CMJ Day #1: The Recap

I started out my CMJ with the Paper Garden day party at The Living Room. When I got there Kidstreet from Canada was just getting started. They're a cutesy brother-sister group (one sister, two brothers) that play what I have to call electro-pop. For some reason they reminded me of the Freelance Whales, not at all in sound but just about every other way possible. All the while I was enjoying the $3 Kronenberg specials and thinking about how awesome it is to drink at 4:30pm on a Tuesday.

Next up was Motel Motel who I've been trying to catch for over a year now. I like what I've heard online and had high hopes. Unfortunately I wasn't that into it. It's not that they're a bad band or anything, in fact musically I think they're pretty damn good. What through a bit were the vocals which seemed a little forced. The band plays a style that has a lot of country/roots influence but they just don't seem like the country/roots type. It was odd because on the surface they are in  fact a good band but I just wasn't connecting for some reason. In all fairness The Living Room is not the best venue, everything tends to be a bit muted in that joint.

I cut out after about four songs and headed over to LPR for the New Zealand showcase. Once again there was more free booze, this time it was 42Below vodka drinks. I ordered a few Red Bull & vodka, not my typical choice but I was dragging. The band playing when I walked in was Lawrence Arabia. I think I've seen these dudes before and wasn't totally impressed but they sounded much better this time around, although I did only hear two songs.

Next up was some girl grunge band called Street Chant. They toed the line between grungey-punk and pop-punk. I dug the sound for the most part but found their claim of being "the biggest rock band in New Zealand" a bit hard to believe. They were pretty good though and reminded me a bit of Incesticide-era Nirvana with some L7 of Babes In Toyland thrown in. As we were leaving some female fronted, funky, drum and bassy band started up. I was not paying much attention though but recall them reminding me a bit of Hank & Cupcakes but not nearly as good.

The next party was the Oh Canada showcase at Fontana's. They were giving away free Bloody Caesar's and $2 Labatt Blue. A Bloody Caesar is the Canadian version of a Bloody Mary, they're very proud of it and even gave it a shout out on stage. The thing is it's just a Bloody Mary with Clamato in it, which is how lots of people in the States make it (myself included). Way to be creative there, Canada. All this time I've been drinking your national drink thinking it was just a Bloody Mary. Silly Canadians.

The first band up was absolutely terrible, sorry. They played excessively poppy rock which came off as a bad Coldplay rip off. The thing is Canada is cranking out killer bands these days so why put a Canada showcase together and not get the absolute best in there. By the way, the band was called In-Flight Safety - even their name is bad. We split have way through their set and hopped on the J train back to Brooklyn.

We got off at the Lorimer stop and headed over to Don Pedro's to catch my cousin's band, The Sounds Of Kaleidoscope. They went on way late from what I can remember so it gave me too much time to suck down $1 Colt nips. By the time TSOK went on I was totally wasted. I recall chatting to the Shark? bros for awhile about who knows what. Sorry if I was being obnoxious in anyway, dudes. While I don't remember my retarded conversations I do recall the set from TSOK. As always they fucking destroyed, they're so damn good man. If you like big 90's style grungy-stonery rock n' roll then you gotta see them.

After the set it was time to throw in the towel. I was wasted. I drank my way through CMJ and despite being early I was done for. We went to Grand Morelos for some late night tortas (Tinga de pollo, of course) and then I headed home and passed out on the couch. Today we do it all over again.

Freelance Whales & Lawrence Arabia Played Bowery Ballroom 4/13

On Tuesday we headed over to the Bowery Ballroom after a round of drinks at Home Sweet Home. The Freelance Whales were headlining a sold out show with New Zealanders, Lawrence Arabia, warming up the crowd for them.

Let me start by saying that I hate the name Lawrence Arabia, it's just awful. Fortunately, I can't say the same thing about their music. The first song started off very slow and frankly I wasn't impressed. However they picked things up during the second song and I got a better feel for what they were all about. Most of their songs started out very slow and then about a minute in they'd start rocking. They kinda sounded like Band Of Horses covering the Pixies. Overall, I think they're a pretty good band but it would be nice if they mixed up the formula a little more.

Next up was my favorite band from Queens, Freelance Whales. It's hard to believe that the first time I saw them they were playing in front of 20 people upstairs at Pianos. In less then 6 months they're now headlining a sold out show at Bowery Ballroom, that's just amazing!

This was the 4th time seeing them for me but the first show on a big stage. I was really curious about how they would pull it off since they usually just huddle around in a circle and play unamplified. Obviously that wouldn't work in a room the size of Bowery Ballroom. When they came out they were set up like any other band - drums on a riser, guitar to the left, bass to the right and the singer in the center.

The sound was pretty fantastic but I have to say I enjoy the smaller setup more. As great as the songs are they lose a little bit of their charm when played on the big stage. That said, Freelance Whales are just an amazing band and it's only a matter of time before they're headlining the big stage at Central Park.

My only real complaint is they opened with some of their best songs first and played new stuff at the end. I would have much preferred an encore with a song I could actually sing along to. But all-in-all that's a minor complaint for an otherwise beautiful show.