Tidal Arms - Live at the BAL CMJ Showcase

Tidal Arms - Several Circles / Hair and Teeth

So CMJ came and went. Holy god, was that shit weak sauce or what? No, seriously, what of value actually happened over the annual conference that is supposed to drench Manhattan and Brooklyn in some acute, fall freshness? By our count, other than the usual free liqs that we hook up with precision, it offered not much at all. 

The music/media/ancillary business behemoth that this conference has become offered us a week dominated by either bland, "is-this-2002?" indie pop/rock/whatever, or fuzzed out, reverb heavy electronic noise, swooned over by tired voices - be they rapping or singing. 

But it's not all gimmicky trash, we swear. See, this is where us BAL boys come through. We put on a dope showcase. It had bands that fit together on a bill. Shocking! Really strong, sturdy songwriting - imagine that! Not to mention, actually invigorating performances where the artists put energy (you know, not the ironic/detached boredom type) into their playing. Holy shit, it's like we reinvented the whole damn game. 

Coming to you live in full effizect are our boys, Brooklyn's Tidal Arms. For those that may not know them, we strongly urge you to check out their debut LP, The Sun Exploding. Shit is on straight repeat like it's jamming out the old Aiwa 3-disc changer as we get ready for school in the morning. 

Plundering the depths of heavy rock/metal, Tidal Arms leveled us in the room with an amazingly tight set. Combing across some of our favorite genres - Tidal's addictive combination of post-hardcore riffage, math-rock time signatures, and fat slabs of startlingly pretty melodies - we were more than impressed. For evidence, check out what we cut together, the swirling, slow-building "Several Circles", and the apocalyptic churn of "Hair and Teeth".