CMJ: Oberhofer Do Anything But Lounge At Mercury Lounge

With CMJ spectators already venue-hopping like mad, Mercury Lounge’s diverse lineup anchored the Lower East Side crowd this week. There were a lot of reasons to be excited about Oberhofer – mostly, their wild determination to feel really good, all the time.

Brad Oberhofer’s Brooklyn-made project pulls in the slick resolves of surf-pop progressions and drenches them in a hard candy coating. The effect is something like a jawbreaker – colorful layers inside a tough, polished exterior. They bring extra depth to easygoing lines like “I want to build a house with you, so we can be alone.” With the way he delivered the words, it sounded like a pretty solid plan.

Oberhofer

Whether he was turning his mic check into a freestyle rap, or jumping on a chair just to roll back onto the stage, Oberhofer had us wrapped around his finger. As tracks like “What U Know” popped, he was constantly a blur.