
75% of the bands we saw this week couldn't really write a
song with a million-dollar recording contract to their heads—hardly a big surprise in the world of "indie" music—but some bands pulled off the atmospheric shtick better than others. On the last day of CMJ we saw a swoon-inducing British "metal" group whose full-body riffs made sure you were never less than entranced. We also saw one more noodly underground rock act than our already taxed brains could handle—which at least made us realize that the lost spirit of audience participation needs to make a swift and brutal comeback.
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