Combine the Ramones‰’ snot-nosed punk brattiness with MGMT‰’s vocal stylings and you get Dom. The quartet from Worchester, Massachusetts (this fact was constantly mentioned between songs), led by the charismatic Dom [no last name because he doesn‰’t want his creditors to know where he is] brashly tore through their sets with a raw intensity rarely matched at CMJ. In a world where every other act was an emotionless, noised-filled, “deep‰” band Dom burst in all gangly and awkward ready to blast away the audience with their sort of-stupid, sort of-clever, always-fun songs. In between sets Dom spouted out lines like “This song is called ‰Jesus‰’. Hail Satan!‰” in his nasally voice. Everything about it was so clichÌ© and wanna-be Guns ‰n‰’ Roses, but somehow the enthusiasm and the crowd made it work perfectly.

I was lucky enough to see Dom twice and would jump at the chance to see them again. Here‰’s one of their best, “Living in America,‰” a tongue-in-cheek jab at flag-waving cheese rock. Check it out!