My CMJ activities were limited on Wednesday, but within the space of two hours during the early evening, I somehow managed to see six bands along the indie-rock gauntlet that is Ludlow Street. Starting upstairs at Pianos, I caught Belgium's Float Fall: a guy and girl singing sweet, gentle harmonies over guitar, keys, and French horn. With their hazed restraint, they were like an in-person love letter from across the ocean.
For something a bit more . . . intense, I made my way over to the Terrorbird showcase at Cake Shop, where San Francisco's Weekend unleashed their lo-fi shoegaze in the packed basement, building from a slow simmer to a feral roar. Their playing was incredibly tight, with one song flowing right to the next—though the amps seemed to be buzzing with overuse.
Then, just when I thought things couldn't get any louder, they jacked the volume on their guitars to jet-engine proportions, writhing on the floor in some kind of ecstatic trance. Even through my ear plugs, I was overwhelmed by the sheer sonic majesty and terror they produced. After several minutes, the band members all left silently, a primal scream left looping through the amp. Most of us didn't know whether to clap or cry.
After catching pieces of sets by In the Valley Below, Jamaican Queens, and Eternal Summers at Pianos, I stopped in to check out the From Austin With Love showcase at The Living Room, where I found Taft onstage alone, singing about pulling himself out of the pool, how the oldest memories are the sweetest, wanting to know his lost love is out there even if he can't see her anymore. Then, joined by bass and drum on "Lullavibe," he sang out happily while his guitar picked our pretty, tight melodies. There may have only been ten people there, but I was glad to be one of them.
More pics on the photo page.