For our second day of CMJ we headed back to Cake Shop (where we saw zZz and Male Bonding Tuesday night), this time catching the end of Dinowalrus and sets from We Are Country Mice and Surfer Blood. We didn't get quite close enough to really check out Dinowalrus, but what we heard sounded like decent psych-leaning noise rock. We Are Country Mice then took the evening in a country rock direction. Their songs and chops were solid, and they brought their set to a noisy, energetic ending, with lead singer/guitarist Jason Rueger pulling his amp onto himself and rolling around the stage with it.
Next came Surfer Blood, the band that likely has the most CMJ appearances this year. They ran through great songs like "Swim (To Reach The End)," "Floating Vibes" and "Harmonix" and augmented their four-person group with an additional percussionist/keyboardist. Surfer Blood's songs occasionally break into calypso-y rhythmic interludes, a direction that helps distance them from the countless reverb-laden "lo-fi" rock groups that are around these days. The band gave a sarcastic apology to the Village Voice, who earlier in the day called them "one act just naive enough to accept invitations to 11 or 12 different showcases." The end of their set included some slight distraction from a random drunk dude who pushed his way to the front of the stage and looked alternately like he was rocking out or about the fall asleep standing up.
After Surfer Blood finished up we hopped on the train and headed to Le Poisson Rouge, arriving just in time to catch an entire set from Ninjasonik. With around a dozen or so people dancing, drinking, singing along and spilling beer on the stage, the group showed that they bring their own party. Their set include samples ranging from Matt & Kim to Morrissey to Devo, and the energy they unleashed made their performance the highlight of our week so far.
Theophilus London followed, delivering a fairly brief but smooth set. Though he was on the stage alone with a mic most of the time, his sleek attire and well-honed dance moves kept things from getting boring.
London's set ended up seeming lengthy compared to Clipse, who took the stage next. The Virginia hip-hop duo, who were added to the show last-minute after The Very Best's Esau Mwamwaya couldn't make it, went hard for about 12 minutes, hitting a few choice songs, including "I'm Good," the single from their forthcoming album Till The Casket Drops. As quickly as they had appeared on stage, Clipse was gone. We certainly wanted more, but the little that we got was pretty great, so we weren't disappointed.
Another day of CMJ down, but still three more to go. Stay tuned!
