Austinist Show Preview: White Williams at Emo's

We understood that Cleveland, Ohio was known for rock music, but for subtly bouncy electronic art pop? We we dubious until we discovered that the Midwestern mecca is the origin of Joe Williams, whose project White Williams will be stopping through our fair city tonight at Emo's for a show opened by Rings (New York) and Cry Blood Apache (Austin).

Misleading though it may be to White Williams' style, Joe Williams made a name for himself touring with Girl Talk and Dan Deacon when he took up pop music and moved away from his roots in noise rock. White Williams isn't planning on seducing you into an amazing dance party like his previous tour-mates, though; they're more restrained musically and much more restrained in stage activity. In fact, we want to tell you that we kind of think they sound like a less intense version of Of Montreal minus Kevin Barnes' narrative style and lavish show theatrics. Joe Williams' voice is smooth and pretty, and he knows how to control it well to achieve maximum congruency with the music. We like it. It's poppy and fresh, and dare we say, an easy listen. You can read what we had to say about the album Smoke here.

Supporting White Williams are a sort of trip-hop, voice amalgam called Rings, who seem to be entirely inspired by The Velvet Underground's song "The Murder Mystery." Also on the bill are locals Cry Blood Apache, whose muffled and distorted vocals atop beat-driven electro-rock could soundtrack a dark video game. Oh how we hope to see you there.

White Williams on [MySpace]
Rings on [MySpace]
Cry Blood Apache on [MySpace]