CMJ Report: The Top Ten
October 23rd, 2007 | 5:30 pm est |
During the five days of the CMJ Music Marathon, we at AMG collectively saw well over 100 different bands at a dozen or so different venues around the LES and Brooklyn. Inevitably, many of these were forgotten as soon as they walked off-stage, but there were also some that really stood out. The list was hard to whittle down, but here they are, our ten favorites.
- Aa (www.myspace.com/alittlea)
American Steel (www.myspace.com/amsteel)
Bella (www.myspace.com/bella)
Cut Off Your Hands (www.myspace.com/cutoffyourhands)
Foals (www.myspace.com/foals)
The Golden Dogs (www.myspace.com/thegoldendogs)
Japanther (www.myspace.com/officialjapanther)
The Narrator (www.myspace.com/thenarrator)
A Place to Bury Strangers (www.myspace.com/aplacetoburystrangers)
Polar Bear Club (www.myspace.com/polarbearclub)
I’m stunned by how unexcited I am by every band on this list -at least judging from the default tracks on their prospective MySpace pages. More than half of them sound like novelty acts; the sort of which one might have heard on the Doctor Demento Show back in the 80s. The majority of those left over still manage to sound like little more than the goofy weekend hobby of some upper-middle-class white kids.
“Big A little a” - Antmusic filtered through shitty, post-rock pretention.
“American Steel” - could grow on me with the right kind of obnoxious payola push.
“Bella” - a Canadian Ladytron wannabe with a not-so-bad Killers-esque backbeat.
Cut Off Your Hands - lame.
Foals - pretty much the only band that I would knowingly listen to on this list, and that’s because they have a saxophone and I love Morphine and The Cure.
The Golden Dogs - uninspired imitation of The Sensational Alex Harvey band.
Japanther - Kinky Wizards made reality? Not too good, and not funny enough to be ironic.
The Narrator - sound like any number of bands I’ve seen live at the Empty Bottle. Nothing special.
A Place To Bury Strangers - These guys got it going on! I bet they’re great live. Make that two bands I’d actually listen to on this list. I will pay money to own these songs.
Polar Bear Club - Probably the only band bound for megastardom, but still pretty pedestrian. They sound WAY too much like Against Me, and not nearly enough like Discharge.
I’ve got to agree with most of what you said Matt. There is something going on that is totally NOT going on for me right now in music, especially in NYC. I listened to all the bands on the list and was pretty unimpressed. Now, maybe some of them are incredible live, I sure hope so. Otherwise this is just more evidence for me that the music scene is really just hell bent on going to ANY length to stand out. That seems to be all they are interested in. They leave me wondering who of them actually loves music. I disagree with you about Cut Off Your Hands. I liked them more than most on this list.
I agree with both of you, Foals and Cut Off Your Hands! are about the only ones worth listening to. Anyone heard anything about Black Kids at CMJ? I know they were the “it” unsigned band going in, but i haven’t heard anything lately, which probably means they bombed…
Foals was the only band on that list worth listening to.
I also agree with you guys. I went to a showcase on the 20th at Matchless in brooklyn and saw these guys called “BALLER BANKS”…looked like a bunch of young dudes but they really knew how to play, and I can’t stand all these stupid dumb hipster bands!!! I found there myspace—–
myspace.com/ballerbanks
whoa….those guys are pretty good. i was supposed to go to matchless that night but i ended up at some other dumb showcase. wish i woulda saw those guys though…wouldnt have expected music like that from a name like baller banks!!!
Baller Banks Rock. Great sound. Post show schedule please.
Did anybody see The Gregory Brothers during CMJ? I saw them in Brooklyn a while back and they totally rocked. They balled my banks, so to speak.
http://www.myspace.com/thegregorybrothers
ahahha nothing like getting your banks balled. gregory brothers dont sound too bad… the beginning of ‘dont give up on me’ sounds the coolest. i’m digging the baller banks stuff though. definately has some older influences but there not trying to sound ‘retro’ but they also dont sound like all the other ‘new’ rock either…i dont even know what im talking about but i think i just made sense
Surprised and delighted to see Aa on the list. They’re truly original, like a psychedelic drum corps. I’ve seen the New Yorkers play twice in Portland, OR and they were great both times.
the black kids have a free ep give away at there website, blackkidsmusic.com, the songs on their myspace rock and thehoodinternet.com even used them in a remix.
Jumbling Towers was a good one. very curious about the Black Kids.
American Steel is mid 90s punk band on the same wave as Jawbreaker and Samiam. They are great, but there is no way in hell they will become a band to watch this year. Just isn’t possible with the way that people find music these days.
Best for me was Scissors For Lefty.
By the way did anyone see the incredible show Trail of Dead put on?
Dead Confederate was pretty sweet. KEXP was freaking out about how good there live shows were. I think they played 6-7 times during CMJ
Yeah- whoa. You guys missed The Sammies! They blow most, if not all, of the bands on your list out of the water. They were by far the best show I saw at the CMJs! Already looking forward to catching them at SXSW 2008!
Thanks for this list, but in my mind the only two distinctive bands in the list are “A Place to Bury Strangers” and “Foals”. For the rest I pretty much agree with Matt’s comment, the only thing is Polar Bear Club’s stardom, if happens, happens in EMO scene, which is barely a serious music scene! (I mean it in the nicest way possible though haha)
Did anyone happen to catch The Shackeltons at CMJ this year? They played Pianos and I believe at the Annex as well.. they make this list in my book.
Agreed.. The Shackeltons have manic energy that is most necessary. It swarms and swells. Stage presence is carried amazingly well from the lead singer, and the music absolutely stands on its own feet.. get into it!
Cut Off Your Hands & Foals are my favorites listed. Sure, they’re not revolutionary but they’re catchy and fun. Most of the other people sound very mediocre.
holy crap I hate the music biz so much. I mean, c’mon guys. American Steel is just a complete rip-off of Against Me!! and not even the good stuff. I mean, the rolling snare drum, the jangly guitar, the forced political lyrics.
I wouldn’t say Polar Bear Club reminds me of AM! anywhere near as much as that terrible American Steel. I can’t believe Fat Wreck is signing ripoff dreck like this. Oh well, anything for a dollar.
Japanther has been rocking for many years, but as much as I like them, their sound hasn’t evolved one bit.
Looking forward to checking out some of these other ones. Good comments people. Thanks.
If you get a chance to catch “A Place to Bury Strangers” live do not miss out! Also, they have an album worth picking up (i think it’s on iTunes).