New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
Dead End Social Club Records has announced the release of the debut LP by Olympia, WA indie infused punk band Happy Noose. Happy Noose is a trio of friends that came together after having played in many other bands spanning several decades in Olympia, WA. "Their music is straightforward enough: good-time, plangent, dirty pop… music aches with desire… Morose, yet joyful. Fumbling, unsure but with a real swaggering gait."
-Everett True-
Philly/New Jersey indie rock/pop outfit Young Statues signed to Boston’s Run For Cover Records, and will release their self-titled debut full-length album on November 8. The band is led by songwriter/vocalist Carmen Cirignano, and just premiered a new song from their upcoming release called “Pretty Girls Make Raves,” which is available for streaming via Alternative Press.
Rin Tin Tiger brought down the house at this years Noise Pop fest opening for Max Bemis of Say Anything at the Bottom of the Hill, and from Seattle Washington to Dallas Texas they continue to captivate audiences with their unforgettably energetic and upbeat folk-pop. Check them out live at The Depot (Cesar Chavez Student Center, SFSU) on Thursday September 1st – it’s a free show! – (as posted in The Deli’s SF Open Blog – post your band’s blogs, videos, and Mp3s here).
It may be a bit of a misnomer to relegate Sleeping Bags as shoegaze revivalists. Though their guitars slightly touch on some distortion, the trio are more keen on executing shrouded, but nonethelss emotive, choruses than clouding their compisitions with melodic fuzz. Their debut single, Park, spurred a rhythmic dose of expansive textures that echoed the shimmering riffage of British alternative groups such as Adorable and Catherine Wheel. Proving there’s more than meets the eye, new single "Pehr" starts with a rollicking groove – throughout its seven minutes, a slathering of diffusive guitars bounce all over a recurring drum pattern that grasps and refuses to let go. This is a band that embraces spontaneity without discarding the importance of effects-laden embellishments – though the sessions for their self-titled debut were recorded in merely two evenings, they took the needed time to branch out the album’s poignant ambience. "Sleeping Bags" will be released on September 13 via Ester Everywhere.
Madina Lake has released the first video, "Hey Superstar", from their upcoming third full-length album, World War III, which will be released through Razor & Tie on September 13th.
The album, in part, documents the pain that bassist Matthew Leone went through last year after being severally beaten trying to intervene in a domestic violence incident. The album also features contribution from Billy Corgan.
Madina Lake will be performing at Metro on September 17th.
After one album, one EP, hundreds of show and one of those period most bands experience at one point or another when some "pieces" are lost and then some new one found, Big Tree is back with a new album, entitled "This New Year" and scheduled to be released in early October. Driven by Kaila McIntyre’s malleable vocals, the band plays electric alt-folk with frequent psych-rock-of-the-hippie-kind influences, and an occasional jazzy twist. Their music often conjures up images of free love, high nights at the beach, and – at times – those famously ineffective but nonetheless enthusiastic street demonstrations of the 60s. At least that’s what we hear in the advance single "This Fall", streaming here. Check out also the album title-track here, released as a single in March.
Download Mp3: Big Tree – "This Fall"
Toy Soldiers are gearing up for their big set this weekend at The WHYY Connections Fest where they’ll be opening for notable acts like hometown favorites Dr. Dog, Justin Townes Earle, and many others. It should be a great time plus it’s free and outdoors so hopefully Mother Nature will show Philly some love. Until then, Ron Gallo and crew wanted to share a little love with a free track titled “Love Ya Like I Love Ya” to get everyone in the mood.
This Labor Day weekend, the city of Los Angeles bids farewell to the long stretch of American music festivals with its very own on a major scale. Taking place at the Los Angeles Historic State Park, the 8th annual FYF Fest (formerly known as Fuck Yeah Fest) will host a cusp of higher profile independent artists that will include the likes of headliners Broken Social Scene, Explosions in the Sky, and the recently reunited Death from Above 1979. But one of the festival’s pleasant surprises is the inclusion of Hermosa Beach’s very own The Descendents, whose self-deprecating punk anthems continue to influence a brethren of younger hardcore and pop punk bands. Other hotly-tipped L.A. artists in the bill include: No Age, Avi Buffalo, Off!, Nosaj Thing, and Cass Mc Combs, alongside others. Though FYF prides itself with infantile whimsy (the stages are named after each Ninja Turtle), its strong lineup proves that is is seriously committed to deliver an experience on par with other top tier festivals. The festival website also features a list of local record stores where you’ll be able to purshase admission.
Saturn Never Sleeps, the chilled-out new project from King Britt and Rucyl, will be having a album release party at Silk City tonight to celebrate their debut full-length Yesterday’s Machine. The two have teamed up to make an album that combines downtempo beats with dreamy atmospherics and silky smooth vocals creating just the right mood for making patient, passionate love all night long or being immersed in endless evenings contemplating the love that you have lost. Either way – it’s packed full of emotion. The veteran producer has also promised many special guest which already includes his favorite dubstep producer Starkey and local Deli favorite Lushlife. Yesterday’s Machine is still available for free download HERE so grab your copy now if you haven’t already. It will also be released on 10” vinyl soon. Silk City, 435 Spring Garden St., $5 – $8, 21+ – H.M. Kauffman
Saturn Never Sleeps – "Tomorrow is a Rumor" from Michael Todd
Maybe it’s my growing but futile desire to ignore summer’s celerity that is making me feel more and more like autumn is looking over my shoulder. Or it might have to do with Three Thousand Days, progressive-folk band Mercies’ debut LP. After listening to this album I realized it has all the elements to score Autumn’s blossom: a warm airy ambiance that peaks and collapses through their own brand of haunting harmonies and natural sounding guitar work. Their capricious sound creates moments of melancholy followed by stretches of bittersweet clarity as Mercies poses thought-provoking questions and emotions that leaves the listener feeling like the leaves should be turning colors any minute.
Three Thousand Days is an artistic expression of change, transition, and ends. It reveals a period of time in my life and the emotions born from it," said Josh Rheault, former member of the band The Dear Hunter, an indie prog-rock band from Providence, Rhode Island. The meaningful yet pleasingly ambiguous lyrics are complemented by a clash of folk, and the textual spacey, and at times heavy, guitar work that made The Dear Hunter such a big success in their respective scene. Clashing folk with modern progressive rock is a recipe for disaster but tracks such as the four and half minute Roads, prove that it can be done and done well. For the first half, Josh and the other half of Mercies, Sammy Dent, belt out pure emotion as a precursor to a two-minute instrumental outro that grooves, wails, and entrances.
With such a unique and pleasurably clashing sound, this album is sure to propel these guys into a scene they’ll have to fight to win over. However, that is the greatest part about finding an upcoming band like this. I’ll be cheering for these guys every step of the way, and after a good listen you’ll understand why. If you’re in the NYC area on August 31st, make sure to head out to Union Pool in Brooklyn to see Mercies play live! – Michael Giordano
Here’s another selection of NYC based artists who submitted their music to The Deli through our awesome "digital submission" page.
The Wiskey Collection is quintet of chilled bluegrassers formed in the spring of 2010 after meeting at the Julliard School they all attended. The band soon released its first eponymous EP, which reveals a love affair with country music through the lyrics and voice of front-man, Cameron Scoggins. A controlled fiddle fills the spaces tastefully, while simple percussion elements coming from the cajon and various other percussions create delicate texture that suits these gentle songs. One track, "Lazy Jim", shows some spunk when Scoggins breaks into a quasi-rap together the only female in the group, Corey Gerstenfeld, who also plays the (unmissable) ukulele. The Whiskey Collection are set to sample songs off of their upcoming full-length album when they play Rockwood Music Hall on September 9.
Jesse Brickel freelances as a drummer and percussionist, but as his solo project, Young Yeller, he shows that he can do (much) more than keep the beat. Front and center, behind the mic, his dulcet voice blends perfectly with the dreamy dance electro-pop he concocts. The intro to "Make Me" is an aural adventure filled with everything from solid drumming to groove-inducing guitar playing, and the rest of the song proves to be a great atmospheric dance track. This along with his other more mellow song, "It’s Enough", are available to download for free on his website . As for the rest of the his debut EP, "Make Me," Young Yeller will release the whole enchilada during the first week of September. – Abigail P. Devora
