CMJ Madness: Seven band extravaganza!, Oct. 19, 2007
Friday night I managed to hit seven bands! I'm very proud of that, if you couldn't tell.
I started the night off at Arlene's Grocery, arbitrarily picking that spot 'cause I really like the venue.
A band called Tom Schrader and His Ego was playing as I walked in. I'd never heard of them before I walked in the door. They played basic acoustic Americana folk, and the lead singer, who I'd assume is the eponymous Tom, sounded a little like Zach Condon of Beirut in his timbre and inflection. He's also very cute in an All-American kind of way.
They were followed by Unique Chique. Off the bat, I kind of hate their name. They play basic rock and roll that, truthfully is a little boring, although some of their stuff shows promise (and oddly enough, very influenced by Bjork — interesting phrasing and rhythms), and they have some cool bass lines going on. In a year or two, if they get more comfortable playing together (their stage presence was very, well, not there), these guys could be pretty cool. They left the stage with a, "This is our favorite town on earth. Don't tell Chicago."
After the jump, we head on over to Mercury Lounge...
At Merc, I caught the last few songs by iLIKETRAINS, and wished I'd left Arlene's earlier. These guys were totally cool. Dark and shoegazey, doom and gloomy, this is rock to mope to and love it. The guys all wore black arm bands, and this bit of quaintery added to the atmosphere of romantic apocalypticism their set projected. They left the stage to the sound of their guitars feeding back, which I think is kind of an indie rock cliche, but they worked it.
Then, The Dead Trees. Another home run, random show-picking wise. The drummer came out and threw tambourines to his bandmates, and instantly I knew that something interesting was going to happen. The Cambridge-based band is mellow and melodic, and they do that laconic/angry thing that Stephen Malkmus does so well.
Their drummer is a maniac — he was just wailing on the skins back there. And the rest of the band wasn't to shabby. They also had a very cool, non-New York look — dressed in cowboy-cut button-downs, and gently distressed jeans — that matched their sound perfectly.
The interesting thing about this show was that there were kids scribbling furiously in notebooks (myself included) all over the room. It's kind of funny to go to shows and pick out the bloggers/reporters.
Anyway, I really like these guys live, and I wonder how it will hold up on CD. I'll let you know.
The Broken West was up next. I didn't really take any notes because their show bored me out of my mind. "Toothless L.A. rock, generic and safe," I wrote in my book.
But I didn't want to leave because I was waiting for The Walkmen. I love these guys, and I was really excited to see them at a venue as small as Mercury Lounge. I saw them a few years ago at Webster Hall, and they were awesome. I have a long-standing crush on lead singer Hamilton Leithauser.
HL is an amazing performer; he really gives his all, and this show was no different. (I have a friend who used to work with him, and says in person he's really quiet and shy, which fact makes his balls-to-the-wall vocal pyrotechnics even more endearing — I've always loved the dichotomy between his mild mannered, reserved between-songs persona and the wildman who can't stay still as he belts out song after song). It's as if he reached down into his core to find the energy and emotion to deliver his performance. It's like he's singing his heart out almost literally; if he could force that organ out through his vocal chords, I'm sure he would.
It may seem like I'm gushing, but he really does writhe and strain with such effort that it's hard to communicated the degree to which he's committed to his music up on stage. And the band is tight behind him. They're less animated, but just as intense. For a few songs, they had a small brass section up there with them, which added a nice bit of flair.
So it was about 1 a.m. when The Walkmen finished up. I ran over to Bowery Ballroom to try to catch Spinto Band, hoping I wouldn't be turned away at the door. It could go either way; they're a big draw as a CMJ band, but the late hour might lessen the crowds. Fortunately for me, the latter was the case, and went right in to the strains of "Brown Boxes," which is my favorite of their songs.
The bar had gotten a fresh coat of paint, and it looked nice.
When I got upstairs the band was rocking a 3/4-full crowd (who was very dedicated). They thanked everyone multiple times for sticking around so late. They have a youthful exuberance that I hope they never grow out of. (The band members, who have been doing this for 8 years, are between 20-25, and they look even younger.)
On stage, they were silly and fun; they had cute banter between songs, and during, everyone stomped along with the beat — the up-and-down unison of their legs made a cool image. They also endorsed ear plug use, and I gotta show love for that. They are all just adorably geeky.
"A bunch of these are new songs," the lead singer acclaimed to general audience approval. "Thank you. We need the reassurance. That we're not has-beens." This prompted an even larger crowd woo.
Even though I was exhausted by that point in the night, their hour-long set flew by. Good show.
Good night.
eh.www.amNY.com
Comments (1)
That sounds like a lot of fun! g.