We asked our friend Nora at I Rock I Roll Blog to highlight the best NYC band she saw at CMJ this year, here’s her response:
1. "NYC (via Tacoma, WA) band Oberhofer – I’m pretty sure these guys are all teenagers. Okay I googled and Brad Oberhofer is actually 19. Wow. While discoveries like this sometimes make me question what I did with my life when I was 19, something always wins me over about bands that are so young, polished and so clearly talented beyond their years. Their supercharged pop-rock, which has been garnering praise all over the blogoshpere this year, won over packed crowds throughout the 5 CMJ days (they played 11 shows in 5 days!) and maybe made some of us nostalgic for our younger days too. I call that a big win."
2. Pepper Rabbit – Disclaimer: I’m pretty sure any band that makes beautiful music and has the word Rabbit in their name is going to elicit some major musical crushing from me. That said, this LA Duo just released a gorgeous album Beauregard on Kanine. These gorgeous songs will make you swoon upon first listen and then somehow haunt you for days later – definitely one of my absolute new faves that people will be talking about a lot next year.
3. Kids of 88 – Ok this one is technically cheating because I didn’t ACTUALLY see this band during CMJ due to scheduling, taco time, putting my showcase together, and so on. My disappoint in that epic failure caused me to beg their publicist to at least send me the funky new-wavey New Zealand duo’s debut album Sugarpills and I have not been able to stop listening to it since she kindly obliged. Seriously, "Ribbon of Light" is on my top 10 list for the year for sure – not that new wave pop is a brand new thing, but somehow they make it seem fresh and to me that’s the most important thing. Come back soon, Kids of 88!