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Sean Orr: Obscure Bands Played My Friend’s Secret Loft Party…

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Oh god, I’m a 31 year old ‘writer’ blogging about obscure bands from Brooklyn playing at my friend’s secret loft party. I’m pretty sure I was even wearing boat shoes and a Harris Tweed blazer. FML. No matter, it was everything it could have possibly been: too hot, too smoky, and with shitty sound. At least they were checking ID at the door (holy shit, listen to me), which saved the day when the brave men in blue came to rescue the fair, under-aged maidens being fed booze by terribly sophisticated and moustachioed perverts. This, of course, was not happening, and someone was actually smart enough to have purchased a license.

MT-40, for the uninitiated, are a two-piece synth-pop band. Their name pays homage to their instrument, the Casio Casiotone MT-40 keyboard. At times bordering on electroclash, Reg takes turns rapping and crooning through short, obnoxious stabs that never fail to start a dance party among their loyal and growing group of fans.

Walter TV, who is playing on May 3rd with Caving and Tassels, almost seemed determined to play the tightest, cleanest (yet still one of the funnest) sets they’ve played in recent memory. And it worked. They totally stole the show. With Joe drumming to a huge video of himself walking through the woods, the crowd jostled and heckled, drank and smoked reefer. It was contained mayhem.

But then Cosmetics took forever as the band struggled with the sound technician to hear the lead vocals in their monitors. When they finally went on I had lost interest. Their Glass Candy schtick is fun a couple of times, but it felt like the night was starting to drag on.

Blank Dogs seemed to have similar sound issues but were at least captivating enough for their entire set. The keyboardist had some fun with some dolt who kept requesting a birthday ‘shout-out’; while his theremin-like, motion-sensor antennae thing mounted to a box of red and yellow wires made for a visually entertaining side show as the lead guitarist just kind of moped around. That is until the Ballantyne’s starting flowing. They all seemed to loosen up and fell into some long, feedback jams before each dark, dancey, no-wave tune. Then it all sort of fell apart at the right time. And the kids kept dancing anyways. And the kids are alright.