The Brixton Riot is the kind of good natured power pop that could only come out of my home state of New Jersey. Like the bands I used to see at Birch Hill back in the day, before it turned into a country club of sorts, Brixton Riot finds the heart in otherwise embarrassing experiences, tying together these experiences into relatable anthems so you don’t have to.

From ‘Hipster Turns 30,’ to ‘Strange Matter,’ singer Jerry Lardieri echoes his awkward journey into adulthood for all to hear. No matter if he prefers to ‘Keep It Like A Secret,’ as their album’s closing track implies with its peaks and valleys reminiscent of some of the Lemonheads’ best work. Check out the quartet’s debut full-length ‘Palace Amusements’ on their Soundcloud page and see them when they play at Maxwell’s (Hoboken, NJ) on August 25th. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

Night Creep is the seventh in a series of twelve songs that Brooklyn-based electro-pop band Rarechild began releasing each month via Dimension Arts at the start of 2012. From the first few seconds there’s definitely something creepy about it, that something being an eerie high-pitched synth melody that is just a little off, a little twisted, you’ve entered the haunted house, what next? Well, it all tunnels in, the synth parts get denser, that strange melody still subtly echoes in the back but by that time you’re already so familiar with the track and its big beat that you’re quite possibly dancing to it. Below, the video to Night Creep, directed by Steve Nolan and Eddie Costas; expect strobes, ghostly apparitions, and furry tails hanging out of little black shorts.

Rarechild’s next show will be at the Big Snow Buffalo Lodge on August 28th, with Treasure Teeth & Shad[]wB[]x.

Straight from Brooklyn’s DIY scene, Bad Credit No Credit marches onto the stage in a wave of cheerful provocation, combination of socio/political consciousness and a blatant lack of inhibitions. The groovy brass-based septet is fiercely led by its charismatic singer/sax player Carrie-Anne Murphy, who seemingly can sing but would much rather scream and roar her discontent, telling tales of alienation, misogyny and other delights to the sounds of punk-infused jazz and instrumental freakouts. Which is just fine, as it makes for a most convincing (and entertaining!) performance.

Having raised enough funds to ‘kickstart’ their debut album ‘The Whole Buffalo’, which has been in the making for the last two years and is now about to be released, BCNC left us a little treat for the road, dedicated to their generous donators: a cover of Joe Cocker’s popular take on ‘You’re So Beautiful To Me‘. They will be playing with Ancient Sky, Gross Relations and Turnip King on Friday (8.17) at Brooklyn’s Cameo Gallery.

WaMoo Papez in many ways represents both the old and new schools at once. His use of chopped up elements brings contemporary Brooklyn DJ’s like DJ/rupture into focus, but there’s a stateliness here that reminds me almost of RZA’s ability to pull hypnotic repetition together from minimal sources. And like RZA, Papez is known primarily as the producer behind a group of similarly named emcees: Warrior Monks.

The producer’s hypnotic adventures propel the listener through torrid explorations of hard-hitting bass drops projected under time-stretched vocal and string samples that become something entirely different when heard outside of an emcee’s verse. Papez’ new instrumental full-length ‘We Float’ finds you lost in the middle of some dream woods. ‘Golden Wishes’ and “Little Fish’ especially reach freakout territory; but all is held together by Papez’ knack for perfectly elastic beat flows. A deeply felt cluster of songs, it’s great to hear how well everything comes together in ‘We Float,’ even without an emcee there to lead the track. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)