Singer-songwriters are rarely inspired by punk themes and imagery. For Sizzy Rocket, she has all the love in the world, but channeled beneath her eyeliner, tattoo ink, leather jacket, and sexy grand piano, it can come out in some fairly unconventional ways. Whether singing odes to a crush (‘Jamie‘), or walking down memory Lane in ‘Sid and Nancy,’ Sizzy Rocket is about as devil-may-care as her latest EP ‘We do it for the Thrills’ would make her out to be. The pianist breathes more fire into her 88-key chords than most guitarists with twin Marshall stacks and a six string. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

We’ll take the opportunity given us by Northside to highlight a few emerging local artists we haven’t blogged about in some time – or not at all. Browsing through the list of bands playing tonight, we notice that NYC Kenrda Morris will be at Matchless with Aabaraki (pictured, song streaming below), two acts dedicated to bringing soul back to the heights it deserves (here’s an article about the Soul Revival in NYC by the way).

On the other side of the musical genres’ spectrum, noise masters Yvette will challenge (and probably destroy some) ears at Muchmore’s, headlining a bill of droney bands that includes Courtship Ritual (good name! streaming below), and electro experimenter Alan Watts.

Semi-French pop treat Slowdance (song streaming below) will play Public Assembly’s back room with two fully French bands (by the way, now that the main room is closed, Pub. Ass. is throwing shows in a pretty cool room upstairs). Spike Hill on the other hand will host three Brooklyn bands we covered inside out: ARMS, Conveyor and Miniboone, and one we never heard about: Chris Mills.

Grand Street’s mainstay dive Trash Bar will host loud garage New Jersey based outfit The Everymen and rising indie crooner Tyburn Saint, together with this weird NYC band called The Cowmen – what the heck is this, zombie-country? Some imaginative heads at work there!

285 Kent will surely have a packed show featuring Ava Luna, Twin Sister, Julian Lynch and other great bands from out of town, but these are artists on the verge of not being emerging anymore… Glasslands on the other hand has a DJ only night with some local stars behind the booth – but we don’t care about DJs…

“Fade to Grey” is an enticing chilled-out track being offered up for free by emerging dreampoppers Rohypnotise on their bandcamp page. A loose and jammy drum pattern rises up from the depths, with soft, dreamy vocals quickly entering the mix. The vocal phrasing and subsequent deliberate matched-stepped chord progression brings to mind the work that former Depreciation Guild and current Ice Choir creator Kurt Feldman does so well. There’s sophistication in the songwriting and recording here, with the initial pattern giving way to a much bigger central hook. With plenty of movement throughout the track, little sonic surprises like tambourines and keyboad lines appear at unexpected moments. The band is playing Drunken Piano’s Northside Fest show on 06.13 at Buffalo Snow together with other noteworhty NYC bands Railbirds and Gondola. – Dave Cromwell

For a woman that seemingly manages to pull any instrument conceivable from her body, Julia Easterlin gives you no room for missing much else from a band. But let me be clear. Julia is no mere band-in-the-box novelty act. Her music evokes an enlarged view of spirituality told through dualing rhythms, multi-layered vocal tracks, and a soul with the ability to make anyone a believer in the power of her huge voice and generous loop machines. Check out the song "Unison" below and her latest single in the video for Mavis Staples’ "Eyes on the Prize" here, and make yourself a believer too. This is seriously jaw-dropping stuff. Watch until the end!

Don’t miss Julia’s double date at Cameo on June 24 and 25. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best mellow songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!