Recent Subpop record signees Metz are an intense Canadian noise punk band. Following the release of their first single “Headache,” “Wet Blanket” is the second single from of their debut self-titled album. The band gives nods to 90’s grunge rock by way of fuzzy vocals, screeching guitars, and numerous comparisons to Nirvana. The video (probably my favorite music video since Fucked Up: Queen of Hearts) pieces together a story about a melancholy teenage girl by way of GIF-like images. The video successfully illustrates the teen’s numbness through its creative images and imagery.

RIYL: The Orwells, Ty Segall Band, King Tuff
By: Robyn Johnson

Click here to view the embedded video.

 
 
 
In honor of XMU’s All Covers All Day for Halloween, (get it? like dressing up in costumes, but “dressing up” as other bands..Clever!)
I have put together some of my favorite covers from the day.  Enjoy.

Sonic Youth: Ca Plane Pour Moi

Motion City Soundtrack: Cut Your Hair  

The Polyphonic Spree: Lithium

Starfucker: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Dinosaur Jr.: Just Like Heaven

By: Robyn Johnson

Hooray For Earth: Never

Click here to view the embedded video.

Django Django: Default

This extremely fun song has racked up over a million views on youtube since January. The soaring beats and the choppily sung chorus ignites the urge to dance, sing-a-long, and possibly a subliminal desire to see Quentin Tarantino’s new movie Django Unchained. Fans of Animal Collective will find a dear place in their heart for for Django Django.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Raveonettes: She Owns the Streets

This infectious jangle-pop tune was written about a wildly energetic girl dancing at one of the Raveonettes previous shows. The lead singer Sharin Foo tracked down the young lady after the show to question the madness and realness behind the girl’s dance moves. The twenty-something year old said she has always dancing like that since she could remember. She even said she used to always get kicked out of clubs for her intense dancing. Looks like her vivacious dance moves paid off: Dance Clubs-0 / A Raveonettes Song about You-1.

Click here to view the embedded video.

By: Robyn Johnson

The festival lives on in the immortal words of a fellow college radio colleague “Nothing is really ever fun about any type of marathon.” Just kidding, it was a blast and you’re probably pretty jealous of us. We’ll check out the litany of concert reviews below to assuage your bruised ego.

TUESDAY

Bleeding Rainbow

8 PM – Marlin Room of Webster Hall – Bleeding Rainbow

The name “Bleeding Rainbow” was curious enough to make me check out this band (If Dio’s “Rainbow in the Dark” had taught me anything). And I was right as the Philadelphia rockers delivered a set of lo-fi garage rock sweets. While the guitars blared uncontrollably, unleashing a mist of fuzzy distortion, and the drums reveled in each cymbal smash, the vocals charmed, a mix of female and male that really accentuated the melody in the otherwise rough mix of instrumentation. The two elements were foils of each other, demonstrating the careful song-writing and catchy melodies of the song whilst retaining the raw, emotional blend of any garage rockers. Intentional or not, the constant feedback was a reminder of the rough cacophony whilst the soothing female vocals did their best to give the crowd a reason to stay, up until the finale of a guitar and bass wrestling match in which the instruments were thrust up against each other (string to string) in one last hurrah.

Dent May or Smalls? You tell me

8:45 PM- Marlin Room of Webster Hall- Dent May

I’m not sure I still totally understand Dent May’s appeal even after blogger thugs Pitchfork and company have bragged on the band. At any rate, Dent May’s set was a loose, fun venture into their summery, light, harmonized vocals demarcated by May’s distinct, nasally vocals. And Dent May is such a lovable character, the antithesis to the confident and suave lead singer, more likely to be cast as Scotty Smalls in the Sandlot. There were bubbles blown by two crowd members that floated above a small section of the crowd, that much was true, a perfect match with the jangly guitar melodies and light swaying of the crowd. The band seemed to be having a good time, despite their seemingly endless stream of upcoming CMJ performances, clocking in at 6 official performances and countless other unofficial shows. They closed out the set with crowd favorite “Best Friend” and reminded everyone of Dent May’s mix of pop friendliness with the indie sensibilities of a man who used to be called Dent My and the Amazing Ukulele.

9:30 PM- Marlin Room of Webster Hall- Heavenly Beat

“There’s a lot of feedback up here” were the words that launched Heavenly Beat’s set. And for the most part, this hissing feedback jumped out from around dark corners throughout the Brooklyn trio’s set, a clear consequence of the fifteen minute set-up times the venue imposed upon the artists. It was an issue but really wasn’t enough to effect the dream pop attack ala Wild Nothing. The band featured funky bass lines and chordal guitar accompaniment of a live band, coupled by the unseen presence of the laptop’s “heavenly” synths and constant drum machine “beats” that filled in for an absent drummer (see what I did there?). To say the band played it cool would be an understatement, as lead singer John Pena volunteered the minimal amount of information throughout the set whilst looking as bored as possible. “We have three songs left” and “yeah” were the words of wisdom that capped off each song. At the end I had mixed feelings about the set. It’s always disappointing to have robots filling in the place of two crucial band members (and dangerous too, you never want to give them too much power) and the feedback did the band no favors. But just as paternal band Beach Fossil, John Pena being the bassist of said band, Heavenly Beat delivered in the pleasant melodies and  a swaying back-beat.

Demarco getting it on, shamelessly borrowed from Pitchfork

10:15 PM- Marlin Room of Webster Hall- Mac Demarco

I was pretty much asleep on my feet when Demarco and company took to the stage. But after a few songs they wiped my fatigue away. It’s tough to really pinpoint why Mac Demarco is worth listening to or even writing about. I was wondering this pretty much the entire set as my smile grew wider with every song. It was essentially the awkward vocals of Dent May paired with a slightly upbeat 90’s alternative garage sound. Nothing really extraordinary but the set translated perfectly. I am only to assume it was Demarco’s personality showing through in song form, personality that was clearly evident in his on-stage antics. Song names were announced with “WAZZ UP” in a Bill Hader-esque voice ala hs Italian character on SNL. The penultimate song in their set featured a wild bass solo that was capped off with Demarco lying flat on his back and a “Message In a Bottle” teaser. And finally, during the set’s slow, “sexy” closer “Together,” Demarco took the slowed tempo to launch a crowd surfing voyage upon the crowd as he somersaulted over the outstretched arms that were eager to carry him. His rough landing didn’t seem to bother him as he thanked the crowd before walking off stage. He was the first act at the Marlin Room to even recognize that there seemed to be a crowd gathered to see him perform and treated his performance as such by pandering to the crowd with what seemed to be a natural display of enthusiasm for his music. Plus he made out with someone. That doesn’t happen everyday.

11:00 PM – Marlin Room of Webster Hall- Teen Daze

“This guy turns knobs really dramatically,” a quip heard by a fairly annoying concertgoer that pretty much summed up the Teen Daze concert experience. I don’t think anyone would deny that Teen Daze is a talented DJ, composing some thumping, dance hall classics replete with electronic synth and nice drops every once and a while. But the live experience really doesn’t translate very well, or didn’t at Webster Hall at least. For starters, the music was relatively quiet, especially compared to the hellacious onslaught of decibels unleashed by the first few bands, more comparable to the venue music heard in-between sets (which was quite heavy on Grimes for the record). And yeah Teen Daze is just one guy up there, turning knobs to speed up, slow down or drop out the hi or low frequencies of the sample, doing very little to change the overall progression of the songs.  It was fun, but not really enough to keep me on my feet or even in the venue for that matter. I left in a daze that felt nothing like being a teenager. Probably more like an old man daze (another name for Led Zeppelin cover band).

WEDNESDAY

4:30 PM- CMJ Union @ Union Square- Paul Banks

Full disclosure here: I had no idea who Paul Banks and ended up at his show through word of mouth. First few songs my thoughts were “Man this band really sounds like Interpol.” The rest of set I pretty much had concluded that “yeah this has to be the guy from Interpol.” I could describe his sound to you but you pretty much know what it sounds like if you ever got caught up in “Turn On The Bright Lights.” Banks’ voice still is the deep calm that melts itself right onto the layered dual guitar riffs and the chaos of a cymbal heavy diet from the drums. I’ve never been the biggest Interpol fan in the world but I sure enjoyed the thirty minute set and the free Vitamin Water courtesy of KEXP’s somewhat swanky event. Banks definitely has potential outside of Interpol, his project not just a piggyback of his success elsewhere.

8:00 PM- Bowery Ballroom- Solid Gold

Before the set, I consulted the CMJ Info guide and could have sworn it said I was in for a set of “dynamic punk.” Instead, the Minnesota band treated the somewhat sparse Bowery crowd to an indie pop affair that ranged from up-tempo dancey synth beats to more keyboard driven, “Civil Twlight” bombastic ballads that kept the pop songwriter’s handbook on hand. They like to throw the term “glam” around a lot to describe their sound, something I didn’t necessarily pick up on during their set (they were dressed pretty normally too). Each song was a tribute to solid songwriting featuring some fairly original arrangements. The band finds themselves squarely amongst the mob that is the indie pop genre but it seems like the potential is there to fight for some market share if the crowd’s applause and constant banter with the lead singer is any indication. Tuesday brings the band’s Eat Your Young release, something I hopes end up in my iTunes.

Intense promo photo of the Pacific Air

9:00 PM- Bowery Ballroom- Pacific Air

Not too many bands have complimented this reviewer on the sexiness of his beard. In fact, I believe California’s Pacific Air was the first to bestow upon me such an honor. For context the quote was “It’s time to get sexy in here. Especially you man (points to me). I want your beard.” Does flattery buy you a great review? Most of the time, yes, maybe not if they really sucked but this was not the case. Walking on stage, the two twins who filled out the quintet were wearing all black with some funky “Cure” era haircuts. Instead “Pacific Air” delivered a set of upbeat pop gems, unabashedly getting there hands dirty in all the classic pop trademarks: verse chorus structures with wordless choruses of oohs and ahs. Holding all this together was a foundation of airy synths and powerful, upbeat dance beats, explaining the band’s dream pop labels. It came out sounding a lot like Young the Giant pop, ready-made anthems just one step away from the top 40. We are talking Neon Trees at their best pop here folks. But it was good; it was really good (I can’t stress that enough) despite those somewhat unfavorable comparisons. Beard comments aside, the pop was compelling, catchy and fun, a tribute to what Two Door Cinema Club does so well, bringing a steady stream of pop without all the guilt.

San Cisco drummer Scarlett Stevens

10:00 PM- Bowery Ballroom- San Cisco

Want to know what Australian San Cisco do in their free time? Apparently castrate cows (and subsequently become numb to the experience of castrating said cows which was scary to them), stalk people and write songs about all of it. I was given my first introduction to the band outside of the ballroom by touring agent/talent buyer at Amsterdam’s Paradiso (and yes we did manage to talk about weed in the conversation but I’ll be happy to report I didn’t bring it up) as she described them as “having a girl drummer, and she’s actually good.” And yeah she was good, she flitted around on the drums as she supplied cutesy vocals that fit right in with their twee-leaning indie pop. It didn’t hurt she was a smiley, cute teenage looking girl.  Main vocalist Jordi Davieson seems to be a fan of Reptar, or at least Ulciny’s vocals, as his vocals came across as a more controlled version of the Jamaican baby flavor. The band definitely seemed to be at its strongest, at their “sillier” more twee influenced pop songs, which generally featured a more communal vocal contribution. Some of the set definitely felt like filler to me, what seemed to be a shot at appealing to a more mainstream sound when they really should stick to what seems to come natural to them. The crowd definitely ate up the set, even giving some woos of recognition at the band’s last two tracks.

11:00 PM- Bowery Ballroom- SKATERS

“Our merch is in a box over there, if anyone wants to steal it.” SKATERS, as their all-caps band name is an edgy, garage rock-infused band with their feet planted firmly between the racous, freewheeling guitar riffs of the Men and the carefully planned chaos of the Strokes (the vocals were also pretty much Is This It? Casablancas’ vocals) The band really wants to come off as an out of control, lo-fi house show rocking group and they definitely act the part (and that isn’t a bad thing, it’s fun). Trench coats and a stereotypically “tough guy” bassist generally give off that vibe and the mosh pit developing behind the front row agreed. But behind the mic stand breaking rebel personas are extremely well constructed, catchy pop melodies that were meticulously planned out in the studio and paid off on stage.

WHAT? Is that your's truly singing along with Local Natives? Courtesey of Brookyln Vegan

12:00 AM- Bowery Ballroom- Local Natives

Five and a half hours of waiting culminated in the hellacious climax of “Sun Hands,” that perfect lead up that builds up, is cut away, then introduced again with the single guitar that marks the time to lose your shit. Everyone was jumping around, it was Christmas and New Years Eve rolled into one, a disco ball filled spree that brought the end to their one hour plus set with flitting bits of fuzzy lights dancing about Bowery. It had been ten months since Local Natives had appeared live at Chicago’s Argon Ballroom and aside from a few missteps (“Did you guys notice that Kelcey forgot the lyrics to ‘Airplanes?’ Yeah, we’ve been working really hard on that new album.”), the band flawlessly tore through the highlights from Gorilla Manor and debuted­­­­­­­­ eight new songs from their upcoming album Hummingbird. The new tracks featured heavily on brooding, emotional, slow burners that built and built, often without that satisfying release. The band placed a special importance (they literally said “this song is very important to us”) on the excellent ballad “Columbia” (a potential candidate for an album single) with its refrain “am I loving you enough,” a truly beautiful and sad gem. The band also debuted a song entitled, wait for it, “Bowery” with a tongue and cheek introduction. And while it was a treat to get a sneak preview of Hummingbird, everyone and there mom wanted to hear what put Local Natives on the map and the band was happy to oblige with several Gorilla Manor cuts. The massive crowd sing alongs to “World News” and “Sun Hands” were unreal and felt like something out of a clichéd movie with everyone not just singing but screaming out every lyric (don’t even get me started on the oh, oh, oh build up on “World News”). It was crazy, I loved every second of it, one of those shows you walk out of and feel sad because it’s over.

THURSDAY

12:30 PM- CMJ Union at Union Square- DIIV

You wouldn’t think it would be hard to find a pair of drumsticks at CMJ but DIIV had their fair share of issues with locating some, delaying the start of their set by about 15 minutes (either that or our friends at KEXP are lying cheats). Either way, the band eventually “found” their way to the stage and started to “lose” themselves in their driving, melodic guitar overlays (get it?). DIIV is the kind of band you wouldn’t mind going on some crazy, 20-minute long jam tangential but with just 30 minutes to work with things were kept in check. “How Long Have You Known” made its appearance and the crowd faithfully bobbed their head along as the youngsters of Beach Fossil fame “dived” into their set (this is getting out of control).

4:30 PM- CMJ Union at Union Square – Poor Moon

Just two songs in, the decision was reached to vacate the premises for greener pastures of music. None of us were really prepared for the easy-listening bleh Poor Moon plopped upon the audience, with their kitschy, quirky instrumentation (washboards and xylophones for life) and the fairly flat vocals of leader Christian Wargo of Fleet Foxes fame. We were reminded later in the day of this mediocrity with a single text from a friend at the Sub Pop showcase in Brooklyn: “Poor Moon is still just as mediocre.”

Daughter, Courtesy of Sidewalk Hustle

8:00 PM- Terminal 5 – Daughter

“Wait this is The Donnas?” A set of “Take It Off” filled girl power wouldn’t have been the end of the world. A miscommunication stemming from the somewhat surprise appearance of a band that was missing on the lineup from the CMJ Festival guide (I’m sure at least someone in the crowd thought the Dum Dum Girls had really taken a different turn in their sound). Instead of MTV classics, the audience was treated to minimalist chamber pop with post rock influences that all centered around the Florence Welsh-esque vocals of Elen Tonra. The accent was there but instead of throwing her voice around like an American Idol contestant, the band carefully picked its spots and used what seemed like the entire set of calm to build up to a burst of emotion on the final song.

9:00 PM- Terminal 5 – The Dum Dum Girls

Dressed in black, with jewelry flowing and confidence abound the girl quartet addressed the crowd with their upbeat girl group jams. The set was a lovely collection of old and new with fan favorites “He Gets Me High” and “I Will Be” (where was Jail La La though?) and several cuts from their new “End Of Daze” EP. The set went pretty much as expected but did showcase the slightly different direction the new EP took the band in, a definite growth in their sound that provided a nice contrast between the frenetic tom-tom-snare drum diet of most songs that hints the band won’t just be a “Bhang Bhang Burnout.”

10:00 PM- Terminal 5 – The Walkmen

I was hoping this would be that concert experience where I finally “understood” The Walkmen. I’m not a fan and was unchanged, condemned to have a mild interest in a band I’ve actively tried to like. So just a run down of the show. Lead singer Hamilton Leithauser looked more and more like James Murphy as the set ran on in his smart suit, while Paul Maroon looked like John Hamm with a mustache (at least he did that night). “The Rat” and “Angela Surf City” were as awesome as I thought they would be. The band suffers from “Romnesia” and labeled themselves as a New York band despite a recent interview in which they reconciled themselves more with D.C. And really the highlight of the night was at the end of “We’ve Been Had” when Leithauser disembarked from the stage, began awkwardly walking on top of fans and eventually made his way to the ground, then preceding to make his way through a sea of hugs and high-fives (I gave him a pat on the head, the high five probably wasn’t going to happen).

FRIDAY

Kishi Bashi

2:30 PM- CMJ Union at Union Square – Kishi Bashi

I felt like a superstar and wanted to tell everyone “Yeah, we had him at Live in the Lobby BEFORE he got big.” I held my tongue in check and even nodded politely when an onlooker explained his music to me (c’mon man, K. Ishibashi and I go way back). As always, his delightful melodies were interspersed with looping and layered violin lines as well as the occasional beat box exhibition. “Manchester” and “Bright Whites” made their mandatory appearances but a “Kissing The Lipless” cover from the Shins was a nice surprise, initially introduced as a Seattle-centeric cover of Pearl Jam, then Soundgarden (the crowd groaned when they learned both of them to be false). It lacked the nice, meaty crash of the original but was still a nice reinterpretation; a piece he worked up in junction with Seattle based KEXP performance earlier in the year.

The Antlers

4:30 PM- CMJ Union at Union Square – The Antlers

The Antlers are the bees knees. There are no two ways about it. That high falsetto, that melancholy and those ethereal guitar lines. And with just one CMJ appearance slated, the venue was at capacity. Not really sure who decided that a 30 minute set was appropriate for a band of their size at CMJ but hey, at least the crowd was treated to two soundchecks songs including “No Widows” that made its appearance in the main set comprised of Drift Dive, No Widows, Crest, Zelda and Hounds. It was short but so lovely and I can’t really complain that one of my all-time favorites, “Wake”, didn’t factor into the 30 minute set with its near 10 minute length. The set was a tease of hopefully concerts to come.

7:00 PM- Le Poisson Rouge – Hey Marseilles!

A quick look at the CMJ programming guide would inform that there are three Hey something bands but Marseilles has the distinction of being the only band with an exclamation point (Panic! At the Disco knows the secret). Yes, the band did sound like a lot of other bands and yes the lead singer’s vocals make him a leading candidate for Colin Meloy’s spot in The Winterists (a made-up Decemberists cover band) but it was just so charming. The traditional indie rock lineup was filled out by a dedicated cellist and violonist, as well as a utility man of sorts who tackled accordion, trumpet, clarinet and some percussive accompaniments. The crowd booed when the venue pulled the plug on the band, only to cheer a second later when they were granted time to play another. The venue seemed to retaliate a bit though, playing the Decemberists’ The King Is Dead in full, potentially a mean jab at the similarity.

9:00 PM- Le Poisson Rouge- Sea Wolf

I had only heard hit “You’re A Wolf” from Sea Wolf and didn’t really know what to expect. Most of it was pretty uninspired stuff and didn’t really keep my attention long, as I ended up sitting in the back (quite the luxury for my aching legs and feet) and using the venue’s free Wi-Fi. The crowd seemed to enjoy it, but I was pretty much waiting for my song to come on so I could hit it and quit it. A fellow CMJ’er seemed to have the same plan, as we simultaneously burst out of our seats when we heard the electric guitar riff of “You’re A Wolf” start up.

-Will Guerin

The electro-heavy Crystal Castles is back with a twinkling yet dark new single from their upcoming third album. According to Ethan Kath the forthcoming album is something that couldn’t be experienced from the last two albums, “We wanted the new album to sound like a completely different and new experience.” He went on to say, ”We’d limit ourselves to one take on each song because we believe the first take is the rawest expression of an idea.” That is something pretty unique that most artists couldn’t say or wouldn’t have the talent to do.

Pre-order Crystal Castles latest album III set to release on November 5th of this year.

The tracklisting for ‘III’:

1. Plague
2. Kerosene
3. Wrath of God
4. Affection
5. Pale Flesh
6. Sad Eyes
7. Insulin
8. Transgender
9. Violent Youth
10. Telepath
11. Mercenary
12. Child I Will Hurt You

Crystal Castles- Wrath of God

By: Robyn Johnson

Click here to view the embedded video.

By: Robyn Johnson

Glasgow, Scotland is the motherland we can thank for giving birth to the latest buzz band: Chvrches. This electro-pop trio is fronted by the female vocals of Lauren Mayberry, and might I add she is quite a beauty. The light keys, friendly melodies, and cheery mood align perfectly with Lauren’s sweetly innocent voice. Although their song “Lies” was the first song that got them noticed, “The Mother We Share” is their first official single. Their rapid discovery has brought many exciting changes their way including playing their first live shows, releasing their first single via National Anthem (an independent singles label), and simply being one of the buzziest buzz bands around.

 Churches- The Mother We Share

RIYL: MNDR, Purity Ring, Class Actress

By: Robyn Johnson

Unfortunately there’s not a lot to say about Athens-based Brothers. A relatively new band, Brothers has yet to put out a full-length release and their Reverb Nation page is somewhat lacking in the info section. I suppose they leave most of the talking up to their music. The handful of songs they do have out leave the listener (or this one at least) itching for more to sink our ears into. I find myself constantly returning to the few songs they have released, and I find something new in them with each listen. Brothers utilizes traditional pop instrumentation (electric guitars, bass, drums and keyboards) and lots of reverb to create intricately crafted lo-fi-ish indie pop/rock tunes, but their unique style certainly sets them apart from the vast field that is indie pop. Their songs consist of catchy riffs and melodies and make excellent use of dynamics, building up and reaching an emotional climax. I believe their lead singer/guitar player (whose name escapes me) was a music composition major here at UGA, explaining the well-crafted nature of their songs. Look out for these guys at WUOGfest on November 8^th at Caledonia Lounge!

-By Chris Day

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Check out a live, in-studio interview we conducted with Patrick and Alina of Tennis right before their 40 Watt show with Wild Belle Oct. 10th in which we discuss their illegal music video activities, “We Bought a Zoo’ and the time they were mistaken for the airport shuttle.

WUOG- You guys have been touring extensively for almost two years now, with Cape Dory and now Young and Old, are you guys just tired of touring and flat out exhausted?

Alina – Yeah definitely, we’ve played so many shows but this is the last tour of the year, and after this we’re going to hunker down and do something writing after Austin City Limits.

WUOG- How do you guys keep the experience fresh with this constant schedule of touring on a fairly limited set of songs?

Alina- Well we tried out some new stuff, we have a new song we’re playing that we just recently wrote that is unrecorded and we’re playing a cover to keep it fun and we finally have enough material between two records that we can trade in and out songs if one needs a break.

Patrick- I know it sounds weird but I feel like this is the only tour where we’ve actually kind of mastered these songs. I feel like for the first two tours of this album we were still figuring out things and trying to get things dialed in. So this is the only tour that’s felt like we are doing these songs justice.

WUOG- Is that feeling of being an overnight sensation and all this popularity still new to you guys or have you finally gotten used to?

Alina- I guess anytime we experience something that approximates success we have no idea what to do with it and the rest of the time we’re just realizing how much more we really have left to achieve.

Patrick- I don’t think we actualize it, I think we just see it third person, so to speak, as if it’s happening to someone else. Maybe years down the road we’ll maybe start to understand what’s going on with our band and our personal lives.

Alina- And not to sound like we aren’t thankful for what we have, because we really are, but I’ve noticed that every time we achieve some great new thing like play a Late Show or play a huge festival, like Lollapalooza, all that does is that that opportunity opens up a myriad of other things that we haven’t yet obtained that other bands have, it just shows you that with every big thing that happens it just shows you how small we are.

WUOG- You guys are touring with Wild Belle, at least for a couple of dates, how did you guys end up with them?

Alina- We already did a tour with them earlier this year, a few weeks on the west coast and we really bonded, we love them, we love their music, they’re wonderful people and they’re going to be huge, they just signed to Columbia so we always joke that by next year we’ll be opening for them.

Patrick- Which will probably be the case.

Alina- Mark my words people, that will be happening. But they are wonderful and we’ve played like eight or nine shows so far and have a couple more left.

WUOG- On the cover of Cape Dory you are sporting that blue jumper, is that something you wear around all the time?

Alina- No, not at all, it’s not actually even mine. My friend works at American Appeal and she let me borrow it for the day.

WUOG- I thought that might be a thrift store special, it seems like a nice piece.

Patrick- I don’t think you could safely wear something like that from a thrift store.

Alina- No, not at all and it’s actually see through in real life and we have to Photoshop color underneath of it to make this something you could sell in stores.

Will- Who knew we’d be sponsoring American Apparel in the interview.

Alina- We’ll I guess that’s the inevitable conclusion of me having worked there for a couple of years in college.

Will- I’m sure you guys hate the tennis puns, but have any fans ever brought tennis racquets or tennis balls to a show before?

Patrick- I think my Mom has (laughing).

Alina- Yeah, I think she actually has done that. I think one time somebody brought us a tennis ball to sign, but it was actually really cute, it was really sweet. But most of the time, it’s a little tiring because kind of like Vampire Weekend our name is completely irrelevant. You just need a name, so there it is. I feel like a lot of people don’t understand that.

Patrick- It definitely is written in our rider that you can’t use any tennis imagery in our artwork.

Alina- One time we showed up to the show and the promoter made a poster and it was just a pile of tennis balls, that was the picture and it just said tennis.

Patrick- Or better yet we were doing a residency at this Vegas hotel and he used…

Alina- Just a picture of a lone tennis ball bouncing. And it looked like there was going to be a tennis tournament like the U.S. open and there was no way of knowing it was live music at all.

WUOG- Tell me a little about your music videos for Origins and Deep in the Woods.

Patrick- Origins was actually my idea, I wanted to make a James Bond-y, retro, ski-action music video, Macgyer, a lot of that stuff I grew up watching late at night.

Alina- That was exactly how he pitched it to me. And we had a good friend Richard Law who directed that video who is really good at making something with absolutely no plot come to life.

Patrick- But it really spawned from my parents, who had been storing my grandfather’s pistol and not telling me that our family had a gun. And our family would be the last people to own guns. When I saw the gun for the first time I knew we’d have to have a music video featuring it.

Alina- And the music video was illegal, because we were on a public ski resort.

Alina- And for Deep in the Woods, we just had a good friend, we just said do whatever you want and he surprised us.

Patrick- And he read the book too.

Alina- Yeah, it’s based on a book I read. We’ve Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson.

WUOG- We’ll we have the authorities headed down to the station as we speak and they told me to stall you so I’ll go ahead and ask about your 60 Seconds Left Pitchfork feature reading “War Horse.” Any chance we can get a War Horse reading here?

Alina- Uh, no because that was actually a script I wrote based off what we imagined what War Horse would be like and wrote made-up lines. We actually wanted to do the real screen play.

Patrick- No we wanted to do the “We Bought A Zoo” movie but we couldn’t find anything online like a script but we found some more material on “War Horse.’

Alina- Yeah sorry, Matt Damon.

WUOG- And there was person who had a nose bleed and was Ed Droste in the video?

Patrick- (laughing) Who is that?

WUOG- The Grizzly Bear lead singer.

Alina- Oh no! (laughing) Everyone think that, that’s our drummer James. That’s funny because we were at a festival recently and someone came up to James and asked if he was the singer of Grizzly Bear since Grizzly Bear had played the night before.

Patrick- You’re like the fourth person to ask that (laughing).

Alina- And after that, we realized that whoa, he really looks does like Ed Droste

WUOG- And especially from that angle. I figured it probably wasn’t him but…

Patrick- We can tell people that, that will probably increase our credibility.

WUOG- I’m a follower on Twitter and noticed your tweet about someone who thought you were the airport shuttle and opened your van door. Did you give him a ride to the airport?

Patrick- He really did get in our van though.

Alina- Yeah he got in the front seat and Patrick was driving and we were laughing all day because we thought Patrick looked more like a shuttle driver and not a rock star.

Patrick- Thanks Alina.

Alina- Well I feel that is the fashion direction for most indie hipster boys.

WUOG- We’ll you’re looking pretty hip today Patrick, I don’t think anyone will make that mistake.

Alina- He’s way more dressed up today, airport driver the next.

WUOG- We’ll I’ll let you guys get going but thanks so much for coming in.

Alina- Thanks for having us, this was fun.

Interview conducted by Will Guerin

Show Reviews (Mostly)

by JJ Posway

The Great Storm

Can you remember innocence? Can you recall a joyous time, before 3:36 PM, September 28th 2012? I can’t. That afternoon, The Great Storm forced us to evacuate the Counterpoint festival grounds. Greg and I sat in my Explorer, horrified by the torrential downpour some malevolent God had wrought. Sam and Eli weren’t back, perhaps lost forever. Tents buckled and fell (after midnight, it is said their cries can still be heard in the forest surrounding the grounds). Our once triumphant banner descended to earth, sullied on ground softened by Satan’s own vengeful saliva. Somewhere off in the distance, I could feel a girl’s cute-ish shoes being ruined. Everything changed. A man could not walk to the water refill station without muddying his tender feet. A man could not wear white slacks. A man could never be joyous again. And I missed most of Washed Out.

Washed Out

The rain caused no delay, so when Sam, Eli, Greg and I considered it subsided enough, Washed Out had already finished most of his set. We caught closing Within and Without highlights “Amor Fati” and “Eyes Be Closed” though, and like his chillwave peers Neon Indian and Toro Y Moi, Washed Out translated surprisingly well to a live setting. Wide open space and gigantic speakers didn’t dilute his super-saturated sound. Unfortunately few festival goers got to experience Ernest Greene’s live outfit. Most were back at their tents licking their wounds after The Great Storm (shudders). Perhaps they were right to miss Atmosphere.

Atmosphere

Atmosphere’s set can be summed up in a quote from frontman Slug himself.

“This is the song that got your mom pregnant in the back of a mini-van!” That’s exactly how Atmosphere’s set sounded.

Crystal Castles

Was I too hard on Atmosphere? Maybe I missed their subtle virtues. After all, I was on the other side of the small section dividing the Point and Counterpoint stages. Artists on these main stages alternated set times. Good for fans of back to back artists. Probably infuriating for roadies. Often they would soundcheck one band while another was finishing up 10 feet away.

Crystal Castles didn’t soundcheck during Atmosphere though because Crystal Castles showed up late. However, they did open with “Baptism,” a personal favorite, so I can’t complain. Upon its opening strains, Glass walked from backstage almost straight into the audience, where she spent most of the set, tumbling and singing. Musical backbone Ethan Kath stayed behind with the live drummer to beefen up his beats and occasionally Glass would join the two, bopping giddily about. They delivered key trakcs like “Alice Practice,” “Black Panther” (during which Glass lit a joint mid-crowd-surf), “Celestica” and set closing Platinum Blonde cover, “Not In Love” energetically in roughly 35 minutes. Unfortunately, the energy made an already short 35 minutes seem shorter, not to mention Alice’s vocals were buried in the mix. While not the ideal Crystal Castles set, it was a Crystal Castles set nonetheless.

Avcii

Sadly, M83, set to play after Crystal Castles, cancelled due to a rumored equipment malfunction. The Great Storm claims another one. Theophilus London took the 7:30 slot instead, and Avicii followed.

Tim Bergling DJed one of Counterpoint’s best sets, due in small part to opening with Tujamo & Plastik Funk’s killer “Who.” Lights flared. Bodies flailed. A cheesy visualization of his moniker catching fire was displayed. The sugary house wizard claimed the night with originals like “Superlove,” “Seeking Bromance,” and of course “Levels.” Bergling peaked though with a mashup of his own “Fade Into Darkness” and a blissful take on The Who’s “Baba O’Riley,” eventually dropping into “Alcoholic.” The hook was a bit overwrought for this reviewer (“I’m a fucking alcoholic”), but I eventually lost myself enough to dance until I got tired and missed Bassnectar.

People of Counterpoint Part I

Arriving back at camp my favorite neighbors, the Jeep dwellers, greeted me. Some came to Counterpoint for the music. Others came to party on a Jeep. They rarely touched ground and rarely touched sleep. Consistently friendly. Consistently intoxicated. Endearing as all get out.They earned themselves some free WUOG shirts with their signature cry of “Wu OG!!!” most commonly heard past 5 AM. Perhaps that battle cry is what kept me up at 6 AM that morning. Groggy, I decided to take a walk and compiled the following list.

Who Is Up At 6 AM?

• Me
• Jeep Dwellers
• Security guards trying to yank a golf cart out of the mud (their fault as evidenced by the giggling)
• Nitrous heads

Com Truise

On Saturday morning I treated myself to a luxurious cup of Rev coffee. You may recognize Rev Coffee as the shop at which I once performed a roaring cover of Bob Dylan’s “Girl From The North Country.” Sadly, the star-struck (incredibly nice) employee did not bring this up, and instead wanted to talk Athens, wondering how David Barbe was doing and praising The District Attorneys. The dude didn’t even give me a free coffee.

I wandered, feelings hurt, over to WUOG favorite Com Truise whose live set highlighted his hip-hop backbone, rather than the mellow synth beds his records emphasize. Performing against visualizations of sprawling cityscapes and hyperkinetic, intersecting lines, he still eased the crowd into the new day. “What will happen today? Who will we be? Will love find you today?” the music asked.

JJ Test Drives iOS6

During Com Truise I took some panoramic shots. They turned out horribly.

Reptar

Judging set quality by number of mid-day burnouts carried to the Health Tent for banging their head into the stage barrier, Reptar wins with a solid, resounding 1.

Their set had all the makings of a good Reptar show. Even at 2:15, they incited a dance party. William wore some crazy robe thing to play keyboard and teach Zumba, and Jace was wired as ever (though no blood was shed, forcing this reviewer to give the show a mere 3.0). Show opener “Blastoff!” and “Rainbounce” both sported snazzy, revamped bridges. “Rainbounce’s” was especially intense and a show highlight. Performing a couple new songs, as well as favorites like “Isoprene Bath” and “New House” they closed inevitably, and delightfully with “Houseboat Babies.” During Reptar, Meredith LeVan also offered up this musing, which I promised to quote.

“Water is from rivers.” – Meredith LeVan

Toro Y Moi

As Polica worked the Point stage I sat patiently under the Counterpoint stage while the roadies played the official Counterpoint 2012 Set-Up Music, Beach House’s Bloom. I literally can’t think of an instance where they set up without it.

Chaz Bundick and co. soundchecked, looking generally annoyed that they were soundchecking over another painfully bassy performance and Bloom’s lovely swells. Thankfully Bundick turned affable, especially during show opener, the brilliant new “Rose Quartz.” Normally I wouldn’t be thrilled about an unreleased song opening the show, but “Rose Quartz,” and the four other new songs played previewed Bundick’s exciting new, sexed-up vision for Toro Y Moi. His releases have leaned increasingly backwards towards the 80’ with time, but it seems he’s dropped the nostalgia, outfitting his new tracks with an infectious R&B slant.

The new tunes didn’t carry the set though, as Toro Y Moi always puts on a killer show, especially for a band many consider confined to a studio, and my third time seeing them lived up to expectations set by the previous two. Causers of This stunner “Talamak” and the anthemic “How I Know” were early highlights. Closing the show with “Low Shoulder” and a smile, Bundick receded into backstage darkness, not to be interviewed. I just want to talk to you bro. I’m a fan.

Big Boi

One half of the mighty Outkast took to the Point stage directly following Toro Y Moi, and his DJ hyped him properly. The crowd was going nuts by the time Antwan Patton emerged carrying an opening medley of “ATLiens,” “Skew it on the Bar-B,” “Rosa Parks” and “So Fresh, So Clean.” Medleys are how Big Boi operates live, extracting the hooks and usually a verse from fan favorites and mashing them together. Backed by each song’s respective music video, nostalgia was key to his set.

The nostalgia factor didn’t detract from Big Boi’s glory though, and it certainly wasn’t the only thing going for him. Backed by a young, energetic hype man he performed then unreleased single “Mama Told Me” and a medley of his self-proclaimed “new shit” featuring the triumphant “General Patton,” “Follow Us,” “Daddy Fat Sax,” and, just for good measure, old favorites “Ghettomusick” and “B.O.B.” Still there’s no bigger tease than an incomplete “B.O.B” (or an incomplete “Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik in Greg’s opinion).

Big Boi’s set had one major flaw though – a concert foul that shalt never be committed. He interpolated “We Will Rock You” between “Elevators (Me and You)” and “Shine Blockas.” “We Will Rock You.” I can’t believe I’m writing this. It was awful guys.

Thankfully, Patton redeemed himself, following “Shine Blockas” with particularly inspired renditions of “Fo Yo Sorrows” and “Shutterbug.” He acknowledged his family (including his mother) in the crowd and closed his set with Purple Ribbon All-Star’s excellent 2004 single, “Kryptonite (I’m On It).” His family and friends took the stage with him, dancing and supporting the hook.

Skrillex

Skrillex is a controversial figure. Skrillex discussion mirrors political or religious discussion amongst opinionated music lovers. That being said, my former, staunchly anti-Skrillex self was interested in seeing what a live setting did for his unapologetically maximalist approach to dubstep.

As Steve Angello finished his headlining set (featuring Swedish House mafia favorite “Save the World”), a low rumble alerted the crowd to an inconspicuous countdown behind the Counterpoint stage. The countdown led to Bangarang opener “Right In,” it’s initial synth bursts accompanied by synchronized light bursts as the title flashed upon the screen. Skrillex knows how to open a show, and this setting emphasized his unique virtues. I felt moved to dance rather than run, and even the drops became less predictable and groan-worthy. I was way less cynical surrounded by fans enjoying their hero’s music.

Skrillex also knows how to visually cater (pander?) to those fans. Many visualizations were culled straight from video games, with Call of Duty videos winning the prize for most pandering. Does anyone imagine Skrillex super-fans not playing X-Box live? While we’re ranking visuals, compared to every other Counterpoint artist, Skrillex’s came dead last. Robots. Always robots. All the time. Not to mention the XBox 1 graphics – at best. By far the easiest visual to hate was a clip of Santa Claus exploding followed by the word “SWAG” displayed brightly on screen. Pandering I tell you. (Side Note: Moore and Angello also love pre-recorded video of themselves being super nice people offstage.)

Visuals are a petty gripe though, as Skrillex delivered perhaps the weekend’s greatest set. During “My Name Is Skrillex” I could feel the pride well up in his fans whom he intermittently encouraged, interjecting his own shrill yells of “Come on!” and “Counterpoint!” throughout his set. His rather long performance included “Right On Time” a Bangarang highlight he laid the “Fresh Prince” theme over, as well as the rest of Bangarang, his “Levels” remix, “First of the Year (Equinox)” and his recent Damian Marley collab “Make It Bun Dem.” By the time he closed with a captivating “Cinema” and a firework-fueled “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” I doubt I was the only non-believer converted. I was originally going to end this piece praising his live show yet still disparaging his studio work, however I’m listening to Bangarang as I write and thoroughly enjoying it. Take from that what you will.

People of Counterpoint Pt. II: 5 Words to Describe Counterpoint/Afterword

Following Pretty Lights’ set and Laidback Luke’s late nighter I moseyed on back to camp, and came across a group of 4 highly intoxicated individuals. Perfect people to “describe Counterpoint in 5 words.” Here were their responses.

“Raw.”

“Dope. Legit.”

“Fresh.”

“Phenomenal.”

“I died.”

“I woke out of a coma.”

No one managed a strictly 5-word answer, but one dude came out of a coma, so I’m still impressed. Counterpoint was indeed raw, dope, legit, fresh, phenomenal, I died and I woke out of a coma. Swag.