Friday Night In Williamsburg: Male-Female Pairings, Baseball-Related Queries, And Joyous Looping

As New York problems go, this is not a bad one to have: there was so much good stuff going on Friday night that we wished we could clone ourselves. The Babies and Times New Viking at the Knitting Factory! Dum Dum Girls and Crocodiles at Glasslands! Some weird stuff with loops at Monster Island Basement! The solution: Hop between all three venues.

Debbie Allen

Co-fronted by Cassie Ramone of Vivian Girls and Kevin Morby of Woods, The Babies is a low-key collaboration between friends who already have a lot going on in their lives. Ramone can show off the side of herself that has nothing to do with Vivian Girls' punk-rock outbursts and girl-group theatrics—and as it turns out, that side loves Americana, not to mention occasionally showing off her high, pretty head voice. Morby, a member of the ultra-chill yet sunny folk band Woods, met her in the middle by rocking a bit harder than he's used to. When the two pals affectionately traded vocal lines on "Breakin' the Law," the Knitting Factory's sterile atmosphere dissipated, and the room felt like a campfire singalong. Debbie thinks The Babies would have been good listening while we were in high school, smoking joints in some rural basement. I concur.