CMJ '08: All Over But The Shout Out Out Out Out

My last night of CMJ started with a trek through a torrential rainstorm to catch the IHeartComix showcase at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. L.A. scenester Franki Chan has a pretty high batting average, having put out Matt and Kim's first record and some excellent tracks by ice-cream slingers HeartsRevolution. The first band on the bill was Edmonton-based dance-rockers Shout Out Out Out Out (pictured), who always put on a good show. It was the first time I'd seen real dancing all week, and the first time I felt myself relax and enjoy a show. They played a few tracks from a forthcoming album, as well as their most excellent track "In The End It's Your Friends That'll Fuck You Over." They need to record a clean version of the song and start licening it to "Gossip Girl," stat.

I stuck around for two more bands, the horrendous hipster-rap nightmare Juiceboxx and the Dan Deacon-esque Totally Michael, before heading next door to Public Assembly, aka Galapagos with a new name. The first band was was Cut Off Your Hands, whose gory and derivative name and shoegazer sound did nothing for me. I'll award a few points for an attractive frontman, but that's about it. Next up was Johnny Foreigner, a pretty good band with a pretty bad name. A cross between Elastica and the Foals, the band was hampered by technical difficulties thoughout its set, but managed to entertain the small but enthusiastic crowd.

Another CMJ over, and we're all just a little deeper in debt. This one was a rather tepid affair overall, but then again, I could just finally be reaching the stage where watching a bunch of 22-year olds score a bunch of ink and then sell 20,000 records just isn't much fun anymore. -- Cortney Harding