This year’s CMJ Thursday night gambol started with the un-Googleable Party Baby, playing an early slot at Webster Hall.

The band lined up on stage like ducks at a shooting gallery, which turned out to be the ideal setup for the crowd to gawk at the powerhouse drummer, who slammed the drum kit like a WWE fighter. Party Baby’s songs are fiery and furious with swelling melodies – as if Japandroids listened to the entire Built to Spill discography. They are definitely a band to watch.

Then it was on to see the Big Moon, during the UK four-piece’s first foray into New York. Opening for them were the baby-faced the Jacques, who sound like the embodiment of the Who’s teenage wasteland but with faster riffs. While they were probably in kindergarten when the Libertines were tearing up the scene, they undoubtedly learned to play from their fake book.

The Big Moon have been making big waves in the UK with their guitar-driven pop songs. They did not disappoint in their live show. As the bass player and guitarist wandered the stage for minute jam sessions, lead singer and guitarist Juliette Jackson stared down the crowd while singing about love and break-ups and everything in between in a voice reminiscent of both Nico and Neko Case. They even did a cover of Madonna’s Beautiful Stranger, transforming it into a rock slog – in a good way. It was a beguiling and occasionally blistering mix that would appeal to fans of Palma Violets or St Vincent, or, to go back further, That Dog or Tsunami.

Starchild & the New Romantic, the musical moniker of 19-year old Bryndon Cook and his backing band, opened their show at Cameo Gallery with a cover of Terence Trent D’Arby’s Wishing Well. It was a bold opening salvo, but it perfectly summed up the band’s slinky, smooth R&B, delivered with an ironic smile. The silky synths and funk-infused beat made it clear that Starchild could easily fill the void while the world waits for new music from Solange, Blood Orange and, for those of us without Tidal subscriptions, even Prince.

When Palehound took the stage at Union Pool, singer-songwriter and guitarist Ellen Kempner noted: “The stage kind of looks like that album cover for that *NSYNC record, and it’s kind of like living a dream.”

It’s a dream she deserves, because Palehound have been hustling on the CMJ circuit since at least 2013 and are now back for a victory lap as their intimate, stripped-down version of 90s pop punk finally gets the attention it merits. If you don’t have their song Pet Carrot stuck in your head, you will soon.

On to Friday. If you were looking to pregame, there was no better soundtrack than Cardiknox. Lonnie Angle and Thomas Dutton filled Brooklyn Bowl with their glittering, skittering electro-pop, turning the normally staid space into a dance party with songs in the vein of bands like Chvrches and the Naked and Famous. If John Hughes were still making movies, Cardiknox would soundtrack the post-breakup scene where things are finally starting to look up.

CMJ is a music marathon, not a sprint, and when Car Seat Headrest (aka Will Toledo) took the stage at Rough Trade, it looked like he was in mile 47 of the race. He started the set lying flat on his back on the stage, with his microphone pointing down at his face.

Even in that ungainly position, he managed to play music that was more heartfelt, personal, and inspired than that of half the bands at the show, proving himself worthy of the all the buzz floating around him. Eventually gracing the audience with his upright presence, he broke a string on his guitar, shrugged it off and kept playing his well-crafted lo-fi songs while giving off an adorably rumpled vibe. When he stopped his backing band halfway through a song to play something else, it just added to his charm.

Shopping was on the list, but it turns out you needed an actual ticket for the show. Advanced planning is hard for a festival that consistently runs an hour behind schedule. Luckily Bandcamp doesn’t require an entrance fee.

There is no end to the number of adjectives you can attach to the band Porches (aka Aaron Maine). On record, Porches sound polished and driven, but live they transform into a frenzied 80s-inspired industrial electro-goth outfit, with Maine snarling into his microphone to whip the crowd into a frenzy.

When he growled into the microphone, “Listen to the music in China”, he may have meant that they could hear the driving beat all the way across the world. It was the perfect send-off to the night, with the thumping rhythm of the songs pulsing through the air all the way home.