacent collective whose mission statement appears to be "prevent sleep at all costs."
Defying categorization and exhaustion simultaneously, PEELANDER-Z transformed what should have been a late-night zombie crowd into a participatory circus. Their distribution of mini drums and drumsticks throughout the audience converted passive spectators into reluctant percussionists, while frequent sign displays ("Mad Tiger" and "Steak" featured prominently) created shared reference points amidst the controlled bedlam.
The physical performance escalated from energetic to improbable as the set progressed. Crowd surfing gave way to an impromptu conga line, which somehow evolved into mass limbo participation—activities rarely associated with any music that could reasonably be filed under "punk." The actual songs became almost beside the point, serving more as scaffolding for the increasingly elaborate audience participation rituals.
For the bleary-eyed witnesses fortunate enough to push through fatigue, PEELANDER-Z provided that quintessential SXSW moment: the unexpected discovery that justifies the entire week's sleep deficit. Those seeking a repeat of this controlled chaos should mark their calendars for Sled Island 2025, where the band will undoubtedly convert a new audience into exhausted believers.
Photo by: Jess Arcand - Peelander-Z @ Valhalla
Photo by: Jess Arcand - TEAR DUNGEON @ Hotel Vegas
Austin's own TEAR DUNGEON embodied unbridled chaos on Saturday at the Fiesto Destruco showcase. The most uncompromising hardcore outfit in the city's impressive scene, their performance at Hotel Vegas cemented their reputation for boundary-obliterating spectacle.
The visual assault began before the first note, with the band emerging in their trademark all-white clothing and gimp masks shouting “THIS IS MY HOUSE. GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE.”—a uniform shared by devoted fans who positioned themselves at the front, fully aware of the crimson baptism to come. The ritual consumption and projection of fake blood quickly transformed pristine white fabrics into abstract horror art as vocalist Andrew Cashen conducted his communion of controlled violence.
Not content with merely destroying eardrums and laundry, Cashen escalated the danger by scaling Hotel Vegas itself—a move immortalized on their newly pressed EP artwork and now apparently a signature stunt. The visual of Cashen perched precariously above while the band continued their bombardment below encapsulated everything that makes TEAR DUNGEON essential: genuine risk, performative abandon, and sonic brutality fused into a singular experience.
Their music alone would demand attention, but the complete package—sound, visuals, legitimate danger—makes TEAR DUNGEON the rare band that transcends performance to create genuine ceremony. They kickass and take no prisoners, as the saying goes, but more importantly, they reject the very notion of safe artistic expression in favor of something more primal and affecting.
Photo by: Jess Arcand - TEAR DUNGEON @ Hotel Vegas
As Austin reclaims itself from the temporary music metropolis, the 2025 edition of SXSW joins the archive of festival memories—some crystalline, others hazy, all contributing to the increasingly mythological status of this industry gathering that somehow, despite corporate encroachment and logistical nightmares, still delivers transcendent musical moments.
We'll see you next March. Bring comfortable shoes and an open mind—you'll need both.