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!
Gossling
Watching Gossling, AKA Australia’s Helen Croome, is always a welcome change of pace. Hot on the wave of last year’s ‘Harvest Of Gold’ debut Croome has had plenty of time to get these tracks road ready and her display today was remarkably composed . Expertly switching between guitar and keyboard the singer/songwriter shone throughout with “Challenger” being a particular highlight.
Frances Cone
Frances Cone‘s lead singer though small in stature, had powerful vocals with a touch of sweetness, and eyeliner as heavy as her lyrics. Armed with simplistic melodies and two male guitarists who can sing, the gorgeous 3-part harmonies on “85” were simply delicious. Indie rock with twangs of country that shine brighter on certain tracks, this band was a nice divergence from the typical CMJ sound.
Skyes
Fronted by a girl on vocals, who intermittently tossed her blonde mane during musical breaks while dominating the keyboards. From the haunting “Burden” to the more dance-worthy “A Girl Named Jake,” this four-piece band kept their level of intrigue high with such a genre-bending sound. Born from Brooklyn indierock, with an experimental dash of metal and synth, and a touch of Stevie Nicks prowess, Skyes kept their listeners at Rockwood on their toes.
Single Mothers
Canadian punk-rockers Single Mothers hit the stage for what is supposed to be their sole CMJ performance this year (they step of stage inviting the audience to see them later in the night which puts that claim to shame) and for a day show they have a boatload of adrenaline to burn. Crammed on the tiny stage there is an explosion of facial hair and sweat on display with frontman Drew Thomson screaming like a man possessed throughout. With the brilliant and underrated Murder City Devils no longer performing this was as close as anyone has come to replicate that incredible explosive live set.
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks offer an endearing youthful and exuberant performance on stage not least because the band are all 21 years of age or younger. Clearly enjoying playing their repertoire the 4-piece literally bounce off of eachother banging guitars and limbs seemingly without missing a note. On a personal note it was refreshing to see a band with actual guitars and drums playing CMJ. Their fuzzy indie pop is the perfect antidote to the numerous “man + computer” artists showcasing this year.
Dorine Levy
Exactly one year on from when we last caught Dorine Levy in New York she back for another CMJ performance. This time her showcase was at the slightly out of the way Coco 66 and perhaps the low turnout was a result of this. Still Dorine gave one hell of a show clearly picking up a trick or two over the past 12 months. Flanked by her trusted drummer her set was cherry picked with all the highlights from last year’s ‘Underwater album and even had time to drop in a couple of new numbers including the euphoric “Wasted”!
It’s fitting that the epically named The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die are spearheading some sort of emo comeback. Having heard some good feedback about their live shows we got ourselves to the late night show at Cameo Gallery just in time to see the band storm off stage. The audience can’t quite believe what’s going on as it transpires that there has been some sort of altercation with security. This was either the most petulant or most rock n roll moment of the festival.
