Giovannie & The Hired Guns - “Overrated”

SXSW 2024 - OEB Score: 7; Popularity Index: 8

Pairs Well With…Jimmy Eat World, Deer Tick, The Front Bottoms

Giovannie & The Hired Guns’ 2022 LP Tejano Punk Boyz opens with a punch of 90s/00s-era emo and grunge rock. Catchy choruses, ripping guitar licks, and a killer rhythm section all come together for a sound that is both gritty and arena ready. Letting the record play out reveals a band that pulls from alt country, indie rock, and pop bins and filter those influences through top-shelf songwriting. Hooks left and right, Giovannie & The Hired Guns are efficient and memorable across all the tracks that make up Tejano Punk Boyz while still sounding like themselves. This is the kind of music that can appeal to radio and indie heads alike, one that should also crush live come SXSW. (Kevin McStravick)