JOURNALISM & COSMONAUT PLAY MERCURY LOUNGE

“I broke my arm a couple weeks ago and I decided to buy this keyboard and see what happens,” said Kegan Zema of Journalism as they rocked out a early show at the Lower East Side’s Mercury Lounge in support of their forthcoming debut album Faces due out March 4th.

Opening up the show was another Brooklyn shoe-gazey post-punker band Cosmonaut. Lead singer Jack Manley has a ridiculously smooth voice and along with fellow guitarist Daniel Quinn they twist and wind that shimmering gazing texture that makes you feel like a cool summer breeze just caressed your soul. Still, they are not above grabbing good hook, and those moments often remind me of a largely NYC scene of 80’s new wave inspired pop punk I miss deeply including bands like The Strokes, Vampire Weekend, The Walkmen, and Interpol among others. They already have a couple impressive EPs under their belt that are great to trip out to, but they’ve been working on some new material that sounds amazing and remarkably catchy, so I really look forward to hearing where they take it.

Cosmonaut

As for Journalism, sure Kegan’s hand was wrapped up in a thick cast, which did make playing his guitar tough for sure, but their sound still prevailed, and perhaps even found a new layer of complexity. They still had a distinctly sparkling Cure-inspired axe sound and that actually jelled with the additional keys deliciously, especially on older tracks like my fav “Denim Jesus.” The ghostly ethereal harmony and driving beat knows how to merge perfectly and then just keeps you spinning around and around in your head and in your feet. New songs like “Faces I” and “Watching & Waiting,” sound amazing and I personally can’t wait to get my hands on the new disc. They’ll be having a record release at Brooklyn’s The Silent Barn on March 4th, and if I were you, I’d show up, but since I’m not, I’ll just suggest you do join me as I dance the night away.