The great thing about the CMJ Music Marathon is, obviously, that so many good bands come to New York every October. Of course, much of the action is centered in Manhattan’s already-crowded Lower East Side. Thankfully, every year there are more and more shows in Brooklyn, where several great new venues have popped up over the last few years. But since the LES is still where most of the action is at, a lot of the Brooklyn shows tend to be less populated. This is a normally a good thing, as it was on Wednesday night at the Bell House (10/21/2009). which is just out of the way enough in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn to be an inconvenient (and, honestly, kind of scary if you’re walking alone) trek. But once there, attendees were treated to a night of mostly-British (Empire) rock, and pretty fine rock at that.

After sets ranging from adequate to impressive by New Zealand’s Surf City, North Carolina’s The Love Language, and the UK’s Let’s Wrestle, headliners Pete and the Pirates took the stage well after midnight in front of a moderately-sized but extremely enthusiastic crowd.  While Pete and the Pirates play mostly upbeat, brit-rock , singer/guitarist Tommy Sanders conveys a sort of melancholy onstage – both in his lyrics and his general demeanor – that keeps the whole affair from becoming too sweet. If the members of Interpol were slightly happier, or less pretentious, they might well sound like Pete and the Pirates.

The band tore through most of their one album, Little Death, as well as a few new songs slated for album #2.  While Little Death is a pretty nice record, performed live, the songs have just a little more kick, which is all you can really ask for out of a live show. There were many heads a-bobbin’. It should also be mentioned that despite the obvious talents of Sanders and guitarist Peter Hefferan, at times it seems like bassist Peter Cattermoul holds the whole thing together: not only does he play great bass-lines under fairly simple melodies, but he has some great rock and roll moves to match.

While the tunes of Pete and the Pirates are quite impressive overall, their song “Mr. Understanding” is a truly transcendent piece of music. It’s easily one of the best songs of the last two years, and is a nearly-perfect rock song: a simple yet insanely catchy guitar line, great harmonies, and a driving, steady beat build up a melodic tension that never fully pays off, which makes you want to hear the song over and over and over.  That song alone was worth the price of admission… and the trip to Middle of Nowhere, Brooklyn, NY.