I decided a long time ago that I wasn’t going to waste my time at New York’s annual Clusterfuck Music Junket. The long lines, the short sets, the corporate shill, the smell of rotting ambition, the aging industry dudes drooling over teenage girl singers… it just isn’t my scene. But, against my better judgment, I broke my rule this year because, well, I really like Deastro (pictured) and kept missing opportunities to see Randolph Chabot and company live.
Luckily, the place didn’t fill up to Corporate Masturbation Jubilee levels until late in the evening, and I arrived at the Øya Festival and Oh My Rockness showcase early enough to avoid the hysteria. The unlikely duo of Norwegian musikkfestival and New York concert listings site made for some unexpected transitions, but also a good deal of variety.
The first band I caught was Ungdomskulen, an impossibly sparkly Norwegian trio who could seriously shred. There were sequins, spandex and attitude for miles, backed up by some appropriately '80s hair metal-derived riffs. Ungdomskulen were certainly the most charismatic showmen of the night, though I can’t imagine the fun of their performances entirely translating on record.
Deastro was up next. A recent lineup change has left Chabot -- on guitar -- with a single bassist, leaving the rest of the beats to the laptop. While I had been hoping to hear more of my favorite tracks from this year’s epically fun Moondagger, it was encouraging to find Deastro performing a slew of new material. The unfamiliar songs sounded a bit darker – in fact, Chabot seemed to be channeling Ian Curtis at times. Then again, the menacingly dominant synth and drum machine parts could also have been due to an over-amplified computer, which also, unfortunately, all but drowned out the guitar and bass.
I stayed for a bit of Oslo’s I Was King, a sweet '90s-indie rip-off whose newest album boasts collaborations with Sufjan Stevens and Danielson’s Daniel Smith. (Hmm, do I smell a Christian?) There was nothing wrong with the band – their music was entirely pleasant – but they weren’t wowing me, either, so I crept downstairs to the second stage, a few songs in, to wait for New York buzz band du jour Real Estate. The group was in the midst of about 85 Consensual Music Jerkoff performances, and I wanted to see what the fuss was about. Unfortunately, the basement stage was about half an hour behind schedule, and I had to haul ass back upstairs for Cymbals Eat Guitars before they played a single note. And did I mention that somewhere along the way I dropped my wallet? More on that later.
Back upstairs, Cymbals Eat Guitars, the band that put the “rock” back in “indie,” was tearing it up, as usual. Barely legal frontman Joseph D’Agostino seemed to have matured out of a good deal of grimacing awkwardness in the 5 months since I last saw him perform. Although the band’s headlining set was criminally short, they managed to fit in a new track or two, along with favorites like “Wind Phoenix.”
Real Estate were still playing to a packed crowd downstairs by the time I left, but I decided to forgo the madness and head home… well, until I got to the subway and realized I was missing my wallet. A few minutes later, I was back in that goddamn basement, having a minor panic attack while my friend/photographer chatted up every security guard and bartender in the place before recovering my wallet. (By the way, if the person who returned it is reading this: Thanks, man. You didn’t even steal my cash!) I probably wasn’t listening carefully enough to Real Estate while all of this was going on to give you an accurate review. But, hey, for what it’s worth, they sounded pretty sweet to me.
