All the videos I had watched of Ava Luna, or any of their songs I had listened to up until this point barely do them justice. Their show at Mercury Lounge Friday night made everything else pale in comparison. They have a whole batch of new songs on their Ice Level LP due out February 28^th, and the band has really hit their groove in every way. Their songs are the result of the Brooklyn-based sextet’s six grooves aligning into one stream of consciousness, with occasional deja-vu. They know how to slip from smooth groove into a new-wave soul storm, with tension-filled girl group harmonies provided by Rebecca Kauffman and Felicia Douglass, next to lead singer Carlos Hernandez’s Al Green meets Prince vocals.

Hernandez, in particular, busted out the moves. On a few songs he played guitar, then he would set the guitar down and dance bending forwards and backwards while singing turned toward audience and pounding sideways on a synth. He was at his best, however, when he ripped the mic off the stand and held it close to his face while squeezing his eyes shut and letting everything he had come right through his whole being. Nathan Tompkins was on main synth duties, sometimes providing an extra layer of melody with the vocals, other times side-winding his own melody line of electronic distortion. They played a few old songs, but most were off of Ice Level, the biggest highlight of which is the single “Wrenning Day.” Drummer Julian Fader and bassist Ethan Bassford really hold this one down, with the kind of rhythm that just doesn’t let go.

On stage right before Ava Luna was Celestial Shore, who had all kinds of math rock polyrhythms up their sleeves. This was body jerkin’ music. Drummer Max Almario hit his kit hard – two of his cymbals had clearly already withstood a major beating, as they were pretty broken; but not broken enough to not still function. He pounded them so hard that one of the cymbals kept flying off its stand. Singer/guitarist Sam Owens and bassist Greg Albert traded some higher pitched boy harmonies a la Beach Boys. These were another really fun band to watch.

Always a shining beacon of modern slackerdom, Darlings played a set of garage songs that got a bunch of the kids in the crowd dancing. They ended on single “Big Girl,” from their Warma EP, which is always a hit, but they have some new songs they’ve been rolling out. “Sit On It” was another 90s throwback-sounding jam that caught my attention.

Multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Cindy Lou Gooden opened the whole night. She also had a very 90s style, drawing from the best aspects of the 90s – mostly in the lo-fi alternative rock realm. Her vocals were at times reminiscent of The Cranberries’ Dolores O’Riordan, with lyrical sensibilities of early Rilo Kiley. She noodled around on bass and fingerpicked an electric guitar, and her drummer lent a jazzy “Rebirth of Slick” vibe for percussion. It’s artists like her that make getting to shows on the earlier side worth it, for the pleasant surprise of very fresh music.

Ava Luna are playing SXSW among other dates, and their brand new LP Ice Level will be out February 28^th, so keep an eye out. It’s also streaming in its entirety on Spin. Celestial Shore has two more dates this month in Brooklyn, at Cameo and Don Pedro. Darlings have no more shows listed for the time being, but there’s always Twitter. Cindy Lou Gooden is playing select shows around New York in the coming months, and has a bunch of tunes on Bandcamp.