Hailing from Leesburg, VA, Car Seat Headrest is making a huge splash on both coasts and across the Atlantic. What began as Will Toledo producing ten albums since 2015 has erupted into a full band getting covered by Rolling Stone and going on an international tour. They put out an LP last week called Teens of Spirit and it’s killer. Toledo built his vocals in the vein of The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas and The Bleachers’ Jack Antonoff and the overall musicality inspires a wide range of feelings and energy. The new album would fit with any party, rife with roughly hewn instrumentals and angst-ridden lyrics. These guys are going to be huge, so catch them at DC9, 12/7, and Strange Matter in Richmond, 12/8. -Jonathan Goodwin

Dreampop sophomores Crescendo dropped the first single to their upcoming album Unless, which Gregory Cole (guitar/vox) poetically described as "a lightspeed space journey through our world firing at everything in our path." Building from the vitalic rhythms of debut LP Lost Thoughts, "Repulsor" shimmers with new wave and synthpop stylings. The single’s release also marks the official inauguration of guitarist Jess Krichelle, alongside Cole and Olive Kimoto (synth/vox). Unless is scheduled to release February 19th through Italian label We Were Never Being Boring.

Crescendo’s due a couple of shows this month — they’ll be playing with Florida homie Millionyoung and local heroes PART TIME. Check dates and venues below, and listen to the stream of "Repulsor". – Ryan Mo

11/24 The Hideout with Millionyoung (San Diego)

11/25 Harvard & Stone with PART TIME, Millionyoung, The New Division [DJ Set] (Los Angeles)

Toronto-based band, The Nursery, forges momentous pop music that highlights the grittier side of the genre. Pulling from indie pop and alt rock, their music is driven by steady drum-beats and grounding bass lines, while melodies blend together with vocals and lyrics flirting with epic overtones: “I remember the times we stared into/ eyes of strangers and learned the truth/ I wish I had the power of the moon/ to curve the tides and become immune.” 

The sweetly bold "Signing A Deal" (streaming below) by Brooklyn quartet Behaviors is the workaday artist’s poignant anthem. Featuring the sugary voice of lead singer Frans Mernick, the keys-sprinkled new single off the band’s forthcoming eponymous debut LP probingly reveals the great difficulties of surviving as a musician but emits sheer appreciation for the lifestyle. The pop song is far-reaching, though, pondering artistic success as much as an existential kind. While the band doesn’t seem to have any shows lined up, they are scheduled to release Behaviors this fall. – Zach Weg

The world of music lovers is divided in two categories: those who love pretty songs, and those who seek aural insanity. For the latter, we recommend Spray Paint, an Austin based trio whose sole purpose seems to be creating the most relentlessly tense music conceivable – edgy stuff! The group is also very prolific, having released five LPs in total, two this year alone, the latter (entitled "Doper") while touring the US. Fully dedicated to the cause, that’s how you find your audience.

On November 9, Controller, another band with a great live show we booked at CMJ 2015 (they actually packed Pianos that night), will be celebrating the release of their sophomore EP "No Future," which will gather singles released separately in 2015, including their best known tracks "Flame" and "Midnight Man." These two tracks illustrate the musical coordinates the band operates within, i.e. a dark sounding, tense rock sound with post punk influences, and a sunnier pop side that references radio friendly bands from the ’90s like The New Radicals. Title-track "No Future," the latest single, errs on the darker side big time – needless to say we dig that – and it’s probably their edgiest single to date, notwithstanding the signature pop explosion in the chorus. Thir show, originally scheduled at Elvis Guesthouse, will actually be at Berlin a few blocks down (yes, never heard of it!).

We are not sure if traces of Puerto Rico and Columbia can be found in Balancer‘s music (that’s where the band’s members hail from). There’s a certain "chill factor" in their music one wouldn’t instinctively associate with hustling NYC, hadn’t the Big Apple produced a recent musical phenomenon called "chill wave" and an invasion of mellow dream pop acts led by Real Estate – a scene the band squarely belongs to. But there is a certain romantic quality in their melodies and lyrics that is exquisitely Latin, and that contributes to making their songs so charming and appealing. The trio was one of the best live acts we saw (and booked) at this year’s CMJ Music Marathon, thanks to a performance oozing with flair and instrumental confidence (we were particularly impressed with drummer Gabriela Jimeno). We are proud to premiere their newest single "Clarity" (streaming below), recorded in Seattle at the end of 2014 with long time collaborator Garrett Reynolds, during a session that also produced their previous single "Waves Remain."