Brooklyn Vegan CMJ Showcase @ The Music Hall of Williamsburg, 10-22-2008

The Sammies
A screaming-power-chord rockfest with sharp solos that punches you in the gut? Why did I miss the beginning of their set? They may not have had the most original sound of the night, but they executed with perfection.

Shearwater
I'm still not sure what I think of this group. Meiburg's vocals were spot on, but the quality of his voice reminded me of Ren Fest (Don't ask why.) Plus they had Thor who (given the audience's response) accidentally stole the show. Was that a dulcimer he played? In the end, their troubadour sound didn't fit the excitement of the night.

Ponytail
This felt a bit goofy. The heavy use of noise just made the sound more hazy and masked otherwise interesting guitar work. The yelling also felt pointlessly cathartic, but the drumming was powerful. These guys seemed one step away from a standard math core group which is a good thing, but there was so little thought put into their sound as a whole that I had a hard time watching them.

Passion Pit
Passion Pit was much more comfortable on stage than when I last saw them. Angelakos most of all seemed to have hit a stride. Instead of spending his whole set sitting behind his massive keyboard, he jumped up, danced around, and yelled with all the power he could muster. Songs like Better Things and Smile Upon Me were revamped to add more energy, and we were treated to two new ones that I assume will be on the 2009 album. I liked the first, but the second lost me. All in all, Passion Pit kicked ass, and friends that had seen them for the first time agreed. They're skyrocketing.

Singing DJ Jens Lekman
Up front were the intense Lekman fans who seemed disappointed by the lack of actual singing on his part and weren't expecting to see what the crowd behind found so fun. This was Lekman's opportunity to be a DJ and play what he thought would best get the audience dancing. It worked for the most part--especially on me. I'd love it if more of my favorite artists took the time to share their favorite dance music with me every time I went out. Lekman crashed a few time early on, but his choice of music made up for it.

The sum of it all was a great show.

Ponytail

Shearwater

Passion Pit



Jens Lekman

Passion Pit @ Pianos, 8-13-2008

I got to see Passion Pit's NYC debut so I thought I'd add to the wave of hype that they're riding.

They were glorious. They got everyone dancing, which is impressive given the limited availability of their music. I'd listened to all the tracks the internet could muster beforehand, and was surprised by how cohesive the concert felt. Each song shared a Passion Pit flavor which lent itself heavily to Michael Angelakos' shouting. The songs were all at a quick, danceable tempo, and used poppy chord sets backed by steady synths. There were also some sudden, stop-and-go parts that worked better at exciting people than classic electro buildups.

Though everyone seemed to agree with me about their amazingness, thoughts were mixed about Agelakos' mentioned voice. For me, the way he flailed around high pitches gave a delightful harshness to the music, but this same trait bothered others. Still, I don't see this stopping them. A crowd that size doesn't go crazy for a band that hasn't released anything labeled unless something's up.

Visit them at myspace and last.fm to get all the tracks.