Last Thursday, Topshelf
Records hosted their CMJ showcase at the Brooklyn venue Shea Stadium. The showcase
featured some of the bands from label. In total there was seven bands playing
and this was a fun show. I was mostly there for Nai Harvest and Donovan
Wolfington but a good portion of the bands were great. Plus I never saw any of
these bands that were playing that night. Also this was my first ever CMJ event
and this was also for free.
The opening band of the night was Lizard Kisses. Lizard
Kisses are from Brooklyn, NY and they were a slow opener. As I mention many
times before in my reviews I’m not fan of slow openers. Lizard Kisses was not
for me but I really liked the instrumentals of the band. The guitars in the
band sounded so good and the band kind of had this Post-Rock feel to them. Also
they had violin in the band which was crazy because he was also playing with
foot pedals. I thought that was wild. Overall I was not really into them but if
you love Indie Rock with some Post Rock influences then check them out.
Infinity Girl was up next. This Noise Rock/Shoegaze band
from Brooklyn was incredible. They were totally unreal and I loved them just by
hearing their first note. Once they were about to play the first note I knew
they would be insane. Shoegaze is becoming a big thing again but this band I felt
like wasn’t shoegaze they only took the influences. They prove that they can be
different and were not trying to copy everyone else today. If you like My
Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, and Punk Rock this band would totally be for
you. I’m 100% seeing Infinity Girl the next time they are playing in NYC.
Clique took the stage and brought it down a level. This
band is from Philly and they brought a mild form of Emo. It was very lad back
and also very catchy. The band reminded me of chilled out Joyce Manor. I notice
people who were up front were singing along and this was the first band of the
night that people were going off. Overall Clique was a cool band and I really
like their sound.
Solids return the noise to this show with their set.
Solids are a two piece band from Montreal, Canada that features a guitarist and
a drummer. Also on stage with them were two small spot lights. At first I thought
this was going to be so crazy metal band because bands like Cult Leader and Meek
is Murder only play with one small spot light on stage. Back to Solids set,
they blew me away with the Noise Rock and Punk Rock influences. Solids was
something else and it’s really cool them all the way from Canada to play this
show. Solids put on a great set and everybody who reads should listen to them.
Up next was Wildhoney a band from Baltimore, Maryland and
just by looking at this band I didn’t know what to expect at all. The lead
singer looked like the lead singer of Jefferson Airplane, the guitar players
look straight out of 1980’s Manchester, and I was like thinking this has to be
good. First song I was like wow there so many influences in this band. The lead
singer voice was really good and she used a lot of reverb. The Guitars sounded
really good and drums were great. I thought I was going to dislike this band
they proved me wrong. Wildhoney is a band you don’t want to sleep on.
Donovan Wolfington came on and I was in awe. This
Indie-Punk band is from NOLA and they were a lot of fun. Someone try to start a
pit but that failed. I felt not a lot of people were going off for them. I know
I was and I thought they had the best set of the night. Donovan Wolfington was
great. I just recently got into this band over the summer and seeing them
really amazed me. Their style is great and their looks are great. The new album
that came out this year How to Treat the
Ones you Love is a great album and everybody should go get it. This is
another band that will rule the underground so you better go to see this band
and support this band.
The final band of the night Nai Harvest came across the
pond from Sheffield, UK. This band is a two piece like Solids but a different
style of music. Nai Harvest is extremely influenced by the 90’s both American
and British rock. Nai Harvest was great because their songs are catchy and just
flow all together. The only band bad part of this set was after each song
people left which sucked because they really are a good band. Overall is this
miss show you mess up because this was probably one of the best free shows I ever
been and a lot of these bands that played were good.
Nai Harvest- 9/10
Donovan Wolfington- 10/10
Wildhoney- 8.75/10
Solids- 9/10
Clique- 7.75/10
Infinity Girl- 9.5/10
Liard Kisses- 7/10
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