AUSTIN, Texas – The best thing about the South by Southwest music festival is the nonstop blur of bands from around the world. Even with thousands of musicians converging on the so-called Live Music Capital of the World, it can be difficult to catch a truly transcendent show – if nothing else, the sheer volume of venues (and the sheer volume of the bands) can make it hard to navigate the sea of sound.

Of the dozens of shows the Wired.com team caught while at the festival, which ended Sunday, these are the bands that made the strongest impressions. Some were on our short list of bands to check out; others came as total surprises. (Be sure to let us know which SXSW bands blew you away in the comments section below.)

Broken Social Scene ——————-

I didn't believe the hype, but I should've. Like any good big-venue band, Broken Social Scene sets out to offer a transcendent concert experience, and succeeds. Band founder Kevin Drew is the ringleader of almost a dozen musicians, directing everyone throughout the set. At any given time there are three or four guitarists and vocalists onstage, plus keyboards and drums. Both the sonic space and stage tend to get crowded, but the Canadian band makes it work, miraculously, achieving a sound so big and beautiful you can't help but feel your heart swell. The songs are fresh and unique, and catching a Broken Social Scene show is akin to attending some sort of musical church. –Keith Axline

Capsula ——-

This trio from Bilbao, Spain, brought gobs of energetic, heavy garage psyche – think Comets on Fire and The Cramps – with screamed lyrics that are sometimes English, sometimes Spanish, or maybe Basque, although you can never really tell under the haze of reverb, fuzz and crashing cymbals. Capsula tore up Maggie Mae's during a packed Saturday night set, with guitarist Martin Guevara literally climbing the walls, slamming his guitar against light fixtures, ledges and shelves near the stage. Bassist Coni has mastered the art of the high-pitched rock scream. She also wears kitty ears and pounds on her bass like it's her little brother. So sexy. –Michael Calore

Dr. Dog ——-

The No. 1 term used to describe Dr. Dog is "Beatles-esque," due to the group's harmonies, multiple lead singers and instrumentation. While this may be true for the band's recordings, live Dr. Dog is kinetic, loud and aggressive. Bass player and vocalist Toby Leaman and drummer Eric Slick lock in so tightly, they alone could put on a great show. But guitarists Scott McMicken and Frank Elroy take the Philadelphia band to 11 as they and Leaman jump around in epic rock formations and general zaniness. I was a fan before I saw them live but now they are a must-see band for me, up there with The Walkmen and Stephen Malkmus. –Keith Axline

Moon Duo ——–

Like a two-piece, stripped-down, future-dipped combination of Faust and Spacemen 3, Moon Duo kept heads bobbing at SXSW at multiple venues with a heavy sound only partially discernible in this video of the band's SXSW set at Cheer Up Charlie's. Guitarist and guitar-pedal player Ripley Johnson (also of Wooden Shjips) coaxes monstrous tones out of his setup, which appears to include some custom-built gear (don't quote us on that – we didn't get a good look). Second but not least, Sanae Yamada holds up her end of this Faustian pact with keyboard drones and acoustic-style drum beats, also played on a keyboard. You probably haven't heard two people make such a delicious racket before, though those who fear the heavy sound should take warning. –Eliot Van Buskirk

Notekillers ———–

I happened into this gig with some friends fairly early one night, and ended up buying a CD-R and a T-shirt despite having no good way to carry the merch (and having not bought a shirt with a logo on it in years). Veteran Philadelphia- and Brooklyn-based band Notekillers is, in one sense of the word, sick. If you've ever tried to make music outside of the traditional tonal frameworks most of our ears are used to, without falling into the same tired tropes and frameworks, you know how hard it is to sustain that without devolving into noise. Like snow leopards, Notekillers achieves this on a full-on, nonstop level without succumbing to noise or facile negativity – and may have even invented the concept, or at least a healthy chunk of it. If it sounds familiar, there's a good reason for that: Sonic Youth, and by extension half of the decent guitar bands of the past 20 years, channeled Notekillers while honing its early sound. –Eliot Van Buskirk

Oh No Ono ———

To make a gross generalization, older bands at SXSW who came of musical age in the Time of the Guitar have better chops than younger bands at the festival. Not to say that the young folks can't play, or that their music is inferior, just that technical and songwriting mastery does not come easy and most folks need to put in Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours to get there. Perhaps it says something about the Danish weather that Copenhagen's Oh No Ono seems to have put in that kind of time despite falling on the younger side of the spectrum. They brought not only the fresh sounds new bands need to make an impression, but also the hard-won chops some older players rely on to stay relevant. Bonus: The band defeated the Radiohead level with an outstanding cover of "Weird Fishes." –Eliot Van Buskirk

Street Sweeper Social Club ————————–

It ain't easy being in a supergroup. Everybody compares you to your former bands and, depending on your new group's pedigree, it can be difficult to live up to expectations. Street Sweeper Social Club is fronted by former Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and The Coup's Boots Riley. While Street Sweeper's debut record dropped to mixed reviews, the band's ferocious live set at Rusty Spurs should have left nobody questioning the new group's power. Humongous grooves and energy to spare had the entire room bouncing in time with the band members. The bass overwhelmed Riley's vocals at times, but Morello's guitar cut through the mix and soared into the stratosphere. And let's be honest: Nobody rips it up like six-string wizard Morello, whose raging solos and flamboyant performance style make him one of the most exciting guitar-slingers on the planet. –Lewis Wallace

Young Prisms rock an outdoor show during SXSW 2010. Photos: Keith Axline/Wired.com

Young Prisms ————

As most live-music veterans know, earplugs are mandatory if you don't want to lose the ability to hear the music you love. This year, I even ended up wearing mine between shows, to tone down the ceaseless sonic overload of chatter and bass booming out of SXSW venues trying to attract listeners. I kept my earplugs on during Young Prisms' set, and loved what I heard. See, I'm still a sucker for the shoegaze sound, properly done, and apparently this San Francisco band is, too. Slowdive meets Bardo Pond at New Order's funeral – it was just the thing. File under "antidote." –Eliot Van Buskirk

We Were the States ——————

These guys sounded so good that they cut through the din of SXSW from 100 yards away and grabbed my ears' attention. We Were the States played in a tiny room in the back of Headhunters and performed like it was their debut at the Fillmore. The jolting combination of classic and indie rock primes the band from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for greater things. I've since listened to We Were the States' recordings, and don't think they do the band justice. See them live and you won't be disappointed. –Keith Axline

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