Oxford Collapse :: Fontana's :: CMJ 2006 |
On our final day, which began after a bruising hangover that no ibuprofen could tame, a soothing three rounds of Sopranos pinball calmed my nerves at Fontana's, the scene of a day fiesta thrown by Sub Pop and the cooler-than-thou blog Brooklyn Vegan. Oxford Collapse had their instruments cranked up rather loud with a style that merges math pop, impassioned punk, and a proclivity to garnish their sound with post-rock sprinkles here and there. Jaunty battle cries like "Please Visit Your National Parks" and "In Your Volcano" make it all worthwhile, even if your eardrums tend to bleed a little bit. If one thing remains certain, it's that these boys cannot stand idly while playing; their set saw them skittering about the stage like orangutans who just drank a case of Red Bulls. At one point they even found it appropriate to segue into a hook from Jimmy Buffet's "Cheeseburger in Paradise."
The Thermals :: Fontana's :: CMJ 2006 |
Straight outta Portland, The Thermals were a delight for everyone's ears and ethos, delivering a jarring slew of numbers from their fabulous new LP entitled The Body, the Blood, the Machine, a concept album about America being under the rule of a fascist Christian regime. Led by the nasal-pitched voice of guitarist Hutch Harris, The Thermals' mostly power-chord-driven garage rock is quite frugal in terms of instrumentation yet packs a punch in its execution; just about everyone sang along to all the lyrics, especially chanting the lines "God reached his hands down from the sky/ He flooded the land then he set it afire/ He said fear me again/ Know I'm your father/ Remember that no one can breathe underwater" from "Here's Your Future." Tantamount to a mini rock opera being put on in a small space, the set list was aptly sequenced and had the crowed caroling along to songs about gays, pro-choice, and other non-Christians being rounded up on "An Ear For Baby," evolution ("Back to the Sea"), and wars both sectarian ("I Might Need You to Kill") and for oil ("Power Doesn't Run on Nothing"). With sweat seeping through his shirt, Harris played and sang with the same power and emotion that are the cornerstones of The Thermals' recent release. Back in the '90s, a concept including the themes that The Thermals address today would've seemed a bit far-fetched, but in 2006 the idea doesn't seem too nonsensical because, you know...
Unearthly Trance :: Ace of Clubs :: CMJ 2006 |
The last gig we visited on this adventure was the Relapse Records/Translation Loss showcase at the Ace of Clubs, which was kicked off by prog-metal giants among men Rosetta. Michael Armine's vocals are like deep growls in a wind tunnel that intermingle with their atmospheric sludge metal stew, while guitarist Mathew Weed rained down burly slabs on his guitar, which was being fed through the Marshall amps that were stacked on the stage like Roman columns. Following Rosetta, the three-man army that is Unearthly Trance dished out their doom core, which proved to be as raw as a ten-day-old open head wound, mostly thanks to Ryan Lipynsky's vocals that rev up like the motor on a Harley.
Kevin Hufnagel - Dysrhythmia
Ace of Clubs :: CMJ 2006 |
As 11pm rolled around, the band that gave us what was to be our musical sendoff, Dysrhythmia, graced us with an electrifying set. Bassist Colin Martson, guitarist Kevin Hufnagel, and drummer Jeff Eber all morphed their skills together to blast out a religious experience, inducing a compendium of shredding jazz metal and free-flowing meandering jams twisted and turned in all possible directions. Rapid-fire rhythmic thrusts and abrasive dynamic shifts in Hufanagel's guitar licks saw to it that we left this town with a bang.
For those who have dubbed the annual CMJ Music Marathon in New York City as the "South by Southwest of the East Coast," it's become apparent that such a term is quite inaccurate. While both events showcase a wide range of talented up-and-coming acts as well as some already established artists, labels, publications, etc., both festivals carry a distinct dynamic in terms of the experience. In Austin, Texas, most of the venues are within a 20 minute walk from each other. New York City can make one's head spin as you constantly jolt around a bustling metropolis all day by way of subways and taxis.
New York City is one of the most amazing cities in the entire world, and whoever said that it never sleeps was right on the money. It's one thing if you've "visited" this place for a couple of days, but if you're from out of town and need to dart from one place to the next more than four times a day, you better come prepared. If not, you'll get tangled up in the gears that grind in order to keep this massive concrete jungle with a population of eight-and-a-half million people in only 468 square miles a movin'. If you don't watch your step, this whale of a town will swallow you like Geppetto.
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