Austin’s a town of guitar-heroines, with Cannibal Cheerleader favorites like the Faceless Werewolves and Ume shredding and face-annihilating audiences up and down the blood-soaked streets with unimaginable licks and killer technique, and one of our favorite finds of 2010 Megafauna are no different, with Dani Neff wielding the axe like a instrument of torture. Still, what’s truly surprising about the band’s new LP Larger Than Human is not the guitar wizardry on display, formidable as it might be, but the depth with which the sound is incorporated into the group’s layered and mysterious sound. One moment Neff acts the chanteuse, lithe and nimble in her articulation, bubbling softly over waves of propelling rhythm care of bassist Will Krause and drummer Cameron Page, and the next the beast of her guitar roars to life, searing a certain passage or rip-roaring through a particular breakdown with hot wreckless abandon. The record delights in unusual song structure, strutting about with garage-rock forwardness on tracks like “No Humans” before dipping into a noodly-indie-rock lesson in guitar proficiency on songs like “Speck”. Then it’s back to a slow, heartfelt verse in the singer-songwriter style as on “Warm House” before once again smashing down in a grungey corpse-strewn mess as on “Butter Cookie”. To say that Megafauna defy simple definition would do Webster a disservice – the group has it all, wrapped in a small three-person-package, and its weird and haunting and erratic and inspiring and wonky and frightening and wonderful all at once. If you’re looking for something new, check ‘em out. --San Antonio Current Critic's Artist pick for February 2010 "First off: Megafauna’s vocalist-guitarist Dani Neff is better than the condescending “lookee here, a girl playin’ guitar good” BS musicians (not to mention butchers, bankers, and candlestickmakers) of the Venusian persuasion have to endure. A lot better. We probably shouldn’t have even brought it up, in fact. It isn’t often, though, that you hear musicians willing to drown such gorgeous female vocals in waves of technically accomplished guitar chaos. “Fun at the Apocalypse “ lives up to its name — Neff’s haunted revelations and Will Krause and Cameron Page’s brimstone rhythm heed to solos that will melt the seals off seven scrolls. But “Butter Cookie,” with Neff’s delicate self-harmonizing, could be a Regina Spektor song, at least until it’s dunked in grunge. Krause’s bass buzzes hungrily, and Page’s sticks smack the finish from his cymbals while Neff pulls off several of the moves that eventually required Eddie Van Halen to undergo hand surgery. You’d be tempted to call it cock rock, except for one obvious reason: Megafauna’s material is too weird and original to compare to some ego-driven garbage like Ted Nugent. Since Neff writes the songs, you could analyze them through a feminist lens as an angry rebellion against the traditional testosterone-oozing rock-song structure, but we’ve spent too much time already attempting to justify the somewhat-misguided pseudo-liberal thrill we get from watching a pretty lady play the living sh*t out of an electric guitar." Call for price, 10pm Fri, Feb 19, Limelight , 2718 N. St. Mary’s, (210) 735-7775 , myspace.com/limelightsa — San Antonio Current, Jeremy Martin FLAGPOLE MAGAZINE Athens, GA Calendar Pick Megafauna Thursday, May 28 @ Tasty World Remember the shock of seeing Jucifer for the first time? The adrenaline jolt of seeing lead singer Amber Valentine shred her guitar in a one-million-notes-a-second blast of power? If that experience is worth reliving, be sure to check out Austin’s Megafauna. For those who are in the know, expect a great evening of powerful guitar rock with ethereal vocals, and be sure not to ruin the surprise for those who have no idea. --Jason Bugg The first time I saw Megafauna they were playing in a room that didn't really have a ceiling high enough to contain their power. Checking them out a second time with a brawnier PA in effect, I have a new appreciation for their style. Dani Neff's songs have nonlinear structures and overlapping rhythms drawn from 90's post-rock, but delivered with a loud, nasty edge that's anything but introspective. Stereolab mingling with AC/DC? Indeed, why not? Add in a vocal approach that's part art-pop, part space jazz and the band has three recognizable threads that aren't normally heard in combination. They're original and fun to watch -- Neff looks as if someone should follow her around with a giant prop fan so that every time she picks up a guitar her hair can blow out behind her. Their songs are confident enough to take long detours through quiet sections before exploding in blood-curdling, burning-flesh guitar solos. Big Western Flavor From the best show of SXSW 2010 to the greatest find of the festival, we turn to local act Megafauna who stunned the CCC at a house party on the East Side. Not to be confused with the Bon Iver associated act Megafaun, Megafauna is an Austin-based rock trio featuring riot grrrl extraordinaire Dani Neff as the axe-wielding guitar goddess in the vein of Marnie Stern and Ume’s Lauren Larsen with a taste for experimentalism and whip-crack heroics. While Stern relies chiefly on sheer speed and finger-picking, and Larsen throttles with waves of crushing sound, Neff pummels with pedal-less snarl, letting her Hendrix-inspired sensibilities do the talking as the group’s excellent rhythm section, featuring slap-bass and crashing drums, supply a smorgasbord of indie-rock madness for all to enjoy. Not enough can simply be said about this group whose loud-quiet-loud formula mixed with supremely satisfying and amazing guitarwork lead to a band that can kick out the jams with gusto while still granting themselves an experimental edge. Definitely check them out! Cannibal Cheerleader Check out Megafauna and dig a track like “Fun at the Apocalypse,” which aptly captures their hard-driving math-rock meets erratic avant-garde indie-rock deconstructionists sensibilities, sets a great groove and loves to bend those solos into noise-pop glory, with hard-hitting rhythms. Deep Cutz, Detroit, MI Thax Douglas : Megafauna 1: Lost in a jungle of tight mattress springs, but it's only your eyesight's temporary hardening of rushing creeks of fate making midsummer love with each other as they splash their way into a meaty mattress lake of narrative- your eyes know that the story's already been resolved but they're stuck with this mock eternity, which is an unfortunate side effect of their amazing ability to see. Megafauna 3: effervescent, the bubbles are only lightning bugs for a second before they burst, but they seem to find that long enough to lay a bathtub full of eggs