South(east) by Southwest

In its barn-burning first single, “Clever Kicks,” local indie rock outfit the Hiss proclaim, “I get my kicks on Flat Shoals.”

For the month of March (and some of April), Atlanta scenesters and intrepid music fans should follow Hiss singer Adrian Barrera’s lead to East Atlanta Village. Owing to the annual week of industry showcases and expensed benders dubbed SXSW that takes place in Austin this month, bands just below the radar and a few brand names are swarming local clubs on the way to or from the “live music capital of the world.” Among the much-hyped acts are Canadian collective Broken Social Scene, urbane New Yorkers the Walkmen, costume-obsessed Anglos British Sea Power and even America’s favored beat-makers the Neptunes (in the duo’s brash live outing, N.E.R.D.).

Atlanta/Athens will send out some of its newer models, too: the Hiss, Paper Lions, MF Doom, Phosphorescent and Now It’s Overhead, among others. Even old-school, left-field new wavers the B-52’s are scheduled to join the party in Austin. With that in mind, CL will focus the next couple of weeks on some of the most worthy and relevant acts as they pass through town.