“Pickwick Average” is the first sampling offered from grungy punk quartet Loose Tooth’s upcoming debut LP Easy Easy East, which will be released on April 21 via Fleeting Youth. With a downhill tumbling percussion start, the song settles in a jogging balance of agitation. Then, there’s a shift, as the track instrumentally unpacks stretching out through its conclusion.
NYC
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Brooklyn psych rockers Shana Falana announce debut LP and tour + play Shea Stadium on 04.04
Shana Falana have been a part of the Brooklyn dream-pop fabric for a while now. Evolving and perfecting a uniquely nuanced sound through constant touring and single releases, the band is now ready to release their debut album “Set Your Lightning Fire Free” on April 7 via Team Love Records. Recording at Woodstock’s Isokon Studios with producer Dan Goodwin, core members Shana Falan (vox, gtrs, keys) and Mike Amari (drums) enhanced the group’s sound with Jane Scarpantoni on cellos and Matthew Cullen on sitar. Debut single “Heavenstay” (streaming) hit all the right sensory marks for a classic dreamy escape. In it, Shana’s vocals are more suggested than literal, as they soar over deep guitar notes and tom tom heavy drums. Brand new single "Go" (premiered today through the Village Voice) raises the energy level with a harder charging drum pattern, while chiming guitar textures evoke the original psychedelic sound of 60’s trailblazers The Byrds classic track “Eight Miles High.” The band will embark on a two month tour beginning next month, and play Brooklyn’s Shea Stadium on April 4. – Dave Cromwell
We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best psych songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!
New England
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Rebuilder To Release Debut Album on 4/3 at O’Brien’s, presented by Bishop and Rook
Boston pop-punk rockers Rebuilder will be releasing their debut album, Rock & Roll in America, on April 3 at O’Brien’s Pub in Allston, MA. Local punks Choke Up and Bundles will be joining-in on the raucous fun, along with solo artist/effects loop-maker extraordinaire Sun Dog. DJ Mateo Williams (WMBR’s Late Risers Club) will supply some tunes in between sets to save you from having to awkwardly interact with fellow concertgoers while the bands set up. Oh, and did I mention the festivities will be brought to you by our pals over at Bishop and Rook? Well, now you know; and knowing is half the battle.
If you’re curious about what the new Rebuilder material sounds like, you can stream “The National Bohemian”, the first track off of Rock & Roll in America, here.
For more info about the album release show, click here. For more info on Rebuilder, visit their Facebook page.
-Dan McMahon (@dmcmhn)
NYC
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Paperwhite returns from SXSW to play Baby’s All Right tonight (03.25)
It’s getting there folks, our patience will soon be rewarded by a sun that’s actually warm and a breeze that’s actually enjoyable! OK, we aren’t there quite yet, but we’ll all have an opportunity to actually experience these summery feelings at Paperwhite‘s show tonight at Baby’s All Right. Sister and brother Katie and Ben Marshall (recently featured on Spin as one of the 22 bands to see at SXSW) create electronic pop that has the power to "emanate" summer (or something). Not the unbearably sticky NYC one by the way, but the sublime summers we remember as half dreams from our teen years. Play this, or single "Magic" (streaming below) and you’ll realize what we are talking about. Tonight they’ll be playing the Indie Shuffle showcase, sharing the stage with Maxo, Moon Bounce and Novelty Daughter.
Philadelphia
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Dead Tenors Live at Bourbon & Branch March 25
Tonight, Dead Tenors headline a showcase at Bourbon & Branch. The four-piece launch into folk-rock arrangements with adventurous trailing instrumentals befitting the traveling troubadour. A steady, heavy throb of bass coupled with dirt kicking drums set the stage for deep, gloomy vocals as guitar lines protectively dance around the perimeter before busting loose into an extended freedom jam. The big band psych experience of Impressionist, whose Kyle Press is celebrating a birthday, takes vocals and submerges them in a musical well of horns and strings, orchestrating a loose yet diverse spectrum of sound. The hypnotic electronic groove of Willow Talk sucks you in as Laura Fisher’s cool, enchanting vocals offer an air of calm. Bourbon & Branch, 705 N. 2nd St., 8pm, $7, 21+ (Photo by Ola Fasolaa) – Michael Colavita
Chicago
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Hidden Hospitals
Hidden Hospitals released their debut full-length album, Surface Tension, this week. The band hand released a series EP’s over the last few years, but really stepped it up on this effort.
You can help the band celebrate the release on April 3rd at Double Door with Mighty Fox, Common Shiner, and Soft Speaker.
Philadelphia
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New Music Video: “My Billie Jean” – Work Drugs
"A tribute to those that light up our worlds." "My Billie Jean" is the second single from Work Drugs‘ forthcoming LP Louisa, which is scheduled for release this summer. You can stream and download the track for free HERE, and check out the lyric music video that accompanies it below. The smooth-fi outfit will be headlining Johnny Brenda’s on Friday, April 25 with support from Tutlie and The Chairman Dances.
NYC
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Tei Shi releases new single “Go Slow”
Brooklyn electro pop muse Tei Shi released this new single just two hours ago, check it out!
NYC
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Cultfever opens for Mansionair at Baby’s All Right tonight
From their recorded material you may think of Brooklyn’s Cultfever as an electronic project, but the duo’s live sound is a lot more electric and "indie" sounding. The group released single "Gloria" (streaming) at the end of 2014 and will be performing tonight at Baby’s All Right (after a show at Mercury Lounge last night) supporting newest Glassnote signing Mansionair.
San Francisco
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Music Video Premiere: Lila Rose – World on Fire
Experimental art pop musician, Lila Rose has released a new music video for her single, World on Fire from her upcoming full length album, WE.ANIMALS.. World on Fire is an intense video showcasing distinct imagery that can be considered reminiscent, if not direct nods to ’90s music videos like R.E.M’s Losing My Religion and Nirvana’s Heart Shape Box. The main difference in World on Fire are the feminine archetypes replacing traditionally masculine images of Christian and pagan belief systems.
This video is intense and Rose exudes a Sinaed O’Connor-esque presence and reveals herself in different elemental environments – fire and water. We like booming and bold art music videos as much as any other music lover. Check out Lila Rose’s World on Fire and look out for her upcoming album, WE.ANIMALS. which is due out on April 14th.
Rose wrote a personal note about her video:
"For me, the song World on Fire was written from a deep love and care and tenderness I’ve always felt for the environment, for the Earth, for the Holiest of Holy Mothers- the one we, and all our beautiful animal creatures could not survive without.
The song for me starts as a communication to Our Mother (the Earth), but then turns into a conversation with our fellow animal human people about what we are doing to our planet (destroying it essentially). The idea was to take the darkness and intensity the song brings forth musically and lyrically, and transform it into a sweet and loving moment, which is to me, the whole point of the song. "Can we hold this softly, this lovingly"… can we hold the Earth in a good, kind, loving, and gentle way? That is my plea, that is my message here with this song.
The video for the new song, World On Fire was largely envisioned by Daniel Garcia, my collaborator in just about everything art related. He brought up the idea of shooting under water, because of course, our Earth is mostly made up of water, and so are we. The video is basically a collage of my envisioned symbology and imagery of the story we are telling from the beginning with a water filled world (symbolized by a boiling flask most appropriately), to a slowly evaporating heated environment, to a space void of water, and only filled with darkness and fire. The video shows the disconnect, and the connect which can be there in a more human sense, in order to demonstrate the message we are sharing about our planet, and if one wanted to get really literal about it: global warming. This was a wonderful, fun, but intense video to shoot- it’s really really hard to breath under water- I just couldn’t do it (imagine that)!"
L.A.
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Big Harp releases new single, preps full-length
After settling down and finding joy in a home and family, married duo Big Harp has released a new single offbeat from their past endeavors. In 2012, Stefanie Drootin-Senseney and Chris Senseney recorded a song and directed a video called “Everybody Pays” for the Showcasing Artists at SXSW. The newest single, “It’s A Shame”, is something much more charismatic and upbeat, a song for the era. Their indie-pop feel brings back guitar strums from the 60’s and 80’s, creating a hard-hitting, melodramatic power-pop single. The quick lead into the chorus amps up your adrenaline, to jump on tables and windmill whatever length hair you have and just let loose. It’s not very often that married couples (with kids) can find energy or time to have dinner together let alone release a full-length album. But later this year, Big Harp will be doing just that; the couple hosted two invite-only release parties held earlier this month to set their new album in motion. Stefanie and Chris Senseney, with help from Fat Possum Records and producer John Congleton, will be furthering the pattern of their unique, contemporary material for the new album later this year. – Kayla Hay
NYC
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Balancer unveils single “Waves Remain” from upcoming EP
If you feel like closing your eyes and escaping this never-ending cold, Brooklyn-via Colombia/Puerto Rico trio Balancer have got you covered, with their new single, titled “Waves Remain,” off their forthcoming EP. The track contains enough island dreaminess in the guitar reverb (and occasional tasteful tremolo) and moveable bop in the drums that it acts as a listening vacation. With its alternatively progressing and regressing rhythm, seamlessly flowing from a relatively weighty chorus into an upbeat pop-interlude, this track is not without its complexities, the vocal paving over the fluttering instrumentals with grounding power. While relatively somber in lyrics and how they are sung (with an opening line like “you know I cannot, cannot see the fun…”), however, the track is a beautifully fun getaway from, if anything, the norms of the Brooklyn indie scene. – JP Basileo