The Best is a Replacements meets Thin Lizzy sort of project featuring members of local institutions the Bad Sports, OBNIII’s, and the Fleshlights.

The Bad Sports have released two of the best garage punk/power-pop records in the last two years. They start their incredibly tight sets, which are among the best at SXSW, as the self-proclaimed “best looking band in Texas” and end them with “you’re welcome.” It’s hard to argue.

The Mean Jeans, as we tried to explain to bouncers who flanked the stage after their set lest the next band create such a melee, are a party band. It is kid music for adults. People hear “I Was Born On A Saturday Night” and want to dunk their heads in a bucket of Jagermeister and do back flips. The performance, their last of SXSW, didn’t suffer despite the fact that Billy Jeans had mono and had been throwing up before the set.

Mind Spiders closed the Dirtnap showcase with a late night set of tight and fuzzy garage gems. They played with two drummers on their most recent record but only had one during their set at Valhalla. Despite this, the sonic landscape had no discernible holes in it. Mark Ryan’s vocals droned dreamily over psychedelic synth weaving them into perfectly crafted pop songs with haunting melodies. Energetic, but always restrained. The effect is hypnotic, as if you’re hearing them on an FM radio while driving down dark street through a fog of nostalgia. Word on the street is Rolling Stone critic David Frick even took the time to take this one in.