Chicago natives, Brooklyn-based, modestly named Pretty Good Dance Moves are more than pretty good music makers. Their self titled album, rather than recreating, reinterprets the electronic dance music of the 80s in a way that’s personal, quirky and compelling at once. Lead vocalist, Jimmy Giannopoulos and multi-instrumentalist, Aaron Allieta created a 6- track EP that fuses the fun of Disco with Javelin’s playfulness, sporadically venturing into loungy territories reminiscent of extinguished UK duo Lamb. Collaborations with Heather Christian on 600 Days and Angelina Lucero on Sample Your Body add variety to the band’s sound and leave us nostalgic for Of Montreal’s first albums. The band is playing free shows every Thursday of July at Pianos at 12 am – be there! – Madison Silver.

Rock’n’Roll basterds Raccoon Fighter blew us away at our recent Deli/Northside show at Spike Hill. These guys’ punchy tunes are delivered live with lethal precision and dangerous power. The band just release the 7" Butcherette (stream it here), including the single "Dear Big City" – check it out in the video below. But what you really want to see is Raccoon Fighter live with Locksley at Brooklyn Bowl on July 13 (tonight).

Grooms received The Deli’s indie rock stamp of approval ages ago, when they were still called "Muggabears". But what we are happy to report today is that this is a band that, throughout the years, has been able to grow musically like few others. Coming from a "Pavement influenced" background, Grooms have developed in a more personal direction through the years – the tracks on the album "Prom" (released today on Kanine )showcase a band that has found a very personal balance between sonic experimentation and songwriting values. The group possesses an edgy sound that combines raw, often dissonant guitar parts, driving drum lines, and melodic but tense vocals for a terrific set of songs. Make sure to check out this album, and don’t miss their show in… Union Square (!?) on July 21.

Take two brothers from the U.K. with some serious swagger and a multi-instrumentalist femme fatale from Los Angeles, and you already have an interesting recipe. Add soaring melodies, catchy lyrics, and explosive live performances, and you have a band with serious potential. That’s pretty much the case with Nightmare and The Cat. Besides, Sam and Django Stewart are the sons of Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart and Bananarama’s Siobhan Fahey, so not only they have lived and breathed music since a very young age, but they also are pretty well connected in the business. They’ve recently wrapped up some talked about shows at SXSW, a residency at 3 Clubs, and a performance at Pamela Des Barres’ (author of “I‘m With The Band“) garden party in L.A. They’re in NYC at the moment, and I was lucky enough to hear about them just in time to catch their performance at Glasslands in Brooklyn.

From the moment Nightmare and The Cat hit the stage, saying “feel free to come closer”, the crowd was hanging on their every move. I immediately recognized the sex-charged dance moves of Django, and remembered the performances from his previous gigs with Django James and The Midnight Squires. But this was much different, more mature, more refined. Their music is a mixture of the upbeat sounds of Cold War Kids, the deep melodic vocals of Jeff Buckley, and the wailing guitars and attitude of The Pixies. After the encore(and we all know that an encore in Brooklyn is as hard to come by as the G train at night), kids were dancing onstage and it was one big party.

Nightmare and The Cat’s self-titled debut EP came out on July 12. Composed of 5 songs produced by Dan Burns (Surfer Blood, Andrew WK) and Glen Ballard (Alanis Morrisette, Dave Matthews Band), it’s the perfect mixture of youthful, danceable tracks, and spine-tingling harmonies that don’t miss a beat. There are 5 bonus live performance videos and some amazing album art from L.A.’s Gary Baseman as well, so pick it up! – Jenna Putnam