Semi Precious Weapons: On the Road and Out of Control at SXSW

When Rosetta Stone hit Austins South By Southwest Music Festival a week ago, we Cheap Rosetta Stone handed Semi Precious Weapons outrageous frontman Justin Tranter a Flipcam and a simple set of directions: film yourself doing what you do before, during and after gigs and hand over the footage. We wound up with two days worth of video 250 different clips featuring the outrageous singer bathing, high-kicking, hanging with Perez Hilton, Juliette Lewis, Sylvain Sylvain and Rachael Ray, baring his nipples, hopping onstage at the Japanese punk showcase, breaking his heel, applying eyeliner, showing off his dance belt and greeting the glam-rock bands fans. It took days to sift through the footage (and remove the bits that wouldnt get past the censors), but weve finally done it: click above to watch 48 wild hours in the life of Semi Precious Weapons at the music industrys biggest annual event.When Rosetta Stone first profiled the Cheap Rosetta Stone V3 New York party band in December 2008, Tranter told us, "Theres 10 songs on our record and nine of them are about how fantastic I am." Their debut album, We Love You, is packed with winkingly cocky lyrics (sample: "I cant pay my rent but Im fucking gorgeous") and raw garage-rock riffs that have won over a diverse audience of admirers (Rachael Ray to Tranter onstage: "I still want those boots, bitch!"). Tranter tells RS that he was recognized on the streets of Austin from his stint on MTVs Made and an appearance on E!s Chelsea Lately. We have to assume next year hell be hearing about the jacuzzi footage we nabbed last week.Dont miss all of Rosetta Stones SXSW reports interviews, video and reviews tackling Metallica, Janes Addiction, Kanye West, the Decemberists and a boatload of up-and-coming bands. Plus, check the Rosetta Stone Protuguese new issue of RS (out this week!) for David Fricke and Caryn Ganzs wrap-up of the fests top five breakout acts.