The front room at Public Assembly will host 4 NYC bands more or less belonging to the "Alt Rock" genre that figured in our year end Best of NYC list or won on of our 2009 Artist of the Month Polls. The night will begin at 9 with Midnight Spin, the band that won our NYC Fans Poll. The Shake will follow with their youthful rock ‘n’ roll, catching riffs, and singable choruses. Cavalier Rose will bring some Southern twang and dark blues to the evening immediately after them with their strong live performance, while The Click Clack Boom – probably the most popular band on the bill, in the picture – will close the night delivering their epic and inventive tunes

I feel about Elk City exactly the same way I feel about UK’s Broadcast: both bands seem to awaken (and fulfill at once) some kind of repressed need that thirty-somethings like me rarely admit in public: the need of motherly wise advice and comfort. A wise motherly figure, after all, is a great commodity for anybody, in particular if she can sing well and looks pretty (I know, I know, we are getting into freudian-oedipian territory here, but dudes, this is DEEP stuff, and Oedipus’ mother was pretty, otherwise he wouldn’t have married her… by the way, i assume you know he didn’t know who she was).
This being said, I’m married and not interested in anything more than one or two platonic singing mothers, which I think everybody should have. But anyway, this is just to say that Elk City is a band that pretty much anybody can appreciate, and that they are releasing a new album on June 1. Check out the free track under here. – PDG

Definitely a great song – by NYC’s own White Rabbits.

Electro rock outfit Arpline have the ability to carve a very original electronic sound through an interesting use of arpeggiators – that’s probably why they managed to land a show opening for NY electronic goddesses School of Seven Bells on June 10 at The Mercury lounge. But you can catch these guys live earlier than that: they are opening for MILAGRES at the Bell House on the 13th of May and playing NYCTaper 3rd anniversary at Pianos on the 15th. The band’s upcoming debut LP (out this fall) is co-produced by Chris Coady (Beach House, Delorean, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV On The Radio, Grizzly Bear).

The NYC rock scene has a noble history of artists flirting with noise, and Zs are one of the most interesting local acts to worship the less pleasant side of the sonic universe. Rather than noise rock, which brings to mind droney guitar-generated sounds and feedback a la’ Sonic Youth, Zs’ music features a dominant percussive quality, that places them in "industrial" territory, and a lack of structure found in experimental or jazz music. The band has just released the new album "New Slaves" under Social Registry with a show at the Knit last night. Their next show will be at Issue Project Room on June 26 – don’t forget the earplugs!

We continue our "Best of NYC Countdown", covering every day one of the artists that made our Year End Best of NYC list (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).

With their eerie vocals (in French), ginormus buzzy synths and gritty electronic beats, Xeno and Oaklander somehow manage to make music that mixes teutonic industrial atmospheres, alternative electro-goth from the 80s, and the refined aura of the Nouvelle Vague (the film movement, not the band). French/Norwegian Liz Wendelbo sings accented melodies adding a dream-pop feel to their sound as Sean McBride’s low vocals dramatically waver. The duo uses bright chords and catchy dance beats and glitzy synthesizer sounds to create a fantastic, rainbow-colored discotheque in listeners’ minds. While upbeat and dancey, there is also a spooky, wispy quality to their curious tunes. Don’t mis their show at the Knit, within the Eye and Ear Fest, on May 23. – Lauren Piper