Last week, Cut Copy announced they would be playing a special show in New York City, following their final tour dates, at Le Poisson Rouge on Bleecker Street, which would act as a launch party for a collaboration between NPR Music and LA public radio station KCRW‘s show Metropolis, which is hosted by KCRW Music Director Jason Bentley. Bentley, a well-respected figure in EDM, originally launched the program in Los Angeles in the early 90′s, giving electronic dance music a home on radio. By teaming up with Bentley, NPR Music will offer a weekly program with special features, exclusive interviews and DJ mixes.

Cut Copy, just coming off tour dates supporting their latest album, Free Your Mind, was the perfect choice for this launch party, which was also a free show, in which fans had to join a contest and be picked to win a chance to join in the festivities.  Cut Copy embodies all that is fun dance music, while still being able to retain their indie cred. Their synthpop, new wave, indie sound gives way to one hell of a dance party, as was witnessed on this particular Tuesday night in New York City. With Metropolis‘ Bentley performing an opening set dance mixes, the crowd was raring to go by the time he introduced Cut Copy.

Opening with the title track off their latest effort, Cut Copy wasted no time getting things heated up and bodies shaking. With Free Your Mind, it appears the Whitford, Hoey, Scott, and Browning have no intentions on slowing down anytime soon. They have a penchant for writing songs that are easy to groove to, impossible to not sing-along to, and that very simply make you feel good. Case in point, “In Memory Capsule.” As the verse leads into the chorus, you can’t help but chanting the lyrics to the beautiful soundscape:

“Can you feel it
Can you feel it’s burning in our minds
Just believe it
Just believe in it once in your lifetime”

Then, once you reach that ethereal state, they hit you with one of their darker, edgier songs in “So Haunted.” With its heavy distortion and feedback, it’s unlike any other song by the band. In the live setting, Cut Copy is able to build upon the driving drum beat, and create a cacophony of sound that bursts at its seams as it peaks into the super melodic chorus. Whereas many Cut Copy songs are light and airy, with an obvious groove, “So Haunted” is a bit choppy, heavy, and diverges from the norm; it has a darkness to it that gives the title a certain effectiveness.

By the time the group went into “Hearts on Fire”, the room was one hot, and packed in mess….but raring to go. This was the point in the night where everything went into overdrive, and all sensibility was lost. People just started getting down, despite having little to no room to maneuver whatsoever. On record, Cut Copy is one of those band’s that translates extremely well on record, over a set of car speakers, blasting away and allowing you to forget about the traffic that you are sitting in. But live, this is a whole other beast. The soundscapes that Whitford and crew are able to create – obviously, with a little help from some pre-programmed sequencing (let’s be honest, there is a lot going on in their songs for 4 guys to put together) – as they allow songs to flesh themselves out a bit, makes the room feel electric.

As the set came to a close, new cuts “Let Me Show You Love” and “We Are Explorers” were introduced, and received plenty of adoration from a crowd that was eager for more. “Let Me Show You Love” is straight out of the 80′s, with a deep, slow, sexy, beat that makes your hips undulate from side to side. “We Are Explorers” made its second appearance of the day, as Cut Copy also performed the song on Jimmy Fallon earlier in the day. “Need You Now” off of 2011′s Zonoscope ended the set with its spacey, vaporous, synth goodness.

The new tracks off Free Your Mind are in the same vein as their previous work, but do build on what has already been established by this Australian quartet. Cut Copy is able to weave the new in and out of the older material quite congruously, as was witnessed most evidently during the encore. “Meet Me In A House Of Love” segued right into “Lights and Music,” which absolutely tore the roof off Le Poisson Rouge. This was the best part of the show, if only for the reason that after the traditional set, some people decided to leave the show, which was completely fine by those of us that stayed, as it gave us the dance space we had been looking for all night. It was all our gain, and most definitely their loss.

This was one of those shows that you won’t soon forget. Awesome band that can sell out much larger venues, in a small, dark, and packed club, with everyone in attendance having the time of their lives. And you would think on a random Tuesday night. But, what do you expect? It’s New York City; this is the norm.

– Chris Meyer

Cut Copy will return to New York’s Terminal 5 on March 22nd. Click here for more tour dates.

Setlist:
Free Your Mind, Where I’m Going ,In Memory Capsule ,So Haunted, Hearts on Fire, Take Me Over, Out There On The Ice, Let Me Show You Love, We Are Explorers, Need You Now

Encore:
Meet Me In A House Of Love – Free Your Mind>Lights & Music

“Meet Me In A House Of Love” and “Lights & Music”:

“Hearts on Fire”: