AXIS|OF|LIVE

I just could not miss this band last Friday night. Eventhough I had to rush off after their set to go my office holiday party, I'm so glad I went, because these guys sounded even better than last time. With a new guitarist, Sean Beste, to round out the trio, Maxeen ran through a set that included a few favorites from their debut CD, as well as lots of new gems from their new CD "Hello Echo". Jay Skowronek's drumming was mind-blowing, and Tom Bailey's singing and bass playing was as powerful and energetic as ever...

Set List:

Loud as War
Seconds Later
Beautiful Disaster
Strangers
Love Goes a Long Way
Good Enough
Block Out the World
Please

So, like… who knew that so many people liked The Sounds? Not me. A few months ago, I saw Carson Daly pushing the hell out of them on his show, and I figured that they were still struggling to get some recognition in the US. I suppose the release of their new album, Dying To Say This To You, has helped them a lot, not to mention the fact that their lead singer took part in that ill-conceived theme song to Snakes On A Plane. (I can just see the light bulbs going off in the prepubescent minds of young men across America as they realise, “Dude, this chick’s hot! Who is she?” and pull up Wikipedia on their Dells.) Apparently the line to get into Webster Hall was around the block, and the crowd consisted of tiny hipsters, club kids, and dudes fresh off the Girls Gone Wild tour bus. The latter group all seemed to know the words to every Shiny Toy Guns song, and that was kind of creepy. And they all absolutely loved The Sounds.

The evening got off to a late start before opening band Liam and Me played, a quartet of wee, cute boys from Philadelphia. Their keyboard-heavy pop-punk sound reminded me a lot of the now defunct Elkland, especially when lead singer Matt O’Dowd (NB: No one in this band is named Liam and I wondered if the band name was a reference to a Gallagher of choice, but I imagine this probably isn’t the case) gestured robotically towards the crowd. Granted, no one will ever beat the dude from Elkland at awkward, robotic dance moves, but Matt made up for it by being basically adorable, dedicating songs to the ladies and such. He won the hearts of all of my friends, that’s for sure. They were clamoring for the merch table after the set was over. I’m not sure if everyone else felt the same; a thrown drumstick was passed around by a few folks because no one wanted it. Poor Liam and Me. For the most part, they were well-received and I’m sure in a few days, they’ll be all I read about in every blog out there. That sort of thing always happens to me. See: Professor Murder.

The last part of my CMJ adventure was the Sub Pop showcase at the Bowery Ballroom on November 2nd, which promised to be a long and sometimes-exciting evening. The main attraction of the evening was The Shins, who Sub Pop decided to put on at one in the bloody morning (because they could) and the line-up before then was meant to be a star-studded list of Sub Pop’s biggest indie darlings: Loney, Dear, Oxford Collapse, The Elected, CSS, The Thermals, The Album Leaf, and The Shins. The doors opened at 6 PM, the night ended around 3 AM, and I woke up the next day with the plague! This might lead you to ask, was it worth it?

The answer: kinda. Sarah and I skipped Loney, Dear to go eat a delicious dinner in Little Italy, since Oxford Collapse were the first band we wanted to see and they didn’t go on until 8. Sarah pondered while eating her manicotti, “What if Loney, Dear ends up being the best new band of our generation and we’re missing it?” “Somehow, I doubt it,” I replied. So I have no idea how they were. I hear they were good. We did make it in time for Oxford Collapse, a band that hails from Brooklyn, New York, even though the lead singer looked a little Upstate New York, with his beard and plaid shirt. They were decent, a solid indie rock act that reminded me of the type of music I listened to in college. Pitchfork agrees with me there; they called OC “basically an early-90s emo band.” Sarah thought the bassist had “crazy eyes,” and it appeared to me that he’d just done a lot of homework when it came to watching other dudes in bands. He was all about the dramatic moves and poses and, well, crazy eyeball stuff. We were too far back to get any good photos of them, but we moved further up once they were done.

Then it was time for The Elected, who went through a pleasant set of dreamy indie pop. Their lead singer, Rilo Kiley’s Blake Sennett, was a tiny, long-haired machine, and over the course of their time on stage, Sarah and I compared him from everyone to Beck to (white) Prince to someone’s grandma to Elliott Smith to Sam Kinison. The last reference was mentioned when Sennett grabbed the mic and started shouting into it like a madman. It brought back memories of that Carson performance Kinison did. One lovely number was sung by Nate Greely, who Sennett called an “angel” because of his fair-colored hair. Multi-instrumentalist Mike Bloom entranced us with his weirdly fluorescent eyes.