Vocalist Hannah Amdahl and guitarist Robert Kemp are living proof that road trips can lead to great things. The duo played music together in Florida under the name of Hannah and the Halfway House, when they decided to pack it up and make the trek to Seattle, listening to “Highway to Hell” upon crossing each state line. Once in Seattle, the pair connected with percussionist Alex Noble, bassist Michael Plotke, and engineer David Miner, forming a new indie pop sound in The Last Temptations.
There is something very sassy about the group’s six track Penny Dreadfuls. The record, heavy with witty lyrics, kicks off with “Trigger Finger”. The track immediately sucks the listener in with its straightforward rifts, addictive beat, and satisfying breakdowns. Hannah’s voice is sultry as she sings “I don’t want to possess you I just want to caress you sometimes.  I don’t want to control you, I just want to own you sometimes.”  The delicate strumming of guitar gives way to the clear and clever lyrics “I’m not a social butterfly, I’m barely a social sly”  in the moody “Police State”.  The tune features a few different change ups which makes for a tantalizing ride.  “Southern Charm” is also, well, charming. The drum intro grabs the audience’s attention and creates a build up as each instrument is layered on. The disc also features the somewhat beachy “Big Ben Butcher”, the gritty “Share Your Opinions” and the chill “Predatory Glances”.
The Last Tempations have created a brassy and enticing debut album in Penny Dreadfuls and will be following it up with a new single this July. Besides creating more tantalizing tracks, the group has the goal of rockin’ out to “Highway to Hell” in all 48 continental states.

– Kristen Ferreira

Formerly called The Goods, The Denzels, invigorated with the name change, are ready to kick ass and take names with their dangerously addictive music. The songs are absolutely pop at heart with endearing hooks and jangly guitars, but there’s an edge that makes them emanate a New York kind of cool. The music is by no means a daunting or pretentious hipness, as the tunes are astoundingly accessible with vintage elements from yesteryear; they cite The Smiths and ‘50s girl groups as influences while pulling in modern peers such as Deerhunter into the mix. The quintet sounds like a more punk-spiked, less distorted version of The Strokes – check out the band’s latest EP, "Easy Tiger," which is generously offered for free on Bandcamp. The five tracks are a clarified, upbeat amalgamation of pop and rock music from the ‘50s to the present day. – Read Nancy Chow’s interview with the band here. See The Denzels live at The Deli’s B.E.A.F.on May 25 at Spike Hill with The Can’t Tells, Big Ups and more.

Here’s an excerpt from the interviewed The Deli did with self described "Pop Cock Rock" NYC band Mother Feather (who placed at #78 in our latest Best of NYC Poll for Emerging Artists): "We could not be more excited to perform at the Nova Festival in the UK this July. To help support the trip, we will be releasing a live EP through our website that will only be available during the month of June. It will include some unreleased tracks as well as the Futures dance remix of “Mother Feather.” – Read Jen Margott full interview here. (photo by Steve Meyer)

Get off the plane, and you’ll find you’ve landed in an entirely new kind of space, occupied by polyrhythmic chants and otherworldly acoustic strumming. I like bands like this. Conveyor does that rare thing where an entirely unique world is sculpted from the abbreviated tendencies of cultures from all over the world. Their palette places FM drones beside zither strumming in ‘Mane’ (streaming below), and the sunny cheerfulness of 4 part harmonies on tracks like ‘mukraker.’ All of this takes place within the binding of their debut self-titled LP coming out July 17th off Paper Garden Records.

The party hasn’t ventured far from the band’s initial percolations in their ‘Sun Ray’ EP. Conveyor was already at home in their skin then. What’s amazing to me is that no matter how many bizarro instruments they pull into their mix, the sound is still entirely their own. So, once you do leave for your flight… you’ll find a very large country to explore.

Catch the band at their record release party at Mercury Lounge on June 28th. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)