Small Time Band--Big Time Sound

I knew that A Pocketful of Deng was about to start their set because suddenly there was a crowd where only a handful of people had just been. Minutes before, Red Eyed Fly was littered with wandering 20-somethings with seemingly nothing relative to each other, save their cans of Lone Star Beer. All this changed as five finely dressed young men with unkempt hair and chronically un-tucked shirts took the stage.
A Pocketful of Deng are a five piece, Austin-based, experimental/progressive rock band, and arguably one of the more entertaining bands in their oftentimes pretentious sub-genre. This is really just Rock and Roll. Encompassing everything from punk rock to jam bands, Pocket play to their own crowd, unique as is the band itself. Forget The Scene; Pocket deliver what most up-and-coming bands these days cannot; something for everyone. The band’s eclectic sound is a direct reflection of their fan-base—a delightful mix of all kinds of music, for all kinds of people.
Blonde and right in line with the likes of Robert Plant, Vocalist Patrick Husband knows his audience. He knows they want him, regardless of whether it’s known to them…yet. With an elegant but haunting moan, reminiscent of The Doors’ Jim Morrison, Husband lures his listeners through the looking glass and into a world of metaphor and make-believe. A night with The Deng is just another trip down the rabbit-hole, a question mark in a vast field of absolutes. As lead guitarist, Travis Larrew takes on the role of The Pied Piper, leading listeners on their journey with tightly hewn guitar licks, demanding riffs, and a style he makes his own.
Listing influences such as Radiohead, Beck, and of course The Beatles, Bassist Jackson Ellis has a difficult time describing A Pocketful of Deng as only one entity, as each member’s differing tastes can sometimes clash so that they actually sound brand new. Their sound seems to constantly develop on its own in front of the crowd, growing with it, and I can’t help but feel that none of this was planned at all—it all seems to happen spontaneously before my eyes. Billy Gardner’s stage presence and proficiency with the harmonica bring subtle soul into the mix, deconstructing the traditional formula for rock songs with a fusion of blues and punk, entwined neatly with galloping rock anthems and good old dance-floor rock and roll. Ellis, Gardner, and Larrew’s chemistry on stage is truly Pocket’s strongpoint—watching them play together is as natural as it gets, convincing the audience that this was all somehow meant to be.
High-octane melodies and Rob Edmiston’s drum-fueled rhythm, combined with top-notch showmanship prove to be Pocket’s greatest strengths and immediately sets them apart from every other long-haired rock band you’ll see in any given bar in downtown Austin. These young musicians aim to please their crowd, and that they do, very obviously, with much pleasure. Except that the pleasure was all mine. If musical diversity and the lyrical revival of acid-rock pique your interest, A Pocketful of Deng have just what you’ve been looking for. A trip with The Deng proves to be a refreshing, if long-awaited, trip down the rabbit-hole.