Yes, what you read in the sub-headline is true. I took in more than 10 different musical acts on the second night of the CMJ Music Marathon, and it was the music of a teenage trio called Supercute that stuck the strongest. Here are some of the other highlights.
Supercute
Hometown: New York
Next local date: Sunday (Thompson Square Park, NYC)
Led by 15-year-old Rachel Trachtenburg of the famed Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players and accompanied by her 13-year-old friends Julia Cumming and June Lei, these ukulele-playing young ladies really live up to their name. They could have also been called Supercharming Superfunny or Superpromisingfuture.
Sample lyric: “We were so happy that our rooms had been found, but the whole place wreaked of a burnt dead bird”
Holopaw
Hometown: Gainesville, FLA
Next local date: Thursday (The City Reliquary, Brooklyn)
This
seven-piece band is led by John Orth, who is the type of presence that
at first can make listeners uncomfortable with his Michael Stipey
dramatic swoons and gentle poetic presentation, but after a while his
eyes-wide-shut passionate delivery will grow on you.
Between song banter highlight: “If we could get a little more cello in the monitor that would be great.”
The Megaphonic Thrift
Hometown: Norway
Next local date: Sunday (Glasslands, Brooklyn)
This
quartet ripped a page from the My Bloody Valentine songbook, and then
out of that piece of paper they made a paper airplane that sailed
through the air with pretty guitarmonies and heavy riffs.
Number of effects pedals on stage: 19
Japanther
Hometown: New York
Next local date: TBD
Japanther
consists of drummer Ian Vanek, bassist Matt Reilly, their boom box of
pre-recorded music that they play along to and a tropical storm of
positive energy. They were a highlight of the 2009 SXSW Music
Conference and their performance on Wednesday proved they were no
fluke. Though they had a few technical difficulties, their Ramones-like
melodies (sung through telephone receivers) and pure enthusiasm
prevailed.
Between song banter highlight: “The human spirit is still alive!”*
Duchess Says
Hometown: Montreal, Canada
Next local performance: Thursday (Pianos, New York)
At
the dawn of hardcore music, none of the bands could really play that
well. But Duchess Says can play well. They must have been inspired in
some part by that primitive punk, because they will add hardcore
breakdowns to their sophisticated confrontational electro disco. And is
it ever confrontational. Singer A-Claude has a piercing lifeguard
whistle scream and she practically delivers it directly to audience
members one at a time.
Rock show stunt highlight: After
running around in the audience and singing in the faces of spectators,
A-Claude parts the crowd like Moses parting the Red Sea, and sprints to
the stage.
*= Bonus Fun Fact, when we
wrote about Japanther at SXSW in Austin, Texas in March, a between-song
banter quote also inspired our headline.