cmj: cut off your hands, the affair

The Affair

Despite being out and about for something like 14 hours yesterday (with at least twelve of them spent at label meet-and-greets in bars), I only saw four bands play, two of them worth noting.

Cut Off Your Hands | Fader Sideshow

Cut Off Your Hands almost certainly hold this week’s record for most shows by one band — by my count, they have played something like 700 shows in the past three days. But for bands coming to NYC from foreign locales (in this case, they are New Zealanders currently living in London) it makes sense: why spend the money to fly all the way over here only to play one show? It does create two problems, however: 1) it’s hard to be on top of your game, as fatigue is definitely an issue and 2) people tend to de-emphasize your shows, since you play so many of them.

Anyway, back to Cut Off Your Hands, who were pretty damn good during their set. They’re somewhere in between My Chemical Romance and Joy Division, a very teen-friendly sound (I would guess the band members are 20 or so) that nicely balances a very contemporary feel with some clear homages to past loves (they even cover the garage-rock classic “The Witch”). Their record will come out next summer, apparently, but we have one single by them now. Check it out.

The Affair | Absolutely Kosher Showcase | Arlene’s Grocery

As I always make sure to mention when discussing the Affair, Kali, their lead singer, is my girlfriend, so feel free to discount all or some of my opinions in reference to them. Their set at the AbKo showcase was great (they are a very good live band), and was distinguished by the debut of a brand new song written just last week that is a huge leap for them and their songwriting.

For the first time, the Affair have really experimented with space, teaming it with the girl-group sound for which they are known. Like my favorite songs by many bands, the new track can be heard as either a too-fast slow song or a too-slow fast song, the music double-timed in relation to the vocals, the arrangement shifting back and forth between modern torch ballad to post-punk to other points in between. They’re writing their second record now, and it appears the album will follow this pattern. I can’t wait.