CMJ Day Two: Noisey Showcase Recap: Twin Shadow, Pujol, Bleached, Fidlar, and More!
The 2011 CMJ Music Marathon is in full swing, and last night we threw our first-ever CMJ Showcase! We locked down the top half of Santos Party House, Andrew W.K.'s bi-level haunt. Despite a rain that made for some perilous load-ins, we had a full room the
The 2011 CMJ Music Marathon is in full swing, and last night we threw our first-ever CMJ Showcase! We locked down the top half of Santos Party House, Andrew W.K.’s bi-level haunt. Despite a rain that made for some perilous load-ins, we had a full room the whole night, and a bunch of free rum to keep things popping off. Here's a run down of how it went, along with a live video of Caveman killing it.
Advertisement
All of these photos were taken by our favorite photographer on the earth, Rebecca Smeyne. You can check out more of her stuff on her website. I'd recommend her work on street chaos bike punks.
FIDLARA mosh pit at CMJ is like a UFO sighting or something. You can barely trust your own eyes and none of your friends believe you when you tell them about it later. But these LA garage-punks got one going at 8PM on a school night! 8PM! That’s an accomplishment in itself. Between songs, their singer Brandon kept shouting “Hey! We’re Fidlar! That’s F-I-D-L-A-R!” They definitely knew they were at a CMJ showcase. In case you didn’t know, the name is an acronym for “Fuck It Dawg, Life’s A Risk!”
PUJOLI spent a lot of my night chilling with Daniel Pujol and his drummer Stewart. Breaking news! Stewart is actually named Stewart fucking Copeland, just like the drummer from the Police. No one has pointed this out before. Pujol sounds like They band is in town from Nashville, Tennessee, and played a bunch of tracks off of their new record, “Nasty, Brutish, and Short,” out this week on Saddle Creek Records. Daniel is in school right now, getting an online degree in Political Science while he’s on the road. He still had his shit together enough to blast out some seriously jangly garage rock. Super fun times.
CAVEMANI used to know Caveman’s drummer Stefan back when he played in the End Of The World. That band never really took off, but it looks like Caveman is on the way. The band hasn’t put out a record yet, and are still unsigned—that won’t last for long though. Their songs require VERY little effort to enjoy, and are recorded in this gauzy, smeary haze. Most bands can’t pull off that dream-pop sound in a live setting without sounding like a bunch of doofs but Caveman did it, for which they deserve a damn medal.
Advertisement
BLEACHEDBleached were up next. That’s the new band from Jessica and Jennifer Clavin's new band. You probably know these two towheaded sisters from their old band, the lamentably defunct LA punk band Mika Miko. After that band split, Jennifer moved to NY and took up with Cold Cave for most of 2010. Now she's back in LA pumping out Misfits-inspired fuzz-pop anthems.
MAIN ATTRAKIONZNext up, Oakland’s Main Attrakionz destroyed everything. Considering how zoned out and submerged their sound is, the guys brought some real energy to the show. Mondre M.A.N. and Squadda B ran around the stage like lunatics. They’re on the more experimental end of the hip-hop spectrum, repped hard by Altered Zones and other indie blogs. The praise is well deserved—they had the crowd moving within a minute.
INCI missed Inc. because I got involved in a very heated conversation with Pujol’s drummer Stewart Copeland backstage, mainly about how Nashville is better than New York. I could hear a bunch of sexy-time basslines and rimshots though. Oops.
TWIN SHADOWTwin Shadow closed out the night with some catchy, eighties-inspired, mope-fest synth pop. The band is fronted by George Lewis Jr., who grew up in the Dominican Republic. In a crowded field, Lewis has differentiated himself from lame new wave revivalists with that old showbiz trick—he actually writes good songs. Despite wearing embarrassing arm socks, the drummer Andy Bauer kept the best going, firing out sixteenth-notes on the hats like a nail gun. I watched the show from onstage, getting a perfect view of an audience rapt with starry-eyed attention.And here's some live footage of Caveman KILLING IT:
ORIGINAL REPORTING ON EVERYTHING THAT MATTERS IN YOUR INBOX.
By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from Vice Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.