I danced in between the raindrops last night in search of new discoveries last night, the second night of CMJ 2014, containing myself mostly to the Lower East Side before venturing across the East River for a late, ill advised jaunt to Williamsburg. Along the way, I encountered seasoned vets (The Ocean Blue at Pianos), half-baked electropop (Tel Aviv's Skyroads) and a pair of tight, high octane Toronto bands (Beliefs; Poor Young Things) that put most of their south-of-the-border peers to shame at the Canadian Blast showcase, where there was no mention of the shooting in Ottawa earlier that morning.
But, the only band that really piqued my interest last night was San Francisco's The Family Crest, who performed at Rockwood Music Hall as part of The Deli Mag's Roots showcase. The nine-piece mini-orchestra of brass, strings, keys, and the occasional flute was anchored by the charismatic Liam McCormick, who played piano and guitar while singing with a fiery intensity I've rarely seen outside the punk/hardcore world. There are lots of bands these days trying to do the Mumford and Sons/DeVotchKa thing – big sweeping harmonies leading to ecstatic choruses, all in a rootsy vibe – but very few actually manage to pull it off. Count The Family Crest one of them. Well worth the wet jeans and sopping socks, which I think are almost dried out by now…
More pics below and on the photo page.
The Ocean Blue (Hershey, PA)
The Family Crest (San Francisco, CA)
Itasca (New York) Skyroads (Tel Aviv, Israel)
Dead Stars (Brooklyn, NY) Beliefs (Toronto, ON)
Poor Young Things (Toronto, ON)
Normaling (Baltimore, MD)
Native America (New Orleans, LA)
Me neither.