This year’s CMJ was nothing short of spectacular for Cougar Microbes. Braving the cold weather and the rain, we meandered through the downtown Manhattan and East Brooklyn areas to see as many of the new up and coming artists as possible. From the coveted SoFar Sounds showcases and The Kills, to the late night dance parties with Made In Heights and Saint Pepsi, to catching the promising performances by BORNS, we covered it all. As always, we were left tired, happy, and wanting more, thanks again CMJ!
CYMBALS
Overcoming some minor technical setbacks London 4 piece Cymbals crammed onto the tiny stage underneath Cake Shop and performed their infectious synth rock tracks. The energy from the stage was infectious with not a single person standing still in the attendance. Special praise goes to frontman Jack Cleverly whose stage manner definitely helped win his band more fans.
SKYROADS
Considering their only show at CMJ was on one of the tiniest stages available, SKYROADS still brought a serious crowd to the LES’s Leftfield. The energy of lead singers Ami and Tamar was exploding off the stage and had the whole venue dancing and clapping along. Two DJ’s, one male guitarist on lead vocals, a sexy female singer sharing lead and handling simple percussion, and live drums hidden in the back is apparently the perfect recipe for a breakout indierock band.
Secret Someones
Packing Rockwood’s Stage 2, Secret Someones put on an awesome pop-rock performance. The most remarkable part, was that each of the three ladies took turns on lead vocals as each song was performed. Additionally, they all played guitar. As it turns out, the band actually formed after all 3 were singing harmonies for each other’s individual solo careers on tour together – not the worst idea to combine and conquer.
Saint Pepsi
DJ sets at CMJ are few and far between, but we were fortunate enough to find one at Mercury Lounge for a late night party from Saint Pepsi. Throwing in old school gems from Mariah Carey, the young 20-something played solid original remixes. Integrating his own electronic tunes as well, he danced around behind his laptop while the crowd grooved and sang along. It was a standard dance party, and a perfect way to end Day 2 of CMJ.
Kokoro
It was worth returning to Pianos in the wee hours of the night to catch the absurd yet captivating show from israeli frontwoman Kokoro. Following some technical issue at her earlier showcase the excitement on stage was evident. Flanked by a drummer and a blonde keytar player and dressed in racy leotard this was a show that packed a punch while showcasing her unique vocal talents.
