CMJ: Dent May

Dent May

Dent May is something of an anomaly at CMJ. For starters, he came all the way from Mississippi and he only played one show, on Wednesday night at Le Poisson Rouge. For another thing, he plays the ukulele — an instrument that, though it has had something of a resurgence recently, mostly because it is easy to pick up, is not quite on par with the handclap, or even the glockenspiel, in the realm of indie instrumentation. And he’s a crooner, with a mellifluous, retro vocal style that sometimes reaches to falsettos. His first album, “The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele,” is not due out until February 2009, but the show was fairly packed. (That Mr. May was playing in a showcase that included favorites like Excepter and Beach House probably helped.) Wearing a sweater and dorky glasses perched on the end of his nose, he and his band — which included a guitarist and a drummer — ran through about a 30-minute set of songs, many with a sense of humor, like “College Town Boy” (“He’s smoking reefer every day now/His tastes are awfully highbrow…I’m only hanging around here till grad school, he swore”). And the crowd was into it: one couple stood facing each other, hugging and swaying to the music, like they were at an old-timey school dance.

“The place they’re coming from, it’s so classic,” said Jesse Lee, the newly-appointed drummer for Gang Gang Dance, as he listened to Mr. May and his band from the back of the room. “Like Buddy Holly.” Maybe a touch of Jonathan Richman, too. (Like most musicians playing in CMJ, Mr. Lee doubted he’d have much time to see other bands; Gang Gang Dance still has one more show, on Friday. “We gotta practice,” he said.)

Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez, a Baltimore singer-songwriter who followed Mr. May, had a less attentive audience. He played in the round in the center of the room, and began his set with a worry: “The songs I’m going to play are going to be very quiet,” he said, “to my disadvantage.” True enough — his music, some accompanied by acoustic guitar, was melodic and gentle (paging fans of Fleet Foxes). But his attitude was pointed — by the third song he was going on a tirade about the loud drinkers at the bar. “Be less sensitive!” someone shouted. No such luck.