La Sera is the solo project of Vivian Girls’ Katy Goodman. The material in her sophomore record "Sees The Light" almost completely abandons the previous lo-fi psychedelic aesthetics, but still finds inspiration in the pop sound of the 50s and 60s, which permeated the artist’s output both in her band and previous solo effort. The record seems to thrive on slower tempo tracks like the opener "Love That’s Gone", and when the distorted guitars appear – like in "Please Be My Third Eye" and the Smitheque "Break My Heart" (streaming below) – they feature a sound that’s more Ween than The Jesus & Mary Chain. La Sera just premiered this double video for "Real Boy" and "Drive on," definitely two of the best tracks on the record. California based fans will be able to see Katy live at Mammoth Lakes, with Neon Indian.

NYC based three piece New Myths weave electronic dance elements with fuzzy psychedelic guitars, cinematic drumbeats, melodic strings, and haunting melody lines. This all female electro-dream-pop outfit is the project of drummer Rosie Glassman, bassist Marina Ross, and singer/guitarist Britney Boras (of Brit and the Cavalry fame). They went to grade school and jazz school together, and then found each other again, years later, in the NYC music scene. New Myths have released their debut self-titled EP on March 11. – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here). The Deli’s NYC Open Blog is powered by The Music Building.

Backwords is like the beginning of spring, a cool breeze blowing as blossoms that had been lying dormant finally begin to poke their heads above ground. Smooth and airy, with a small amount of grit, this band manages to be both catchy and buzzy without being overwhelmingly poppy or shoegazy (a difficult line to walk). Think The Microphones with a splash of Best Coast. And, like the beginning of spring, backwords is back. Fresh off sxsw, the band delivers their new CD "By the Neck" at an album release party at Glasslands on Monday, March 26^th. If you miss that, there are both Manhattan and Brooklyn shows in the future, so it looks like they’ll be sticking around for a while. Hopefully the same can be said for spring. – allison levin

Coming up on April 28, New York/Brooklyn’s The Split will hit Arlene’s Grocery with their pop meets beat meets garage rock sound. Exactly five months ago, the quartet released their self-titled album, which features laid back vocals, peppy drumbeats, and upbeat melodies. Album highlights are feel-good fun track, “Here Before We’re Gone,” punky “Tell Me What You Want,” and closer, bassy 60’s- esque jam, “Nobody But You.” Find The Split’s album on Bandcamp and finish off April with them at Arlene’s! – Meijin Bruttomesso