Chad Valley • Shell Suite
Well, Reader, it was a helluva CMJ week. Whereas we didn’t get to see everyone we wanted to see, we saw a lot of great music last week. And—you know what?—we learned a few things along the way. Let me tell you what I mean, list-style, brah!
1. We Are Augustines drink whiskey for breakfast. And we firmly stand by the assertion that they’re going to be burning up the indie scene before we know it. See ’em as soon as they get back from across the pond.
2. Orlando Higginbottom of Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs needs a damn roadie. And is likely better suited to 3AM pulsing two-hour sets than rushed through, technically fraught 15 minute ones. Pretty bicthin’ dinosaur suit though.
3. Keegan DeWitt will smash your microphone. I mean, he’s a dick, right? Also, turns out he reads this shit, soooooooooo…hey, Keegan!
4. Canadians still rule. Not only were we blown away by Purity Ring‘s electrically shamanistic set, but fellow Canadians and friends, Born Gold—formerly Gobble Gobble—put on what was easily the craziest show we’ve seen in our lives. “Wait, why do they hockey masks and shovels?” Oh, we found out. We found out. Someones seriously going to lose an eye at one of their shows.
5. Watching a show in a shoe store is about what you’d expect. Brightly lit. Poorly mic-ed. Oddly awkward. Full of people buying shoes.
6. Never pay for a show CMJ week. Seriously. The one we bought tickets for months in advance kind of blew. And we went to one million amazing free shows where bands were just playing their hearts out. Best.
7. Don’t EVER rely on the weekend G train. Especially when you’re trying to get to Williamsburg in time to see Purity Ring. G TRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNN!!!!
8. Go see Chad Valley. We didn’t. We regret it. These brits play some seriously chilled out, beautiful electr-o-pop that woulda’ been pretty nice to see live. Check out this week’s Song of the Week—”Shell Suite”—to see what we mean. And like their Facebook page for a free download of their R+B edits, which is pretty smooth. Especially the Alicia Keys one. Scroll down a bit to check out our CMJ picks if you missed them.
