Romp | Heartbreaking Bravery

March 3, 2016

2016: The First Two Months (Full Streams)

Now that the songs have, by and large, been brought up to the present release cycle, it only seemed fitting to turn the attention towards some of 2016’s strongest records. Since records are more time-consuming than individual songs, none of them will be featured individually in the next week. However, all of the records below are more than worthy of investment. A small handful of these even have a shot of being expanded on at the end of the year. For now, though, I’ll simply provide another list for exploration. Once again, there’s absolutely no way these can be listened to in one sitting so it may be best to just bookmark the page and return at will. From demo debuts of solo projects (Potty Mouth‘s Aberdeen Weems) to triumphant returns (Jawbreaker Reunion, photographed above) to fascinating splits (Great Thunder and Radiator Hospital) to outstanding compilations, there’s a lot to discover. Dive in below and find some new bands worth following.

Jawbreaker Reunion – Haha and then What 😉 || Margaret Glaspy – You and I b/w Somebody to Anybody || Purling Hiss – Something || Kal Marks – Life Is Alright, Everybody Dies || Two Inch Astronaut – Personal Life || Aberdeen – Blue Lemon Demos || ROMP – Departure From Venus || Lucy Dacus – No Burden || Swim Team – Swim Team || Rita Fishbone – Spilt Milk || Hothead – Hothead || Sioux Falls – Rot Forever || Past Life – EP I || Abi Reimold – Wriggling || Nice Try – Nice Try || Krafftmalerei Plagiat || Lawndry – EP || Baby Birds Don’t Drink Milk – Burritos || Mal Devisa – Kiid || Kane Strang – Blue Cheese || Big Ups – Before A Million Universes || Årabrot – The Gospel || Michael Nau – Mowing || Looks Like Mountains – Quick, Before We’re All Dead! || High Waisted – On Ludlow || Sin Kitty – Softer || Rafter – A Sploded Battery || Candy – Azure || Baklaava – Dane On

Fake Boyfriend – Mercy || Axed Crown – Amnesty || Soda – Without A Head || Fucko – Dealing With the Weird || Opposites – Joon II and Got My Cough || Journalism – Faces || Sarah Neufeld – The Ridge || Great Deceivers – Ask Me About Your Strong Suits || Burnt Palms – Back On My Wall || Adult Books – Running From the Blows || Dead Stars – Bright Colors || Acid Dad – Let’s Plan A Robbery || yndi halda – Under Summer || Sheer Mag – III || Edgar Clinks – Bath w/ Frozen Cat || Tangerine – Sugar Teeth || Muncie Girls – From Caplan to Belsize || Risley – Risley || Great Thunder/Radiator Hospital – Wedding Album || Pinegrove – Cardinal || Acid Fast – Last Night on Earth || Making Fuck – Harrowing End || Nick Thorburn – Serial S2 || Fred Thomas – Minim || Dude York – Lose Control b/w Love Is || Self Defense Family – Superior || Jo Passed – Out || POP ETC – Souvenir

Pinkshinyultrablast – Grandfeathered || Nap Eyes – Thought Rock Fish Scale || Art Week 2016 || Crater – Talk To Me So I Can Fall Asleep || Tuff Love – Resort || The Castillians – You & Me || Sitcom – Gig Bag || Howardian – A Smurf at Land’s End || Mass Gothic/Ex-Amazed – Split || Step Sisters – Thick || Rob Crow’s Gloomy Place – You’re Doomed. Be Nice. || Washer – Here Comes Washer || Titus Andronicus/Craig Finn – No Faith/No Future/No Problem || Frameworks – Time Spent || I’m An Island – Bored Days, Old Years || Wussy – Forever Sounds || Nathaniel Bellows – The Old Illusions || Keeps – Brief Spirit || Serac – Songs for the Broken Hearted || This Heel – This Heel III || Cotton Ships – Cotton Ships || Truly – Henry || Acid Tongue – The Dead Man’s Cat Walk || Dying Adolescence – Dear You, It Can’t Wait. || Proud Parents – Sharon Is Karen || Cayetana – Tired Eyes

JOYA – Surround b/w Kitsilano || The Two Tens – Volume || Leggy – Dang || Cellar Doors – Frost b/w Prism || Celebration Guns – Quitter || Quarterly – Quarterly || Hollow Hand – Ancestral Lands || Sierpien – Stench Up to Heaven || Cherry – Gloom || Relick – Twin House || Sun Dummy – Bunny || Lionlimb – Shoo || Tiny Knives – Black Haze || Chives – Drip || Chris Storrow – The Ocean’s Door || Bombay Harabee – Goldmine || Swaying Wires – I Left A House Burning || The Spook School – Binary / David Bowie Songs || Tender Defender – Tender Defender || Mozes and the Firstborn – Power Ranger || DRÆMHOUSE – Only Friends || Molly Drag – Tethered Rendering || Black Thumb – Black Thumb

1 Comment

March 3, 2016

2016: The First Two Months (Streams)

Littler

Now that the 2015 edition of A Year’s Worth of Memories has officially wrapped, it’s time to dive headfirst into 2016. There’s been a long delay in posting due to all of the recurring series and, simply, covering the volume of what’s been released in January, February, and the first few days of March. It’s precisely because of the jaw-dropping amount of material that the next few posts on this site will merely be a collection of links. Since it’d be humanly impossible to get through even a large chunk of this in one setting, it may be best to just bookmark this page and peruse the below list at your own leisure. After all of the single stream, full stream, and music video links lists are up, the focus will shift to a handful of standout releases. Once that’s all been said and done, Heartbreaking Bravery will resume operations as normal.

Explore some of 2015’s excellent early offerings below.

Yuck – Cannonball || Yucky Duster – Seashell Song || Hovvdy – Problem || Skaters – Head On to Nowhere || Lost Film – Still Youth || Robert Pollard – My Daughter Yes She Knows || Horse Jumper of Love – Bagel Breath || The Pooches – Heart Attack || Lou Doillon – Where To Start || Martha Ffion – Wallflower || Pity Sex – Bonhomie || Brittany Costa – Harbor || Self Defense Family – In Those Dark Satanic Mills || Kane Strang – Things Are Never Simple || Nothing – Vertigo Flowers || Gun Outfit – Make Me Promise || Summer Flake – Wine Won’t Wash Away || Ladada – New Psych || Alex Napping – Trembles Part II || Hit Bargain – The Circuits That Cannot Be Cut || Hard Girls – Dulcet Tones || Sioux Falls – Dinosaur Dying || Fake Laugh – Mind Tricks || Mind Spiders – Running || Arbor Labor Union – Radiant Mountain Road || Parakeet – Sugar Rush || John Dillon – The Fox || Littler – Of Wandering || Grayling – Bidding War

The Raveonettes – Run Mascara Run || Horse Jumper of Love – Ugly Brunette || Pinemen – Predictions || High Waisted – Door || Neighbors – Angel O || Waxahatchee – With You || ROMP – Backfire || The So So Glos – Dancing Industry || Littler – Phantom Limb || Gun Outfit – Expansion Pact || Bambara – All the Ugly Things || Miserable – Oven || Witching Waves – Flowers || Fucko – Best Little Something in Somewhere || Mind Spiders – Cold || Littler – Slippery || Journalism – Everywhere I Look || Carey – Hey Caty || Plastic Flowers – Diver || A Dead Forest Index – No Paths || Japanese Breakfast – Everybody Wants To Love You || Drug Pizza – No Reaction || Music Band – Day Stealer || Alma Elste – Limitless || Field Report – Your Friend Tia || Bad Cop – Ain’t From Here || Gun Outfit – King of Hearts || Agent Blå – Frustrerad || Jennifer O’Connor – It’s A Lie || Takénobu – Curtain Call

Låpsley – Cliff || The Thermals – Hey You || Frankie Cosmos – Sinister || Mothers – Coppermines || Operators – Cold Light || Wire – Nocturnal Koreans || Steady Holiday – No Matter || La Sera – I Need An Angel || Jackson Whalan & Jules Jenssen – Home Again || Japanese Breakfast – In Heaven || Caveman – Never Going Back || Beat Awfuls – You’re Not Gonna Love Me Anymore || Guerilla Toss – Diamond Girls || Brass Bed – Be Anything || Sunflower Bean – Easier Said || Snow Roller – Too Good || Doug Tuttle – It Calls On Me || Frances Cone – Arizona || Abi Reimold – Vessel || Twin River – Antony || Beach Baby – Sleeperhead || Aleyska – Everglow || John Congleton and the Nighty Nite – Until It Goes || Great Pagans – Call of the Void || ROMP – Avoiding Boys || Mike Bell & the Movies – Fucked If You Do || Heron Oblivion – Your Hollows || Tiger Army – Prisoner of the Night

Eagulls – My Life In Rewind || Courtney Barnett – Three Packs A Day || David Vassalotti – Ines De Castro || Baby Birds Don’t Drink Milk – Don’t Wanna Fall In Love || Guerilla Toss – Grass Shack || Sorority Noise – Either Way || Spookyland – God’s Eyes || Jennifer O’Connor – Black Sky || Chumped – Not the One || Florist – A Hospital + Crucifix Made of Plastic || John Congleton & the Nighty Nite – Your Temporary Custodian || Andrew Bird (ft. Fiona Apple) – Left Handed Kisses || The Thermals – My Heart Went Cold || Summer Flake – Shoot and Score || Quilt – Roller || Space Raft – Mountain || What Moon Things – Party Down the Street || Soar – Speak Write || B Boys – Get A Grip || Beach Skulls – Santa Fe || Rolling Blackouts C.F. – Write Back || Yndi Halda – Together Those Leaves || Amber Arcades – Right Now || Mára – Surfacing || Nai Harvest – Just Like You || Tim Woulfe – Be Clarity

Operator – Bebop Radiohaus || Abi Reimold – Sugar || Sarah Neufeld – Where The Light Comes In || Ali Beletic – Stone Fox || Dunes – Runner || DTCV – Bourgeois Pop || Gladiola – The Uninvited Guest || Earl Sweatshirt – Wind In My Sails || Wavves x Cloud Nothings – I Find || Soda – Blonde On Blonde || The Dead Ships – Company Line || Pkew Pkew Pkew – Mid 20’s Skateboarder || Gioia – Circling || Tangerine – Sunset || Mrs Magician – Forgiveness || Acid Dad – Don’t Get Taken || Summer Cannibals – Go Home || B Boys – Seagulls || David Vassalotti – Broken Rope || The Coathangers – Nosebleed Weekend || Fucko – Buzz || Ulrika Spacek – Beta Male || Alexei Shishkin – Yucca Street || Day Wave – Stuck || Ashley Shadow – Tonight || Journalism – Faces || The Hanged Man – Invisible Tree || Sofia Hardig – Sitting Still || VHS – Wheelchair || Phosphene – Silver || The Castillians – Come What May

Kidsmoke – Cut Yourself Loose || Future of the Left – The Limits of Battleships || Woodes – Daggers & Knives || Dusk – When Sleep Washes Over || Sheer Mag – Can’t Stop Fighting || Murena Murena – Lovely Homes || Woods – Can’t See At All || case/lang/veirs – Atomic Number || Eagulls – Lemontrees || Crater – Summer Skin || Flowers – Bitter Pill || Cat’s Eyes – Chameleon Queen || Pity Sex – Burden You || Tiny Deaths – The Gardener || Journalism – Watching and Waiting || The Middle Infield – Shadow || Kyle Forester – Won’t Go Crazy || Dark Blue – Vicious Romance || Grubby Little Hands – No Such Thing || Wussy – Dropping Houses || Jo Passed – Lego My Ego || Frightened Rabbit – Death Dream || Bombay Harabee – Interval || Fear of Men – Fall Forever Island || Fleurie – Sirens || Kane Strang – Full Moon, Hungry Sun || Kindness – A Retelling || Nothing Works – Dark Musick

Risley – Kill the Clock || Anna Meredith – Taken || ROMP – Last Year || Yikes – Thought You’d Stay || Chirping – Corona || Keeps – Let It Fall (Keeping Time) || Sound of Ceres – Dagger Only Run || Mike Newman – Vinny || Beverly – Victoria || Dirty Dishes – All of Me || Raury (ft. Take A Daytrip) – Home || Shonen Knife – Jump Into the New World || Head Wound City – Scraper || James Supercave – Burn || Shitkid – Oh Please Be A Cocky Cool Kid || Moderat – Reminder || Avante Black – Imaginary Love || Sonya Kitchell – Follow Me In || Charlie Hilton – Funny Anyway || Explosions in the Sky – Disintegration Anxiety || The Raveonettes – The World Is Empty (Without You) || Tinted Sun – Only One || Zula – Not the Same || Nicholas Krgovich – Written in the Wind || Slingshot Dakota – Paycheck || Day Wave – Gone || Matt Kivel – Violets || The Body – Hallow/Hollow || Future of the Left – If AT&T Drank Tea What Would BP Do? || Wintersleep – Santa Fe || Pop. 1280 – Chromidia || Gladiola – Greatest Hits || Sean Lennon – Demon Daughter || Acid Dad – Fool’s Gold

I’m An Island – Vitamin D || Night Moves – Carl Sagan || Phosphene – Be Mine || Risley – Warpaint On || Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Rich Wife Full of Happiness || Cross Record – Basket || Ashley Shadow – Tonight || Francis – Turning A Hand || Delta Will – A Dream || Dam Gila – What Fire || Nap Eyes – Lion In Chains || Scott Yoder – Looking Back In Blue || Holy Esque – Tear || Rob Crow – Oh, the Sadmakers || Whitney – No Woman || Marissa Nadler – Janie In Love || Teen Suicide – The Stomach of the Earth || Benny Boeldt – Valley Amnesia || Vandaveer – A Little Time Off Ahead || The Cradle – The Screen of Skin || James Bishop – Tailspin || Inner Space Orchestra – One Way Glass || Mirror Travel – Yesca || Two People – Fading || Hundred Waters – Forgive Me For Giving Up || Jaill – Paint Me Scary || Ryley Walker & Charles Rumback – Dhoodan || Scott Yoder – Silver Boy || Body Origami – Bright Hunger

Slingshot Dakota – Lewlyweds || Flower – Deadly Ill || TEEN – Please || Mavis Staples – Dedicated || Relick – Offering || Alpenglow – Solitude || Nathaniel Bellows (ft. Timo Andres) – It Never Ends || Say No! To Architecture – Wieder’s Floor || Chelsea Wolfe – Hypnos || M. Ward – Confession || Geddy D (ft. Darius Minwalla) – For You This Fall || Morly – The Choir || Turnover – Humblest Pleasures || Weird Dreams – The Ladder || Jo Passed – No, Joy (I’m Not Real, Girl) || RJD2 – Peace of What || Bill Eberle – Too Late To Take It Back || Those Pretty Wrongs – Ordinary || Still Parade – Walk in the Park || No Side – AM Revised || Hayden Calnin – Cut Love || Inspired & the Sleep – Die Slow || Pined – Wray || Copperfox – Feel in the Void || Michael Nau – While You Stand By || Laura Gibs0n – The Cause || Say No! To Architecture – Cocaine, Eh || Tangerine – Tender || Chambers – Yeagin Shone

Melaena Cadiz – California || Andy Ferro – Crystal Tongue || Nap Eyes – Roll It || Violent Soho – Viceroy || Jon Patrick Walker – Hideous Monster || Bat For Lashes – I Do || Andy Ferro – Sugar and Milk || Naps – Social Skills || Los Angeles Police Dept. – Hard || Sound of Ceres – Hand Of Winter || Pillow Talk – Monogamy (Demo) || RJD2 – The Sheboygan Left || Andy Ferro – Hood || Proud Parents – Saab Story || Muncie Girls – Balloon || Carter Tanton (ft. Sharon Van Etten) – Twenty-Nine Palms || Ghost Riders – Rolla Olak || Death Grips – Hot Head || CFM – Purple Spine || Human People – In My Speakers || Kevin Garrett – Refuse || Iska Dhaaf – Invisible Cities || Chris Maxwell – Arkansas Summer || Step Sisters – Vox Pop || Bianca Casady – Daisy Chain || Ship Thieves – Undertakers || South of France – Washed Up || Dear Boy – Local Roses || Lontalius – It’s Not Love || Merival – Kicking You Out

DJDS – I Don’t Love You || The Sherlocks – Last Night || Wanderwild – Optimist || Soft Fangs – Birthday || Anenon – Once || My Golden Calf – Young Pioneers || Drowners – Cruel Ways || Darla and the Love – End of the Party || Minotaurs – Stayed Too Long || The Flats – Machinery || Lust For Youth – Sudden Ambitions || Chris Storrow – A True Christian || The Bulls – Prudence || The Gills – Gimme Gimme || Lust For Youth – Stardom || Lionlimb – Just Because || Sonya Kitchell – Hurricane || Wet – All the Ways || Public Memory – Ringleader || Eric Bachmann – Mercy || James Blake – Modern Soul || Soft Fangs – The Wilderness || Reed Turchi – Offamymind || Yonaka – Ignorance || Public Memory – Zig Zag || Henrietta – Arrows || Shirlette Ammons (ft. Amelia Meath) – Aviator || Gideon Benson – Talk Talk

1 Comment

December 26, 2015

2015: A Visual Retrospective, Vol. 4

Car Seat Headrest

Throughout the course of 2015 I’ve been fortunate enough to attend upwards of 100 shows, festivals big and small, and spend approximately half a year living in a city that hosted a mind-boggling amount of quality shows on a nightly basis. To that end, it’s probably unsurprising that I wound up taking over 10,000 photos this year alone. Over the course of the next few days, this site will be running seven volumes of the shots that stood out as personal favorites, whether that was due to their composition, sentimental attachment, or an intangible emotional or intellectual response. It’s been an honor to be able to take even the smallest part in the ongoing sagas of the artists in the photographs below and an additional thanks is due to the venues that allowed me to shoot (as well as the people who encouraged me to keep shooting).

Enjoy the gallery.

2 Comments

October 24, 2015

CMJ: Day 6 (Pictorial Review)

With this post, the site’s focus on CMJ will recede into the background and give way to music’s present release cycle (and some sporadic film coverage). Having covered every angle of the festival up to this point, the only thing left is the unveiling of the photos from the collaborative Father/Daughter and Miscreant showcase that served as the festival’s Homecoming-themed epilogue. The videos from that day can be seen here, the review can be read here, and the photo gallery can be viewed here.

1 Comment

October 21, 2015

Watch This: Vol. 100

Over the past 100 weeks, this site’s dedicated itself to a variety of pursuits but the defining one seems to be the only recurring series that operates on a regular basis: Watch This. Ever since the first installment, this series has featured the very best live performance captures. Utilizing a wealth of resources that range from band’s personal accounts to radio stations that host high-quality session captures, like KEXP in Seattle or 3voor12 in the Netherlands.

Very rarely has that gaze turned inward, despite producing over 300 live videos in the past four months. With this series now at a landmark number and all of the CMJ reviews accounted for, it seemed appropriate to bypass the outside sources to focus exclusively on the crop of videos that was taken over the past week. Approximately 50 bands, 90 videos, and 100 songs, these clips will be presented in groupings according to which day they were filmed. A few slip out of focus, some start a little late, and some cut off just before their ending, and a few bands are missing due to unfortunate and/or unforeseen circumstance (a dead battery, lighting, and a maxed out sd card were the three most prominent issues) but as a whole, it’s a comprehensive look at the kinds of performances the festival has to offer. So, as always, sit back, relax, ignore any worries, adjust the volume, focus up, and Watch This.

1. CMJ: Day 2

To make things just a touch easier, each of these introductory segments will simply be a very brief recap including a link to the respective day’s official review and the list of artists that appear in the video. Having spent the first official day of CMJ preparing for the rest of the week, the timeline’s off by a day but had this been the first official day, the festival would have kicked off with a band. Splitting time between The Cake Shop and Santos Party House, I managed to get videos of performances from the following artists: Worriers, Hooton Tennis Club, Car Seat Headrest, Seratones, Nico Yaryan, Yung, Shopping, Protomartyr, Downtown Boys, Perfect Pussy, and Dilly Dally. The official review of the day’s events can be found here.

–

2. CMJ: Day 3

Things kept moving along quickly on the second day, which included a long stretch at an early show over at Rough Trade before taking a brief pause to organize that show’s footage and prepare for the late show at Aviv. Between the two venues, the lineup was characteristically stacked and led to videos of performances from Shopping, Ezra Furman, Georgia, John Grant, What Moon Things, Mumblr, Meat Wave, Painted Zeros, Turn To Crime, and Yvette. The official review of the day’s shows can be found here.

–

3. CMJ: Day 4

The festival’s exhausting nature started to creeping in on the third consecutive day of showgoing, though the deliriousness will always be worth the effort in the case of celebrating things like Exploding In Sound (who themselves were celebrating their fourth anniversary), Big Ups (who were celebrating their fifth year as a band), and Double Double Whammy. Once again splitting time between two venues– Palisades and The Silent Barn– I managed to get footage of performances from Leapling, Swings, Mal Devisa (backed by Swings), Dirty Dishes, Kal Marks, Washer, Stove, Palm, Greys, The Spirit of the Beehive, Big Ups, Palehound, Downies, Eskimeaux, and LVL UP. The official review of those events can be read here.

–

4. CMJ: Day 5

Easily the most exhausting of the five day stretch, the fifth official day of the festival found me completely ignoring food in favor of sprinting a mile to catch one of my favorite acts four times over. While a fraction of the day was spent running to and from an official CMJ showcase and the AdHoc Carwash (which was detached from the festival completely but boasted one of the week’s strongest lineups), the effort proved to be worthwhile, as a large collection of bands delivered knockout sets and everything culminated in a triumphant moment for one of my closest friends. In all the back-and-forth, I was still able to manage to capture performances from the following artists: Protomartyr, Potty Mouth, Pity Sex, Dilly Dally, LVL UP, Porches., Perfect Pussy, Meat Wave, Mothers, and Cloud Castle Lake. The review of that day of relative mania can be read here.

–

5. CMJ: Day 6

Despite the festival’s posted end date being the October 17, this collaborative showcase a day later between Father/Daughter and Miscreant was still billed as a part of the festival and felt like an appropriate epilogue; a summation of what’d come before and a fitting end-cap for a very strong run. Confined to just one venue, the sleep deprivation caused me to miss the first trio of acts (and quietly curse myself out for doing so in the process) but still show up in time for the final 10. On the final day of reckoning, I captured videos of performances from the following artists: i tried to run away when i was 6, Downies, Romp, Comfy, Vagabon, fern mayo, Bethlehem Steel, Diet Cig, Sports, and PWR BTTM. The official review of the festival’s final event can be read here.

14 Comments

October 21, 2015

CMJ: Day 6 Review

Even though CMJ’s official schedule had been capped at October 17, the stacked collaborative showcase between Father/Daughter and Miscreant was still being rightfully billed as a CMJ event. It also turned out to be the day where my schedule finally caught up to me and caused me to sleep through multiple alarms before, for the third consecutive day, realizing I was in jeopardy of missing much more than I wanted to and booking it for the nearest venue or transit option. Getting approximately 16 hours of sleep over the course of five days occasionally has that effect.

By the time I made it to Palisades, Bad Cello, Nicholas Nicholas, and Hiccup had already wrapped their sets. Fortunately, the blow of missing those acts was at least somewhat alleviated by the bill’s remaining 10 acts. A few minutes into the event and a brief look around at a gaggle of audience and band members in formal wear also managed to act as a kind reminder that the event had been constructed with a Homecoming theme. free cake for every creature‘s Katie Bennett was on hand to augment a lovely set of folk-leaning bedroom pop songs from i tried to run away when i was 6. It was a gentle introduction to what would prove to be another ridiculously stacked day, even if it was only confined to one venue this time around.

Downies upped the energy and intensity considerably, once again taking a headlong dive into a set of gritty basement pop that’d feel right at home on Dirtnap. Ripping through songs from their outstanding debut EP and their forthcoming LP with an excess of energy, their set felt like a major statement from an emerging band that’s coming charging out of the gate on sure footing.

Some of their energy bled over into a strong outing for Romp, an upstart act hailing from New Brunswick who have a penchant for smartly crafted basement pop that’s sugar rush is matched with a punk tinge. Largely sticking to new and unreleased material, the quartet seemed to be in a state of perpetual motion, underscoring their own music’s immediacy. Catchy and substantial, it was a welcome addition to a lineup of mostly familiar faces.

A few of those familiar faces belonged to Comfy, who were fairly enjoyable back during Miscreant’s Northside showcase but clearly came to CMJ ready to make an impression. Showing noticeable improvements in every conceivable facet of their live show, the quartet was endlessly entertaining and fully committed to pouring themselves into their performance. The band played out of their minds, turning all of their songs into an emphatic series of blows.

The trio of Vagabon, Fern Mayo, and Bethlehem Steel handled the next three slots with an assured confidence. Vagabon, judging by the press that’s come out since the event, made a few influential friends thanks to a dynamic set that served their songs to a quiet perfection. While the band’s fuzzed-out passages did manage to hit hard, it was their gentler moments that actually managed to leave a lasting mark. Either way, no false moves and a few unique angles at this level is always going to pique a lot of people’s interest.

Fern Mayo’s been covered here multiple times before but, while all of those shows and songs were definitely memorable, it wasn’t until this set that the band registered as truly exceptional. Having just wrapped up a short tour, the band was in finer form than ever, playing off each other with a collected attitude that eventually transmuted into a subtle bravado that suited them well. Katie Capri, the band’s guitarist/vocalist, continues to transition into an excitable live wire onstage while bassist Nicholas Cummins continues to have one of Brooklyn DIY’s more arresting stage presences. Throw it all together with the learned traits of tour and it’s easy to see how the band wound up with another one of the day’s several standout sets.

Apart from delivering on their own, Fern Mayo also set up the (at least somewhat) similarly-minded Bethlehem Steel perfectly. After releasing a batch of promising records, the band’s on track to gain some traction with their forthcoming release, which is what they mostly drew from for their set. Stealthily sliding in some lighthearted banter between the songs, the trio clicked in their darkest, most pulverizing moments. By the time their set ended, their levels of conviction were as evident as the new material was promising.

Before too long, Diet Cig’s Alex Luciano and Noah Bowman were taking the stage to their entrance music, Taylor Swift’s inescapable “Shake It Off”, flailing around and encouraging their audience to do the same in an endearing communal act. Only a few minutes into that routine, Bowman was behind the kit and Luciano was bounding around the stage, anxious to get their set off the ground. Every time Diet Cig plays, they bring an infectious joy to the proceedings, completely shedding any inhibitions to simply live in the moment and coax as much out of it as humanly possible. When the band invited up a couple intent on recreating their wonderful “Scene Sick” video, everyone was all smiles and it was hard not to think of it as a somewhat definitive moment for the band, who kept that vibrant energy alive for the remainder of their set.

Feeding off the goodwill Diet Cig had built up during a set that had balloons and streamers flying in the air (and more than a few people laughing along with them), Sports took the stage to an almost deafening scream of applause. Balancing their set list between their previous records and their forthcoming All of Something (which is easily their best collection of songs to date), the band dug their heels in and took off at a sprint without ever bothering to look back. With the audience continuing to grow in size throughout Sports’ set, Palisades was packed for the evening’s headliner: PWR BTTM.

At this point, I have seen PWR BTTM more times than any other band in New York and they continue to find ways to improve their live show, which might still be their biggest selling point (despite 2015 highlight Ugly Cherries). Making this particular night extra sweet was the fact that it was Benjamin Hopkins’ birthday, a declaration that Hopkins made more explicitly at the start of their set, which was greeted with screams of approval.

Somewhere along the line, PWR BTTM became a band that everyone unified behind, each bringing varying reasons to their dedication. Their live show, their ideology, their message, their presentation, their banter… it’s become a pick-your-poison with the duo (now sometimes trio, thanks to the assists from Fern Mayo’s Cummins) and they always deliver in full. There were times during their set where the crowd’s vocals would override those of Hopkins or Liv Bruce, who occasionally takes over on lead vocal and guitar.

Everything was going as well as it possibly could for the band, who had rallied the now fully energized crowd into a swarming mass of dancing bodies, everyone fully immersed in the band’s music. Their momentum didn’t even falter when the band got stopped towards the end of their set by Jeanette Wall and Jessi Frick (the people that run Miscreant and Father/Daughter, respectively) for the coronation ceremony.

After sashes and other assorted items had been bestowed to both members of Diet Cig, Miscreant artist Elizabeth Scafuto, and one was basically just dedicated to Fern Mayo’s Capri, Bruce and Hopkins set back to work. Whether using a balloon to mime being pregnant, talking about playing into the “Hot Mom” look, ripping off a string of solos or vocal runs, or even just commanding attention without ever losing their natural cadence, PWR BTTM kept their crowd entertained.

The band even came within a minute of making through a show without any glaring technical difficulties (Hopkins’ cable got briefly pulled out towards the end of their final song- but it’s just not a PWR BTTM show without that kind of mishap) before leaving the audience screaming for an encore that never came, all but guaranteeing a large portion of that audience will be checking their calendars to make sure they can catch the next show. Then, after a near-sleepless week, 62 sets stretched across seven venues, CMJ was over and it was time to head back home, exhausted and content.

4 Comments

Tag: Romp