Attending a weeklong music festival featuring more than 1,000 bands can be intimidating. Sometimes you’re torn between going to see artists you’re familiar with and the ones you have yet to discover. Going to a show of a band you’ve seen before is a safe bet, but venturing out to see someone new is exciting and can be quite rewarding if you end up liking them. During my time of discovery during CMJ this year, I found three bands I fell in love with and I’m sure will be heard from again.

MOTHXR It’s unwise to dismiss this band just because the lead singer is former Gossip Girl actor Penn Badgley. I showed up at their Marlin Room at Webster Hall show because of him, because I was intrigued to see if a band could be lead by a celeb. Turns out this one can. Badgley played it cool during the performance, but also seemed to play up his appeal to the ladies. Unsurprisingly, we all crowded around the microphone, where Badgley was crooning away to the group’s slow-burn funk songs. Badgley spent most of the show swaying his hips to the beat, and his movements really embodied their sound, cool, collected, raw and funky. They’ve only been playing together (and not even as an official band) for about a year, so I’m sure there’s much more to come. Song to listen to: "Easy"

Gossling OK, I admit I had actually heard of Gossling before I went to see her. Last year, I had meant to see her at the Australia showcase at The Delancey, but got there too late. So I was determined to see her this year, and was not disappointed when I did at Glasslands. In the last year, she’s put out an EP and a full-length album and honed her sound so that it's become a solid, electro-pop that you can’t help but to get into. There are few more fun things to listen to than Gossling’s Aussie accent as she’s crooning out in the new tracks. Song to listen to: "Wild Love"

Colony House This band I wasn’t expecting to like. As the boys ascended the stage, I figured it would be just another indie-pop band, looking like they had just stepped out of a frat house in California. Their music definitely has that carefree Cali vibe, but it’s so much more. It’s a great indie rock, perfectly produced and catchy as hell. They’re an incredibly fun, put-together high-energy band that gives you exactly what you want even though you didn’t know you wanted it. They had the packed crowd at Glasslands jumping and singing and buying into them completely, and it wasn’t difficult to see why. Song to listen to: "Silhouettes"

CMJ 2014 IN REVIEWBands to Watch