CRX at Mercury Lounge

Nicholas Valensi was born in New York City, where at age five he began learning to play his father's guitars. As a teenager he and a few schoolmates formed a band that in 1998 would become the arena-headlining Strokes. Valensi also worked as a songwriter and session guitarist with Sia, Blondie, Regina Spektor, Kate Pierson and others. In 2013 in Los Angeles, California, Valensi founded a side-project, CRX, for which he is the singer, songwriter, lead guitarist and rhythm guitarist. CRX also includes Darian Zahedi (guitar, backing vocals), Jon Safley (bass) and Ralph Alexander (drums). The band released its second and most recent album, Peek, on August 23, 2019

Mercury Lounge can claim to have been the club that launched the Strokes to success, and Valensi tonight brought the program back to the start button by bringing his new band to that same stage as part of the venue's 25th anniversary slate of artists. The performance started a little after midnight, prompting Valensi several times to thank the fans for staying out late and noting that many old friends and even some parents of the band members were in the audience. CRX performed a set that mostly debuted live the songs from the band's new album, fleshing them out with the addition of touring keyboardist Brad Oberhofer. As Valensi sang, the Strokes' familiar formula of raging garage rock surfaced on most of the songs, while other songs showcased a calmer singer-songwriter-with-a-smoking-guitar. Angular guitar leads and riffs kept the music very indie and even somewhat experimental. CRX may not turn out to be the band that will make Valensi a star in his own right, but it is going to draw a considerable audience because if its unique indie twist on garage rock.