Earlier in the day when I was over at KEXP catching Tokyo Police Club, I heard them play a tune by a band I'd never heard of called Archie Bronson Outfit. I remember thinking to myself, "hey, this is pretty good." What I didn't know at the time is that I would be catching them later that night, as they were playing right before Forward Russia!. I was already in pretty good spirits and a little buzzed from the Hot Chip show when I arrived at the Mercury. I came in to the sounds of loud, dirty, awesome guitar rock, to which my immediate reaction was "Fuck Yeah!" These Brits play some kind of loud, dirty swamp boogie. I'm very much looking forward to picking up their record and seeing them again, whenever they make it back to this side of the pond.

Forward Russia! was another group I'd been meaning to check out based on their reputation for being killer live. I've enjoyed their current record Give Me A Wall, though I've never thought of it as being particularly noteworthy. But as is sometimes the case, I needed to see this band live before I would understand what they were doing, and consequently like the record a lot more. iForward Russia! came out in their matching tees with their catchy logo, and I could immediately sense that they knew what they were doing. What I never understood until I heard them play live is that they're essentially a British mix of Les Savy Fav and At The Drive In. If you're like me, that gives you a major hard on. They were all business like both of those groups, and proceeded to bring heavy energy and intensity. They rocked the Mercury, and honestly didn't play for the crowd they deserved. It was a bunch of tired, crabby industry folks who didn't get down (which is a pretty apt description of the crowd at almost every CMJ show I went to). The way they play, I totally expect them to have a sea of bodies shaking their asses when they play the Bowery with Snowden and Meneguar on the 28th. Did I mention that they have a chick drummer who's totally fucking hot, looks bored on stage (at least at that show), and is awesome? Cause they do, and it's rad. Their frontman is pretty awesome too. This show, unexpectedly, takes the honors for my favorite show of CMJ. Well done gentlemen.

Labels: CMJ, Concert Reviews