Sunday, October 26, 2008

CMJ 2008: The Hard Lessons; Great Lakes; The Teenage Prayers; The Box Social; The Orion Experience; The Gay Blades; Action Painters

The Hard Lessons; Great Lakes; The Teenage Prayers; The Box Social
@ 92 Y Tribeca Makor Center
New York, NY - October 25, 2008

The Orion Experience; The Gay Blades; Action Painters
@ Public Assembly
Brooklyn, NY - October 24, 2008


With the economy in the tank, and everyone hurting, and questions and nervousness and a "too good to be true" attitude abounding among the believers of the big presidential campaign, who really wanted to spend their CMJ trolling the venues for fresh new talent? Besides how much room for new blood could there be when practically every show featured a Reatard or a Vivian Girl or a Muslim (not THAT kind of Muslim you fearful Republicans you)? So alas, the call was made, the die was cast - this CMJ was going to be about old friends, a few of the kids from the Sonic Parthenon family of bands - a one-two weekend punch of reliable favorites. And it was a decision well worth making.

It was a time for fun but polite frontmen, wickedly good guitar heroes, and dames on keyboards. The Hard Lessons are a ven diagram in this scenario: Augie is the chops-heavy, mad-dash man of the ax with a penchant for solid vocals while Ko Ko Louise tickles the electric ivories and herself delivered just about the best damn vocal performance this CMJ. The Michigan kids (recently married by the way - YAY!) brought a touch of that Lower Peninsula rough-and-ready to the swank decor of the Makor Center - a Kosher performance space that is as sleek and fancy as things go these days. It proved a great juxtaposition between the haves and the have-nots: the society with the riches hosting the band that needs gas money. And yet, it worked.

Meanwhile back at Public Assembly (once the site of Galapagos - and itself a volatile mix of yuppies, hipsters, artists and people who just like to rock a bit), Tom of Action Painters and Orion of...Orion anchored their respective bands with a little panache, a lot of gumption, and good old fashioned talent. The bands themselves delivered the goods as they have been known to do. Their divergent sounds offered a great little yin-yang of New York rock - the 70's Partridge-Family-From-Hell grooves of the Experience and the New Wave power-pop anthems of Action Painters. With feisty, punky Linda offering shake-it-if-you-got-it keys for the Orion Experience, and Alison charming vast swaths of the electorate with thoroughly tingling pop constructions for Action Painters, a woman's touch was also never far away.

In these days of Joe the Plumber, and Joe the this and Joe the that, let's not forget Joe the Guitar Player. Specifically, Joe the Action Painters guitar player. With much stealth, this Joe may be the best unknown guitarist in the city - and he doesn't need a license to prove it. So let's make him known.

It was also a weekend for duos. The Great Lakes are a soft-spoken country duo, almost draining in their takes on things. But they were far from bad. Conversely, the Gay Blades are hard, in-your-face, blues rock. In fact, except for a little dance beat thrown in, they are pretty much a rip-off of the early White Stripes. Copying isn't necessarily a bad thing if it wasn't so damn obvious. The lead singer even copies Jack White's squirrley live voice circa 2003. On top of that, he's also rather obnoxious, thinking quite highly of himself as a true rock n' roll badass who is too cool for CMJ - to go along with other "I'm an outsider" shtick. It was all quite a turn off - except damn if those riffs aren't catchy as hell and the foot-stomping stage-slamming dancing isn't smile inducing.

The Teenage Prayers continue to channel the Grateful Dead but I wish they would perk up a bit and show some vigor.

The Box Social are nerd-punks from Wisconsin. They play their semi-sleek riffs hard and fast, making for a pretty fun time. Reminds me of the sunny 90's. Remember those days? The economy was good, we knew our place in the world...memories. Thanks guys.

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