‘The human spirit is still alive!’

Out of an estimated 90 songs heard on Wednesday night, the one our CMJ Music Marathon reporter woke up with in his head was a song about a hula hoop by a 15-year-old girl

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.