CMJ Report - Day 1
Reporting from NYC, this is Sneak Easy with a short but sweet overview of his trip to The Annex where he caught a few tunes of Sam Champion and the Tiny Masters of Today.
“we decided to skip out on the Sox for a few innings and wander down to the Annex to get the first taste of CMJ. We tried to time it so we could catch a few songs at the tail end of Sam Champion’s set and the first few songs of Tiny Masters of Today, then bolt back to catch the last few frames of Game 4. We actually timed it fairly well. We arrived just after SC had hit the stage. Admission, Bass and Budlight were free courtesy of NME. Finally, after screwing me for years with lousy recommendations for 3rd rate bands (The Thrills are sweeeeeeeet) they pay me back with two free beers. I’d rather have the $25 back they made me spend on an import by the Coral.
Anyway so Sam Champion - I had been hearing a lot of Pavement comparisons, but the only track I ever heard sounded more like the Libertines. I was wrong and the comparisons were right. They sound just like Pavement, or the singer is at least trying to sound like Malkmus, somewhat shamelessly I might add. We sat towards the back and Ivan and Ada from TMOT were sitting right next to us. 9-year-old Ada looked bored and read a copy of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Me lady, who is not a Tiny Masters fan (“it’s a novelty act!”), commented that she looked just as she did before a soccer game at that age (ie. I don’t want to be here). I agreed, but at the same time, isn’t acting like you don’t want to be there an integral part of seeing rock n’ roll in New York? Ivan seemed more into it nodding his head along to SC. SC’s last song was the one I knew. It was their best of the evening
Then Tiny Masters played. The place was surprisingly only about half-way full. I was slightly impressed with their record and was certainly curious to see what the kids could do. Well, I’ll say this; despite endorsements from Fred Schneider, Karen O and David Bowie I realized that the kids can’t play. I don’t mean “can’t play” in the ramone-sense like they can’t solo and they don’t know an F-chord – they just really can’t play. They were still mildly entertaining and they certainly looked cool up there. It was just difficult to tell one song from the next. I’m sure they’ll get it together (and I hope they do), but the whole thing smells of a hipster-daddy and not an eleven year old with a stack of Cramps records. We left after the fourth song and went home to see another Red Sox loss. Oh well.”
Check out Tiny Masters of Today on Myspace - Purchase TMOT music
Check out Tiny Sam Champion on Myspace - Purchase Sam Champion music
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