We decided it was high time CMJ bring the rock. No cooing, atmospheric bands tonight. Straight up face-melting shreddage is what we were after on day four of the CMJ Music Marathon. To accomplish this noble task, we proceeded directly to Brooklyn, starting at Trash Bar for Goes Cube. Arguably one of the heaviest bands playing the fest this year, the trio slayed through a handful of songs from their latest, Another Day Has Passed.

In keeping with the theme of the night, we bounced to a venue known for messy basement-style bands: The Charleston. Heavy Cream–three rowdy women and one token dude–wasted no time getting the party started. They’ve got the classic punk rock formula down: raspy vocals, mosh pit instigation and full intent on creating drunken sing along hits. Lines include “Gonna get wasted/gonna get high” and the inevitable, “I’m gonna drink til I puke.”

And here’s where we veer off our badass-bands-only course a little bit, but for good reason. One block over at Spike Hill, Norwegian band Sissy Wish was just finishing their bouncy, whimsy set.  Siri Ålberg was also rocking a vest made entirely of cassette tapes, which doesn’t exactly slay, but is pretty damn cool.

After a little guitar malfunction that had The Bloodsugars in search of an E string (and G strings from willing volunteers…), the band ran through a tight set of bass-heavy indie that ventured into dance territory and at times bordered on jazzy, perhaps due in part to newer drummer Kenneth Salters. They also performed some brand new jams from their upcoming album, I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On, out November 3. Alright, so they don’t exactly slay, but you can tell these guys  are accomplished musicians. They also genuinely enjoy playing together and the feeling is contagious, a seeming rarity these days. Bands, take note.

Night three of the CMJ Music Marathon began at The Delancey, where we hoped to catch Bear Hands on the Club NME bill. Instead, the show was running behind and we actually caught The Antlers again, which isn’t such a terrible thing. But CMJ is all about discovering new bands, so after watching a few songs we headed out into the night in search of something unfamiliar. The xx were rumored to be the secret headlining guests, but we had our own party to attend.

The UI crew headed over to The Studio at Webster Hall for the MuseBox/PopGun Booking showcase, sponsored by yours truly. Apparently we arrived just in time for the action, though not the good kind. Someone, er, sucker punched Suckers’ lead singer Quinn Walker, while another brawl broke out in the crowd. No word on what provoked the violence, but the band’s team reports all is well today. Gordon Voidwell–not to be outshined by some senseless fight–owned the stage afterward with his quirky, talented ways.

Then it was off the Mercury Lounge, just to see what kind of (non-violent) trouble we could get into. Local Natives were on stage when we arrived, but the main room was packed to gills and filled with a sweaty haze. Such are CMJ shows, no?

We peeked into venues like Cake Shop, Pianos and Fat Baby, then considered the possibility of trekking it out to the DFA show at Brooklyn Bowl. Alas, it was by then late enough in the evening (or early enough in the wee hours of the morning) to see if The xx were indeed playing at The Delancey. We arrived just as the band was loading in, a double letter x on each piece of equipment. Though their set was shorter than the crowd would have liked, the band ran through quiet, syncopated songs. They maintained a very well-controlled sound throughout the set, and it’s easy to see why the duo works so well together. Chilled out, emotive and at ease, the band was the perfect nightcap.

So what if they wear sparkly shirts and pastel hot pants? Ungdomskulen like their music loud, fast and heavy. The Norwegian trio cranked the decibels up at Santos last night as part of the OhMyRockness and Oya Festival showcase. Songs ran the gamut from straight up metal to trippy, mesmerizing rock. Their show was light on the vocals and heavy on the shredding.

Turns out vocalist/guitarist Kristian Stockhaus could have been born Christian Stockhouse instead. You see, a distant relative by the name of Sven once stepped foot onto a boat bound for America. Alas, for reasons you’ll have to imagine yourself, our hero Sven decided to stay in Norway after all. Several generations later, had Ungdomskulen been American, Stockhaus noted, they would definitely be way less cool.

Then it was off to K&M in Brooklyn to catch Warpaint at a private FADER party. The three-piece had the honor of being the only band on the bill and performed for a hot, packed room. Band members didn’t stop after their set either, instead cutting the rug to some dance floor classics.

Much later, Uncensored Interview headed to Le Poisson Rouge for the Green Owl Records showcase. Though The Very Best weren’t able to play due to some travel issues, Virginia brothers Clipse were added to the bil. Ninjasonik and their crew spent a few songs goofing off on stage, and when energy in room died down, what better way to save it than with a Bad Brains cover and a mosh pit?

Theophilus London kept the crowd’s attention though it was after 2 a.m., as did some indie celebrities rumored to be in attendance. Clipse finally took the stage right before 3 a.m. to perform “Grindin’” and “What Happened to That Boy,” plus a couple off their new full-length Till the Casket Drops. Just as quickly they walked off stage, leaving fans not so politely questioning their incredibly short set.

What do Das Racist, Gordon Voidwell, Suckers, Bin Laden Blowin Up, Tony Castles and Bottle Up and Go have in common? Why, The MuseBox/PopGun Booking showcase tonight at The Studio at Webster Hall, of course.

Uncensored Interview is a proud media sponsor of the event featuring artists we’ve chatted with before and breaking new talent we’re excited to catch in action. It all starts tonight at 7pm and goes until…well, this is CMJ. The party ends only when you want it to.

With talent like this right in front of your very eyes, who wants to go home?

Though she can’t bring her English self to adopt American slang like the word “awesome,” that’s exactly how the audience described Laura Marling at the Brooklyn Vegan CMJ showcase at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn last night. The sweet-voiced vocalist ran through a set of crowd pleasers like “Ghosts” and “My Manic and I,” sprinkled in with a few new songs, mostly about what must be her favorite topic–love.

The Antlers took the stage next with a quiet opener, but it was lead singer Peter Silberman’s high-pitched vocals, highly emotive lyrics and the band’s abrupt changes that kept the crowd’s attention. Favorites included songs from their recent release, Hospice. Despite the serious tone, when someone screamed “We love you!’ Silberman couldn’t help a demure smile.

Over at Bruar Falls, Seattle Mariners baseball caps peppered the crowd for the Emerald City’s Mt. Fuji Records showcase. Despite The Maldives’ absentee steel pedal player (he’s scared of flying), the stage was packed with seven musicians playing guitars, drums, bass, a banjo, a melodica and a fiddle to round things out. Their rootsy mix of rock ‘n’ roll riffs and country intent was a highlight of the night.

And though Black Whales–also Seattle representatives–had their set cut short by the inevitable wee hours and a cranky neighbor, members made the best of it by running through a condensed set of tightly-knit songs. They knew they had to make their time count, so the band shunned the stage, instead playing on the main floor, up close and personal with fans of Black Whales’ poppy, reverb-heavy sound.

It’s very late at night in the city. Everywhere you look is asphalt, streetlights and the stillness that goes along with dead quiet. No, you aren’t having a post-apocalyptic nightmare–you are listening to The xx’s debut album. These four East London school chums have turned the atmosphere around them into dark and sparse music created late at night using some of the most gothic and skeletal guitar lines this side of The Cure. Except it sounds nothing like The Cure and more like early New Order, before they became a dance band, but only if New Order had R&B beats to underline their sound. They’ve created a beautiful mash up of post-punk’s wiry guitars, R&B’s sampled beats and breathy vocals. It is the opposite of every pop production that excessively layers sounds to build a cluttered pop playground.

The xx are four friends from South London grade school. Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim front the band and have known each other since they were three. They are joined by their secondary school mates Baria Qureshi on keyboard/guitar and Jamie Smith on samples and who produced their debut. Croft and Sim trade singing duties in song verses, creating a call and response aesthetic that comes together nicely when they sing on top of each other. The four went to the Elliot composition school together, which is also the former school of members of Hot Chip, Burial and Four Tet. It’s characterized in an article in “The Guardian” as a tolerant school with students of diverse backgrounds and patient teachers who let the kids put on shows, raves and practice as loudly as need be despite neighborhood complaints.

Their visual aesthetic in the first two videos for “Crystalized” and “Basic Space” are of the band dressed all in black with angular haircuts in front of a machine projecting atmospheric images while they give a dead-eyed delivery of their songs. The videos are in the style of The Jesus and Mary Chain or Echo & the Bunnymen videos you could have caught on MTV’s 120 Minutes in the mid-’80s. The band member’s eyes look much older than their 19 years in “Crystalized” as they squint into the video projector that shoots scenes of beaches and flowers over their faces. “Basic Space” incorporates some more modern looking footage, including swirling lights and guitars that are reminiscent of a Bloc Party video. Director Anthony Dickenson developed the effect after testing rotating things on a turn table with long exposure–sort of the same effect you’d get if you took a photo of lights at night with an open lens. Across both videos their dark, expressionless song delivery gives the impression of a heavy sadness, sort of like the earliest New Order videos, who maintained a stoicism even into the Power, Corruption and Lies years.

Between their stripped down sound and old school indie visual aesthetics, it’s clear these kids won’t be putting on a Britney Spears-style circus anytime soon. They might have an introverted style now, but will The xx grow into a showy band in the vein of these ’80s icons they emulate?

At the same time, this band comes from a generation who know no musical boundaries. They’ve covered Aaliyah and Womack & Womack with equal sincerity, they profess to have not listened to the Cocteau Twins although critics insist they sound very similar, and are highly influenced by the production style of RJD2. It’s clear their production background is advanced far beyond any of the ’80s bands you might want to compare them to. They’ve had two years of working with UK label Young Turks, a sub label of XL Records, to develop their sound and write their debut album. That’s the kind of patronage most young bands would kill for from a respectable indie label and the kind of development major labels give the likes of Taylor Swift and Avril Lavigne. The xx, however, will skip the media training and go straight to understated musical gurus, reshaping the form of an indie pop single with their stripped down production.

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Download MP3: The xx – “Crystalised”

The CMJ Music Marathon kicks off today and we’ve been resting up and drinking plenty of water in preparation for five nights of sleeplessness and perhaps one celebratory shot too many.

Over the next five days we’ll be bringing you coverage of the biggest bands and best surprises from New York City’s largest annual music festival. From highly anticipated acts like The xx and The Antlers to those with underground buzz like Boogie Boarder, ZAZA, Bodega Girls and nearly a thousand others, you’ll find complete festival coverage right here.

We’ll also be Tweeting from shows, so if you want to be in the know as we know, follow us over at our Twitter page. And hey, if you didn’t score a badge this year or just don’t have the money to fork over for a zillion shows, do it the Mogwai way.