Festival Fever

Straight from An Horse's mouth: An interview on ACL plans, Aussie roots and tourlife

Aussie indie duo Kate Cooper and Damon Cox—better known as An Horse—are winning over the hearts of hipsters and have received a lot of more mainstream attention with their sophomore album, Walls. Released early last spring, the record has been praised by The Austin Chronicle, SPIN Magazine and NPR (and UT's own 91.7FM KVRX has been a fan of the band since their debut album Rearrange Beds).

The band is one of the first to perform at the this year's Austin City Limits music festival, and leading lady Cooper spoke with CultureMap about their Friday performance, their latest album and their upcoming tour.

Is this your first time at ACL?

I haven't been but it sounds so fun. I'm really looking forward to the performance.

What will you all play at ACL? I loved your latest album, Walls. Will you mostly play that or are you planning a third studio album?

We’ll mostly just play our first two albums [Walls & Rearrange Beds]. We haven’t gotten as far as planning a third album yet.

You are going on early in the afternoon on Friday; is it awkward playing that early in the afternoon?

It’s kind of weird sometimes. Mid-day rock n' roll is typically meant for crazy Christian bands. I don’t want to sound offensive, but, you know. I’m used to playing in clubs at night. But with that being said, I do like playing during the day—we get done early and we get to enjoy the festival after.

Will you see any other shows at ACL?

I would like to, but we are leaving town pretty early after we preform to start our own tour, so we won’t really have much time.

Who are you touring with?

We are doing a bunch of our own shows, and then we join up with Kevin Devine and play a bunch of shows with him.

I know you’ve toured with a lot of really great bands like Tegan & Sara and the Silver Sun Pickups; how was it being on tour with them in America?

It’s ok. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes it’s not. I miss home a lot, which is very hard. But we are very lucky to have this opportunity to go on tour.

Your Australian accent is so strong! I've wondered, what is the music scene like in Australia?

I’ve been touring for so long now, so I don’t feel like I’m really part of any local scene. But Australia has some great bands. It’s a much smaller place, so it’s very hard to compare. Where we’re from, in Brisbane, and there was a very good local scene but it’s very small and sparsely populated.

Do you live in America full-time now?

I live in Toronto. It’s great, like Australia but much colder. I originally moved to Montreal because that’s where my partner’s from. We were living there for awhile but then she had to move to Toronto for work, so we moved there. But I really like Toronto; it’s a great place to live.

I didn’t know you were married, who is your partner?

I’m not officially married, I just have a common law status because I haven’t had any sort of official ceremony. But it’s no one you would know.

Back on ACL: many people that are going are debating who to see between the headliners. Who would you see first, Kanye West or Coldplay?

Kanye, definitely. I’m not really a huge fan of Coldplay or Kanye, but Kanye seems more interesting. I saw Coldplay in 2004 in Australia. I had just heard of them and that "Yellow" song was huge. They were headlining a big festival in Australia. I remember thinking I like it but don’t love it. It’s a bit cheesy at times. I don’t know.

Steve Wonder or My Morning Jacket?

Stevie Wonder.

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An Horse plays at Austin City Limits on Friday, September 16th at 12:20 pm on the Austin Ventures stage.

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Movie Review

Jude Law faces white supremacy in The Order, inspired by a true story

Photo courtesy of Vertical Entertainment

Jude Law in The Order.

White supremacy has long been a stand-in for evil in movies, with the correlation easy to make with through well-known archetypes like those of Nazi Germany. Whether a film puts forth white supremacists as its main characters or supporting ones, their usefulness in a story is as people who are easy to hate and that deserve to be held to some sort of justice.

While that idea holds true in the new film, The Order, the nature of the group featured is somewhat muddled. The central figure is FBI agent Terry Husk (Jude Law), who essentially sets up a one-man task force in the Pacific Northwest to track a group known as The Order. Husk is convinced that the group, which is an offshoot of a larger white supremacist organization, is behind a series of bank robberies to fund anti-government schemes.

Husk recruits local police officer Jamie Bowen (Tye Sheridan) to help follow the group, which is led by Bob Mathews (Nicholas Hoult). The two, joined occasionally by FBI agent Joanne Carney (Jurnee Smollett), do their best to keep up with The Order’s increasingly bold crimes, which morphs from “just” bank robbery to murder.

Directed by Justin Kurzel and written by Zach Baylin, the film is at its best when it delves into the personalities of its characters. Husk’s monomaniacal nature is great for his job, but not so much for his family life. Bowen has a solid bond with his wife and kids, but his greenness in law enforcement leads to some questionable decision-making. Mathews, like many cult leaders, is a charismatic person with very misguided tendencies.

The filmmakers set up the plot (which is based on a real-life story) well, but the details get a little loose as the film goes along. While The Order has a hatred of Jews, a plot against radio personality Alan Berg (Marc Maron) doesn’t make much sense in the context of the film. The geography of the group’s operations is also confusing; they’re located in Washington, but they range out as far as Colorado and California to commit their crimes.

Still, the inherent appeal of good-vs-evil keeps the plot mechanics going, and the side stories of the main characters give them a depth that makes up for other faults. The filmmakers also make sure to demonstrate how the scourge of white supremacy has never been limited to one particular era, and continues to infect American society to this day.

Law commits fully to the lead role, giving a performance with a convincing American accent that is far from the suave British parts which have dominated his filmography. Hoult proves equally believable, giving his character a nuance that somehow makes him more detestable. Sheridan adds another interesting role to a career that would be enviable for any other young actor.

While The Order doesn’t rise to the level of an awards contender, its story is still relatively compelling with antagonists that, unfortunately, never go out of style. A great cast playing characters with engaging lives keeps the film watchable even when it goes into some odd detours.

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The Order is now playing in theaters.

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