Cymbals Eat Guitars:
Is This It? (Yes, It Is)
It's hard to believe that one review on Pitchfork catapulted Cymbals Eat Guitars from midweek gigs at tiny clubs to national tours in major venues and opening slots for the likes of Wilco and Flaming Lips in England. And of course, nothing could be farther from the truth. Yes, that Pitchfork review kickstarted some interest, but this band has been working its ass off, going through wrenching personnel changes and sharpening its sound over the last few tumultuous months. Things have been happening so quickly - the band's been raved about in the NY Times, Village Voice, NY Press, AV Club, and more music blogs than I can count - that you wonder how they've been keeping it all together.
On the basis of tonight's performance (CEG has been opening nationwide for The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart for the last few weeks) at Webster Hall, none of the fire has gone out of frontman Joseph D'Agostino or his bandmates. The quartet attacked its material like it was the first night of tour, not the penultimate stop, pouring passion and crispness into every song. To be honest, the band's appearance about a month ago at the new Brooklyn Bowl (part of Insound's anniversary celebration) seemed more of an event, and the crowd seemed a bit more intense (with more singing along.) That's probably because the pricey ticket tonight meant that most of the concertgoers were there for the headliner, but the sizable number of early arrivals stood rapt and attentive throughout CEG's set. If they weren't fans when they got there, they were by the time they left.
It was my good luck to become acquainted with Joseph when he was a frustrated high schooler, recording demos in his basement under the name Joseph Ferocious. A few of those songs remain in CEG's set - revamped or rearranged, but still with the same intensity and melodicism - and it's been a real treat to watch this band catch on and experience so much success so quickly. I'll go so far to say that Cymbals Eat Guitars is a better live band right now than the Strokes were in 2001 (that's not saying much, since the Strokes were never much of a live band, even when they were setting the world on fire,) and Why There Are Mountains (which has its official release later this month) is a better record than Is This It. The world turned its eyes to NYC in 2001 and the Strokes were there to cash in; with CMJ 2009 on tab and a kamikaze assault on SXSW already in the works for 2010, my guess is that the world will be looking our way again very soon.
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