New York trio Violens release their debut album Amoral on November 2 via Friendly Fire. The self-recorded, self-produced and self-mixed album showcases the driving first single “Acid Reign,” available for free on their website. Also free is a summer mixtape featuring “Space Around The Feel Station” with Washed Out.

After touring with MGMT, Grizzly Bear, and Deerhunter, the guys are hitting the road on a tour of their own playing dates in the U.K. They also have a few shows in New York City, including CMJ.

We caught up with the guys long before they set a release date, and they told us about their contemporaries and finding their sound.

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.

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.

Welcome back to Almost Famous, where we select an artist we deem to be on the verge of spreading beyond our illustrious tastemaking boundaries and taking over the cultural zeitgeist at large in the coming months.

Slightly mad and wholly irresistible, flame-haired singer Florence Welch first nudged her way into my music-addled mind via a demo spun on BBC Radio 6 Music, the alternative digital station, around late 2007 (perhaps it was a cover of Beirut’s “Postcards From Italy”). At South By Southwest that March, I arrived early for BBC deejay Steve Lamacq’s terrific showcase at the Mexican restaurant Rio, where MGMT, Florence and the Machine, Wild Light and the now-belated I Was A Cub Scout held court.

MGMT might have had the Austin buzz, but Welch stole the show, slyly armed with her ferocious voice, plaintive delivery and daft on-stage persona. Barefoot and dressed in a diminutive frock, she gleefully channeled Zelda Fitzgerald, and mid-set, galloped to Rio’s ornamental pool and dived in, capriciously pulling in a friend after her. She emerged dripping wet and then, daring electrocution, strode back to the mic and finished her set. It was a magnificent moment of insane bravado.

Later that month I wrote about Florence’s infinite promise as part of a feature on fast-rising chanteuse Adele (for a jazz magazine, of all things), prodded another publication onto her path and then waited, spending the rest of the year wondering what South London’s Welch had up her sleeve and when she’d finally release a debut album (not yet).

(CONTINUE READING THIS WEEK’S ALMOST FAMOUS)

I found myself overloaded on CMJ last week and my brain hasn’t really been able to think of much else since. Though I did day-by-day coverage over the course of the week, I thought I’d do a look-back and run some superlatives just like in high school.

Best Dressed, Male: Project Jenny, Project Jan (Wednesday @ Pianos)
I expected some stiff competition from Yip-Yip in this category, but their new costumes aren’t quite as amazing as the old ones. As a result, Jeremy Haines from Project Jenny, Project Jan easily snags this spot by donning his white suit looking sharp and stylish at Ear Farm’s party Wednesday at Pianos.

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