CMJ's Hottest Bands: 10 Buzz-Worthy Breakouts

Tobacco
When he's not fronting the day-glo psychedelic group Black Moth Super Rainbow, Tom Fec (a.k.a. Tobacco) turns out highly tuneful, vocodor-heavy synth-rock jams with titles like "Yum Yum Cult" and "Pink Goo." True, the super-groovy bong-water vibe is very similar to Black Moth's tunes, but when the stuff this jaw-droppingly great, more is definitely better. KEVIN O'DONNELL

Trash Talk
Playing three shows at three venues in one night, Sacramento punk powerhouse Trash Talk lived up to the short, fast and intense spirit that of their debut album — a self-titled blink-and-you-miss-it blur fueled by early, spazzy Black Flag and later, sludgy Black Flag. At the first show at Brooklyn's Europa, lead singer Lee Spielman gave his all, flailing around in the audience, doing somersaults and generally egging on the 50-or-so kids diving on each other's shoulders. On whether they could actually pull off doing three shows in one night, Spielman said, "I?ll probably be dead. There's drink tickets at all these shows." CHRISTOPHER R. WEINGARTEN

The Coathangers
Playing an unauthorized CMJ show in muggy Brooklyn independent venue Death By Audio on Tuesday night, Atlanta's four-girl dance monster Coathangers got a mix of dancing and awed stares for their unhinged party music — a high-energy mix of no wave and frat-rock. Their short set drew mostly dancing and awed stares, a non-stop barrage of three-part screams, random swears, splintering tambourines and keyboard player Bebe Coathanger, who upped the energy by violently mashing her hands into her instrument. Their second record is due on Suicide Squeeze in April. CRW