Did Bayside 'win' this year's CMJ?

With the 30th edition of the CMJ Music Marathon winding up Saturday night, DJs won't be spinning at your favorite SoHo boutique in the middle of the day, hotel lobbies will be much quieter and basements will, once again, just be basements instead of sweaty party centers.

There was a lot of talk this year about "winning CMJ," the way much of the blogosphere declared the previously unknown Surfer Blood the champs of last year's festival.

"Everyone wants to find this year's Surfer Blood," Robert Haber, CMJ Network founder and chief executive, said before the five-day festival started.

No one - especially considering the struggles of the music industry and the downward slide of what being successful actually means - wants to consider the possibility that none of the 1,200-plus acts that passed through the area actually "won CMJ" this year. However, there isn't a consensus on a winner just yet.

Though they may not be the absolute "CMJ winners," here are some possibilities:

BAYSIDE STEPS UP Taking the Highline Ballroom stage Thursday night to the theme from "Rocky," longtime underdogs and regularly underappreciated Long Island rockers Bayside started the promotion for its upcoming "Killing Time" album with a high-energy bang.

With the new song "Already Gone," singer-guitarist Anthony Raneri and the band found a different gear, clearly revved-up by unveiling the aggressive rocker for one of the first times outside its Lindenhurst rehearsal space. It's catchy, but also powerful and in-your-face, a bold choice for the band's first single on its new label, Wind-Up Records.

THE DRUMS HAVE FUNThe Drums' Jonny Pierce declared his intentions early: "This is pop music - nothing more, nothing less."

He was right. Though the Brooklyn band isn't quite the sensation here that it is in England, the showcase at Webster Hall Wednesday night should help change that. It's hard not to smile at Pierce's exaggerated dancing and dramatic flourishes. That kind of non-ironic enthusiasm is in short supply - especially at industry-heavy events like CMJ - and it's infectious.

GREAT TERRIBLE THINGS Terrible Things' eponymous debut is a concept album about a series of fires in singer-guitarist Fred Mascherino's hometown of Coatesville, Pa., and looks at life in the struggling town, the reactions to the fires and even the possible motives of the arsonists. At its Gramercy Theatre showcase, though, they won the crowd over, not with the intricate story but the mix of rock and power-pop.