PopMatters CMJ 2015 Showcase: Autodrone + Dead Leaf Echo + Veda Rays + Magic Shoppe + Parlor Walls

Did you miss PopMatters first ever CMJ showcase at the Tender Trap in Brooklyn? If so, you can still learn about and check out music from the great bands we had on our slate. The event served as a record release party for Autodrone’s This Sea is Killing Me (which you can stream below) but before they took the stage, there were performances from Parlor Walls, Magic Shoppe, Dead Leaf Echo and Veda Rays. Be sure to click each band’s name below to visit their sites and hear their music or just revisit the event page on Facebook for posterity.

Parlor Walls

Parlor Walls are a NYC-based two piece band, a collaboration between Chris Mulligan on drums and keys and Alyse Lamb (also of EULA) on guitar, who released their first self-titled EP last year. Lamb and her band(s) are regulars on the New York scene and with Parlor Walls, she gets to explore her darker side.

Magic Shoppe

Magic Shoppe hail from Boston and they “deal out their classic, quintessential American reverb soaked garage rock” as Louder than War recently described them (after a different show). They have several releases out now that you can find on their Bandcamp page, so check them out. As the only non-NYC based band on the lineup, they were a welcome addition to the lineup.

Dead Leaf Echo

We recently premiered Dead Leaf Echo’s “Sunlesssoul” track and were fortunate to have them join us for our showcase as they recently finished a national tour and are preparing a follow-up to their 2013 album Thought and Language. But their track “Lemonheart” (below) is “a promising taste of the LP, all hazy swoon and a big chorus” according to BrooklynVegan. As a hometown act, we heard, welcomed and encouraged all the buzz about their performance.

Veda Rays

Veda Rays are a Brooklyn-based alt-rock four piece whose noirish style is “informed by 60’s mod, 70’s glam and 80’s post-punk” (from their bio) and guides their music into an atmospheric strata fitting well with the venue. The band has grown from a duo in 2011 and now includes PopMatters’ writer Maria Schurr on keyboards. One of their two singles, “Wait for Teeth to Show It”, “is an extremely well written, performed and produced song” as noted by Deli Mag is below for you to stream.

Autodrone

Autodrone was the final NYC based band on the schedule and this was their record release show so, despite the late hour, their fans had to be there. From their bio, “they combine songwriting that draws upon the five members’ psychological damage, morbid interests, and broken hearts with influences drawn equally from 70s psych rock, 80s post-punk, and 90s shoegaze. From this miasma, they have forged a sound which is uniquely their own.” Their new album This Sea is Killing Me is out now and you can stream it below.