The Joy Formidable, Mona and the Lonely Forest
One of several U.K. buzz bands making its stateside landing at South by Southwest two weeks ago, Welsh trio the Joy Formidable genuinely burst onto the scene at the festival. Frontwoman Ritzy Bryan looks like a china doll but plays like a pit bull, and her band’s debut for Atlantic Records, “The Big Roar,” boasts shoegazing fuzz-pop gems laden with Breeders-like hooks. Opening quartet Mona is blowing up early in England, much like fellow Tennesseans Kings of Leon did. The Lonely Forest also performs. Chris Riemenschneider