Ryan William Lynch of Dominant Legs

Were you overwhelmed by the volume of music at last week’s CMJ Music Marathon? So were we. CMJ crams a lifetime of listening into less than a week, with more than 1,000 bands at 75 New York venues, from no-names at small clubs to indie superstars like Phoenix at Madison Square Garden.

To help cut through the clutter, the FP staff chose 26 bands, one for each letter of the alphabet. This week, we’ll highlight one song from each those bands, from Appomatox to Zowie. In other words, CMJ from A to Z. By Friday, you’ll have 26 new songs to enjoy.

Appomattox (New York) – “Olympia Snowe”

Appomattox sounds like your local bar band; their dead-ahead rock music recalls the Rolling Stones with a hint of The Police. Named after the Virginia courthouse where Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant, Appomatox seems dedicated to more contemporary politics. “Equal Time” is a screed against the right wing establishment (“Let’s go and get Glen Beck/Sarah, Limbo and the Malkin-tent/Do ya think it stops in 2010?/You know that Murdoch gotta pay the rent”), while “Olympia Snowe” lambastes the Republican Senator from Maine.  Who knows? Maybe Appomatox will play a mid-term Election Night party?

Boy Crisis (Brooklyn) – “Dressed to Digress”

Last year, Pitchfork called Boy Crisis “the worst band in the world.” More accurately, they are a novelty act that both mocks and mimics the post-punk, post-disco music of the early 1980s. Their tongue in cheek sound combines the angst of The Cure, the pop-punk of The Clash, and the electronic warmth of retro bands like MGMT. Member Victor Vazquez is also a member of Das Racist, the masterminds behind the viral hit: “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.” Similarly, Boy Crisis embraces silliness, self awareness, and irony, with references to Back to the Future and Bruce Springsteen. They even have a song called “1981.” On “L’Homme,” they sing in French for comic effect, a gag used by everyone from Les Savvy Fav and Nous Non Plus, to Flight of the Conchords and Chromeo. In their video for “Dressed to Digress, the band appears in the bedroom of a starstruck teenage girl, a vintage MTV tableau, and sings: “Let me love you/like you’re the shit, girl.”

Cloud Nothings (Cleveland) – “Hey Cool Kid”

The brainchild of 19-year-old Dylan Baldi, Cloud Nothings also mine the sounds of the past. Depending on your age and tastes, their lo-fidelity, guitar-driven power pop  may remind you of the Velvet Underground, Weezer, or Surfer Blood.  In full retro fashion, the  “Hey Cool Kid” video offers a kitschy take on 1980′s teen movies.  On the heels of five shows at CMJ, Cloud Nothings is headed to Europe with opening slots for Veronica Falls and those faux Frenchies Les Savy Fav.

Dominant Legs (San Francisco) – “Young at Love and Life”

In an indie musical landscape so often ruled by irony, Dominant Legs wears its heart on its sleeve. “Young at Love and Life” features jangly guitar and bright synthesizer tones over which Ryan William Lynch sings with raspy earnestness: “I was feeling something good/As soon as you arrived.” Aw shucks.

Eternal Summers (Roanoke, Virginia) – “Pogo”

As their name suggests, Eternal Summers makes cheery surf pop.  Like many of FP’s favorite new bands, they are a male-female duo: Nicole Yun sings and plays guitar; Daniel Cundiff plays drums.  Everyone plays Beatles songs, but Eternal Summers is so old school that they cover “All I’ve Got to Do,” a minor number from the Fab Four’s first album. “Pogo,” the first single from their debut album Silver, is a singalong built around the  I-IV-V, i.e. the most famous chord progression in rock and roll. (Think: “Wild Thing,” or  “Louie Louie.”) The song last less than two minutes, but when winter strikes, you might play it on repeat as a way to remember summer.

Eternal Summers

Keith Meatto is co-editor of Frontier Psychiatrist. He recently reviewed albums by Glasser and GAYNGS and wrote the CMJ 2010 Band Name Awards.