When I last left Body Language, they were playing a showcase to about twelve people in a dark daytime bar in Austin, Texas. A couple of days earlier I had seen them for the first time, on day one of SXSW, and had been pleasantly surprised. The band had a smattering of interesting rhythms and a tendency for cutting loose in the best way possible. After seeing Body Language half a year later, I'm happy to find that they have built upon their best moments. Body Language's set at the Neon Gold/Chess Club showcase was a dark horse that turned into one of my favorite shows of CMJ.
The band owes much of its vivacious personality to its frontwoman. Angelica Bess is a force to be reckoned with, belting out big melodies and thumping her tambourine along in time. The band is more than just Bess, though, and Thursday's set drove that point home as the Body Language shook the stage. Matthew Young sings and synths, Grant Wheeler dances behind a keyboard, and Ian Chang punctures everything with stinging wood slap hand claps. Written down, it looks a bit like wonderful mayhem; it sounds that way too, and that's the beauty of it.
