At last Friday’s rock show at Eclectic, three scrappy young bands from far-reaching corners of the globe were brought together and somehow made musical friends. The first of the three, the University’s the Last Minutes, warmed up the crowd nicely with jumpy, nervous funk rhythms.

South Africa’s Blk Jks took the stage next with some kind words for us. “We’re Blk Jks,” said vocalist and guitarist Lindani Buthelezi. “We came here because we hear you’re all very well-read here at Wesleyan.”
Everyone had been jumping to the Last Minutes, and Blk Jks delivered similar pleasures, albeit with more darkness, intensity…and saxophones. Although their songs bled beautifully into each other, I was somewhat jarred by their faithful but slightly clunky rendition of “Lakeside.” Perhaps their most oft-heard single, this song features a howling, harmonizing TV On the Radio-style verse interspersed with an agitated gumboots chorus. All in all, however, the Last Minutes and Blk Jks made a great coupling.
It was Staten Island’s Cymbals Eat Guitars, however, that ruled the night. Their songs were heavier, slower-paced, and not as danceable, but this did not keep the crowd from moshing as soon as the band launched into the violent vocal-drum-fuzz guitar trinity that introduced their opening song, “And the Hazy Sea.”
The sight of the extreme movements of front-man Joe Ferocious’s mouth seemed to give even greater force to the Lennonesque siren tones that kick off the song, but no one really seemed to notice, being too busy slam-dancing and throwing one another around. Perhaps in deference to their location (or maybe just the order on their album, “Why There Are Mountains”), they selected “Some Trees (Merritt Moon)” for their next song, and the rough merriment continued into the night.