There probably isn’t a better moniker than Keepaway for this Brooklyn band on the rise – their music bounces with a childish delight, addicting in the way of their namesake game, somehow both sadistic and good-natured. The three-piece uses samples, synth, guitar, driving percussion, and howling harmony to create their tunes. There’s plenty of blog buzz for their track "Yellow Wings," a simultaneously dark and infectious rocker garnering a 9/10 by perennial tastemaker Pitchfork. But besides this, they’ve gotten minimal press; comparisons to Animal Collective and Isaac Brock abound in blogs, but the truth is they stand on their own. They’re about to release an EP called Baby Style on Lefse Records, paired with a show celebrating the record at Mercury Lounge May 18th. But sooner than that, they are playing to a sold-out audience at Music Hall of Williamsburg with The Whitest Boy Alive on April 21. I saw the band at Zebulon recently and their live show throttles the viewer in the amount of fun these guys have. To put it simply, they’re about to be huge. – Dale W. Eisinger

We continue our "Best of NYC Countdown", covering every day one of the artists that made our Year End Best of NYC list here (a chart compiled by a jury comprised of local bloggers, music writers, promoters, record sotre personnel and DJs). Many of the bands in this list will play The Deli’s Best of NYC Fest in Williamsburg in May (6 shows in 3 different venues between the 13 and the 15).

This keyboard happy quartet, does feature the occasional vocal, but what they really excel at is pumping out the keyboard jams a la french disco outfit Monocle. In November 2009 they got together to play their 1st ever show at Ash’s Place in November of last year. Turns out Ash was a nice guy who treated them well so Jacques Detergent decided to stick around and play some more shows for brooklyn crowds. They’ve graced the stage at Death by Audio and have also filled the basement room of Secret Project Robot with their elegant bouncy pop. In the meantime they’ve been hanging out at the MET checking out the Egyptian art and warming up at their dreidel spinning hands at Chanukah parties throughout the recent holidays. As they keep practicing for their next gig in 2010, they ‘ll be eating potato chips while watching My Beautiful Laundrette.

Chosen for the "Top Six" in Billboard Magazine’s Indie World Series and opening a show for rock legend Ben Folds in the same year, Chris Merrit is a stand-out performer, having played hundreds of shows across the U.S. and Japan. His music blends the sounds of piano-driven rock, pop, rhythm and blues with personal stories of love-at-first-sight, his best friend’s sister, and being homesick to physics, corrupt governments and Miss Pacman. With plenty of wit and humor that’s distinctively his own, Merritt’s "voice and delivery draw you in to find out what happens next." – The Washington Post. Catch him tickling the ivories at The Sullivan Hall on 04.15 and at The Bitter End on Thursday, June 3rd at 9pm, with NYC piano pop songstress Shannon Corey. – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here).