Cymbals and O-faces
Dude, this guy has the best guitar/O-face of all time.
Hi kids, I’m still alive. I’m in NYC with my good friend Edward Gottfried. Being in NYC grants me access to all kinds of fun and awesome things. Like seeing Cap’N'Jazz and Lightning Bolt and No Age for free. Or eating ungodly amounts of delicious burritos. Or being bothered on the street by a shivering gentleman who is holding his nose for fear of it falling off. Or not showering and having no one notice how bad I smell because the garbage behind me is emitting the foulest of foul odors (3 week old shrimp that’s been basting in an old canvas shoe resting in a literal river of shit). Or going to Siren fest.
Siren fest was fantastic. There was a nice mix of middle-to-mainstream bands playing decently long sets for the best price: nothing. Also, it was at Coney Island, so if the bands were dull, you had an ocean to play in or a freak show to watch. Man, what a great place. Suck it Pitchfork Fest. Although I did not make it there in time to catch one of my favorite new bands, Dom, I did get to see the likes of Ponytail, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Apache Beat, and Holy Fuck. But my favorite performance by far was Cymbals Eat Guitars. I was ecstatic the hear them open their set with the words “we’re going to play a few new songs” because I was honestly afraid of Cymbals Eat Guitars being a one-and-done band. For those who are unaware (all of you), I was a huge fan of CEG’s debut Why There Are Mountains. Although many called it overly-derivative, I preferred to think of it as a positive expression of postmodern pastiche. In a year filled with fairly excellent releases, Why There Are Mountains is one of the only albums that continues to get regular play 1.5 years later (for the record, Edward has expressed similar sentiments). A debut as strong as WTAM that received as much press as it did often results in lofty expectations from fans and critics a like. It can also influence an artist to develop in an unnatural way, either experimenting too much or lying too dormant to be a followup worthy of similar praise. Luckily, Cymbals’ new material sounds just as strong as their previous stuff, with no influence rising above the others to pull their music in an unnatural direction. The Pavement is still there, but so is The Modest Mouse, Guided By Voices, Explosions In The Sky, Tullycraft, Cap’N'Jazz, etc. All of their songs retain the baroque-strength of WTAM while adding an unexpected maturity in both song structure and song writing that is beyond the band’s average age (25). Below the jump you will find the videos of these as-of-now-untitled songs, in decent quality, for your viewing and critiquing pleasure. All the videos were taken by Jay “Shapster7″ Sharp, who apparently like, “Glam, wacky shit, and acoustic covers.” Thanks Jay.
Of the new songs on YouTube, this is by far the best. Lead singer Joseph D’Agostino said that it might be the lead-off to their as-of-now-untitled and undated and officially unannounced 2nd album. It has the same intensity as Wind Phoenix, though it feels a little more contained and makes use of the synths a bit more. It’s thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended by yours truly.
