Garage Rock trios were in tall order on Tuesday night of CMJ. Opening act Sharkmuffin are local riot grrl punk rock meets bluesy riff rockers and they brought it. Front woman and guitarist Tarra Thiessen was all over the stage coming out into the audience and playing solos. Natalie Kirch on bass and Janet Labelle on drums kept a steady level of mania behind Tarra an endless supply of 2 minute surf-punk songs.
Next up were The Bowery Riots and they were the highlight of the night. Full of bluesy swagger and a punk simplicity they had everyone on the floor rocking out. The send ups are numerous, drawing riffs from The Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, and other millennial garage rock stompers. The most incredible thing about their show is that they kept the energy high throughout the entire set without letting up. Justin Dean Thomas sings simple blues hooks and plays an occasional piercing blues solo; TJ Rosenthal keeps a simple yet heavy bass while Warren Stubbs kills it on drums, filling up the blues riffs with manic precision. My favorite song of the set was “My Time Will Come” which has a heavy White Stripes riff that ends in a fun chant that had the audience singing and dancing along.
Lastly, the headliners, Prospector took the stage, and like the first two bands, took garage rock by the balls and played their asses off. They took a similar approach as the The Bowery Riots, building up during the verse and then punching you in the gut for the chorus. Led by drummer and lead singer Ryan Hines, who resembles and sort of sounds like Mark Maher from Spiderbait, the band draws from 70s classic rock more than the other bands that night. Overall, the whole night rocked pretty hard and for a free show in the east village you couldn’t find a better show to walk into.
Article by: Steven Klett
