My CMJ Top 15: Part 1

I decided to list up my favorite bands from CMJ.  Here's the 15-11.

15. Smallspace
They could use a lot more touring to build up some stage presence and confidence, but it's hard to tell what they'd do on an actual stage, rather than crammed in a corner of the 169 Bar.  The songs are all there, though.  Hopefully they'll draw some buzz the next time they come through New York and make a strong impression.

14. Wolf Mother
I only caught a portion of their short Fader Room set, but I saw enough to know that these guys were special.  Tipped off to them by Good Times Jay, they have a lot of Zeppelin in them and a tight enough sound and stage presence to really get big if the right people are paying attention.  The Aussies may not be in America all that often for the coming year, but when they do come back it should be a not to be missed event.

13. We Are Scientists
These guys have popular mainstream rock written all over them.  And that's a good thing.  Enough of a mix of Bloc Party and the Fuse Emo-band-of-the-week to keep all remotely interested on board.

12. The Joggers
The live show was not what I expected, but still very very good.  You picture a bunch of sloppy drunk Faux-Brits, but get instead get witty Pacific Northwest smartasses.  Which I'm perfectly fine with, don't get me wrong.  Memorable quips were, regarding the interior of the Cake Shop, "I feel like we're playing on a houseboat", and responding to a fan shouting "Joggers  Rule!" with "We don't rule, we administrate." 

You had to be there...

11. Fruit Bats
I have no problem admitting I'm late to the game here, but they were far better live than anything I've heard on a record.  They said they haven't played New York in 2 years, which sounds about right, since I surely would have been convinced to go see them sooner.  Eric Johnson, by the way, belongs in the pantheon of bespectacled Indie frontmen, right alongside Colin Meloy and Ben Gibbard, whom he spent most of the showcase between bands chatting with on the VIP balcony.

10-6 later today...

Comments

[jerry yeti]

Ha. You read my mind. I told my friends that Eric is <-this close-> to becoming Gibbard/Meloy. Even more so in Kathryn's shot: http://kathrynyu.com/archives/20050918fruit_bats.html

[chaz d]

Clearly you had not seen the Group Sounds set at CMJ....

[kathryn]

jerry, actually, i think that's the first thing you said after their set was over, before i see more meloy than gibbard!

from this best of cmj list, i think i was stalking you...or you were stalking me, or we both have the same taste in music.