From JPs report of Day 4 of the CMJ Music Marathon 2014: "After almost four days of running, and watching live music standing, I actually got to sit down to watch Johnnie Lee Jordan & the Boys‘ set, which was a crazy new concept for me (and almost felt like cheating). I surprisingly had a little time before they went on, so I shut my eyes and nodded off for a quick minute. I awoke to the first distorted licks to a cool, heavy Southern blues style of rock you would never have expected to come out of LI. Having grown up there, I know the vast majority of the Long Island music scene consists of metal bands, emo bands, and alternative weirdo bands. Not this. It started a little slow and heavy, almost desperate. Then it was like a flick switched, and I wasn’t drowsy anymore. What ensued was a most excellent modern variation of old school rockabilly and blues rock that made me question which state, and perhaps which decade I lived in. It was during their third song—a very slowed down, handsome sounding beat — that I thought to myself, “why aren’t there more bands doing this?” Honest love songs rocked gently, and sometimes not so gently, to their ladies of dedication, whoever they may be.

Gowanus, Brooklyn’s local punk rockers EndAnd (a band we booked for on of our CMJ shows two years ago) have been embracing the NYHC punk sound since 2011 while giving it a softer, more melodic edge – somewhat reminiscent of Nightbirds. The trio’s sound is defined by Daniel Fern’s incredibly thick and raw distorted guitar and  by his powerful pipes. They’ve just released a 6-track EP entitled "Fun Times with Shitty People" that was recorded in just 7 hours to really give it that live, underproduced, fuzzy punk-rock feel – but boy, it’s so tight and explosive you wouldn’t think so. The EP’s intro song ‘Art #1‘ is an unrelenting, tense sonic attack with interesting math moments and a chorus that’s borderline grunge, while second track "Choked On Beer" (streaming) follows a more standard (and fun) punk rock script.  The band currently doesn’t have any tour dates scheduled, but after coming off a recent performance at Skate Brooklyn Skate Shop on 10.4, some are likely to emerge so stay tuned! -Michael Haskoor (@Tweetskoor)

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

I repeatedly struggle to find exactly the right words to describe Blow Up Hollywood, a New York-based rock band with over twelve years of music making under their belt. Emerging in 2002 with a self-titled debut release, they’ve since proven to be unrestricted by genre, their listeners, and the pressures of the music industry. While they admit to finding the business a bit corrupt (as their name suggests), they continue to create in spite of it, equipped with a special kind of persistence that has helped them build a loyal fan base over the years. The band offers Steve Messina’s raw, uninhibited vocals atop sophisticated instrumentals, with each album taking shape entirely independent of the others. – Read Jillian Dooley’s interview with Blow Up Hollywood.