CMJ 2010, Day 2: Better late than never

October 20, 2010, in New York City

By Catherine McCarthy
Published: October 21st, 2010 | 1:00pm

They say you should always be fashionably late, so arriving at the CMJ Music Marathon 2010 on the second night seemed acceptable. Your Venus operatives started out with some afternoon Aussie dance rock at the Delancey with experimental trio PVT, New Zealand new wave duo Kids of 88, and the Cassette Kids. Later, the SESAC showcase at the Studio at Webster Hall drew us in as the all-female pop punk quartet Vanity Theft was tearing it up below. Five years strong, Alicia Grodecki, Brittany Hill, and Elyse Driskill welcomed Lalaine as their new bassist this past spring, but they’re a united front of sound. An unscheduled change put them at the start of the showcase, which is a shame if only because their rocketing energy was almost too much for the annex to handle so early in the evening.

They were followed by Nashville-based prog rockers Manic Bloom. Lead vocalist David Stevenson’s boundless energy had him wheeling around the stage from the get go, but the band really hit their stride with their third song, “Running from the Scene,” with some of the building audience singing along.

Ten blocks away in the basement that is Bowery Electric, garage rock legends the Fleshtones riled up a slightly older crowd, with multiple fans perched atop the benches lining the perimeter, until they rushed off the stage to the floor below to engage in a push up contest, before taking the stage for an encore that had them all prostrate on the ground and every last audience member crouched down, clapping along, before they dragged the mic stands to the middle of the floor for a bit of old school rock ‘n’ roll sentimentality, surrounded by fans shouting into the mics along with them.

While we arrived at the Bowery Electric anticipating a set by Xylos, an inevitably delayed schedule was a happy catalyst that pushed us onward to explore another venue down the street, Ace of Clubs. There, the Hello Music showcase was underway, and it was there we may have seen the breakout hit of the festival. Last year it was the XX, and this year it might just be New Look, a husband-and-wife duo that splits their time between Toronto and New York. While a Spirograph-inspired video installation flashed behind them, Adam Pavao was a madman tinkering with knobs to create throbbing basslines as vocalist Sarah Rubo swayed behind the mic, occasionally playing the keyboard strapped around her neck while belting out vocals that held the entire audience captive. Most impressive was that her vocals appeared unaltered by any sort of filter, a rarity made more impressive by the unbelievable high notes she was able to hold without a hint of shrillness. Closing out with a cover of Janet Jackson’s “He Doesn’t Know I’m Alive,” the pair had adoring fans two-stepping at their feet as Rubo sang, “I’ve got his picture, it’s on my dresser, right next to my bed / He doesn’t know me but I sure know him / I can’t get him out of my head, no.” And now, we can’t shake their sound from our heads. How are they not blowing up the charts at this very moment? New Look is working on their debut album to be released in 2011, and it can’t come soon enough.

Back at the Bowery Electric, Xylos took the stage. This Brooklyn based power pop quintet filled the basement with eager fans ready for the band’s Abba-esque sound with the perfectly matched vocals of keyboardist Nikki Lancy and lead singer Monika Heidemann and the tight beats of drummer Chris Berry. Heidemann captivated the audience with her stage presence as the five members churned out their lush, poppy sound. Afterwards, DFA’s Holy Ghost! and the Knocks played the Bowery Ballroom, the room abuzz with fierce electronic beats and the energy emanating from the stage. Given the amount of great music heard yesterday, expectations are high for what day 3 will bring.

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Want more CMJ coverage? Check out our other articles here:

CMJ 2010, Day 1: Jean Grae dominates the dudes in a hip-hop battle

CMJ 2010, Day 2: Braids is one band to watch

CMJ 2010, Day 2: The Drums bring style and swagger to NYC as they shimmy and shake

CMJ 2010, Day 4: Big Freedia brings some much-needed Bounce to NYC

CMJ 2010, Days 3-5: Go out with a bang