Editor's note: this set is about 10 days late in the running. I have no one to blame but myself and Bentzen ball, because Alyssa sent them over in a timely fashion and somehow it just slipped through the cracks. This week she sent me one of those nice "Hey, did you get those pictures? I know you're busy" emails and so we're running them now. They're beautiful. I think you'll really enjoy them-Svetlana
all photos and words: Alyssa Lesser
Attending CMJ is kind of like running a marathon. For one fateful week, hundreds of pegged up-and-coming bands flood New York City and play a million shows. Scheduling conflicts abound, cab bills proliferate, and hangovers and sleepless nights are nursed with fresh batches of free booze. Ludlow, Stanton, Rivington and Delancey turn into one giant raucous clusterfuck of cigarettes and everyone you never thought you would run into at 2 AM.
To be perfectly honest, I had very little time to run the CMJ marathon this year in the way that I did last year; I wish I had had time to go to more shows and cover more awesome, up-and-comers for you all. I did make time to go see a few things, though, and I did make time to catch up with some amazing DC-based bands - Deleted Scenes, True
Womanhood, US Royalty - and great non-DC-based bands Team Robespierre and the Nymphets. We have championed/covered/featured our DC loves countless times on the site, so I don't really feel the need to go in depth about how awesome they all are. Team Robespierre played at the BYT Inauguration party and are always playing in Brooklyn, and both they and the Nymphets have quickly won over my heart with giddy punk songs.
Bottom line, it is always refreshing to see fun, earnest bands putting fresh spins on tried and true sounds. So this is what I saw...
Previously in Tangents:
- 12/28: Terrible Boyfriend/ Girlfriend Generator.
- 11/2: PHOTOS: TAXLO Halloween (feat. Chain Gang of 1974)
- 10/10: #OccupyWallStreet
- 8/10: PHOTOS: Lawn Mover Racing, Eastern Seaboard Regionals @ Bowles Farm
- 7/26: Special List: Things the BYGays Want Now That We Can Marry In DC (and NY!)
- 7/20: PHOTOS: Artscape
- 7/19: Miho Hatori's Guide to New York City
- 4/11: Cirque Du Soleil: Totem (A Review)
- 12/29: War, Reenacted
- 12/29: What in Hell is Slaughterama?!?
God loves a cheerful giver.
These are amazing shots! Alyssa always brings the "goods."
whoa, those waterfalling fluorescent tubes could probably make a center-staged plate of brussel sprouts being eaten by Angela Lansbury look like a psychedelically stylized benchmark in rock'n'roll history.
i need one for my armoire.
Amazing.