As boy-girl groups go, Smile Smile's a keeper. While that's a play on the lyrics to "Sad Song," a single from the Dallas duo's self-titled CD, it's also the truth.
But you already know that if you're a fan of KDGE-FM's The Adventure Club, on which Smile Smile has received an enthusiastic reception from host Josh Venable and his listeners.
Oh, you're not cool enough for The Adventure Club? That's fine, but chances are you'll still like the lovelorn pop songs of Ryan Hamilton and Jencey Hirunrusme, who insist on staying coy about the nature of their relationship. All they'll say is that they "love each other," but listening to Smile Smile, one suspects they've had their share of disagreements. They don't sing together – they sing at each other, working out relationship problems in their lyrics.
Smile Smile is one of 88 bands playing this weekend's Wall of Sound Festival. We thought it'd be fun to have Hamilton answer questions as Hirunrusme and vice versa, for our own twisted version of The Newlywed Game.
Hunter Hauk
Q: If I were a solo artist, most of my songs would be about ...
A: Girls. I think I might have been an extremely reclusive, yet insightful woman in another lifetime. Perhaps Emily Dickinson.
Q: The singer/songwriter I'm most likely to stalk is ...
A: Hands down, Bob Dylan. ... Not only do I love his music, but his words also inspire me. I think I could open a Bob Dylan museum.
Q: What gets my creative juices flowing?
A: Being alone with my guitar in a quiet house.
Q: My most annoying habit is ...
A: I'm always right and other people get tired of being wrong all the time. I can't help it that I know everything and it annoys people.
Q: The song they play at my funeral will be ...
A: "Free Bird." Enough said.
Q: If I were forced to rename our band, it would be called ...
A: Sweetstick.
Q: If I were a solo artist, most of my songs would be about ...
A: Flowers, sunshine and dancing.
Q: The singer/songwriter I'm most likely to stalk is ...
A: Terra Naomi, because I have a bumper sticker on my car that says: "I'm stalking Terra Naomi."
Q: What gets my creative juices flowing?
A: Wine, not in a drunkard way, but in a sophisticated senator's wife kind of way.
Q: My most annoying habit is ...
A: It's a tie between biting my nails and ordering people around.
Q: The song they play at my funeral will be ...
A: "No Room to Bleed" by Ben Lee.
Q: If I were forced to rename our band, it would be called ...
A: The Flowery Powery Sunshiney Happy People Girl Band.
WALL OF SOUND FESTIVAL
Presented by Spune Productions.
88 bands on three stages, Saturday and Sunday beginning at noon at the Ridglea Theater, 6025 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth. Doors open at 11 a.m.
Front Gate Tickets. $20 per day in advance, $25 per day at the door.
www.wallofsoundfestival.com Be sure to circle these must-see bands' names on your schedule. Go to www.wallofsoundfestival.com for performance time and stages.
BEST OF THE FEST
CHAO
When two-thirds of Captain Audio moved to New York to form the Secret Machines, Regina Chellew was left behind to finally record her songs her way: sad and angry, electronic and acoustic, seductive and shy – in a word, captivating.
KNIFE IN THE WATER
This Austin band is quintessentially Texas, not in a twangy cry-in-my-beer way, but by mining tales from desolate roads, desperate people and lonesome nights.
GEORGE NEAL Denton's Little Grizzly played folk music in a bruising and explosive way, but songwriter George Neal could always hold the exhausted audience's attention in his clenched fist during his frequent voice-and-guitar-only encores.
THE NEW YEAR
The second coming of Dallas' Bedhead takes shoegazing pop into foot-tapping territory, rocking harder than its former ensemble and the scores of bands it inspired.
OKKERVIL RIVER
Austin's Will Sheff has a novelist's flair for wordplay, and the rest of the band illustrates his stories with guitars, drums and an aggressive use of piano and strings accompanied by Sheff's yearning howl.
STARLIGHT MINTS
Too often (though justifiably) compared to Norman, Okla., hometown heroes the Flaming Lips, the Mints will preview the upcoming Drowaton, with its charming and infectious psychedelic orchestral pop.
Shannon Sutlief
