The Wild Moccasins have gone Continental. Houston's favorite indie-pop fivesome has been back in the land of Coca-Cola for a while - Rocks Off assumes bassist Nick Cody has told his job that he's back by now - but last week Austrian blog They Shoot Music Don't They posted two videos of the band busking, sightseeing and generally being their lovable selves in Vienna.

From They Shoot Music's report:

Even though most people in this park setting are not the typical indie pop listeners, some of them got inspired by Wild-Moccasins' pop-infused songs and their friendly and euphoric manner and were eager to check out their first Vienna show later that night!

See those videos for "Zylophone" and "Born Blonde" at the links. Rocks Off figured the Moccasins have had enough time to get over their jet lag by now, so we asked Cody Swann and Zahira Guitierrez if they'd mind sharing a few ups and downs of their trip. It's still hard to believe they were over there for seven weeks.

UPS

Zahira: Meeting all of the different people with many different backgrounds and cultures. It was crazy to drive two hours from where we were and people would be speaking a completely different language. Something as simple as the sites and panoramic views driving from show to show as well. It was a nice change of pace from the usual shopping-strip sites.

Cody: Meeting all of the individuals responsible for booking, promoting, and setting up our shows. Over the span of seven weeks that we spent there I think we had some of our best tour shows to date. I contribute that fully to the help we received. It seems like everyone involved really appreciates bands traveling to play in their countries and they definitely go the extra mile to show it.

DOWNS

Zahira: The nine-hour flight complete with one hour of turbulence. It almost made me sick, and I could have potentially amputated Cody's hand from squeezing so hard.

Cody: Getting pulled over three times in a span of two days while in between Germany and the Czech Republic. In the three cases, the police officers and us all suffered from a definite language barrier.

Feeling like I'm four years old again when I step off the plane and realize I can't even communicate what I want to eat without pointing and speaking gibberish.

The Moccasins play Fitz's next Friday with passionate Portland pop-punks The Thermals, and then AthFest in Athens, Ga., later on this month. According to Insound, the deluxe edition of 2010's Skin Collision Past - which adds 2008's Microscopic Metronomes EP - will be available on LP and CD June 21. But before that, like just about every other band in Houston, they'll be at Free Press Summer Fest this weekend.

Luckily, they play early enough that they'll still have plenty of time to check out the rest of the fest - 11:40 a.m. Saturday on the Budweiser stage - so we asked Swann and Gutierrez to chip in a few of their must-sees.

Zahira: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Beirut, Cut Copy

Cody: The Black Angels, Those Darlins, Lower Dens, By the End of Tonight

Rocks Off's own staff will be bringing you our own Summer Fest picks tomorrow, by the way. And then we shall all sweat together.