Thrashcore outfit Dopestroke unleashes the fury on its forthcoming album Wounded Family Heirlooms. The record uncorks pent up emotion as doses of blistering guitar and battered drums speed ahead in a cathartic manner. It’s been nearly four years since the band’s last self-titled EP, which was released by beloved West Philly punk label, Badmaster Records. Wounded Family Heirlooms will be officially available on April 15 via Suicide Bong Tapes, but you can now stream it below. Dopestroke will also be honoring its arrival on the evening of the release with a performance at Kung Fu Necktie opening for The Freeze.
NYC
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Black Market Merchants take their dreamy blues to Rockwood Music Hall on 3.17
Even though blues and rock have been mixing for decades, NYC quartet Black Market Merchants refine the delicate dance between the two, all while maintaining a fluid melody. With a sound that relies heavily on guitar riffs – alternating from slow and faint (“Catching Sleep”) to rapid fire energy (“The Kill”), this band has in Savannah Sturgeon’s alternatively soft and powerful vocals an expressive medium for their richly textured songs. Take a listen below and hit up Rockwood Music Hall this Thursday, 3.17, to catch Black Market Merchants live. – Adriana S Ballester
Chicago
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Zapruder Point on Rooftop Sessions
Rooftop Sessions Chicago has released their session with Dan Phillips (aka Zapruder Point). Philips has been a staple in the local music scene for over a decade. He performs "The Next Thing You Know" from his 2008 album Soda & Sympathy on top of Fitzgerald’s.
You can catch Zapruder Point at Transistor on March 25th with Mooner.
Philadelphia
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New Track: “Soul Kiss (For Allies To Be)” – The Interest Group
Interlocking bass and guitar dance ahead, developing a streamlined search-party sound on The Interest Group’s new single, “Soul Kiss (For Allies To Be). Punctuated by pummeling percussion, the wafting vocal harmonies combine with Marissa Lesnick’s ethereal lead vocals to alleviate the instrumental tension. While the pressure seemingly diffuses as the song concludes, its psych-pop draw of intensity/ease will certainly leave a lasting impression.
NYC
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Okay Kaya plays House of Vans SXSW show on Friday
One of most strikingly intense artists to come out of the Brooklyn scene in 2015, Okay Kaya has been releasing a series of mellow singles accompanied by simple but profoundly touching videos. The latest, entitled ‘I’m Stupid (but I Love You)," is streaming below. Okay Kaya is playing the SXSW House of Vans show at Austin’s Mohawk on Friday March 18.
NYC
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The Makeout Club releases single “Gabriel” + plays The Gateway tonight (03.16)
What goes around comes around is a saying that is just as applicable to music as it is to fashion, karma, and everything in between. With dreamy synths and anguished vocals, The Makeout Club brings forth a song that seems to have crawled out of the dark underbelly of the 80’s neon synth pop scene: “Gabriel” (streaming below) is a modern twist on dark wave reminiscent of The Cure and Depeche Mode circa 1985. Catch them tonight, March 16, at The Gateway in Brooklyn. – Adriana S. Ballester
Austin
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Austin Icon Shmu Releases New Trippy Lo-Fi Video for “Diamonds”
As you all bandy your drunken, foot-weary selves between the various and endle shows of the international fuckfest of music that is South By, take a sec here and put your Austin eyeballs upon something good and local for (hopefully not) once during this festival. There are few acts that I as an Austin music lover can think of personally that are as appropriate to pump during SXSW than Shmu, who has just released a new music video for track “Diamonds” that’s as candid as it is endearing as it is trippy.
Playing his own brand of wildly psychedelic hyperpop, and as half of the iconic Austin act Zorch, Shmu aka Sam Chown is responsible for both some of the city’s most interesting and weird (while being very structured and thought out) music in the last decade, not to mention having a hand in GTZ Records as well as one of Austin’s best underground venues in the Museum of Human Achievement.
“Diamonds” comes to us from Shmu’s gleeful and bright Shhh!!!! album from late 2015, and it’s a track that embodies the heavily layered guitar and hard matte drums sound that Sam is known for, though it’s actually pretty understated (in a nice way) for a Shmu track. The video is very anti-typical, very anti-SXSW band in fact, being a heavily cut-up and visually warped series of live clips, both from the man’s shows and his wanderings around (mostly in what looks like New Orleans). Zorch SXSW parties have been infamous for years for being where the true blue weirdos and corporate-ditching music fans went to get outright rowdy as a ferret tripping in a ball pit, so to drop this video so close to our city’s most capitalistic of holidays seems quite appropriate.
Take a listen and a look below, and if you can ever make it to any show Shmu or Zorch-related, make sure you do just that with your local-lovin’ ass.
Philadelphia
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New Prime Homeless Time EP Available for Streaming & Purchase
Dead Fuck, the freshly released EP from Prime Homeless Time, may unlock the mid-week reboot we sometimes require. The album is full of blown-out experimental rockers so submerge your conscious in the undeniable static haze, with its weathered sense of intimacy. It will wear down your defenses, seeping into your system.
Philadelphia
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Ticket Giveaway: Tortoise, Mind Over Mirrors, and Chris Forsyth + Nick Millevoi at Underground Arts This Friday
We have a ticket giveaway for this Friday, March 18 at Underground Arts with post-rock legends Tortoise, Mind Over Mirrors, and the guitar wizardry of Chris Forsyth & Nick Millevoi. To enter for a chance to win a pair of tix, just send an email to thedelimagazinephiladelphia@gmail.com with the subject line "TRTS". Please also include your cell number in the body of the message (in case of an emergency). Good luck!
San Francisco
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Snow Angel Gears Up to Release New Album
The Psych-Pop girls of Snow Angel, doused with hard hitting drums, bass, omnichord, guitar, keys and electric sitar turned all the way up to 11, are back with more sunshine, funkier jams and full moon, crystal power in the year of the monkey! In short, a technicolor rainbow cheer party, sing-a-long, group hug with a happy ending. Eight girls strong, can’t go wrong!
Snow Angel, originally from Oakland, is the brainchild of Gabby La La, who is most famous for touring with Les Claypool’s Fancy Band. Claypool also produced and released La La’s first album "Be Careful What You Wish For…" on his record label.
Snow Angel self-released their first 7" record in April 2015, and the girls will release their first full-length album in 2016 on cassette and digital. Partnering with Off Planet VR, the girls will couple the debut of their first album with a virtual reality experience, artfully joining the past and the future into a unique musical experience. The virtual reality segment of their release will tell the story of the girls of Snow Angel as flower cats in space, protecting a cat nebula, getting blown away by a cosmic wind to Earth, and finding their way back home.
Flowers, cats, space, all tied together with unstoppable positivity and girl power—all available to view in a 360° virtual reality experience—what’s not to love? By contributing to their Kickstarter campaign, you get an all-access pass to “Snow Angel in VR”, all while supporting music and women in the arts.
Chicago
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Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks have released a video for the lead single, "Walk To The One You Love", from their forthcoming album Down In Heaven. The album will be released on Grand Jury & Communion on May 13th.
Twine Peaks heading to Austin right now to dominate SXSW, but will be performing a sold out show at Lincoln Hall on May 13th.
Philadelphia
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New OhBree EP Available for Streaming & Download
Drinking from the waters of homegrown acts like Man Man and The Extraordinaires, OhBree continue down their strange, twisted musical journey with the release of Feed Me Poison. The eight-piece traveling circus revels in the theatrics that accompany its music. The group happily honors the tradition of keeping Philly weird. (Photo by Emily Dubin)