NYC

Brooklyn singer/songwriter Keenan O’Meara plays Rockwood Music Hall on Sunday 5/24

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Over the past few months, Brooklyn-via-Maryland singer/songwriter Keenan O’Meara has released admittedly heavy but undeniably beautiful folk songs on his Soundcloud. The more recent track “Mania,” for example, has the Berklee-educated musician telling of pained lovers over a slowly involving mix of guitar curls and ominous background effects. “Might As Well Swim,” (streaming below), a nimble yet resolute guitar-based song that recalls Department of Eagles’ great ‘In Ear Park’ LP, is similarly striking in its imaginative lyrics and apparent subject (a troubled “child of privilege the world will never need”). Like a great tragedian, O’Meara offers the possibility of redemption with his harsh but gorgeously-rendered dramas. See him at Rockwood Music Hall this Sunday 5/24. – Zach Weg

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

NYC

Jerry Paper releases LP “Carousel” + plays Aviv tonight + tours Europe

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Lucas W. Nathan’s lyrical/avant-polka project, Jerry Paper, is taking off for a European tour this summer following the release of his latest, brilliant, rather Eno-esque record, “Carousel”. You can catch him in Brooklyn at Aviv tonight (May 22) and at Rough Trade on June 12. After entertaining the experimental music lovers of Berlin, Amsterdam, and Paris, he’ll come back to play a home show at Shea Stadium on 7/31. Don’t let the man’s upbeat quirky tunes confuse you—listen closely and many of these songs are stern critiques of society, police, and politics. They ask questions and point fingers. Despite his primarily cynical outlook, in the song “Doesn’t Matter/Take Me” the narrator experiences and analyzes beauty, determining that whether life came about by chance, mutation or invention, and despite its excess of problems, experience is meaningful: “if my inner life/ is just a silly mutation/ is it any less amazing, uh huh/ than if some dude in sky/ dreams us all from birth til’ we die/ all the love and the tears and the beauty/ all so a code can copy copy copy// i’m not saying i know shit/ about if the clown is real or all in my head/ all i am trying to say is life is beautiful either way/ from clown or DNA.” – Leora Mandel

Philadelphia

Weekend Warrior, May 22 – 25

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Come celebrate Motel Hell’s 5th Anniversary tonight and kick your Memorial Day Weekend into gear! APE! launches into gritty, blistering rock, loaded with searing guitar licks and trouble brooding backend that blasts through all adversaries. The Cloth conjures a gloomy, blood-dripping, sludgy, adrenaline-laced vibe, unforgivingly plowing forward demolishing any roadblocks with musical sledgehammers and never blinking with every swing. With their new LP You’ll Be Dirt scheduled for release on June 3, genre-exploring art-punk quartet Combine opens the festivities, shifting you into its unique, noisy domain. Texas/Conneticut-based Javier & Los Dish Dogs orchestrate bass-pumping rock that speeds along in a flash, while also capable of cruising in a loose funky manner. DIY is certainly alive and well in Philly! Motel Hell (Please contact one of the acts or Venue for more info.), 8pm, $5, All Ages – Michael Colavita
 
Other places to escape the chill this weekend…
 
Motel Hell (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SUN The Charley Few, Pushin’ it 2 the Limit, Lip Service
 
Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) FRI +HIRS+, SAT Philly Loves The Soulquarians: DJ Mike Nyce, MON The Buddy System
 
The Boot & Saddle (1131 S. Broad St.) FRI Johnny Showcase & The Mystic Ticket, Muscle Tough, SAT Cheap Dinosaurs, Chipocrite
 
Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.)  FRI Curly Castro, Carl Kavorkian/Assemble, The Fourth Line, Founders, SAT Dysphoria, SUN Mohican, Allora Mis/Shy Boyz, Wildflower, Audio Kings of the Third World
 
PhilaMOCA (531 N. 12th St.)FRI Philadelphia May Mayhem: Camp 4 Dreanged Kids, Corndog, Unit Theory, SAT On The Water(Album Release), Impressionist, Liz & The Lost Boys, SUN Phameless Records Fest: Corporate Hearts, Science Club, The Jantones
 
Underground Arts (1200 Callowhill St.) FRI Splintered Sunlight, SAT Stones Night : Brown Sugar, Dead Flowers
 
World Café Live (3025 Walnut St.) FRI (Upstairs) Jason Reed, (Downstairs) Cliff Hillis, SAT (Upstairs) Denison Witmer/(Downstairs) The Rent-A-Cops,, SUN (Upstairs) The Dukes of Destiny/(Downstairs) the HYPE!’s Show Me Your Soul Festival: Boy Wonder, Brothers & Sisters, Ben Tinsley, The Members Club, Chartel, E-Hos, Suzanne Sheer, Christopher Davis- Shannon, Santalina
 
The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) FRI Sundrop Music Fest: Atley Moon & The Say Something Sound Machine, Christopher Davis-Shannon, Mr. Unloved, SAT  Sundrop Music Fest: (2pm) I Yahn I Arkestra, The Binary Sea, Jacqueline Constance, Little Strike, Hunter’s Cannon, Sweet Briar Rose, Dirty Soap Blues Band, Slowey & Boats, Annachristie/Phameless Records Fest (5pm) Goddamnit, No Summer, Seeing Snakes, The Headies, The Mad Splatter, Mid Rats, Twin 55, Victory Boy, SUN Sundrop Music Fest (2pm) QQQ, Mumblr, Ganou, Bryant Vazquez & the Songs,  Elegant Animals, PHLGood, The Bull Bey, Fisthown Beats, A Day Without Love, Cicada Jade/( 7pm) Andrea Valle/(11pm) Fishtown Beats
 
MilkBoy Philly (1100 Chestnut St.)FRI Moonstriker, Something Like a Monument, The Stonewall Vessels, Howlish, SAT City Rain, QQQ
 
Bourbon and Branch (705 N. 2nd St.) FRI Alec Stewart, Man Illuminated, SAT Ron Gallo & Friends, SUN Sabriya, Jahwula, MON A Locomotive, Davey and the Chains
 
Ortlieb’s Lounge (847 N. 3rd St.) FRI The Sixties, Piranha, Collect Yourself, SAT YDI, GASH
 
North Star Bar (2639 Poplar St.) SAT The Iron Tree
 
Silk City (435 Spring Garden St.) SAT DJ Deejay, SUN (4pm) Brian Barker/(9pm) DJ Junior, DJ Lil’ Dave, Blaak The 9th Man, Fatnice
 
Tin Angel (20 S. 2nd St) FRI Matt Santry
 
Fergie’s (1214 Sansom St.) FRI Sparklepony, SUN Rusty Cadillac
 
The Legendary Dobbs (304 South St.) FRI Rivers, Mark Baker and The Barbreakers, Sara Spicer, Jim Mitchell & The Repeat Offenders, SAT The Stone Eye, Unit Theory, The Rowdies, Suburban Murder, The Way, Plague At A Funeral/Nadjah Nicole, Shari DuBois, T Kane, PHLGood, MON Edge of Divinity
 
Connie’s Ric Rac (1132 S. 9th St) FRI Cold Roses, Blakeslee, The Mellowells, SAT Bunny Savage & The Handymen, MON Moonlight Jazz with The Mystic Ticket
 
Morgan’s Pier (221 N. Columbus Boulevard) FRI DJ Beatstreet, SAT Mr. Sonny James, SUN (2pm) percussionist Josh Robinson /(9:30pm) DJ Royale
 
Frankie Bradley’s (1320 Chancellor St.)  FRI Franky’s Foxes
 
The Pharmacy (1300/02 S. 18th St.) MON Banned Books, Heavy Medical
Half Moon Lounge (4228 Lancaster Ave.) SAT Haldol, Latex, Teenage Chainsaw
 
Bamboo Bar (927 N. Delaware Ave.) Making Time RAD-B-Q
 
The Grape Room (105 Grape St) FRI The Funky T, Time Relapse, SAT Teresa Gero, JAHWULA
 
Ardmore Music Hall FRI The 9‘s, SAT Splintered Sunlight
 
LAVA Space (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT No Other, Girl Dog, Crime Hands, Westboro Baptist Choir
 
Skate Jawn Warehouse (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT Friendship, Abi Reimold, Roof Doctor
 
A House Named Virtue (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SUN Bad Canoes, The Whips
 
The Petting Zoo (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) FRI Dreambook, Jackie Paper
Philadelphia

+HIRS+ Opening for Melt-Banana at JB’s May 22

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Philly trans queer grindcore outfit +HIRS+ unleashes a fury of tenacity at an epic level. It’s hard, fast, uncompromising thrash that consumes one’s senses with the all out barrage of punches thrown so quickly that the opponent doesn’t stand a chance with what analysts define as “heavy hands,” shaking the earth with quaking percussion and primal vocal cries. Tonight, they’re the opening act for a sold-out show that also includes San Diego trio Hot Nerds, who create delightful, dance-generating, hyperactive yet slightly strange, noisy art rock that magnetizes. The turbo-charged experimental noise-rock of Japan’s Melt-Banana serves as the exclamation to an intense evening of music. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 9pm, $15 (Sold Out), 21+ – Michael Colavita

Philadelphia

Curly Castro & Carl Kavorkian Opening for Billy Woods & PremRock at KFN May 22

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Not headed down the shore this weekend? Philly is hosting plenty of shows that will make you want to stay in the city over the long Memorial Day Weekend. Start the holiday off right on Friday with Curly Castro and Carl Kavorkian, who are opening for progressive/alt hip-hop artists Bill Woods and PremRock at Kung Fu Necktie. Emcee/producer/DJ Carl Kavorkian will be kicking things off, so make sure to get there early! Since 2002, Kavorkian has shared numerous releases, including the cult favorite, Uglyass Music series ("ugly" because the tracks are rough mixes that were recorded on old formatting). Brooklyn native turned Philly rapper Curly Castro has been on the scene for the last decade, working with a group of talented local artists, dubbed the Wrecking Crew, as well as some NYC big hitters, like PremRock. On his debut label release, FIDEL (ManBitesDog), he seamlessly drops references to icons like W.E.B. Du Bois and hits on racism and segregation on tracks like, “Colored Water Fountain.” He also just self-released his latest LP Restroy & Debuild. These artists will all be touching on the big issues, so keep your ears open for some words of wisdom. Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., $10, 7pm, 21+ – Emily DiCicco

NYC

From the NYC music submissions: noise rock trio Boom Said Thunder

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A simmering dark menace pervades the latest release from Massachusetts ex-pats, now Brooklyn-based Boom Said Thunder, who’ve been active since the early ’10s. Their deep and heavy guitars share a similar sonic texture with fellow Brooklynites (and champions of the current noise rock scene) A Place To Bury Strangers. Most notably when their sound focuses primarily on the lower guitar strings. Those similarities end with female vocalist Abby Bickel, whose overall timbre is slightly reminiscent of Dolores O’Riordan of The Cranberries. The band’s two latest tracks, “Summer Twin” and “Carnivore” (streaming) were recorded at Converse Rubber Tracks, successfully merging a live-in-the-studio feel (frequent loose drum fills) with state-of-the-art sound quality. – Dave Cromwell

This artist submitted music for coverage here.

Toronto

Orphan Choir @ Horseshoe

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Oprhan Choir is a four piece grunge unit from Windsor, Ontario. The tunes from their "2011 Basement Demos" sound like they came straight from the 90s. The first tune "Red Channels" has element of the Melvins as they chug along with crunchy guitars and raspy vocals. "1983" is cut from the same sweaty cloth. Nice quick rock songs that aren’t going to insult your intelligence. They might make you wanna bang your head though. Orphan Choir will be rocking the Horseshoe on Saturday May 23rd. Go enjoy the sludge rock.-Kris"Big City"Gies

Toronto

Blonde Elvis w/ TWIST @ Handlebar

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Unabashed love of psychedelia so sincere they’re the 60’s in high fidelity. Blonde Elvis lay it down as it is, bouncy rhythms and reverb-soaked vocals taking you on a sight-seeing (or hearing) tour, stopping and taking in some Eno, Bowie, and Lou Reed all at once. “Slow Fall On Egypt” is a Brit-Pop, in-and-out, bite-sized bit of groovy rock n roll (bonus points for a flute solo). Topping out at just over 2 minutes, this song is catchy, poignant, and just a little coy in its delivery. One can only imagine the imagery flying through frontman’s Jesse James Laderoute head as he churned this one out. Currently on a border-crossing tour, you can catch them at home, with fellow mellow-rock act Twist, at Handlebar, Friday, May 22nd!

Taking a page from the lighter side of late 80’s alt rock, Twist flexes melody over muscle. One part Chan Marshall, one part Kim Gordon, presented delicately, but firmly. Beautifully layered guitars, light percussion, and distant, sultry vocals, “Albuquerque” is a gorgeous use of space and harmonics. The slow-burning intro, and the fantastic dynamics demand you pay attention to every chime and half-whispered syllable. The beauty and sadness of the track all combine to provide a perfect backdrop to escape whatever ails you, even if it’s only for a short time. The repeat button was abused quite viciously with this tune.

-Cody Wright

Austin

Feeling Great About the Release of “Cheerlessness” by Institute

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Oh yes, new Institute day is a good day. I’ve been wanting to post the heavy jangle, effects-lite punk shit that is Institute since I became editor of the Austin Deli, but their (no-holds-barred good) last EP Salt came out in October of 2014, which was just barely, annoyingly out of the range to be considered "news."

Today though, with a fist-shake of gritty happiness, I’m here to say that the wait is over. There is new Institute, and it’s them at their fuckitall best. The new track from Sacred Bones Records is thoroughly appropriately titled "Cheerlessness," and as opposed to Salt, which often had Institute sounding like a band made up of people each about to fall apart at the seams in a really good and satisfying way, this new track is tighter and more determined.

The singing, or whatever you’d call that nicely out-of-it noise they’re making, still seems like it’s coming from a depressed drunk who stumbled upon a microphone just after getting hit in the head by a large human, but now he’s in his third song and just doesn’t even care enough to put energy into his shit until he just loses it at the end. There’s true emotion of the kind the title espouses here, something you really get with the exasperated breath into the mic at the end, and that they layer that whole modern malaised man sound over a non-stop breackneck, clenched-asshole beat and wails from a guitar that sounds like it’s dying is just damn good fuck the world punk. Listen below y’all, and get you a beer and a good brick wall alley slouch goin’ to make it feel right. The rest of the album, called Catharsis is out June 9th, and you can get tour dates here.

NYC

Little Racer announces “Foreign Tongues” EP release 6/16 + plays Northside

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On June 16th, NYC indie surf poppers Little Racer will see the release of their new EP, “Foreign Tongues”. While we wait, we’re listening to the two singles already available for streaming: “Montevideo” (streaming) and “Jack Knife.” The sound here inspires visions of The Shins on a surfing trip to a secret beach. The melodies are sweet and smooth and the vocals spill from early 2000’s indie rock into chillwave. This sincere, relaxed aesthetic brings to mind summer love, beach towels, holding seashells to your ear – or at least dreaming up such things while getting by “on a lousy 9-5”. The band will be performing at The Living Room on June 11th within the Northside Music Festival. – Leora Mandel

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

NYC

Scooter Island introduce us to a “better” NYC summer with video for “Breezy”

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If you wonder why videos of summer in the big apple "feel" always so much better than summer itself, the answer is "NYC humidity:" cameras don’t capture its unberable stickiness. Therefore, we might as well say that what you see in the video of single "Breezy," by tropical-indie-pop band Scooter Island, is as good as NYC summer gets. The song’s mellow guitars, beachy percussions and casual vocal melodies will also enhance this experience… but if we were you, after enjoying this misleading protrayal of our city’s hottest season, we would get out of the house and revel in the gorgeous May weather (which is actually breezy), before the killer heat of the summer will force us in a (tight) air conditioned place for months… it’s just a few weeks away!

San Francisco

Makeunder Releases New Single: Great Headless Blank

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The Oakland based progressive, avant art rock band Makeunder has released a new single entitled, Great Headless Blank. This song is the title track of their brand new EP and is exciting, interesting and encompasses splashes of electronic (computer parody) sound installations that take you on a wild musical ride. Great Headless Blank is reminiscent of new wave music like DEVO and Talking Heads and could be a soundtrack to a David Lynch short film. The music is like an artsy ice bucket to the face, which can be refreshing and utterly intense. There is a bit of swagger to the music though. You can hear a soulful confidence in the songs that seperates it from being avant nerd rock or classical alt rock, which can be coy and standoffish.

"Makeunder is the solo project of bandleader Hamilton Ulmer, who crafted his first release using a violin, saxophone, fatigued vocals and a small hand drum. Since then, Ulmer has rounded out the band’s lineup with Van Jackson-Weaver (vocals, guitars), Samantha York (vocals), Mario Godoy (synths, saxophone), Carolyn Walter (saxophones, winds) and John Doing (percussion). In Great Headless Blank, Ulmer confronts personal tragedies sorting through the ashes with a juxtaposed, exuberant sound comparable to Passion Pit’s Gossamer."

Makeunder is a bold music project and we’re into to this new track. Take a minute to check it out!