After all the worry and stress and hard work on behalf of JellyNYC, the increasingly misnamed Pool Parties returned to the Williamsburg Waterfront, Sunday, July 11th. While the weather was not one hundred percent cooperative, alternating light sprinkles and heavy humidity, the day was still pretty good, showing an evolution in the thought of the set up of the Waterfront.

This year, the biggest change is the facing of the stage. No longer is the stage near the water (removing the opportunity for some great photos of the artists and the New York city skyline), but rather nestled against some unfinished condos and a bar. We see the artists, the artists see us and the city.

Pictureplane was first up, providing a cross between blissful pop, dance standards, but shot through with darkness beneath the high-pitched vocals. He was providing music that was a bit dancier than the rest of the line up, though he had less people moving, which is always unfortunate to see. The rhythms were good, the loops and samples were classic and the tracks mostly flowed into another. He was at one point joined on stage by a blonde in a naked fat suit and a dancing open-faced sandwich. Though I was having a great time, I think it would have gone down a bit smoother if it had been a night show or if he’d performed in a club setting to a different audience, not one that seemed to be conserving its strength for the rest of the line up.

Fang Island was huge anthemic rock with five members on stage playing guitars, and sharing vocal duties seemingly equally. The songs were epic and really well crafted, with that kind of guitar sound that always makes me think of 1970s stadium rock but still very much a part of the indie pop rock world, in the degree of immediacy and accessibility. It’s unashamed unabashed feel good rock.

WHY? is live rock hip hop sounding more like Kenan Bell (who performed at a Pool Party last summer) meets Dashboard Confessional, with that middle-class bourgeoisie suburban experience. With lyrics like “I’m fucking cold like a DQ Blizzard,” I found it increasingly difficult to stay focused, though I found myself really enjoying the funk of the backing band. However, going back to listen to some of the tracks on their Myspace page allowed me to catch a glimpse of why this band had the largest audience reaction of the day. Ultimately though, it just wasn’t for me.

Xiu Xiu and Deerhoof combined to perform a weird bit of necro karaoke, playing Joy Division’s seminal classic Unknown Pleasures. I have a weird love-hate relationship with Joy Division in general, much preferring the output of New Order, but I can still see how Joy Division was important and how Ian Curtis was a great lyricist. So there’s no real attachment to the band in my mind, though covering an entire album stduck me as kind of like a Guinness World Record attempt. Even if it’s a horrible nightmare, it will be entertaining to watch. Thankfully it wasn’t.

Jamie’s voice was strong but sounded a bit hollow as he had a lyric book set up on a music stand, which thankfully he didn’t consult that often. He didn’t try to ape Ian Curtis’s distinct shuffle, instead forming his limbs into geometric shapes as though trying to intercept the transmissions from the land of the dead.

It wasn’t bad, but really it didn’t strike me as anything I needed to stay around for. Once I heard “She’s Lost Control,” I packed up and left having found several other pilgrims making the trek back to the L train.

Filed Under:
Electro Rock, Electronic, Genre, Hip Hop, Indie Rock, New York, New York Event Reviews, Rock